After demo Day 1:
View from original eat-in kitchen

Where the sink used to be

All those old cabinets... doesn't look like much now!

Lovely original vinyl wallpaper, a scrap found behind the fridge!

End of demo Day 2: no more floor, half of the wall between kitchen and old DR knocked out, wall to the right between those rooms completely knocked out, entry between from living room and old DR widened

View from old eat-in kitchen to kitchen/old DR

View from old DR into old kitchen/eat-in kitchen

Fantastic isn't it a great feeling?

(just curious, what's controversial about the dw location?)

oh, and in the interest of complete documentation, here is our temporary kitchen set up in the basement.

Baby's temporary play area (I'm quite proud of this, actually!! I'm not a huge fan of the basement and was kind of worried it wouldn't work out so well.)

Baby enjoying his temporary play area. It's all one big adventure to him. And me too, I guess

Dishes must be done in our kinda gross concrete laundry tub, but that's OK. The worst thing so far was tons of dust pouring down upon the temporary kitchen and baby's play area in the basement, which I spent three hours cleaning up last night.

How exciting!

I love progress photos - keep up the good work. What's next on the schedule?

Hey there sjhockeyfan!!

Yes, it is a tremendous feeling! Even with the mess I find it very exciting and I feel incredibly lucky that we are finally able to do this.

When I first posted the drawings, several people warned me that the DW location would be terrible since it belongs in the cleanup zone and the area between the sink and range is prime prep area. I've dealt with a dishwasher on a peninsula perpendicular to the sink for a long time now, and am happy to be rid of it. also, the peninsula that is being created between the old DR and the kitchen is the perfect place to put dishes and glasses in drawers, so I couldn't really justify eating up the small peninsula with the DW. So that was the concern. I just thought I'd head off any comments about the DW location up front, letting people know that I'm aware of the fact that it's in a prep area. I'm actually hoping to do a lot of prep on the peninsula since it'll be a nice deep space.

Annkh, today the plumber moves the pipes that are above the new peninsula. Friday electrician. Monday wood floors are put in but not finished yet.

My cabinets are in and so are the counters. Yet, it will somehow still take six weeks minimum. I don't know how this is possible, but I'm sure I will find out. Hahaha.

Also be on the lookout for daily update posts. This is where I am going to document the whole project start to finish. I am SUPER SUPER SUPER excited!!!!!

How exciting for you and the little one - who is so darn cute!

You have 5' between the sink and the range and if the DW works for you being there you'll be fine. You still have 3' of prep space. You have the space for it. That is what my baking space configuration is like and it works fine.

Keep posting. and may your renos be smooth sailing.

Actually you still have 5' of prep space -- the problem isn't the loss of prep space, it's having to move out of the way to put something into or take something out of the dishwasher (I know, I had this setup two kitchens ago). The good news is, if you're prepping at the peninsula, and someone opens the dishwasher, it won't hit the back of your legs (which mine did).

Indeed. In its old location I couldn't stand in front of the sink while the dw was open. Not could I put glasses or plates away while it was open. HATE!!

Day 3: Some plumbing work. nothing too exciting. You can see the new white pipe in the left of the picture. This had to be rerouted so I could ditch the soffits and have a half wall instead of a full wall with a tiny pass-through. Today they are rerouting the supply lines you can see above the peninsula, so another not-very-exciting day, but necessary of course.

Cute little guy, how old is he? It looks like a pretty nice play area, sans dust.
The Alaskan White & cabinet combo is going to be beautiful.

Romy he's 10 months. I just love him. :) Thank god we have full time daycare though, because it would be horrible to have him around this mess. I have to get home before I pick him up so I can clean up his play area. The other night I found nails in it so I just had him play outside and eat dinner al fresco before taking him straight upstairs for bath and bedtime. Thank god it's still fairly nice outside.

Glad you like the combo of the countertop and cabinets I chose. I've worried off and on about the cabinets but I think it'll all be fine. No matter what it will be a different world that what we started with!!

Playing catchup...
Day 4, Thursday Sept 18: rerouted the supply lines to the second story.

Day 5, Friday September 19: Removed a WINDOW! It's OK, because we opened up the wall to the old dining room which will now be a breakfast nook. But still, it's really strange. Also, one of our recessed lights was installed. The rest will happen on Day 6, Monday, Sept 22.

