Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Renovation is fun

I'm a little exhausted, but just in case you're wondering: the house renovation is underway and so far I've had plenty of headaches.

I had my heart set on laminate floor, as I was told they last forever. Something dark like this would be nice:



Pretty, right? Naturally, it's on the very top of the price range and I just can't talk myself into it. To HomeDepot I will go tomorrow. They have a lot of choices in the $2.99 per square foot range, and I'm sure they will have something close to this one.

In the process of removing the old linoleum floor, we found this:


Under the not-so-great design of the lighter color, there is an ugly yellow old floor that they didn't bother to remove when putting in the new one. Must be a 70's original. Can you say BARF?

The base floor is a jungle of staples, and they have to be removed before the new floor can go in. I did it a while with bare hand and pliers. Not a good idea by the way:


The lighting is done, but now I'm wondering if I should move the sink to the other side of the room so the kitchen is open to the family room, thus the flow will look much nicer. In other words: flip the "L" shape horizontally. Good idea, but very bad for my wallet:


I may have to leave it as is and just have new cabinets, new counter top, and walk a few extra steps from the kitchen to the family room. We can all use some exercise, after all.

Lesson learned: Don't talk to the contractor on the kitchen layout. Had I talked to the designer at the cabinet store first I could have saved some money if I decided to move the sink. 

The biggest headache is the cabinets. I know I like dark color floor, but I have absolutely no idea what kind of cabinets to get. My first love was off white (I was aiming for an old farmhouse look), and for some reason that's the most expensive cabinets I could get. Back to square one.

I may have to settle for something Lowe's. Sigh... (no offense to Lowe's employees)

Special thanks to my little helpers who worked for free--all in the name of trying to save a few dollars. See? No low-hanging jeans here:



I foresee a sleepless night with the indecision of cabinets coming. Ideas welcome!

15 comments:

  1. It sounds like you have a career ahead of you as a general contractor. Ever see Flip That House?

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  2. Bruce - I used to watch HGTV all the time. It's one of my favorite shows! I think interior design is extremely interesting. Wish I could work as one.

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  3. You've just reminded me of why I don't do these things. Glad there are brave souls like you out there to pave the way!

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  4. I have the same linoleum you are getting rid of, but yours is in much nicer shape! Would love to do what you're doing... but afraid I don't have the patience. Good luck with it!

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  5. Betty - it started out as a simple idea: new floor and new cabinets. One thing led to another, now I have to do the whole kitchen.

    Ms. A - I can live with the light color linoleum, just not the dark yellow one. Too late to keep it now.

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  6. Is that your son working for free, with his jeans appropriately pulled up to his waist? How sweet.
    Sarah, the kitchen looks gorgeous as it is. In time, I hope you'll show more pictures. For now, good luck with all the work. Ugh.
    xoRobyn

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  7. All those staples! OMG! You should have a staple party and have everyone bring their own screw driver and pliers.
    And that mustard and brown floor has got to go!!
    I think your kitchen looks pretty good, otherwise!!
    More pics please!!

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  8. Robin - yes, that's my son who volunteered to do the floor for me. I hope his friend will show up when he said he would or we're in deep trouble!

    Judie - I tried a couple of hours until my hand hurt. We may have to put particle board down just to cover them up!

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  9. I know what a pain renovation can be but I still love it. There is something so satisfying about taking something to the next level.

    As for ideas, well you know me. I am going to say farmhouse every time. :-)

    BTW Sarah....your comments over at Butts and Ashes have been hysterical. Love it!

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  10. Marla - it's actually not bad except my aching body and all the compromises I had to make. I pray it will come out OK.

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  11. No wax model! He really is dead, and hanging there for all the patrons to see!
    We are having our master bath remodeled because it dates back to the early nineties. It was a real battle in the beginning to get Rod to agree to this, but now he is gung ho! Wish me luck! In a couple of weeks we will be sleeping in the guest room, which I updated along with the guest bath, while he was in NOLA. Thank goodness I had Keil to help me! If you ever need an escape, you can always come here after the remodel is finished.
    xoxo

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  12. Stumbled across your blog, i found it interesting
    partly because i got my house renovated too and then i had termites anyway this post is great.
    Check out mines http://www.funny2a.blogspot.com

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  13. Sarah, you sound completely in the 'house renovation zone.' Hope all is going well. :)

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  14. Lou - I'm blindsided by this project and can't think of anything else. I'll be so happy when this is over--maybe.

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  15. I wish I had your motivation. Last summer hubby and I did one room. That's it. One. And it was a bathroom. Had to strip the wallpaper which of course had a difference of opinion in coming off the walls. Then, had to decide on paint color, decorations, etc. After that, I figured out ... this is NOT a career choice in my life ... EVER! Now, I'm figuring how long it will take me to save up enough to hire someone to do the other rooms.

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