Tackling our first major project: Kitchen

One of the big projects we knew we were going to take on when we bought this house was the kitchen.  Our original plan was to replace the counter tops, sink, faucet, garbage disposal, and cabinet hardware.  The countertops had been ruined when someone in the past put something hot down on the counters, causing them to blister. As if the blister wasn't bad enough, someone had tried to fill the blister with black paint or something.  Bottom line, it looked awful.  The sink, faucet and garbage disposal were all completely non-functional from the day we first looked at the house, so we knew that had to be replaced at a minimum, just to get it working again. The cabinets were also in sorry shape, but in my optimistic, DIY mind, I thought we could get another 3-5 years out them by painting them, having them repaired (the doors neither closed all the way, nor hung straight), and replacing the hardware with something more modern.  I didn't think they looked THAT bad, just needed sprucing up.

Before I continue on, let me say that my parents have always told me stories about how "one thing leads to another" when it comes to fixing up your house.  I expected that to a certain degree, but obviously was hoping we could minimize it. 

So, we met with a few handymen and contractors to look at the cabinets and give us an estimate for repairs.  None of them thought keeping the existing cabinets was a good idea.  Apparently if you're going to do that much work on the counters, sink, etc., keeping cabinets that were el-cheapo when they were new, back 20 years ago, just wasn't a good idea.  They all insisted that they were beyond repair and that they just needed replacement.  With that, we had a couple of them give us estimates for new cabinets.  Darrell and I agreed that Dave with World Class Kitchens and Baths gave us not only the cabinets and hardware we wanted, but also a fantastic price.  (We needed a fantastically cheap price, since we weren't planning on putting in a new kitchen in the first place, so if we were going to do it, it needed to be affordable!)

To save a few hundred bucks, we decided to demo the old kitchen ourselves.  Before I begin, here are some BEFORE pictures of the kitchen, taken on our first day in the house, before we painted or fixed anything up...

Let the demo begin!  We started with removing the kitchen sink, faucet, and garbage disposal, and part of the countertop:

Then we started on one of the smaller cabinets, to see how this was going to go...

After successful removal of this cabinet, which was once on the left side of the range, Darrell had a great idea to reuse it out in the garage to create a laundry folding table! I love doing laundry anyway (I know, it's a sickness, so I don't expect anyone to understand!), and this is just about as fabulous and cozy as you can make a garage laundry area:

That small diversion of progress in the garage really helped us feel like all was not lost with our reluctant cabinet project!  

So the demo/cabinet removal continued:

A victory sip after winning a battle against the cabinet:

I took the liberty (and pleasure!) of ripping off the front fascia of this cabinet:

Remember, clean as you go!:

And all that remains are the appliances....

With demo complete, we took the next two days off from our own laboring to let others do it for us!  Dave brought his crew to the house and installed our new cabinets and countertops on Thursday and Friday.  First and foremost, we are amazed by how much these cabinets have changed the look and feel of our house!  I think they look expensive and modern and, well, really amazing!  

Ahh, now our appliances look like poo... haha!  See, "one thing always leads to another!"  :)

In addition to replacing what we had before, we finally have a breakfast bar:

I am so excited about how this looks, I literally jumped up and down with excitement.  :)  Thank goodness this part has all worked out so well!

Next up:  Our handyman is going to come over on Sunday to install the sink, garbage disposal, faucet, microwave over the range, and dishwasher, so we'll have a fully functioning kitchen!  

And now we're off to IKEA to check out some deals.  Happy MLK weekend!

Moving into Friar Rd.

On Saturday, we moved out of the house on Vassar Street and into our new house on Friar Rd.

Packing up at Vassar Street:

Unloading at Friar Road:

Later in the day, we returned to Vassar Street to meet Darrell's good friend Joe and his son Reese.  Joe owns a bread route, so his big bread truck comes in very useful for these kinds of moving events. We were so thankful to have their help and that awesome truck!  (Three cheers for great friends!)  They helped us move 90% of our boxes, yard equipment, wall decor, patio furniture, and other stuff.  We finally collapsed into bed at 11:30pm, and slept our first night in the house.  It was pretty great, I must say.  The Master Bedroom felt like a nice hotel! 

Sunday was our Vassar Street work day. We went back over around 11am and spent the next 9 hours preparing 912 Vassar Street for turnover to Margaret, our 88 year old landlord.  She has been really sweet and accommodating with us, so we thought we should go the extra mile to get the house perfect for our hand-over. Also, since our dog, Charlie, left his mark on the hardwood floors, which (due to their worn finish) essentially ruined them, we thought that if we did everything else perfectly, she was less likely to ding our deposit.  Anyway, we ended up having to make two trips in both of our cars to get the remaining clothes, kitchenware, dishes, lawnmower, and other stuff.   We were so happy to return home to Friar Rd., knowing that we only lived in one house! 

