We are finally finished with our home renovations. This process started back in early spring 2015 when we made some financial decisions to take the plunge and do some upgrades to the house. Fast forward through summer and we had chosen a general contractor and signed a contract. EEK!
Our completely functional but TOTALLY outdated kitchen was due for a make over.
A little background on why we choose the main floor. It was definitely not our original plan. My dad had always told me that you should continually update your house every year. So we painted, added a pool heater, a new AC, finished the basement and updated our washer/dryer in the first several years of owning this home. But I had always wished we had one more bedroom upstairs. And I had come up with some glorious plans to add a master and then leave the existing bedrooms the way they were. So we got some estimates and realized that plan was about $100,000 over our budget. Yea, at that point we might as well just move.
So our contractor suggested we make some changes to the main level instead. Afterall, that is actually where we do most of our living.
Made total sense.
So we picked the least updated part of our home and started to make a new plan.
Yes, the (fake) hardwood floors and all of the appliances were very functional. So they didn't need to be changed. But they were dated. Very dated!
And that white painted brick on the fire place was a huge eye sore!!
The kitchen/family room flooring was actually something I had wanted changed from the moment we moved in. But again, it was functional.
Finally one October day I received a message from our contractor that they would be over in 10 days to start the work. YIKES! I had exactly 10 days to pack up our main level and move out of the kitchen and family room (and in between that time I had to host Lincoln's birthday party!). Frazzled was a good word to describe how I felt.
With great effort, we made it happen and I came home from work one Monday to a construction zone.
At the beginning of this project, I joked to Ryan that it would be a test of our marriage. I had seen enough HGTV to know that renovations are tough. Decisions need to be made, living spaces are disrupted and tension is high. And that's exactly how it felt to us.
The house was a complete disaster for a total of 4 weeks. And the poor girls were told they could not invite friends over until it was over. There was a time when the train table took over the middle of the toy room and we had to squeeze the refrigerator next to it. Our food was in totes stacked up against the dining room. We had 4 couches in the formal living room and Regan commented it was like a movie theater.
I'm thankful that the fall weather was incredibly mild so we could spend so much time outside.
After the demolition phase, decision time started. Finding the color for the new cabinets was a huge challenge. I knew what I wanted but the stain guys could not read my mind. After days of trial and error, I was finally asked to produce my inspiration for color. And just like that, they finally got it right.
Note: none of the options below were right.
I stared at paint colors for longer than I would like to admit as well. Ryan cares about paint about as much as he cares about watching HGTV. So he was not any help. Shane was over one night and I tried to enlist his help until I remembered he's color blind and his input was useless to me. Regan finally helped me make this decision and I love it!
Lincoln and I spent many Fridays walking the aisles of Home Depot, Menard's and the Tile Shop searching for the right additions to the new kitchen. My phone is littered with pictures like this, so I could bring home ideas and ask Ryan his advice.
I'm so thankful that I have some amazing friends and coworkers who gave me their input so we could finally make some decisions! Slowly but surely, the house was coming back together.
And then....disaster. With the painting/staining complete, appliances were finally delivered and our kitchen was put back in order. For a little.
The refrigerator was too big but to fix the problem, would cost another $1000 and we were already well over budget. The microwave was FAR too big and had to go back for an exchange. Ryan called me during this debacle with heart palpitations. It had finally taken it's toll on him and he was stressing out. Unfortunately, that's not the end of the appliance disaster.
We managed to get everything in it's place and in working order, thanks to Grandpa Arnie! On Thanksgiving day, as we packed for a night away, I decided to run the dishwasher so we could come home to clean dishes. Lincoln was running through the house and promptly landed on his bottom after sliding through the kitchen. He was soaking wet! Did he just pee his pants and slip in it? Stand him up and give him a hug only to realize there was a giant puddle of water coming out of the dishwasher on our brand new hard wood floors!
After 16+ hours on the phone over 2 days with Best Buy, I have come to the notion that we will never ever purchase another product from Best Buy. Especially an appliance. Their sales team is top notch, but the warehouse and customer services teams leave a lot to be desired. Let's just say they showed up to exchange the dishwasher and had a flat screen TV in hand.....and then when they were expected to return with the correct item, they never showed up. And then they wanted us to wait another 10 days for rescheduling.
Worst customer service ever.
Painting the ceilings did not fall into the budget either....to save a lot of money, we opted to do this work ourselves. Ryan's not eager to paint so I got started one afternoon during nap. Unfortunately, I climbed up on the counter top and grazed my head along the freshly painted ceiling and my hair turned a nice shade of grey. Sidney laughed and said it looked like a porcupine!
And then one day, 4 weeks after we had started, it was all finished. And we breathed a huge sigh of relief to have our home back again.
The layout didn't change, the Cambria counters are the same, but everything else is different. The 2 step down to the family room/eat in kitchen was completely reconfigured and made the top 2 items for Ryan (first is the fireplace of course). I'm completely in love with the new flooring and to have the same hardwood floor extend the entire main level is something I have always wanted.
It's gorgeous and yes, was totally worth it.
The fireplace is probably the biggest transformation. That old ugly white (err, grey!) brick was gross and embarrassing. We kept the existing mantel and put some effort in to getting it to match the kitchen cabinets (thanks to my mom and Arnie!). Sadly we haven't been able to use the fireplace yet as it needs 30 days to cure or we run the risk of the new stone falling to the ground.
With furniture back in it's spots and toys spread out where they belong, we can actually say it probably wasn't as bad as it seemed. But I'm very happy the renovations are over and as I told people along the way: "this is the reason people just move!"
If you're looking for a good contractor, let us know!
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