everything out including the kitchen sink

We waited as long as we could, but it was time to do away with the peninsula so we could tackle the plumbing.  That means no more kitchen sink, which makes life considerably more difficult... We knew it would be an inconvenience, but we really didn't realize how much of one. Makes you appreciate running water.

 

Peninsula. Topless.

Drywall mostly off and pony wall studs gone.  That white PVC you see is the vent, and is a large part of the problem of going from a peninsula to an island - having to bury the vent along with moving the water lines and electrical...

Cutting holes in the cabinet to pull it off the plumbing manifold.

Starting to pry up the wood flooring so we can get to the plumbing.  There's no flooring under our cabinets, meaning in our new design there's an area under the peninsula that will now be a walkway that is currently just concrete.  So we're hoping to be able to reuse the slats we're pulling up to place there.

Very carefully prying it up.  We've discovered that it's 3-ply 3/8 inch engineered hardwood (which I used to think engineered hardwood meant not real wood... but I was wrong. It can get a bad rap if made cheaply, like anything.  But ours is pretty good stuff.)  We thought we were going to have to get some replica panels made at Alamo Hardwood, but it looks like we'll be able to reuse these.

View from the bottom - we'll eventually have to peel (or scrape or sand or blast) off all that glue...

 

Beaz is so over this project... she has been for awhile.  It's cutting into her playing and cuddling time and she doesn't like all the noise and mess.

bye-bye built-in

Still playing sooooo much catch-up... our kitchen is in a completely different place now and we are seeing the light at the end of the 2-month tunnel.  It's hard for me not to skip ahead and show you how things are progressing, but I'm trying to be patient so every step gets chronicled (really more for us than for you...)

Every day we lose more of our kitchen.  It was time to tell our built-in bye-bye.  It serves as our pantry, so that meant taking everything out and finding a flat, clean surface (which is hard to find around here these days) to hold it all temporarily.  In case you don't know, I love to cook and we LOVE to eat - who am I kidding... all of you know that.  So naturally, we have a lot of food, oils, spices, etc...

I tried pulling this beast out by myself, very difficult because it's really heavy and sits below the level of the wood floor so it has to be sort of pried up and out..  Coincidentally, as I'm in the middle of this, our cabinet-makers called to say they wanted to come remeasure this space to be sure of everything before they started building the cabinet for it.  So they said they'd come the next day and take it out for me and measure.  They're so nice! 

Rudy showed up to remove the cabinet and measure.  We just thought we had a lot of tools...  he had a lot more tools at his disposal created for things like this, which made it considerably easier.

Despite all the tools, it was still quite a task and we worked really hard not to mess anything up.  I'm hoping we can reuse this piece.  I want to add framing around the unfinished built-in part so it can be a stand-alone entertainment center/bookcase of sorts that I think will go well in the office once sanded down and refinished or painted.

So we took off the face and all the doors and drawers.  We took out all the nails and staples and runners... very tedious, but I learned some new tricks of the trade.

Then once we got it out of its cubby, we laid it on its back and put the face back on and reattached the drawers.  I told him not to put the doors on because I'll have to take them off again eventually if/when we get around to refinishing it.  Again, these are all things that the Casianos don't really have to do.  We're not paying them for any demo work.  Rudy could have just peaced out once he got it out and got his measurements, but they go the extra mile to take care of you.  Plus they're pretty impressed that I'm so interested to learn and willing to get my hands dirty, which makes me feel good :)  Just another reminder that we made a good choice to go with the local guys.

Lonely little alcove... notice the dual purpose windowsill.

Our new and not-so-improved pantry.

16 years of grease

As I said before, I'm personally not a fan of over the range microwave oven hoods.  I just don't like how they block the upper space when you're standing at the stove and usually the vents aren't very strong/effective.  It served its purpose in our small galley kitchen where space was tight but now we're going to have plenty of room to spread out!!  So we decided to do away with it and put in more of a "conversation piece" exposed hood.  We'll show you that guy soon... get excited.

 This microwave can be yours for an extremely low price - check your local craigslist listing.

Check out this close-up.  The inside label said it was manufactured in 1996, hence the title "16 years of grease" that had built up in the vent and fan.  Yuck.

Nuker-no-More.

zen and the art of wallpaper removal

We're pretty much "pros" at removing wallpaper now.  Doesn't mean we dislike it any less than we did on our first bathroom project.  Everyone has their own techniques, and apparently a lot depends on how old the paper is, the type of glue that was used at the time, yada yada.  For us, the best method has proven to be using a steamer (which I borrowed from work - Thank you CE Group!) to soak the paper really well then scraping and peeling the paper layer, then the glue layer, with a scraper/your fingernails.  The glue comes off nicely when heated with the steamer then forms a lovely concrete mass under your fingernails, on the floor, in your hair, on the scraper, and everywhere else.

Enough complaining because... OUR HOUSE IS OFFICIALLY WALLPAPER FREE!!!  And no offense to any of you wallpaper lovers, but we vow to never put wallpaper in this house or any future home just so no one ever has to take it off.

We couldn't have done it without this guy... I'm almost sad our relationship has ended.

Goodbye Harvest Wheat!

Check out that sweet Bonsai Tree - it was sort of a funny Christmas present from Chris.  (There's a little lady that sells bonsai trees at a corner gas station that we pass every Sunday morning on the way to church.  Every week when we drive by, we say - Bonsai tree?  Funny thing is I almost bought him the same thing for Christmas.  We'll see how long we can keep it alive...)

the westside is popcorn-free

Hooray... half of our house is officially POPCORN FREE!

Chris was at the deer lease (we need more meat or we won't have anything to cook in our new kitchen!) and I surprised him by scraping the ceiling in the laundry room.  Yes... we are so romantic.  This is the first time I've done one room all at once.  It's a small room, but still. It felt good to knock it out in one fell swoop. So now the entry, living, kitchen/dining, and laundry are popcorn free.  The 3 bedrooms and hallway have yet to meet their popcorn-maker!  (I crack myself up...)

It's unbelievable how much popcorn can come from one tiny 6 x 10 room.

Seriously... ridiculous.

I know it's old school, but I actually really love this fixture.  I'm trying to decide what color to re-finish the base in?  Suggestions?  My stand-by is "oil rubbed bronze" but I'm thinking that may be too dark for this milk glass-looking fixture.  Polished nickel maybe?

Look at that beautiful naked ceiling! (Oh and to the left you'll see the beginning of my other little surprise project I started... extending the shelves above the cabinets and installing a dowel to hang clothes to dry.)

who wants popcorn?

Like I said, we're not big on sitting down and laying out plans.  So when we get tired of talking, we work on all the demo that needs to be done.  As you can see in the photos below, we have lovely popcorn ceilings.  We've already removed some of it - in our 2 bathrooms when we redid those rooms and then in the living room and entryway - somewhat unintentionally.  (We weren't really ready to tackle such a large space, but when Chris fell through the ceiling while installing a radiant barrier in the attic, we decided since we were patching the ceiling anyway, we may as well de-popcorn.)  If you've never done this before, consider yourself blessed.  It's such a mess.  And it gets in your lungs, mouth, eyes, and anywhere else you can imagine.  Awesome.

Cover everything up and spray it with a hose.

Let it soak a minute then make it snow!  We used a straight-edge hoe when we did the living room.  But you still have to go back over it with a paint scraper/drywall blade to clean it up.  We've learned it's better just to use a scraper the whole time.  It's a little more tedious on the front end, but when all said and done it saves time and does less damage to the drywall.

Beautiful, popcorn-free ceilings.  Still have to patch, sand, smooth, texture, paint...