And So it Begins

After years of talking and planning, it's finally happening.  Our kitchen is 20 years old and in need of some remodeling and updating.  The countertop is chipped in places and has been repaired several times.  One thing led to another and we are pretty much re-doing everything:  new floor tile, new countertop, painting the cupboards, painting the walls, new window treatments, etc. 

 

On Tuesday morning, I was feeling overwhelmed by all the decisions that needed to be made in the middle of a lot of mess.  College kids are home on spring break, so we hired a young man to start sanding our cabinets.  He worked all day Monday and Tuesday.  Wow, do I have a lot of cabinets!  He was able to do most of the sanding in Andy's workshop/old garage, but there was still some work that had to be done in the kitchen.  He emptied out all my cabinets and drawers and covered the stuff to keep the dust off but it was still a mess.  But -- now the cabinets are prepped and ready - one big job done.  

 

Because of all the work going on, I felt I needed to get out of the house on Tuesday.  So I called my friend who is doing interior decor work and we went shopping!  She was such a big help and we made our decisions on floor tile, countertop, back splash tile and paint colors for the cabinets and walls - a very productive day!  

 

On top of that, I was able to clean up most of the dust in the kitchen (still need to get the rest of the house), and re-organize the cabinets and drawers.  One good thing out of this:  I have so many cookbooks I'm going to try to sell on ebay.  I may even make some money from this project - ha! - probably peanuts compared to how much we're spending!

Meanwhile, we also have been working on our dining room.  We painted it and moved the table down more to the end of the room instead of right in the center.  That makes a little more room closer to the book cases to add a little sitting area.  Andy had expressed a desire to have a place to go to read that wasn't in the living room with the tv as a temptation.  So this works well.  These chairs are VERY comfortable.

 

We are still looking for a lamp between the chairs, not sure if it will be a floor lamp or a small table with a lamp. But progress is being made.