Kitchen/Dining Room Reno

Hi Friends, it's been awhile...as per usual!  I have many updates so I'm actually going to split this into three posts.  The first, an update on our renovations.

Mark and I are lucky to have very talented friends and Chris K. is no exception!  Chris is an Actuary by trade (am I supposed to capitalize that?) but has done a lot of contracting work in his past.  Lucky for us Chris has some availability in his schedule right now and we've been able to snag him for some work at the cabin...yay!

March is one of Mark's busiest months at work so he has been devoting himself to the office and hasn't been able to get as much done around the cabin as he would like.  I have also been pretty busy with work this month but regardless I should not use power tools without adult supervision.  So Chris has been able to come up twice now for a few days each time to help move along our upstairs renovations.  Here's what we've done so far:

• Finally, finally, finally tore out the remaining parts of that weird octagon island in the kitchen.  Mark was able to get rid of the upper cabinets early on but the base was still there as well as some weird metal rods and electrical sticking out of the ceiling....it was really cute. 

Kitchen when we moved in. 

Messy kitchen after we moved in.

Kitchen/Entryway after we moved in.

• Got rid of the vinyl flooring in the kitchen and the carpet in the dining room.  Once again we were in for another surprise under the carpet - more ugly linoleum flooring!  The cabin is like an onion....there's just one ugly layer after another!

Kitchen mid-reno.  That's Chris!

• Put down plywood to make the kitchen and dining room level.  Mark and I are pretty sure I have an inner-ear infection at all times so making sure the floor is level is key for my safety.

Bijoux is not a fan of the plywood nor the new floor.  She's sticking to the plastic!

• Started installing the crown molding!  Yes, this gets an exclamation point because that's how much I love crown molding....one might say I'm obsessed with it :)  I specifically bought our fancy miter saw just because I knew I wanted molding anywhere I could fit it.  We ended up going with pine crown molding that Chris will eventually paint white.  I didn't think I would be able to envision the finished product until it was painted but I'm already loving it!

Turns out this is a professional-grade saw....this is what happens when I buy power tools!

• Bought the cabinets for our new peninsula.  Since we got rid of the octagon we decided to build-out some cabinets on the the dining-room side of the kitchen.  This will give us more counter space, more storage space, and also create a small seating area because we're going to install a ledge on the counter to make a breakfast bar.

• Started to install the new flooring.  We went with a dark-stained, wider-plank bamboo that we're going to lay in both the kitchen and dining room.  So far it looks great but we've been rather displeased with how it's held up to moving furniture and appliances.  It's possible that we're being too hard on it so we're going to be more careful but I seriously hope that's all it is because like my grandparents always said, "that girl is like a bull in a china shop!".

Chris has really been able to move us along during this busy time but there is still a ton left to do.  The biggest project is actually going to be painting.  I'm a psycho when it comes to trim as you may have gleaned from my thoughts on crown molding.  Since all of our molding will be white I have to have all of the trim white as well.  Yes, it's a bit obsessive but it has to be done.  So that means that every doorway, window casing, door, baseboard, etc. needs to be sanded and painted and that amount of work is not lost on me since I HATE painting.  Chris has decided that the best option is to get all of the renovations done upstairs (including the bathroom, guest bedroom, and master bedroom) and move everything downstairs so he can spray everything at once.  The logistics of this task are frightening but I'm trying not to get ahead of myself.  I think the new paint is really what is going to transform the space so I'm psyched for that.

Next up is to finish installing the floor and crown molding, install the base molding, and then I'm going to tile the master bath's floor - wish us luck!!!  I'll post more photos after we paint!