Kitchen & bath, two weeks later...

I took these today. Much of the work that was done between when the last photos were taken and these was plumbing, electrical, framing, and moving ductwork, none of which makes for dramatic photos. However, drywall is now going up in the bathroom and some in the kitchen, so it's more obvious that work is moving forward.

Kitchen:

Looking down the hallway between the kitchen and the stairs to the 2nd floor, toward the front door

Facing where the ovens, stovetop and microwave used to be. The shiny duct that goes up the wall was the one that had to be moved the most, from the middle of the room to the wall.

Facing where the sink was (and will be again). I'm quite excited about all the lighting, because what we used to have cast a shadow no matter where you were working. And, I just realized from looking at these that the ceiling is in! I hadn't even seen that when I took the photos. Now I must go back and admire it in person.

Facing the dining room, where the breakfast nook used to be. The fridge will go where the drywall on the left is, and there will be a pantry cupboard between the fridge and the wall going into the dining room.

Looking down the hallway toward the back of the house. That small room was our too deep and narrow pantry but will now become a cleaning/broom closet. I need to figure out what shelving we should use, because it's still deep and narrow. At least it keeps us from getting any bigger, or we wouldn't be able to get to the back of it!

Bathroom:

The new doorway into the master bathroom. I don't think I posted a "before" pic, but this used to be an archway. It will now have a door, partly because the room is now entirely the bathroom, but also because then when Dan has to get up earlier than I do to go to work, he can turn lights on without worrying about waking me. We will be using the same door that originally went into the old bathroom area, which is why the doorway seems smaller than usual. It is.

Facing where Lynette's closet used to be. The bench does not stay, as lovely as it is.

There used to be a window here! It's actually still there, behind the drywall, and from the outside you can't even tell that it's boarded up. The guys put the blinds back up before covering it up. Hopefully they never fall or break, or we will become THAT family.

Facing the old bathroom area.

Where the shower was, and where the bathtub will go. The tub is currently sitting in our garage, so I expect it will be put in soon. I had to hurry up and choose the fixtures last week so they could know where to put everything before finishing the drywall.

Where Dan's closet used to be. The linen cabinet/built-in will go here. Dan discovered that the light switches are not wired the way we thought they should be, logically, so the electrician will be changing them. Little details like that are why I'm glad we didn't vacate the premises during the construction. We are really happy with our contractor & the workers, but there are always these things that pop up you never think of.

Bathroom demo, part 1

The kids and I were away while this was going on, so Dan did the honors.

Wall where the sink was. The blue area is a gap below the stairs to the 3rd floor.

Where the toilet and wall were, plus part of Lynette's old closet area.

Lynette's old closet.

 Close-up of the stairs and pipes.

Where all the new insulation we had blown in a few years ago, above the bathroom, was.

Kitchen demo, part 1

I started out consistently taking pictures after each day's work, then I found my sanity. Dan has picked up where I left off, so we still have a fairly good representation of how things are moving along. I'll try to keep them in the correct order, but no promises.

 First, some questionable taste in wallpaper was discovered in the kitchen:

 Then, the walls literally came down:

 Facing the breakfast nook from the kitchen

Where the fridge used to be

Where the ovens, stovetop and microwave used to be

Where the sink used to be

The BEFORE pictures, master bath

Master bath demo started a few days after the kitchen. The plan here is to make it all one big room rather than a small bathroom with a closet/dressing area. There will be a door that closes between the bedroom and bathroom area, and we are adding a tub and a 2nd sink. We will also get a fairly sizeable linen cabinet plus enclosed closet and drawer space. We are covering up the existing window, but we never used it anyway.

Bathroom:

Lynette's old closet:

Dan's old closet:

Looking from the dressing area into the bathroom:

The BEFORE pictures, kitchen

Demo on the kitchen started June 23rd. Here are the plans and "before" pictures (but after we took all the stuff out of the rooms, so they look way neater than they ever did in real life.)

The plan for the kitchen involves taking down the walls between the kitchen and breakfast nook, widening the entryways from both sides, and adding an island.

Breakfast nook:

Kitchen:

Only the dishwasher is staying; all other appliances will be replaced. Floor will be oak to match what exists in most of the rest of the house. Countertops will be quartz. Beige tile backsplash with pops of accent tiles. Cabinets going all the way to the ceiling, in natural maple, Shaker style.