Chapter 3: Construction
A kitchen remodel
Not landscape-related, but we remodeled our kitchen and we project managed and designed it. The process may feel familiar to you, and who doesn’t love a good HGTV-ish moment? We’re going to go through the process over the next month, so stay tuned!
Construction isn’t fun
I haven’t met anyone who enjoys having their home become a construction site. Our house is less than 2,000 SF and this remodel would affect everything but the bedrooms as the floor tiles we were changing out go through the whole house. We gave it one month and ended up moving into an airbnb for that period. My husband and I did the project managing: He was in charge of schedule and contractors, and I was in charge of design, drawings and sketches to convey said design, and coordinating material deliveries. It was a very stressful month. We ran into a few hiccups along the way (countertops delayed 1+ weeks, no ducting room available in the soffit for the stove fan exhaust, the dance of constant contractors working around each other).
Week One
Demo was the most shocking because it was the biggest change in the shortest amount of time. One minute you have a functional house and the next it looks like a dumpster fire. Well, there’s no going back now, I thought. Electrical and plumbing came in to prep and the space was a dust bowl. I’m very glad we moved out for a month because it was a MESS. We’re not sticklers on cleanliness (that’s probably why we camp with kids) but this was another level. We planned on ducting the stove hood through the soffit and out the wall, but after pulling off the drywall, we realized there wasn’t enough room. Either we could add a few thousand dollars and time to go through the soffit and connect it to the roof, or use the ductless option our selected hood offered that has a charcoal filter and circulates through that. We decided to go that route especially since our stove was going to be induction (less fumes and burning). It wasn’t ideal, but we didn’t want to stay in this level of hell for an even longer stint.
Week Two
The existing layout of the windows captured quite a bit of water splash from the sink and they were so big that they were hard to open. When we decided on smaller windows, we knew we’d need a few electrical outlets along the wall (so figured we’d set the windows above) and thought it would be nice to have a complete row of tile instead of cutting them. This was my biggest regret. They’re way too small. When they went in, it was a rude awakening to the impact of quick decisions. We should have made them 6” longer. The worst part of the week was that our drywall/mud guy fell through, so we spent a few late nights cutting drywall. I don’t know if you’ve ever cut drywall, but it’s awful. I’m the person who looks at a recipe and eyeballs what a tablespoon of oil looks like. I am not the person to meticulously cut a giant thick sheet of drywall sized perfectly for the area. At least I know I didn’t miss my calling.
Week Three
Things finally started to define the space. The cabinets were built and installed: it finally felt like a kitchen! We decided to bump the fireplace out a bit to give it definition, and decided the size based on the mosaic tile I chose. The stove was delivered and the end felt near.
Week Four
Watching the tile go up was one of my favorite parts. I am so happy with the tile we chose and I’m glad I went with a brick pattern. To save a bit of money, we ended up purchasing the island legs unfinished online and I stained them. Honestly, they didn’t end up looking fantastic, but they’re so dark you don’t really notice. Once the countertop showed up, I was ready to be done. We decided to go a bit modern with a thicker slab (also it wouldn’t need a plywood support on the island) and it really is beautiful. Remember those dinky little windows I miscalculated? We were originally going to have the tile wrap the sill, but I wanted to make the size look intentional. I decided I wanted them to look like shelves. Our first thought was to use extra countertop material which I think would’ve been really nice, but because of the delay in delivery, it just wasn’t going to happen if we wanted to keep any semblance of a schedule. The original design was to use wood as a transition between the tile and the wall, so we used the same finish and made the sill wood.
Week Five…?
so… we didn’t finish in four weeks. But man were we close! We ended up moving back in and worked around the chaos once the floors went in. Remember the wood molding to the tile I had designed? It finally went in and it’s one of my favorite little elements. I think it adds so much character in a subtle way. The floating shelves were installed, the sinks became functional, the appliances went in, and we were DONE.
Stay tuned for the final reveal and takeaways!
