In case you need a refresher, here’s what the kitchen looked like when we started.
Here’s what it looks like today.
It’s still a hot mess–these pictures are probably only exciting to me–but you can see some definite progress.
When David tore out the dropped ceiling the room felt much bigger already. Even with insulation raining down on us, we felt like we could breathe better in there. He had to move some plumbing, wiring, and ducting before we could close things up, so we lived with an open ceiling for a couple weeks. Some of it–like putting in recessed can lights where the fluorescent light used to be–wasn’t too hard. Some of it–like figuring out where to reroute the AC vents–was a little more tricky. He’s an engineer, though. He’s good at solving problems.
(By the way, I’ve probably said this before, but all you single folks out there should really consider marrying engineers. The way their brains work is completely bizarre, and they will probably drive you nuts sometimes because you just don’t understand each other, but if you can be patient with each other and learn to communicate well, they make brilliant spouses. I highly recommend them.)
(Also by the way, none of those paint chips is the actual color we’ll be using, but they give you a good sense of where we’re headed with wall colors.)
Anyway, he did what he needed to do and then we attempted to install the drywall. Except I’m a wuss and couldn’t hold it steady enough for him to screw it in. In my defense, that stuff is unwieldy as all get out. So then he built himself a “scaffold.”
And I about died. Remember that thing I said about engineers and their bizarre brains? Yeah…that’s what this is in action. I’m just glad nobody got hurt.
Come to find out, Home Depot rents these nifty little drywall jacks so the homemade deathtrap scaffold wasn’t necessary. A few hours later we had most of a ceiling.
There are still openings for the sconces that will go over the window, and the hood duct need some trimming before we close that hole. And there were quite a few spots where the cabinetry was too firmly attached and took the drywall with it. David squared most of those off, cut patches, and I’ve been mudding and sanding them to even things out. One wall will be ready for painting soon, which means we can install cabinets soon too, and the other will hopefully get finished this weekend.
By the way, did you notice those cabinets I built in the pics above? The girls love them.
Independence Day = lots more work for us. We’d like to finish everything we can by Saturday night. We are still waiting on a few things like new tile, but there’s a lot we can complete without that.
Which reminds me: we ordered tile for our back splash. I won’t tell you how expensive it was because the total made me choke a little bit, but I will tell you that it won’t be here until August. Alas. Still, we found something we both like and it is going to be gorgeous. At least it better be because we might have to sell Mila to afford it…
(We will not actually have to sell Mila. Maybe Margot though. Which one do you think would fetch a higher price?)
You guys, this is so awesome! Way to go! (And amen on engineer-husbands…they be awesome).
Here's my question–if you put the girls up for sale, will you do it by the pound? And then who would fetch a higher sum? (That sounds a little A Modest Proposal-esque. Hmm.) Anyway, I would like to bid on one Margot, please, because I really need more cuddly baby girl in my life! (Mila is darling but let's be honest, one three-year-old is all I can handle at a time…)