We are wrapping up eight weeks into our kitchen renovation and it is finally starting to come to a close. This was our fifth week without access to a real kitchen and we are getting more anxious by the day to have it back. Luckily significant progress has been made and we’re nearing the end.
The first few weeks were about digging the foundation, pouring it, framing the addition, and putting a roof on it. That wasn’t very disruptive and was cool to watch. After that the interior wall came down, the old kitchen came out and the real work started. The passthrough was cut, the rough electrical was completed, insulation went it, and sheet rock went on. We painted the kitchen walls over a weekend to prepare for cabinet installation.
The five-week mark included cabinet installation as well a the removal of the old tile and hardwood. The bare flooring gave us a squeaky cardboard-covered wonderland to enjoy for a couple of weeks. Week six arrived and focused on installing the counter. At this point there wasn’t any electricity or plumbing but it was nice to be able to put things on a surface that wasn’t cardboard.
A lot of work happened a couple of weeks ago while we were on vacation. The hardwood floor was installed and the first two coats of polyurethane were applied. A final sanding and coat of poly will be done after all of the major work is over. The heated floor pad for the kitchen went in as did most of the tile and backsplash. Odds and ends in the back yard and the finishing touches on the outside of the addition were completed. The foundation under the addition was completed as well. Plumbing was hooked up, giving us access to our sink.
Having a real counter top and plumbing is awesome! We now have a place to prep where we don’t have to break our backs and a place to wash with an actual spray hose. An extension cord allowed us to plug in a lamp and run the garbage disposal. Not a fantasy by any means, but much better than the dining room table and bathtub.
This week has continued the trend with the floor tile, backsplash, and electrical being completed. Now we have full lighting in the kitchen and much improved lighting in the living room. This includes pendant lights over the counter which have color-changing Hue bulbs as an accent.
The dishwasher was installed on Friday and we started our painting extravaganza. We painted the refrigerator nook and outside wall as well as all of the other spots in the live-ing room that weren’t complete. Now we have completely transitioned to blue and the orange is gone. We touched up some ceiling spots, I painted the trim on the kitchen windows and passthrough, and Sally repainted our accent wall to match our front door.
Next week the fridge and stove can be installed. Hopefully the rest of the cabinet hardware arrives and that can be put on as well. There are some other finishings that need to be done here and there but we are very close. Our microwave is still MIA but that’s another story.
This project has taken as long as we expected but feels as if it has taken much longer. I never realized how important the kitchen was until I didn’t have one. We’re excited to be getting so close to having it back!
Relatively Ambitious 