Friday, September 18, 2015

Kitchen Renovation: Labor Day Weekend (literally)

We decided Labor Day weekend was a great time to get started on the kitchen. There were tons of sales going on, and we had an extra day to work.

The beginning was FUN!

Bringing the vision to fruition was exciting. While most things worked out that we had in mind, we had to tweak a few things, and we ended up having to run all over Sedalia to get our corrugated metal. When we picked a paint color, we quickly agreed on a shade, and later noticed the color name was "Farmhouse Red." It must have been a sign.

My favorite purchase was our flooring. We decided to go with a vinyl plank. I could bore you with all the advantages to using it, but I'll just leave it at this: cheap, easy, functional, nice-looking. If we were building a new home, maybe we'd splurge for fabulous floors, but the truth is, we're working on a 60 year old home and re-doing old cabinets, so we're looking for FUNCTIONAL and kid-friendly. This floor was perfect, and I absolutely LOVE how it looks.


When we finally got home, we were so excited to start working. We removed cabinet doors and hardware, and started sanding. We painted well into the wee hours of the morning. We were having a great time, and things were running really smoothly. We were excited to start again the next day.

 The next day we decided we'd really need to get the walls started and re-do the counter tops. We didn't have a sink or a counter top. so another trip to Sedalia was necessary.

We found what we needed, and it was time to start demolition. That's when things became UN-fun really fast.

Those cabinets were made solid and sturdy, we THINK by someone with a new nail gun and nothing but roofing nails. It was a nightmare. Hubby finally had to bring out the Handy Man to get the job done!



I guess this was the point where it started to get real. We were able to see exactly how much work was ahead of us, and if we hadn't already destroyed the counter top, I think we might have just forgot the whole thing.

Instead, we charged through, and my amazing husband installed his first sink and counter top all by himself, and actually did a fantastic job. With the cabinets basically done, it was time to start on the walls and floors. We laid the floor in no time, and it was so easy we thought we pretty much had things made. We started cutting boards and tin and began covering the walls.

Things moved along well, but before we knew it the weekend was over and we had forgotten to get trim, door hinges, and some other things, and we decided with all the money we saved (and with our pretty new kitchen) we wanted new appliances. So, we did what we could and put it away for another day.



Monday, September 14, 2015

Kitchen Renovation: Pre-conception

Kitchen Renovation: Pre-conception

It's official. My family is outgrowing our home. After a lot of consideration, planning, and house-hunting, we decided to just add-on to what we already have. A bedroom and two small bathrooms is what we decided, because we need the extra room and a bathroom re-do above all else.

While we were discussing all this, we started toying with the idea of re-doing the kitchen.

"One day when we get the addition paid off..."

"If we have any money left after our add-on...."

We nonchalantly rattled off "somedays" at each other every time the topic came up.

As we got closer to working on our add-on, I started looking for decorating ideas on Pinterest (because decor before the foundation is poured is totally normal, right?)

As I was looking, I saw where someone had used pallet wood to re-do a wall. I loved it. I showed it to the hubs, and we started researching what it would take to do something like that in our kitchen. We could just do it ourselves, you know, real quick-like, and give it a little update, then do cabinets down the road in the future.

Because have you seen our kitchen?

No?

Let me let you peek.
Is that shower board above the stove, or is it just really awful paneling? Either way I'm pretty sure it belongs in a bathroom...
The cabinets are solid, and very functional...but not so pretty. Someone made an attempt at the wallpaper, but even an act of God isn't getting that glue off, believe me. I tried.

I inherited this mess, mind you. I did not make it. It came with the whole husband package as-is, no warranty, no maintenance plan. Half-attempted to be fixed at some time by a former owner, and abandoned. I can't blame them. I'm not certain they didn't cement that wallpaper to the walls.

As we perused Pinterest to figure out how easily we could (or could not) apply the pallet wood, hubs mentioned a corrugated metal backsplash. Sounded interesting.

Search.

OOoooooohhhhh!

I found a corrugated metal and barn-plank wall!

That would be SUPER easy, and SUPER inexpensive, right?

Sure!

And so, our DIY Kitchen Renovation 2015 has begun.

There have been bumps along the way, most of them at 3am or with 3 children standing in the work-space screaming about 3 different things (they say bad things come in 3s right? I'm buying that), but for the most part it's gone well....and we've done it ALL! BY! OURSELVES!

So stay tuned for all the crazy shenanigans, and for the BIG REVEAL, coming soon to a blog near you.

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Together Again

Well, I took a full week off from my relationship with Facebook. It went well. I felt less stressed and much less irritated on any given day.

However, I didn't realize how deeply Facebook has rooted itself in my life (YES, I'm placing ALL THE BLAME on Facebook!).

Chloe wanted to go to the 4-H open house, but didn't have the flyer. I needed a date and time. Guess where you can find that information? Facebook.

I usually eat in town on Fridays if I'm at the shop. I wanted to see what specials were offered and make a timely decision about where to get my lunch. Yep. Facebook.

I needed to contact a friend about something business-related. Oddly I don't have her e-mail address or phone number, because who needs those when you have Facebook?!?!

Also, my husband no longer had a 'wife' on Facebook. All the pictures we shared, he no longer had access to because I post them and tag him. I could no longer access our Girl Scout page. I wasn't getting school updates. When my bff text me asking if I saw her post about missing me, or the pictures of her new house, I had to say no, I hadn't. While my life was better in some areas, it was harder in others.

After weighing the options, I decided to take Facebook back.

Don't worry, though. We had a LONG talk. I think the deactivation showed FB that I'm serious and things HAVE to change ;)  So I've un-followed some of the most negative posters. I've adjusted privacy and news feed settings. And more importantly, I've taken a week to learn that I don't NEED to know EVERYTHING about EVERYONE at EVERY minute.

I hope that we can repair our relationship and not fall back into our bad habits. Only time will tell.