Onward and upward!



Preparing for Move-In Day

To close out the painting process in the main living spaces, we worked on the last trim pieces.  Seeing dingy old trim boards become glossy, white accents has been fun.  See the right, newly painted, section next to the old, marked up boards:

Pretty, huh? :)

Afterward, I began the odious task of pulling tape from various walls.  First of all, one major lesson learned is that I will never again use masking tap for a paint job.  It shreds into a zillion pieces and it doesn't pull off cleanly.  See example (my nightmare):

I had to scrape little shreds of tape from the floors and trims for hours. HOURS..... UGH.  It was, by far, the most tedious task I've assumed so far with this paint job.

While this was going on, we had our carpets cleaned.  I don't have any amazing pictures of what the carpets looked like before, but here are the afters:

Master bedroom:

Bedroom 3/Guest Bedroom:

Bedroom 2/Office

Beyond just carpet cleaning and trim painting, we finished putting the outlet covers back on and re-vacuumed the floors:

After painting the ceilings, walls, and trims in nearly 85% of the house, we are now preparing for move-in!  For this, we needed to install a couple of window treatments... first up, vertical blinds (which I hate! but the logistics getting something else was too daunting).  My mom and dad  helped with this because they generally have an eye for meticulous, detail-oriented jobs:

And here is the finished product... oohhhh:

In addition to all of this fun, we had Charlie over tonight, checking out the new digs.  He somehow got his nose in the paint, which I thought was adorable, so I had to take his picture and remember the moment!:

In addition to finalizing our projects and gearing up for move-in, Darrell found some touch-ups needed...

This one needed some caulk:

And this one got its caulk, and it looks so much better!:

Once all of these projects were finished, Darrell decided he wanted to decorate the recessed shelving with his own art.  Say hello to Mr. Tapeball:

And now we're ready for Move-In!  :)  We can't wait!

New Year

For the past few days, we've been lucky enough to have the help of Kelly's parents, who came to see the new house with toolbox in hand and a willingness to work!  We've been so grateful to have their help.  What a difference two more sets of hands has made in our progress! 

New Year's Eve:

We were able to paint the living room walls with the same color that's in the master bedroom:

We put one coat of Behr Antique White paint on the family room walls.  This color will also go on the walls of the hallway, foyer, kitchen, and dining room.  It's lighter and will help us keep a clean, neutral palette until we figure out what we're doing with the kitchen and furniture.  I think the painted paneling looks pretty fantastic:

Darrell and Dad have also been busy painting the bedroom ceilings:

Dear old Dad showing off his skill at rolling paint:

They also painted the ceiling in the hallway:

The dining room has its coat of Behr Antique White as well:

Second coat of paint on the living room:

And on to sanding!  Darrell knew how badly the trims in this house needed to be sanded prior to painting.  He volunteered his muscle, and we immediately started to see progress -- green and cream paint coming through:

While Darrell and Dad were busy, Mom and Kelly taped off trims:

The trims in the Master Bedroom have all been taped, ready for sanding and ready for paint:

Charlie also came by the house today, so we gave him the grand tour!  He made sure to leave his mark on his new house! (Thanks to Dad for cleaning that up!)

We then proceeded to tape off trims in the foyer and living room, once again ready for sanding and paint:

 New Year's Day:

When we saw Kelly's sister, Kari, at Christmastime, she loaned us her little mouse sander.  Darrell had spent an hour or two the previous day muscling through the sanding on the trims... until he remembered my sister's sander.  So the next day we brought our extension cord so that we could use it around the house, and VOILA!  Darrell's dreams had come true... he powered through the gobs of paint and putty on the trims in mere seconds and with minimal effort!  It's an awesome little tool and we can't thank Kari enough!

Mom started putting white semigloss paint on the bookshelf:

...While Dad painted the hallway:

After finishing with the hallway, Dad applied his eye for detail to the sidelight on front door.  It was gross.... But after Mom and I cleaned it and Darrell sanded it down, Dad turned this area into a pretty little beauty!  I'm so impressed:

 Darrell also coached my mom into applying the new faceplates around the light switches:

Living room trims have received their first coat of white semigloss:

...As has the Master Bedroom doorway

 We closed out our day by prepping the upper molding in the Family Room to be painted tomorrow, so we taped everything off:

So they say what you're doing at New Year's is what you'll be doing all year... apparently for us, that's home improvements! :)  A special thanks to my parents for their generosity and willingness to put some sweat equity into our first house!