And... we're spent!

We gave ourselves a deadline. Sydney had her birthday party Friday night and I didn't want to have it with our pantry spread around like it was. So Friday night it would be. The part we were waiting for finally arrived and Larry was able to finish the floor Thursday night. Then Friday we completed the pantry and loaded it all back in just in time for friends to arrive. It's done. It's finished. And we LOVE it! I am so grateful for Larry's hard work- it turned out better than we imagined!

The Kitchen.

Said part. (Grrrr!) But looks awesome!

Another view of the kitchen.

To the pantry: Like I have mentioned, this entire project began with wanting a new pantry. The cheap wire shelving was sagging and could hardly hold 12 cans. I pictured more of a butler's pantry: counter tops, deep solid shelves stocked with food galore, and under-counter storage for the one-year supply. Fast forward- I'm getting what I want but I'm still trying to pinch the pennies. So instead of the 12' solid butcher block, we opted for a less-expensive version. Home Depot carries 2'x4' butcher block table tops. We purchased 3 of them and Larry pieced them to form our counter top. Again, I envisioned a dark stained counter with the white shelving. Sample after sample of stain just wasn't cutting it. So I purchased some new stain and made another attempt- BINGO! Now to get the seems even. Thursday I decided to take this on myself or we wouldn't meet the deadline. So I got out the belt sander and went to work. Needless to say, the belt sander being a powerful tool, took a little too much wood off in some places and not enough in others. What was I going to do?! Distress it, that's what. So I googled distressing and was reminded of what I've seen many times on my home shows. I hammered my counter. I beat it with a bag full of nuts and bolts. I put some nails in the end of a piece of scrap wood and pounded away at it, too. All in all, I think it turned out pretty darn good. Yes, I can still see the seems, but I love it. Larry was pleased when he came home as well. It could have been the VOC's talking- there were an awful lot of fumes in that tiny pantry! And did I mention that he put power in the counter??!! Yes, my super husband spend a good day under the house and in the attic to bring power to my pantry just because I wanted it. Now our microwave plugs right in without the unsightly extension cord running behind the door and into the kitchen! Yeah! We are both very happy with the end result. I still have to hit the grocery stores to stock these bad boys, but it's finished and so are we! (until we find the baseboards we want.... and wrap the windows and door... wait, that would mean new doors, too...)

The pantry counter top.

A closer view of the distressing.

Plenty of under-counter storage room- here come the buckets!

My new pantry in all it's glory!

It's Coming Along...

Total chaos. That is what our house has been in since we started this project (*see previous construction post). But we are getting there. I should say, Larry is getting there. I just cheerfully encourage from the sidelines. But I am anxious to show off his good work. It is looking so good, I can hardly remember that old yucky carpet! I thought I'd get a few pics up of the process before he finishes- tomorrow! Or at least I hope tomorrow since Syd's birthday party is tomorrow night! The part we've been waiting for to finish finally arrived yesterday (I don't think 'overnight' means what they think it means!) So here goes- please let Larry know what an amazing job he's doing! And we'll have you all over as soon as our dining/living rooms no longer serve as an oversized pantry!
The is the kitchen unloaded in the family room.
The is that oversized pantry I mentioned!

The is the kitchen almost done.

This is the pantry with the floor torn out and the walls freshly painted (my humble contribution!)

The is the kitchen floor. The part we were waiting for is the connecting strip for where the floor meets the carpet.

This is the flooring we chose- Dream Home flooring, St. James Collection, Westminster Rosewood. Love it!

And here it is again.

A longer view of some finished floor.

The office was finished first.

My new faucet. It took 2 of us a long time to pick it out. But thanks to the Home Depot customer-friendly ladder, we could test it out on the display!

The gorgeous new vanity. Again, on display at Home Depot up on a top shelf was a difficult place to try out faucets for size- but well worth the effort, don't you think?

Our finished bathroom. Well, we will be waiting a little while for baseboards, but finished enough for me!

Seeing as this project started with a backsplash and pantry redo, we are pretty happy with the results. On tv, all the projects go over time and budget, right? Our house needed it. In a few days we will have all the rooms back to normal and all of the construction will be completed. We will get to sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labors! Thanks, Larry, for working so hard to get this done! I hope you know how much I appreciate it! (Now we have to start talking about wrapped windows!)

Construction update:

No pictures... yet.
What started as a simple project has blossomed into an entirely monopolizing entity.

I wanted a bead board backsplash. Tons of work. But check.

I wanted real shelves in my pantry. You know, the sturdy kind that can actually hold more than 3 cans of beans before they bow and sag? No check.

But I can't have the pantry shelving until the floor is done because eventually we would change the floor of the kitchen and it would have to flow into the pantry. Of course.

When I can't find a tile that I love (and am willing to pay for!) I would naturally choose a beautiful hardwood laminate. Of course. But since we would someday want the entire downstairs to be the same wood floor, we couldn't do just the kitchen and pantry. You would see a seam when we added on later. No. You can't have that. So we have to start in the office- removing EVERYTHING that has not been moved since we moved in 7 years ago. Not so bad. But then on to the living room. Darn that linoleum and it's horrific underlayment! I didn't realize they made staples that long! But we made it. I should say Larry made it. But I did stand by with encouraging words. Then the living room furniture could be put back (with felt padded feet, of course) so that we could, then, empty the dining room. But we got through that. Which leads right into the bathroom next. The toilet and sink need to be removed, right? But we can't just put them back. No, not the Jensen's. We have to purchase a new vanity and sink that I fell in love with at Home Depot on one of our many visits there weeks ago. If we're going to have the sink ripped out- why not put in the pretty wood vanity now? Exactly.

Now this is where we all get worn out. We have finally made it back to the kitchen. I convince Larry, luckily, that we could use some help to rip up the linoleum/underlayment. (That is after I pulled up said floor in the bathroom all by myself- it felt good to finally contribute.) So Dion came over last night and from 6-9pm he and Larry shoveled, hammered, scraped, chiseled, pounded, crow-barred (is that a word?) and tossed the entire kitchen/pantry floor. Bless them! It would have taken us a couple of days without Dion's help- thank you, Dion!

Note to parents: with Dion here, a certain other teenager seems to work pretty hard, too.

After all was done, I swept, pulled staples, shoveled scraps, vacuumed, vacuumed and vacuumed some more. I'm amazed at the amount of dust that has softly covered each and every surface of my entire downstairs! Now my frig is halfway in the family room- but still plugged in. My pantry items are on the kitchen table which is sitting in the living room. Many pantry items are also covering the dining room table, as well as the kitchen chairs. The family room is also housing several small appliances, casserole dishes, buckets of flour and rice, and, I believe, the potatoes and onions. I couldn't tell you where to find anything this morning. Thus, the desire to wake Porter, quickly dress him and leave! Construction zones are not suitable for 2 year olds.

But it won't be permanent, I know. Larry is determined to finish, and finish soon. I so appreciate all of his hard work. There isn't much we can all do but cheer him on and sweep up afterwards. It is looking beautiful so far. What a difference new flooring makes. Would we do an entire floor again? Perhaps not. Unless we weren't living there! But will we be grateful and happy when it is done and I can swiffer my way from the front to back door? Absolutely.

So if the Jensen's haven't been patient on the phone or available in any other way- please forgive us. We will be back to ourselves soon enough. Because after the floor we only have to paint the pantry, build the shelves and probably replace the unmatching baseboards. Wait. Then the door trim won't match either. Hmmmm.... maybe someone should invite Maisyn for a playdate- she isn't keen on construction projects!