Kitchen reno - progress

Day one finally came!  Kai and Steve from Moss have been our contractors on site every day, and they've been awesome.  So they got started removing cabinets, and they came down so fast!  It wasn't like the home improvement shows where everyone takes a sledgehammer and goes to town, splintering wood off in every direction - he just unscrewed them and took them down!  

So while they were working, I went into the office...and at about 2:30pm, M called...and said we had an issue and I needed to come home....

They really had worked fast!  

So the original plan called for the full wall to come out, and be rebuilt back at the edge of the door in the mudroom, to keep the mudroom space but give us at least a foot extra in the kitchen by removing the pantry.  See the corner in the photo below?  None of the 10 or so contractors we had come look at the space noticed this...that's the exterior of the house, and we can't go back any more...

So...options.  Ok, one option was to push that door out, and frame it up where the step is to make the exterior straight...that was going to come with a $5700 price tag.  Great, so...option b?

Option B was to frame out that corner, make it look more intentional in the kitchen, and rearrange the layout of the kitchen.  Luckily, since we did decide to go with Ikea cabinets, we could just load up the car that weekend, drive to Woodbridge, return them and buy new ones for the new layout.  

Cady was not pleased that she was blocked from where all of the action was.

So with plan b in place, the work continued and they started framing the wall and working on electrical.  That took a bit longer than expected - with the removal of several walls that housed lights, switches, the security panel, and phone jack, there was a lot of rearranging that needed to be done.  Plus, they had to bring the plugs up to code.

We also decided to close in the side window.  It was an odd shape compared to the others in the room, and looked right into our neighbors' back yards.  Especially in the winter with the leaves gone, it was a little too close for comfort.  Plus this way we can run cabinets along that whole wall.

We've had lots of questions from friends about this.  During the planning process, we really thought a lot about this, asked a few realtor friends, and other designers.  We also hung a thick blanket up over the window, taping the sides down to really see how it would change the light in the room.  Yes, it will be darker, but there are still 2 large windows in the space that let in lots of natural light. 

Once we passed the county electrical inspection, they could start closing the walls up and drywalling! 

Next up comes hardwood and cabinet installation! 

Previous kitchen reno posts:

Before photos

Cabinets

Kitchen reno - cabinets

While we were researching kitchen contractors and cabinet makers, we talked to and got prices from probably 10-12 different cabinet manufacturers.  It seemed like every contractor had their own cabinet makers that they preferred.  It was a very tedious process, but we felt like with scale of this project we needed to really do our due diligence and look at several different options.

In the end, we came back to one of the first ones we looked at - Ikea.  This posed a little issue with a few of the contractors that we liked - they had either never done an Ikea kitchen, or wouldn't.  Luckily one of the contractors we liked the best was fine with Ikea, so all was a go.  We waited until their semi-annual 20% off kitchen sale to begin, and went to order our kitchen!  

Luckily, we had measured and arranged, moved, removed, and rearranged so when we arrived that Saturday morning to purchase, we were completely ready to go.  Another couple sitting across from us had just started this process, and were completely overwhelmed.  I am so glad we went in with our order basically ready to go, thanks to their online planning tool.  

We also got 20% off any accessories, like drawer dividers, liners, etc.  

Once everything was in the system, they said it could be delivered the next day for $85!  No questions asked, great decision.  There were 236 pieces in our order, and it arrived by noon the next day.  

The hardest part was organizing and sorting everything.  You order every single thing individually - from doors to hinges.  It took us about 3 hours just to inventory and sort everything.  They got everything on the truck but one small piece - not bad!

We organized everything by cabinet, sorting and labeling all of the boxes.  

Cady was not impressed by our organization because it made watching TV somewhat uncomfortable.

And then the assembly process began.  Honestly, it wasn't nearly as tedious as we had expected.  The little electric screwdriver that you see M using was a life saver.   

We had quite a system - he put the box together and I nailed the back on.  Starting on a Sunday evening, we did a few each night and had them all done within a week. 

They were everywhere!  

With Ikea, we saved roughly $13,000 compared to our second choice of cabinets.  They may not be for everyone, but for us, the extra effort was well worth the difference in cost.

For the island, we went with a different company because we wanted to be able to paint it.  More on that later...

I will also say that our second choice was Brighton at Cabinet Discounters.  We worked with Katie, and if you're in the market - she was great.  

