Tag Archives: kitchen

Kitchen Renovation Part III: Floors, Farmhouse Sink & Window

1 Dec

We’ve been back in the house just over a week since the floors were re-finished. They turned out amazing!

Here is how it looked before we moved our furniture back in.

IMG_4031The stain color is Spiced Brown by DuraSeal.

IMG_4032We are super happy with how they turned out. It was totally worth hiring this job out, staining floors is extremely difficult. We tried in our last house and it ended BAD including a burned down trash can (staining rags can and will spontaneously combust).

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We also changed out our wall registers with these wood floor ones which they stained in place. They blend in beautifully. Also a little tip is to spray paint the duct work flat black so that you don’t see the the shiny silver ductwork through your registers.IMG_4035The color also looks great with the new cabinets.IMG_4059Next up, Ben installed the new kitchen window (from Studio 41 to match the rest of our windows).IMG_4041Here it is along with our new Rohl farmhouse sink. We had this same one in our old house and loved it so much!

IMG_4066That faucet is a stand in (leftover from one of Ben’s job sites) until we get our countertops installed. We also plan to run the backsplash all the way up and around the window, so there is no casing yet.

Ben also installed the pantry door (including a cat door so Mia can eat her food without Doc stealing it every day) and he is actually working on shelving it out as we speak.

IMG_4051So there is still a lot to do in here, but it is completely functional (minus the dishwasher which isn’t hooked up yet).

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The plumber also fitted out our new addition so the laundry is now all hooked up!

IMG_4060We’re hoping to get the kitchen and downstairs addition finalized in the next 4 weeks. Which would give us about 5 weeks before baby arrives.

Now off to decorate the Christmas tree and bake cookies. I’ll be sure to share it on the blog!

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Creating an Open Floor Plan

1 Apr

Time to show you how we took down the main structural wall separating our living room and kitchen to create an open floor plan. I’ll preface this by saying, “Don’t try this at home.” My husband Ben is a professional contractor. We also consulted a structural engineer who told us what was needed to support the house.

living room wall removed

The engineer told us if we wanted to remove the wall we either needed a column (boo) or a header. We went with a header which had to be 26 foot long, 8.5″ wide and 18″ deep. It’s massive. A whopping 1,200 pounds. Which isn’t a big problem for new construction, but getting it into an existing house was quite the feat.

Luckily, Ben had the help of his friend Lee (we owe you, man!) Ben and Lee used the bobcat to lift it onto furniture dollies, and then used ramps to get it into the house. Next, they built walls on both sides of the existing wall that was to be removed.

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The walls would take the weight of the house once the existing structural wall was gone. They covered the new walls with plastic to protect the rest of the house from dust. Then demo began.

To get the mammoth header into place, they used jacks and a block and tackle to slowly inch it upwards to the ceiling.

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Look at that smile…photo 4-4Next came special made brackets and putting the posts into place. Finally, they took the temporary walls down and it was done!

After that, Ben patched the holes in the floor where the wall was. We also had the HVAC guy come out to re-route the ducts that were once in the wall.

So without further ado, here are some after pictures. It still looks crazy because there are holes in the ceiling, the posts and beam are bare, and the floors don’t match. Plus the kitchen isn’t remodeled. But you get the idea…

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This is the view from the stairs:IMG_2821The buffet we have there represents where the future island/peninsula will be. So image it twice as deep with stools and pendant lights above. Plus we decided to make it 2-tier so you can’t look right into the kitchen at your dirty dishes from the couch.

Here’s the view from inside the kitchen:

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From the front door:IMG_2802

We also rearranged the furniture in the living room so the 3-seater couch faces the TV and fireplace. So much better! IMG_2800

The next step is covering the beam in barn wood and creating some fake beams to go perpendicular to it in the living room. Plus adding can lights to them since there are no overheard lights in there. Then drywall. We also want to overhaul the built ins around the fireplace so they are cabinets on the bottom and then shelves extending to the ceiling.

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Savvy readers may also have noticed the new French doors in the dining room. I’ll be back with another post on those next.

What do you think? Aren’t Ben and Lee amazing? Can you envision it all finished with a beautiful open kitchen? We can, and seriously can’t wait.

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