Demo, Drywall, Planking & Flooring. Kitchen Post #3

Summer 2016. Probably the most trying and exhausting yet fruitful summer we've ever experienced as a family. We found out about a week into this project that a kitchen renovation is not for the weary. The kitchen functions as the heart of the home and we had to learn to cope without it. As much as I tried to keep the mess in the kitchen alone, the project lingered into the living room. Tools, drywall, dust and debris everywhere. We knew it would be hard but I wasn't quite ready for the mental toll it would take for me to mother & feed three little ones on a construction site. We slowly learned to function out of our master bedroom. My dresser housed our microwave, toaster and Keurig and we plugged in our fridge on the deck and created a canopy with a tarp. My neighbors could literally see me, pajamas and all, retrieve my creamer for my coffee. It was great. We used paper products and ate a plethora of PB&J's and became well acquainted with the staff at Jimmy John's. As tools took over, decorations and furniture filled the bedrooms to the brim. There is no doubt that more grey hairs sprouted because of this DIY. Once again, totally worth it.

So here is about a month of work stuffed into this one post. Demo, drywall, planking and flooring. On top of those huge projects seen below, sometimes the unseen take the most amount of time. Justin had to re-wire all the electrical and move the gas line (terrifying). He just rocked my face off this summer. The things he knows how to do because of growing up on a ranch. It's impressive. What a crazy project!

Right before the demo commenced.

Saying goodbye to that window wasn't easy. We wanted to extend our kitchen into the breakfast nook so we had to see it go. I think a rule of thumb is to never eliminate natural light if you don't have to but thankfully we have plenty of it with a whole wall of French doors and two other existing kitchen windows.

Curtains down and hammers up. My younger brother Bradley demoed this space like a beast while Justin was away at work. The kids and I were his trusty assistants. Thanks Brad!

Our home is filled with old hardwoods besides the kitchen. This space was a poorly installed section of laminate. We were more than happy to see it go.

Appliances and countertops out the window and all opened up!

A couple weeks later, my brother Jon and his wife Amanda were in town and they installed new insulation and we tackled the drywall together! Thank you two! Capri wanted to wear a tool belt just like her uncle. Heart melted.

Justin and I planked the ceiling and added in a faux beam for an in-home date to celebrate our 11th anniversary. I'd rather be throwing up a hammer with my man than eating a fancy meal! This design was implemented mainly so we didn't need to match the different ceiling textures from the living room to the kitchen. It also broke the space up nicely and added a lot of dimension.

DRYWALL! This was one of the most exciting steps for me. This gave the space its shape for the first time.

Eventually, Justin and I painted the planking white than taped and mudded the drywall. New hardwoods were installed a couple weeks later. Flooring was the one project we contracted out. Some money saving tips on flooring: 1) install your own plywood (ask your flooring contractor the width to use) where the cabinets will sit. We saved a couple hundred dollars not needing to buy hardwood that will never be seen. 2)  if you hardwoods need to be feathered in/blended with old hardwoods, consider putting a header in to save on labor. As you can see next to Justin in the last pic on this post, there is a strip that goes horizontal and no strip where the island would be placed. 3) do the demo/removal of all your old flooring. We obviously removed the laminate in the kitchen but our entry way was filled with white tile. We removed that section and had them install hardwood there as well. It made the whole space that much more cohesive. Tile entry way:

That's it for now. I'll be back with floor stain, cabinetry and countertops next! Thanks for stopping by!

Love,
The Officer's

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One wall at a time. Kitchen post #2

This post doesn't scream kitchen but it eventually will. These pictures are taken from our living room looking into our breakfast nook with our galley kitchen directly behind the left built in shelf.

When we first moved in, there was an array of colors. A sliver of yellow, to green, to red, to blue all in one room. Maybe some hot pink and salmon in the bedrooms but nothing a little paint couldn't fix. Sometimes a little TLC is all a home needs. Back in the 60's and 70's, a lot of individual spaces in a home was a common theme. The open floor concept wasn't a thing yet. We were determined to make this place catch up with the times.

We painted everything a neutral sandy color and filled the shelves and called it home:

Then one day I said "hey hun, you want to bust down that wall for a date night?" The hubs replied with a "definitely!" ...and this folks is how it all happens every.single.time. A whole lot of crazy. So we cleaned out the bookshelf and got to work. No turning back.

