The Big Reveal

At the end of September, Chris and I painted the walls in the baby's room, which led to a discussion about replacing the carpet in the baby's room, which led to a discussion about replacing the carpet in the entire house, which led to a discussion about replacing the kitchen flooring, which led to a discussion about replacing the kitchen cabinets, which led to this:

That's my kitchen about two weeks into a remodel project that involved:

1. Removing a wall between the kitchen and dining room;
2. Removing a load bearing wall between the dining room and living room and replacing it with a support beam inside the attic; 
3. Closing in a door that provided access to the kitchen from the carport; 
4. Adding a door that provides access to the kitchen from the laundry room and carport; 
5. Moving the dryer vent and electrical to make room for a new door in the laundry room;
6. Replacing wood paneling in the dining room with sheetrock; 
7. Adding a gas line in the kitchen to connect a gas cooktop;
8. Moving electrical and water lines to a new location for the refrigerator;
9. Replacing the cabinets, countertops, backsplash, sink, faucet, vent hood, cooktop, and microwave in the kitchen;
10. Installing a stackable washing machine and dryer in the laundry room; 
11. Replacing all flooring in the kitchen, dining room, living room, hallway, and hall closet; 
12. Wiring and installing recessed lights in the kitchen and dining room; and
13. Installing a new light fixture in the dining room.

While this list represents a thorough outline of major work done on the Sias house, it does not include the hiccups that are bound to accumulate during a remodel project.  The more serious "hiccups" started with the general contractor's failure to obtain the required permit and escalated into a battle with incompetent painters and several random holes in our new sheet rock in search of a mysterious gas leak.    

Also, note that the extensive list of work above does not include replacing the carpet in the baby's room, the impetus for our major remodel project.  After expending large amounts of energy and money on the rest of the house, Chris and I drew the line at replacing the carpet in the baby's room.  Because the baby's room was the only empty room in the house throughout our project, it became a staging and storage area for work taking place in the rest of the house.  As a result, the baby's room went through various stages that rendered any ideas of replacing the carpet utterly unthinkable:

The last bit of major work was completed on December 18, although minor touch-ups continued through December 22.  By December 24, I had almost everything back in place and had even managed to hang a few Christmas decorations.  On December 25, Chris was the recipient of a generous Christmas gift, a new TV.  By December 26, my living room was filled with dust and there were new holes in the wall to make room for wall mounts, plugs, switches, and hidden electrical wires.  Three days later, on December 30, all work was finally complete.

Are you dying to see pictures of the newly remodeled Sias house?  You are in luck because I have plenty of them.  Before I post pictures of the finished project, however, pictures of my house pre-construction are mandatory.

Looking into the kitchen from the far end of
the dining room.

The kitchen with the old door from the carport located
to the left of the stove.

Looking into the dining room from the kitchen.
Note the walls separating the two rooms, as well as
the wall on the right side of the dining room separating
the dining room and living rom.

Looking into the dining room from the kitchen.

The living room.

I could post several in-between pictures showing various stages of exposed framing and wires, half-finished cabinetry, and the like.  No one really enjoys the in-between stages, however, including the homeowners living through it.  Those weeks are weeks I would like to completely erase from my memory.  So, I'll just skip straight to the big reveal!!!!

The finished kitchen! 

No walls between the kitchen and dining room!

Looking at the dining room from the back of
the kitchen.  This flooring continues into
the living room and hall as well.

The new door leading from the laundry room
into the kitchen.  I love the little hidden cabinet
by the door!

My new light fixture and the recessed lights.
I love it!

No more walls between the kitchen, living room, and
dining room.

The living room feels soooo much bigger! 

I love that the new light fixture is visible from all three rooms!

Now that the house is back in order, I can finally focus on finishing the baby's room.  Only five more weeks, give or take an unknown amount of time, until baby Sias enters the world.