This weekend we finished with most of the destruction... another wall came down, a couple of funky looking arches and a little built in bookshelf in the corner was semi-demoed. The layout for the kitchen is figured out, and we have a clear plan of what's going where and where we are buying all this stuff... and HOW.... ha! We laid out in blue tape where our appliances and cabinets will be, and we got the back wall down to the studs (only on the inside) to be cut out for a new door to the backyard. We also started to plan the layout for the master bathroom we want to build in the unfinished attic space, but that won't be taking place for a long time... maybe next summer.

Our GC is finally back, so now we are feeling less uncertain about the sequence of steps to come.

But the really cool thing about this last weekend's work was all the help we had! We filled up an entire dumpster with all the stuff we cleared out of the garage, garden shed and the attic. There were remains of old kitchen cabinets and tons of cement chunks that we scrapped from the basement and kitchen walls, wall paper, tile, wood, old carpet, screens, AC ducts, etc etc, etc. And our GC cleaned out a lot of our electrical system...It's all moving along! Thank you guys!

ENJOY!

Every muscle hurts!

It is officially our 5th day as proud owners of a house! It was the longest long weekend in our lives. It all started last Friday around noon. We showed up at the bank, signed like a thousand pieces of paper and finally we were handed a blue flower key chain with 3 sets of keys to our new house! We immediately drove to our GC's house to show off our new keys and pick up a few tools he had already lined up for us. After that we made a short pit stop to charge our batteries for the intense work that was about to begin...
It was so exciting to see it again, this time everything had been cleared out, there were no more little trinkets and no more P.U. refrigerator... it was completely empty and ours!
As soon as we went in, I had not even finished taking it all in when Max was on his knees ripping up the carpet.... it had begun!
We took out the carpet in the living room, dinning room, and the stairs all in about an hour (have I mentioned it's a small house?). We were feeling accomplished and so incredibly pleased; the hardwood floors under that carpet are in great shape! they already look pretty nice, and we haven't even finished them yet.
Day number 1 was a success. Ending with some sparkling and BBQ sandwiches to celebrate with friends and family. It was really great!
Day number 2 was super intense, we started demoing the kitchen, everything fro the vinyl floors, top cabinets and even a small wall (opening one of the closets in the 1s floor bedroom into the kitchen). We also finished taking out thousands of staples and all the spiky tack boards from the floor.
Day 3.. more DEMO! