Kitchen update 2 - The electrical

And there was light!

 Pardon our mess, the can lights were installed last night and look incredible! The living room cans are set on a dimmer switch for great movie lighting!

Here again is a before of the old wiring that was inside the wall and the light that was over the sink kind of hanging free there.

They cut grooves into the studs and put plates over the wires to move around the electrical wiring from inside the old soffit and added an outlet for the over range microwave.

  

 We also had our internet hardwired in for our Playstation, where we also stream Netflix or Hulu. Also a coax jack so we don't need to drag a cord across the room just to watch TV. It was wired into the old wall we tore down and snaked up through the air intake vent. 

 Here is the kitchen with temporary bulbs in for the pendant lights whenever I find them and the wall to the right with the new switch plate for the kitchen and dining lights (remember those were on the old wall).

And another view, a shot of the corner to the entryway. I am getting excited to start building that half wall behind the TV now.

(Yes, we are watching New Girl hehe)

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Kitchen Progress Uno

Ok, here is a quick run-down of what we have today.

We started by wanting to check inside the wall we are tearing down for potential electrical issues. The cut out below is the telephone line.

(ps notice a little layout change from yesterday's post? Lots of changes to the living room to come too! 

Oh and look at that apple tree in the window full of blooms!! Love! 

The tape line on the floor was an option we were looking at to have the island face the living room, we decided it would be easier to face the dining room since the stools on the island will want to be on the hard wood floor.

Moving on, one hole became three:

Then we just gave in and tore out the whole wall (this went pretty quickly, we did this one Thursday night and one Friday night after work to pull out the upper cabinets).

Next up, we decided to remove the popcorn texture from the ceiling ourselves, it is actually a lot easier than I had initially anticipated. The prep work however, was very tedious. I did a bit of googling and found this video very helpful by Ron Hazelton . Just a quick how to for those who don't want to watch the video: Turn off all the electrical in that room, tape plastic over the walls and floor to protect from the water. I then used resin paper over the plastic on the floor for quick clean up too (you wont regret it, just scoop up all the paper and toss all of it in the trash). Use a small garden sprayer to get about a 5 square foot area damp and let sit for about 10 minutes then I used about a 3" flat scraper and start scraping!

Putting up the plastic is really hard to do alone, how does Dexter do this by himself!? (PS the aqua lanterns were prototypes for pendant lighting that I will post about in a future post).

One other frustration I had, was the plastic was too heavy and started to fall within 30 minutes of me finally getting it all up.

We did things a bit out of order, but the hubs was out most of Saturday so I did some of the  scraping earlier mention until he got home. So, then we worked on the soffits. And with that,  down came most of the insulation during that too, so we will be adding to the list to have the insulation re-blow in the attic when we finish.

Here is the living room prepped to scrape using a lighter plastic, we did use the heavy plastic on the floor instead, which worked perfectly.

Here is the wiring and plumbing that needs to get reworked from inside the old soffit (electrical to be done later):

Here is the after on the plumbing work, we used LaVahn Brothers which were wonderful. Very professional and a good price. I was also able to use a coupon from their site to get $25 off too!

We were able to get the soffits down, the popcorn removed from the kitchen, dining, and half the living room in 2 days over the weekend.

(PS more re-arranging! We have now added "Build a half wall in the corner for the TV" to the list).
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Kitchen Remodel - The plan

Finally, the plan for the kitchen remodel! (well technically we've already started, so tomorrow I will be posting a progress post)


Here is the mood board

Here are some Before pictures of the kitchen 

The wall we are removing that separates the living room from the kitchen:

And a rough layout of the before:

Here are a few to dos:

• Remove all cabinetry and order new ones in almost-white color with contrasting dark island
• Order farm sink
• Get rid of the wall between the living and kitchen to create an open floor plan
• Knock down the sofits around the kitchen
• Electrical/Lighting: The wall between the two rooms had the kitchen and dining room switch plates and two outlets that will need to be reworked. Add two pendant lights over the island, install a can light over the stove and re-work the existing light over the sink  for a pendant light. And since were at it, add a few can lights in the living room which currently does not have any ceiling lighting.
• Plumbing: move pipe that was in the north wall sofit
• Scrape the popcorn off the ceiling in the kitchen, dining, living, and the hallway to the bedrooms and bathroom and the bathroom ceiling, repair drywall, add a knock down ceiling and repair old light fixture holes.
• Remove the carpet in the dining room, add engineered hard wood in a dark walnut through kitchen and dining rooms.
• Install new cabinetry, cut out insert for farm sink
• Order granite with "antique" finish which is a more matte finish, not as shiny as you typically see on granite
• Order back splash tile, I fell in love with this Beveled Arabesque Tile
• Update kitchen window trim, add decorative molding around all three rooms
• Stainless Steel appliances, over the range microwave instead of using a counter top microwave to add more counter space.

Here is a rough drawing of the after for the kitchen. 
 And here is a sneak peek of the progress today, more to come tomorrow!

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Bag

I am in love with The Cambridge Satchel Company!

As I shop around, I have found a few less spendy alternatives!

Steven By Steve Madden $78 at Nordstrom:

Target Xhilaration:

Old Navy $9.99 I might get a little DIY on this one and paint it!

Any spendy finds you're trying to DIY or find similar?

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2012!

Happy 2012

First off, this is a long all text post but as the year ends I find it refreshing to get it all out in writing.

I read a few articles recently. Start the year of with this article called “Screw the New Year’s Resolution – Try Designing Your career” and this article about "7 Questions to ask when you’re not sure who you’re becoming" that I found very inspiring.

To start off there are some things in my life that I would like to maintain, but improve on: 

- Exercise 3+ days a week. Since last April I have been working out 30-60 minutes, 5 days a week during my lunch hour with co-workers. I lost 20lbs and have never felt better in my own skin! My group is moving to the ‘burbs this spring which will eliminate our opportunity to any similar classes at the YMCA near our new location.

- Which leads into my next, I would really love to continue working downtown. I love the vibe, activities, and the commute is traffic-free by taking the uber convenient bus. I also have a better opportunity to read my silly novels I love. This means if my group is moving I need to make a decision to either look at other opportunities within my company or branch out.

- Be creative! I (guiltily admit) that I love when I have made my own clothing/accessory/etc. and people gush over it. Take a few fashion sewing classes to get the structural issues I have been fighting with out of the way. Also, take a photo a day to get better at taking pictures. Which leads into the next...

- Blog more, now that I have a camera (thanks love!) I have zero excuses to put it off.

- Continue getting through school, these past 6 months have been a struggle. A lot of things were changing professionally and I am struggling through a lot of things personally. School was the easiest thing for me to drop.

- Continue working on my novel, even if I never plan on publishing it. I really enjoy writing it.

What do you think? What are some of your goals this year?

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