BIG Remodel - Part One

Greg and I were having a some conversations about whether we stay at our home, fix things and try to sell or do some updates and stay.  We decided on staying and making a few changes.

Labor Day weekend, we began the process.

Here is a picture of the kitchen BEFORE:

Here is a picture of the kitchen AFTER:

The first step was to knock out the "pole" and header wall in the kitchen.  We've never been sure why it was there, unless they knocked out part of the wall previously to open up the kitchen/family room more.  The pole got in the way and I just didn't like how it looked.

Greg did the demo and then fixed the drywall on the ceiling and existing wall.  We will eventually paint all of this.

The second phase is to knock out two short dividing walls in our current living room/dining room.  I have moved furniture and removed items from those walls in preparation.  Hopefully, we'll be able to knock them out this coming weekend.

The PLAN is to remove the walls in the front rooms, reconfigure the wood floor in there (it is really old and we like it!), paint the walls and ceiling and then move our "family room" into that as one big room.  I'd like to have a built-in bookcase along the west wall.

Once we move our family room into the front room, we plan to tear up the carpet/linoleum in what is now our kitchen/den.  We plan to put down new hardwood floor, paint the ceiling and walls and add a new island with seating in the kitchen.  Additionally, we'd like to add cabinetry along the wall beside our pantry to make the kitchen area bigger and more user-friendly for our large family.  We plan to use the remaining space as our dining area.  I'd like to have our table in front of the fireplace.  Additionally, a window seat with storage under the three large windows overlooking our backyard would add seating and storage to the room for when we are entertaining guests.  The island will give me some much needed workspace/prep area for cooking and offer a few spots for the boys to sit and eat breakfast/snack or do homework.


Obviously there are several steps in this process and we've only done STEP ONE.  Doing the work ourselves saves money, but it also takes a lot longer.  I would LOVE to have this all done before Christmas, but that may be too ambitious.  I just can't wait to see the finished product!