**Yes, our blog is still under construction. I won't bore you with the details, but Wix (the platform we've been hosting our blog on) has been melting down and not allowing me to upload blogs so we started using Blogger but it's missing the "email notification" feature that Wix had, so we are trying out some workarounds. Until then, we are trying to make due, sorry for the workarounds!** Anyway, back to the good stuff. Last week we took the week off from blogging, not because we weren't working on the house (let's be real, we're ALWAYS working on the house), but because the work isn't really exciting. Yes, the CHANGES are exciting, but the process is all tiny details, small fixes, and layers and layers of paint. But, Scott has finally deemed the kitchen ceiling finished! Let's take a walk down memory lane to see the transformation, shall we? Here was the ceiling with the soffit (bulkhead? I still don't know). Originally the ceiling h...
Doo de do doo, doo de do do doo (me, humming the tune of "the final countdown").
I can't help it, I'm positively giddy! It took us 12 blog posts over about 4 months, but we are here: the final (lower) cabinet is done! Yes, yes, I know we still have the pantry and the uppers, but for just a brief moment I'm basking in the glow of a completed step!
This week something magical happened that we didn't think would happen for a long time and that made this joy possible: we found our paint!
More accurately, Scott found our paint at a contractor's location of Sherwin Williams and they saved a gallon for us. He said when the clerk brought it out he held it triumphantly in the air. I think he understood our struggle!
New paint in hand, we were able to paint the final cabinet door for the lazy susan. Three coats on each side later, with sanding in between, and our door was ready to be assembled and hung!
One thing we haven't talked much about is handle/knob/pull choices and placement. If you've never gone through a kitchen renovation you may not realize just how many choices need to be made: cabinet color and style, cabinet features (like pull-outs), countertops, backsplash, finishes, and *pulls*. I was not at all prepared to make so many decisions. I get decision paralysis, afraid I'll make the wrong decision, especially on the big stuff. For our handles/pulls/knobs that decision was made with function over form. We bought two sizes of pulls and one size of knob. You can see in the photos above we used the knobs for the pullout, and while the lazy susan cabinet is really similar in size, how you open it is different, making the pull the right choice. I read blogs and articles about what you "should" have, or "should" do in the kitchen and tried to follow those guidelines, but in the end, we need our kitchen to be functional; "pretty" is just the happy side-effect.
Once the final cabinet was done Scott broke out his "demo-stache" to take on the ceiling:
As you can see, the ceiling was only about a foot above Scott's head thanks to the bulkhead (soffit? I really don't know the difference) that ran around the perimeter of the kitchen.
When we moved in there were florescent lights in the middle of the bulkhead with plastic panels to diffuse the light, but the panels were yellowed and broken so we took them down, leaving us an insane-looking, unfinished, duct-taped ceiling.
Scott started by cutting and removing the drywall from the inside of the bulkhead. It was a super messy job with all of the blown-in insulation falling down with every piece we removed.
After the drywall was off we took down the 2x4s that created the structure.
We also had to cut the drywall at the top corner of the ceiling because originally the wall was one foot closer to the kitchen, and when we moved it back it created a weird little jog. Scott removed the drywall and framed our a new corner a little further right of the corner, evening out the ceiling.
Once we had the bulkheads down we had to assess the wiring situation. Some of the electrical lines were ran through the bulkhead so my dad came and helped Scott sort it out.
We also had to cut the ductwork to sit at the new height of the ceiling.
We (mostly Scott) got the drywall up on the ceiling to stop losing insulation, but haven't finished the walls yet. I actually think it's sort of neat to see where the bulkhead was versus where the ceiling is now. We have a whole extra foot of height to work with.
Check out this before-and-mid-reno:
Seeing that second photos reaffirms that moving the fridge (which used to be where those two skinny, high cabinets are in the first pic), and pushing that wall back 1 foot (where the new drywall is) were absolutely the right moves to give us both more counterspace and a place for a floor-to-ceiling pantry.
We'll be taking the next week off to spend Christmas (and Scott's bday!) with his mom and my family, but we'll be back at it soon!
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