Construction zone update, part 3....

Hi Everyone!  I know it's been a while but my nephew Quinton has been here for the last three weeks visiting so between spending time with him, working on orders, going to work and working on my kitchen, there just hasn't been enough time to do everything.  But I thought you'd like to see a couple of pictures of my kitchen shortly after I moved in back in 2004.  I tried to find some older pictures but none of them showed enough of the kitchen to get a good look at how it used to look.

 The stove was replaced in 2004 as was the wall paper border.

In this picture, back in 2004, I was in the process of removing the doors so I could paint them.  These cabinets were built and installed by my grandfather and his brother, they are built ins so I decided not to remove them.  I was afraid that the plaster walls behind them would crumble and I couldn't imagine the cost of replacing all those cabinets.  

I had my parents out this past weekend to see what I'd gotten done so far (I wanted them to be the first to see it) and now I can share that with you!....

..........And now for a look at what I've gotten done so far in the kitchen...........

So this is part of what I've been working on for the last five months.  I'm happy with how things are shaping up and so were my parents.  There's still a lot to do, but at least it's almost completely functional...the stove still needs to be hooked up.

I painted the cabinets (they had been red) and I cut out the bottom shelf of the right bottom cabinet to make room for the stove.   I still need to install the back splash, clean the chimney brick and replace the ceiling fan.

 I also need to finish the floor at the threshold, add supports and a narrow shelf under the cabinet that I shortened and remove the metal of the old back door that I replaced.  And then I can hook up the stove.

 I need to paint the divider next to the dishwasher and install the kick board under the cabinets and the tip out trays at the sink to hold scrubbers  (where fronts are missing at the sink).  I also need to cut down, paint and install the shutters that are sitting at the window above the sink.

I created the island.  The top is butcher block and the legs were created from half newel posts and the cabinet was saved from the landfill last year by my cousin's wife.  I still have some work to do on it.  The drawers need rebuilt/reinforced and the two doors (the large middle section) will be converted to drawers.  I need to build doors for the tall cabinet and shutters for the windows.  I need to paint the trim (the baseboards were painted before I installed the floor).

I'm picking up the new bar stools later today and I can hardly wait for them!

 The cabinet next to the back door is the pantry cupboard.  My nephew and I built it one afternoon while he was here.  I still need to paint the interior and build the door for it.

More trim and the door going upstairs need to be painted and maybe next year I can replace the old frig!  The doorway (left side of the picture) leads into the laundry room (which was the pantry).

One of my favorite things...the laundry room!  No more going to the basement to do the laundry!  I still need to paint the base cabinet that is between the dryer and the washer, paint and install the upper cabinets.

And I need to paint above the cabinets on the north wall and finish the trim in this room.

I still need to move all of my kitchen items back in and put knobs and pulls on the cabinets and drawers.  And I need to put in all the pretty stuff.  But I'm really happy with how things are turning out...and I'll eventually get all of these things completed.  I still have a lot of work to do in the bathroom and I'll show you that once I get some pictures taken of where I'm at now.  But that's a look at some of the things I've been up to for the last five months.  Thanks for stopping by!

Linking to:
http://www.myrepurposedlife.com/2014/07/catch-as-catch-can-172.html

Construction zone, part 2...

Hi Everyone!  I'm back for a little update.  The bad news is I'm still living in the middle of a construction zone.  But the good news is I'm getting closer to being done.  I can actually see a light at the end of the tunnel.  Part of the reason I haven't shared more in progress posts is that I didn't want to post anything here that I hadn't shared with my mom first.  And I wasn't ready to show her anything until this last week.  She hasn't been to the house to see it in person yet, but she has seen a lot of pictures.

One of the reasons it has taken so long is that I ended up removing the wall panels from the kitchen walls that my grandpa had put up (but were very ugly) then removing the layers of wall paper, repairing a couple of bad spots of the plaster and then applying new mud to the walls to give the walls texture.

I hadn't planned on doing this to all the walls in the kitchen right now.  Originally I was just going to remove the panels from the west wall and come back this winter to do the other walls, but I ended up doing them all at once.  It's been a long month working on the walls, but they look great and I'm so happy with how they turned out.

 Once the walls in the kitchen were primed and painted, I focused on the floor.  The carpet had been removed but in the process, a couple of the tiles pulled up since the carpet had been glued to the tiles.  I repaired the floors....I probably should have put new sub flooring, but I decided not to.  And I really like the floor.  I put the same floor down in the bathroom and laundry room as I did in the kitchen.  I like it so well that I'm going to put it down in the small living room too.

The base cabinets, counter top, sink and faucet have all been set and I now have water in the kitchen!  It only took just over two and half months but it was so worth the wait.  And I even have a small dishwasher although I haven't used it yet.  I installed an apartment size dishwasher to fit the space by the sink.  This house has never had a dishwasher.  I still have work to do on the exposed brick and the wall behind the stove (the stove is still not hooked up yet) and the back splash by the sink.  I also have to put the second coat of paint on the base cabinets.  But it's coming along.

I also started work on the island using the buffet that my cousin rescued from the garbage last year as the base.  I'm reworking the drawers and converting the doors into pull out drawers with self closing glides.  I also need to finish the cabinet I started building to house pretty dishes and hide small appliances.  And then I need to build the cabinet that will become the food pantry.  And there's a list of other projects that need to be done and trim that needs to be either installed or painted.

Once I'm done with the kitchen, I'll go back and finish the laundry room cabinets and the very long list of things in the bathroom.  Still no sink in there but it's because I need to work on the built in cabinet that my grandfather built that I have to finish the bottom half of where the tub had been.  And since I don't want to install the sink, then uninstall it to work on the built it and then install it again, I'm just going without a sink for now.

And during all of this construction, I've been working on lots of orders.  I'm getting closer to the end and to being able to show you everything that I've been doing.  Next time I'll show you some of the before pictures....back when it was my grandparents home.  Thanks for stopping by.