Kitchen renovation

For a while now, David and I have talked about wanting to remove the wall between the kitchen and dining room in our house to make a larger kitchen. We only have room for a small 4-person table in our kitchen now, so we really want a larger kitchen so we can get a larger table and be more comfortable when we have other people over. In addition, we really wanted to put in hardwood floors in the house. The carpet we have is just awful - no matter we do, the day after we clean it, it's filthy again.

So, we finally decided to bite the bullet and get some bids to start on the first part of the renovation. We were originally planning to just have the wall taken out and the hardwood floors put in, then wait until we could save some more money for the rest of the kitchen renovation, including cabinets, appliances, lights, etc. But, the kind people at the Fed decided to lower the interest rates so much that it made sense to refinance our mortgage. So, we decided to take some of our equity out during that process and just go ahead with the whole project now.

The first stage of work will take place next week while we're in Arkansas visiting the Tates. The plan is for them to come take our wall cabinets down, remove the soffits above them, take the texture off the ceiling, install recessed lights above the existing counters, tear down the wall, and install hardwood floors throughout the kitchen, living room, upper hall, stairway, and the basement entry while we're gone. Yes, that's an ambitious plan, considering we're only going to be gone for 4 days. We're trying to prepare ourselves to come home to find them still in the middle of everything, even though the contractor has promised us that the house will be "livable" when we return. I'm just worried that his definition of "livable" and my definition may not necessarily be the same!

After that stage of the work is done, we have to wait a few weeks for the cabinets to be finished. One of our friends hooked us up with a fantastic cabinetmaker who is customizing the cabinets for us. He's going to rework the cabinets so we can fit a regular range in the kitchen (as opposed to the mini-oven we have now). And, he's building a full wall pantry to more than make up for the loss of cabinet space. Once the cabinets are in, they'll install granite countertops, new appliances, and the rest of the lights. Oh - and the hideous grape wallpaper is going to go too. The finished product should look great!

So, in the next few days before we leave, we have to put away all the Christmas decorations, move everything but the big furniture out of the rooms that are getting new floors, and clear out all the kitchen wall cabinets. Should be a busy few days!

I'll be sure to post pics for you during the process.