DIY // Kitchen Remodel Update: Rock N' Roll

Rock n' Roll kitchen indeed...Sheetrock, that is!  There's absolutely nothing more satisfying than completing a large project, especially one that was fighting you every step of the way.  Well, we're not finished quite yet, but we are well on our way.

The kitchen was pretty good to start with.  The cabinets were relatively new and the flooring was okay.  Aside from the FOUR layers of wallpaper, we were pretty much content with it staying how it was after we upgraded the appliances to stainless steel, until we realized that the cabinet was too low above the stove for the over-the-range microwave to fit.  So, the cabinets (or cabinet) would have to be raised and that meant the header-thing (or soffit, if you're technical) would have to be removed.  And then the list of things we wanted to change snowballed from there.

The breakfast nook, on the other hand, needed much more work.  And on top of the stuff we had to do, there was a lot that we wanted to do, like build a bench & bookshelf in the nook.

We planned on starting the home projects during my husband's spring break thinking that a week would be more than enough time (of course it wasn't!) And then one Saturday, we decided to replace the back door.  That one small project turned into so much more.  We found dry rot on a portion of the subfloor, which caused us to investigate further...and found more in the floor joists and then more in a structural beam outside. Awesome.  These discoveries caused the little boy and I to pack up and high-tail it to my parent's house for a week, so that my husband could tear apart our house and not worry about the boy getting hurt.

That one week turned into two after we were blessed with the fixer-upper's curse...more surprises.  While my husband and his brother were taking down the drywall in the kitchen they discovered that the new window the previous owners had installed was leaking.  Then, while they were replacing the windows in the nook and taking down the wood paneling they made another discovery (one that explained a lot about our outrageous heating bills), there was no insulation in the nook's exterior walls.  Plus, there was some work to the electrical that had to be done.  More awesomeness.  Luckily, I have a hardworking husband who got down to business and put two of the three new windows in himself and had both the kitchen & the nook ready to roll when I finally returned home.

I was back on a Sunday, with five days to devote to the project while the little one spent some quality time with the husband's parents. We were quick to get the walls insulated and hang the drywall.  Man, that drywall is heavy, but I love how it instantly transforms a scary "under construction" space into something pretty much liveable.  So, this is where we're at now. 

Next up?

• Finish hanging drywall in kitchen
• Mud/sand
• Drywall texture
• Prime walls
• Paint
• Hang cabinets
• Install window trim & crown molding
• Paint cabinets
• Fun stuff (open shelving, nook benches & bookcase)

Sounds like a lot, but all I can think is...We're so close to having our kitchen back!