We thoroughly enjoyed our new opened up space. Phase one felt complete.

Fast forward a year (give or take...can't remember) and we were finally ready / had a wild hair to demo the other bookshelf in the living room that would fully expose the kitchen to our main living area. This was a little more technical and time intensive because of wires, more wall to remove and some finishing work. This felt like a really big deal to Justin and I. For the first time we were able to be in the kitchen and see another part of our home. To see the kids playing and running around the house and watch them on the deck was so exciting and it virtually cost us nothing. Hosting felt that much more special. I could see and talk with our guests while cooking. The only downfall was losing half of my  cupboard space but we both decided it was worth it. My crockpots found a new home in the dining room.

Here is a series of pictures of opening up our galley kitchen to create a peninsula. Goodbye cupboards!

Oh hey living room! I see you!

I'm pretty sure this was Valentine's day. If I remember correctly, we demoed this wall and then played a game of racquet ball which I became overly competitive in. We're super romantic like that.

Always a helper on the construction site:

Happy kids, happy wife, happy life.

Our kitchen stayed in this state for about 2.5 years. Tomorrow I will be back with the full demo of our kitchen and all our construction steps and design decisions! Thanks for being a apart of our journey!

Love,
The Officer's Pin It

2009. GALLEY STYLE. Kitchen post #1

When we bought our home in 2009 in needed a lot of work. That's probably an understatement. The downstairs would flood because of the way a concrete patio was poured sloped towards the house. Insert face palm. Even with the state our new to us, previously banked owned, abandoned for years, house was in, we saw potential. Well, I saw potential. Home was written all over it for me. Justin, not so much. He must of been sleep deprived because he let me make an offer on this place before he even stepped foot in it. What a trusting man! He possibly thought I was a bit crazy when I showed him around but once I pointed out to him all the beautiful details, potential and my vision, we dove in head first together.

We spent our first 7 years here tackling each section piece by piece, room by room. We did bathroom remodels. Two in fact and one more to go. Tile work in the laundry room & cement removal outside. We forked out a chunk of change for a new furnace, new flooring downstairs, fresh carpet, buckets of paint and much more. Talk about a work in progress and some true sweat equity. The kitchen was something we always knew we wanted to re-do but were fully aware it was going to be awhile. Eight years later to be exact. We are SO glad that we waited. We had all that time to decide what layout & what style truly represented our family. Plus, plenty of years to watch YouTube videos on how to do it all!

The pictures below give you an idea of what it looked like when we moved in with little upgrades already in place. I really wish I had a picture of the original paint color (a fine pink) & the counters (yikes)! Pretty much a narrow and short galley style kitchen. We put in a few used, inexpensive appliances to keep it functioning till we were ready to start over fresh. We also removed white tile countertops that were pretty icky & unsalvageable & replaced it with charcoal colored laminate counters. A great option to hold us over for those eight years. I truly was never discontent with this space but often frustrated with its dysfunction. The cabinets were original to when the house was built in 1969. As much as I love old & re-purposed items, there is nothing more frustrating then drawers that cover your kitchen items with saw-dust when you open and close them. The tracks were spent and had done their time. I went years not using specific drawers & rinsing items from the ones I did use. Kind of a pain but I was fully aware that these were #firstworldproblems. So, we carried on. Enjoy these sweet old pics circa 2009. I cherish each and every one of them.

We hosted and fed a multitude of people in this space. I will always hold the friends near and dear to my heart that ate meals with us here and always saw us through every project with either helping hands or words of encouragement.

 I can't wait to show you through a series of blogposts, our slow kitchen transformation! I'll be back tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by!

Love,

The Officer's

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Sweet dreams.

Just a few more of my favorite pillowcases. These past 3 years having an etsy shop have been a lot of fun for me. Besides decorating my home, this has been a great creative outlet as I am on year 8 of staying home with kids (my favorite job). Though my shop is on hold right now, it's a whole lot of fun to look back and reflect on all that was created, requested, & purchased all over the United States. To my surprise I have had over 200 sales. Who knew!?!? My favorite part of this whole endeavor is receiving pictures of my products in clients homes. Real people. Real joy. Thank you all for cheering me on in this journey. It's been special.

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