I just love the Alaskan White counter with your beautiful white shaker door! I can't wait to see more of your kitchen!

Your baby is adorable!

Granite is beautiful!!! Can't wait for progress!!!

It looks great so far! You're going to love it! It probably won't even feel like your house for a while! Cute baby!

How exciting! Can't wait to see the finished product. And your kid is adorable!! I want to chew his cheeks!

Day 6: Lighting! And outlets.

I must say, I'm really glad I can kind of be available right now (I have a more flexible work schedule than usual right now which is why we wanted to do it this fall). Today I dropped by when electrician showed up and was super glad I could answer all of his questions since I might not have liked how things turned out otherwise (I mean they would have been OK, but now they will be exactly what I want).

Picture of filled-in window where range will go:

Picture of new lighting turned on!!!

Today is Day 7; the electrician is finishing up the outlets and wiring things like the range hood, the range, new fridge location, etc. Also stuff like the air switch for the disposal.

Tomorrow, we have the drywall guys. I think that will make a big difference in terms of dust and looks!

This post was edited by purrus on Tue, Sep 23, 14 at 13:33

Day 8, Wednesday Sept 24, drywall in but not mudded or taped:

View from living room:

From the new breakfast nook:

This looks WAY better. I'm starting to get excited!!!!

They're moving right along! Thanks for the continued updates.

Very exciting indeed! The drywall makes such a difference!

Drywall mudded and taped and today, Day 11, we are getting our unfinished wood floors in. I have no idea what's next, but I'll assume it'll take the floor guys at least two days judging from where they're at right now.

Pics to come later. :)

Floors done (well, not sanded, stained, and polyed, but the basic oak is installed)!!

(This was a picture from last night--they had 3-4 more rows to do, but finished first thing this AM in about an hour.)

And even BIGGER news: As soon as the floor people left, a truck arrived with my cabinets! They are installing the bases as I type so we can do the templating. I AM SO EXCITED I CAN HARDLY STAND IT!!!!!!!

Random closeup of super susan

Bases in, day 12

Finished pics?

Yes, we need some updates!

"When I first posted the drawings, several people warned me that the DW location would be terrible since it belongs in the cleanup zone and the area between the sink and range is prime prep area"

yep, for most of us the dw is somewhere around that area. It's when you block it that it isn't so good. I block mine - but I also live alone so I'm ok with it. I also seldom use the dw! I used it once and couldn't find my dishes for over a month!

your close up of the SS is a good one for future posting when someone says a 'susan' doesn't hold much, won't support much etc. I think some don't realize the SS is supported by a shelf and cab floor. It's not like its 'sister' from the 'olden days'.

I love it when we get a baby picture.

HELLLOOOOOOO EVERYONE! I am so excited to come back and post UPDATES! This was a thrilling, wonderful experience. (Well, doing dishes in my disgusting laundry tub was perhaps not THRILLING, but it's over now, and it truly was thrilling watching all of this take shape over the course of six weeks!)

So, here are the afters. I'm too tired for details right now and have friends coming over imminently, so ask if there's anything you want to know that I haven't already posted here or in another thread. I am so grateful to everyone here for all of your wisdom. There are many things I did that I wouldn't have done if I hadn't found this forum!!

My yearned-for coffee area, all plates, mugs, glasses are located on this little area.

Wow! It looks fantastic. What a transformation. Quick turn around too. Congratulations!

It looks great! Congratulations on a job well done. I love your stone, very pretty.

Gorgeous new renovated kitchen! I love the cabinets. I love the hardware. I love the Alaskan White Kitchen Counters. I love the new oak floors stained dark. I love the recessed lights placement. I love your super susan. I love all your drawers. I love your coffee area. I love your big window over the sink.

Please when you have time, details on the cabinet brand and color you chose as it is so perfect! Thank you for sharing.

By the way, your little baby is so cute. Your cat seemed to enjoy exploring around the new kitchen area.

The cabinets were the budget line cabs from our local very reputable kitchen place. 6 square was the name. They were not at all custom or anything. I just couldnt afford anything else but I do like them. They had limited options like no four drawer stacks, which was unfortunate, but I am really really happy with how it all turned out.