It's Hammer Time!!!

Last week I get the call from our kitchen cabinet guy that he is ready to install. I'm like "Yay! I'm ready! Next Wednesday? Cool!!! Let's do it!"

Hang up the phone.

"Oh geez! I'm not ready!!!"

I still have to buy knobs and drawer pulls. A faucet! And oh yes, EVERYTHING has to come out of the cabinets. It's not like this is a surprise or anything, I knew this was going to happen, just now it's really happening! Thursday I had a strategic partner cancel on me so I decided to use that time to start clearing out cabinets. I turned the music on to a high spirited music station (the stuff kids listen to these days) and I wiggle my butt to the sound of the beat as I start clearing the counter tops and island.

I go for some time and I think, man this is a lot of crap! I bet I've been at this for 90 minutes or so. I looked at the clock and I'm barely 30 minutes into it. Oh this is going to be a long one! I'm emptying a lower cabinet and because of how I was sitting I lost feeling in my foot and I started to feel sorry for myself until I thought about Christy who just moved her entire house over the holidays! Oh, yea, I had NOTHING to complain about.

I kept at it while Ke$ha and Bruno and Usher and Tao Cruz sang and no my butt didn't wiggle as much but I did get it all done within 2 hours.

So here we are on Demo Day! Rick starts without me and knocks down the island. I clean up and we are done in an hour. So far so good. We will take the cabinets down tomorrow so that Rick can work outside today before the snow comes.


I'm about to run to Lowes and Home Depot to look at kitchen faucets and cabinet knobs and drawer pulls. Also a fancy smanshy light to replace the builders light over the table. By the way, that is going away and we will have two club chairs their instead. When it's all said and done, it's going to be so cafe-loungy-bistro chic I'll have to start charging at the door!

The best part about all this is the cats' new discovery... empty cabinets. Man, they are hilarious!

Kitchen Beautification - The Beginning

After 14 years of living in the same house and realizing we will most likely die in this house, two months ago, Rick and I decided it was time to renovate our kitchen. Our current kitchen is adequate and pretty. But you know us girls, we always want to "better-fy" our space. And me being a graphic designer, visually pleasing things are a must. It's almost as if my eyeballs have tactile sensation - like fingertips.

We've decided to be our own contractor. I have lots of experience in contracting work. I've watched not just the HGTV home improvement shows but for a year now DIY shows too. I have an organizer with a note pad, different colored pens and paper clips. I'm set.

In December at a Hot Pink Mammas event, I met interior designer Andrea Krolick and called on her for some guidance. She gave me some tid bits and sources (her pricing is VERY reasonable). I then met with her sources and some of my own, and I think we've got just about everything figured out. Still need a quote from another handyman but I don't need that project for another month.

However, after meeting with these sources Rick decides to fill me in on his time frame. And if you know us, you know that our time frames on home improvement projects NEVER mesh. He says to me as if this is a good thing: "We should be able to all of this over the next 6 months." What? What do you mean over the next 6 months, I'm thinking next 6 days! He's standing there with a very pleased look on his face as if I should be excited with this news. I suppose he thought this was going to take longer?? Good grief.

Well, I'll be a good sport and let him win this one this time. But I'm holding him to that 6 months. We have baseboards in a bathroom that STILL does not have any caulking or nail holes covered after placing them two years ago. I shouldn't complain really because initially he said he wanted to make our kitchen cabinets.

ZOINKS!!

Yep! He wanted to make our kitchen cabinets. Has he ever made cabinets before, you ask? nope. Oh, so he must have wood working skills? nu uh. Well, he at least has the tools, right? nah...

I love my man, I really do, and though highly skeptical of his desire, I was supportive. I gave him a test: If you can make a cabinets for our bathroom by the end of the year (6 weeks) and they are perfect (you know I'm afflicted with OCD, right?) then you can make the kitchen cabinets.

Lucky for me, a friend mentioned a place that sells cabinets pre-made, and we liked the material and the price so went with that option Whew! I actually think Rockywood Cabinets saved our marriage!

I decided to take some "before" photos and staged the kitchen. You know those before and after photos people show on the DIY and HGTV shows? Well, the before photos always look like crap. I'd like to think that my kitchen wasn't THAT crappy before reno. So I staged it like I would for an open house. Put some oranges here and a water pitcher and glasses there. That way people won't think we are just slobs living with some crappy kitchen. So here is the before. I can’t wait to see the after!





Hopefully Rick and I won’t go insane with the demo which is coming soon. If anything interesting happens there I'll be sure to share.