I almost hate to say that the progress made on the kitchen last week is a little boring, but the walls and staircase being removed were so dramatic that drywall doesn’t seem as noteworthy.  (If you’ve missed the kitchen renovation so far, you can catch up HERE.)  But, exciting progress has been made even if it doesn’t make for flashy photos.  The crew worked on framing, drywall, skim-coating, and removing the top layer of the subfloor.  (There are two layers and one is being removed so the new hardwood floors will be flush with the old ones.)  We also had the electricians for a day and they started moving around switches and outlets. One of the most exciting things, though, is seeing the light coming into the kitchen all the way from the back of the hallway.  It’s so open now while still allowing the kitchen to be its own

Let’s go a little check-in on the kitchen!  I hope you enjoy kitchen renovation posts because you’re going to get a lot of them.  If you’ve missed any kitchen renovation posts, you can catch up HERE.  It is getting really exciting seeing all of the open space.  This space that was hacked up is so big and bright.  I want to be transparent, though, and share that the excitement is tempered a little bit by second-guessing.  Just a tiny bit.  I’m comforted by the fact that I’ve watched friends and even veteran designers go through renovations and have witnessed that a little bit of second-guessing is very normal. I’ve learned from experience and observation that you just need to push through the process until the vision fully comes to life.  Usually, those gut instincts, the research, the sketches, and the hours spent picking and planning are honest and the second-guessing

I have to be completely honest and say that doing a renovation or room makeover, sharing it online, and getting constant feedback can be a bit overwhelming.  I felt that way when I first started work on our previous Minnesota house and, at times, it was exhausting feeling like I have to explain or justify all of my choices.  Before you run away and never leave a comment again, let me say that I learned a lot through the process and it helped me grow.  I got much better at receiving feedback, taking in what was useful, and weeding out what wasn’t.  Well, it’s all useful.  Some comments made me rethink my choices and make adjustments while others made me more certain about my decisions. The other day, someone (in real life) commented that it must be hard to work on a room and get real-time comments about it.  I

The kitchen renovation was supposed to start today, but it was pushed back just one more day, and that actually suited us well.  It was a welcome delay since it gave us one more day to empty the kitchen, and Jeff and the boys had the day off from work/school.  It meant the day would be a bit more low-key for their long weekend and there wouldn’t be so many people coming and going in the kitchen while work was happening. The kitchen renovation is going to happen in two phases.  Phase one will consist of demoing the upper cabinets, soffits, and mudroom walls, and moving the staircase.  Some of the electrical work will also happen during that phase, and the new (larger) kitchen window will be installed when it arrives.  The lower cabinets, sink, and appliances will get to stay put during that first phase so we’ll have a

Yesterday, I ordered the kitchen cabinets!  Whew, that was a big check and a big thing checked off the kitchen to-do list.  Jeff hadn’t seen the cabinets I selected in person and, to his credit, he trusted me completely and didn’t even ask to see them, but I asked if he would meet me at the showroom just so he could put his hands on them and confirm that he liked them.  I trust him completely to buy our vehicles and he trusts me completely to buy our cabinets, but we both like a little reassurance on purchases that are big-ticket items.  He gave his approval, so I placed the order.  If you missed the cabinets I selected, you can see them HERE. With the cabinets set, I can now focus on some of the other elements of the kitchen.  Those have, of course, been in the periphery of my

I am so excited to share that the kitchen renovation is falling into place.  The new larger window was ordered a few weeks ago and I am ordering the cabinets early next week now that the design is nailed down.  When we were house shopping, finding a kitchen that needed renovation was at the top of my list.  I know that sounds a little odd, but our past two homes had very nice kitchens, and redoing them just to suit personal preferences would’ve been a waste of resources.  In both cases, we made cosmetic changes to the kitchens and I ended up really loving both of them.  But, with the next house, I was excited at the thought of gutting a kitchen, starting it from scratch, and making it completely my own. As a reminder, here is how the kitchen looks currently… I started drawing up ideas for this kitchen