Previous kitchen reno posts:

Before photos

Kitchen renovation - before photos

As I type this, we have just finished with week 3 of our kitchen renovation.  It's a complete gut - all new cabinets, floors, lighting, appliances, and we've moved a wall back and closed a window.  After months of interviewing contractors, pouring over Pinterest and Houzz, and countless hours spent talking about options, we finally hired Moss Building and Design, and got started.

Our house is a 1960s split foyer, and in 1985 the former owners did a major addition all along the back of the house - kitchen, breakfast room, and sunroom.  And then they hadn't made any updates to it since.  We knew when we moved in that it was going to be a major reno, and probably the first big project we did.  So...here are the before photos!

Entering from the den, past the mudroom, into the kitchen

Mudroom, side door and pantry to the left as you enter the kitchen 

Photo from the original listing

Don't be jealous of the white knobs...

Photo from the original listing

 And then....in just one day, it was gone!

Anniversary weekend in Chicago

It's hard to believe M and I just celebrated our 7th anniversary together!  My goodness how time flies.

When we started thinking about what we wanted to do to celebrate, we talked about getting out of town for a weekend.  Chicago was on the list, since we hadn't been together in a few years.  When I looked at the calendar, I realized I would be there for the week before our anniversary on business, so that was the obvious choice.

M arrived on Thursday evening, and I wrapped up our events Friday morning.  Once we switched hotels and got settled, the first place we went was Eataly!  If you know anything about us, you know we plan our trips around food, and this one was no exception.

After exploring the HUGE store (is that what you call it?  Store/bar/restaurant?), we found a spot in the beer cafe in the corner and decided this would be our afternoon hangout.  We were waiting for our friends to fly in from DC to join us for the weekend.

With both the US Open and World Cup matches on, we were in a perfect location. Plus they had one of my favorite beers on tap - Dogfish's Positive Contact!  We ordered a few small plates including fried shrimp, a white bean and artichoke spread, and fried chickpeas - all were delicious!  Perfect timing, just as we finished lunch, our friends arrived!  

That evening we headed over to Restaurant Row and had small plates/appetizers at 2 of the cities hottest restaurants - Girl and the Goat and Avec.

The food at both restaurants was incredible.  At Girl and the Goat we got several appetizers: goat empanadas (you have to get something with goat!), roasted cauliflower, and hamachi crudo, among other things.  Everything was delicious, and we all tried one of their signature cocktails, which were delicious as well.  The one I ordered, Bolt Action, is made with Blenheim's ginger ale, which is made in a small town near where my dad grew up in North Carolina!  It's hard to find even here in DC, so imagine my surprise when I saw it on a menu in Chicago!

At Avec, we had a few more small plates and dessert.  Again, delicious!

Saturday morning we needed a bit of exercise, so we got up early leisurely and went for a walk around the city.  Chicago has always been one of my favorite places, and the weather over the weekend was just perfect.

Our Saturday activity was a Chicago White Sox game!  If I'm in town, it means the Cubs are out of town...it's just what happens.  So the next best thing was to head to Comiskey Field, aka US Cellular Field.  The weather could not have been any better, and we had fantastic seats.  

M even caught his first foul ball!

Apparently at this point I decided to stop taking photos, because I didn't take any more the rest of the weekend!  After the game, we were starving so we stopped by Public House back in the city for some nachos, pizza, beer and soccer.  That evening we headed up north a bit, just north of the Lake View area, to the Half Acre Brewery.  The boys wanted to try a few of their beers, so we stopped in their tap room for a bit.  We were finally hungry after that and went over to the brand new restaurant, Parachute.  It had only been open a few weeks - it's a Korean American restaurant opened by Beverly Kim and her husband Johnny Clark.  We were fans of Beverly on Top Chef, so were excited to go check out her new spot!  We tried a bunch of different things, but the bi bim bop was by far my favorite!

Sunday morning we went for another walk, and then back to restaurant row for brunch at Little Goat, the diner connected to Girl and the Goat.  It was absolutely packed, but we put our name on the list, got a coffee, and walked around a bit while we waited - and it was definitely worth the wait!  Everything was delicious, and it was the perfect end to our weekend in Chicago.  The boys drove us girls to the airport to head home, and they set out on their baseball adventure - they went to 3 more parks and several breweries as they made their way back to DC!

Happy anniversary honey, here's to many more!