Under Construction

Please bear with me as I revamp my blog background.  This blogging business is all new to me and I have decided I want something that's more 'me'.  So, if you happen to see that my blog has changed 10-20 times in the next few days...you'll know why!  

I got excited today when I learned to "LinkWithin".  This html/java is a new language to me, and when I finally understand it, I will be doing the happy dance!

Thanks for being patient.  ~judi ;)

Kitchen Remodel Part 2

As part of a series, here is Part 2 of The 1829 Farmhouse kitchen project.   This project was started in October 2008 and finished December 2009.  This is our journey.

Here is our carpenter removing the ugly retro pink-speckled counters, 

backsplash and end cupboards 

Our carpenter, Ed, had the toughest time pulling out the end base cupboards as they were built onto the subfloor.  He also removed the huge cast iron sink.  We were originally going to have the sink resurfaced but after some advice decided against it.  The metal trim around the edge of the sink must be carefully removed and it doesn't always go back in correctly.  

Not so bad...we were able to get a black e-granite deep & wide (reminds me of a sunday school song) sink to take its place. LOVE it! (stay tuned for those pics)

Here is the kitchen with ugly retro pink-speckled countertop and backsplash removed. 

  (can you hear the clouds parting and the angels singing?)

Th picture above was taken 12 hours before the hot water turn-off valve decided to spring a leak sometime during the night. (the rubber gasket had a pin-size hole in it)  We awoke Sunday morn to smoke alarms going off around 6am.  This was  a bit of a heart thumper to say the least.  We cleared the cobwebs out of our sleepy heads, gathered our thoughts and realized it wasn't a fire but water hissing.   We carefully opened the stairway door to find that our first floor had  been remodeled into a sauna, which wouldn't be so bad if we hadn't needed a kitchen, diningroom & livingroom!  It was like old faithful had taken up residence in our kitchen.

 

Can you see the bucket in lower left corner of pic?  It was filled with water that covered several power tools left by our carpenter.  After the clean-up company came in and dried everything out, they were still working!  Just amazing.

Steam bubbled up paint overhead near the ceiling

Needless, to say, this put our deadline back another week and right before Christmas.

But with ...

"Every adversity, failure, heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit."

~Napoleon Hill

The mess (thankfully) was covered by insurance, required that a portion of the hideous vintage linoleum flooring be removed which in turn led to our beautiful wooden floors (that were lying underneath).

This isn't the recommended way of doing things but alas we didn't have any say in this part of the remodel!

So until next post... 

Kitchen Remodel Part 1

Ok, so you've waited LONG enough for me to post about our kitchen remodel.  I will be showing you bits and pieces in a series.  I tend to be a "have to have it all together before I can show the world" kind of girl.   I've realized that it will never get posted if I wait for that moment.  It is still a work in progress, since the weather is cold, snowy and not conducive for some of the finishing work (plus the fact that we don't have an area outside the kitchen itself to cut, paint or sand).  We are about 95% done and as soon as the weather breaks, we will continue on in this journey. 

Without further ado...here are some before pics 

(Be forewarned this may not be for the weak of heart...it was U.G.L.Y)

 

As you can see the original pine cupboards were covered by many layers of paint, along with chips and drawer fronts falling apart (see the lovely screws to right of knob)  

The counters were a LOVERLY pink speckled laminate (circa 1950's) which would be fine if you were going with a retro look.  

We weren't! 

Nope..Nada.. Ain't gonna happen..

I "ignored" the countertop color for years and tried to work around them.  Fortunately, in the 80's, the country mauve & blue colors were "in" but that design element faded.  I was still left with (sigh) those dreaded pink counters!  By October of 2008, I had enough and decided that the paint had to be removed from the cupboards.  This was step one in a long process.  

The tool of choice: Back to Nature Multi Strip.

Here is the work in progress.

This was a labor intensive project but well worth the effort. 

The pine wood underneath the multiple layers of paint had a glorious patina.  

This was like uncovering buried treasure! 

I'm hoping that by posting this project, you will be encouraged to take a leap of faith and tackle a project in your own home.  

(I have received so much inspiration from the blogs that I read!)

~ judi :)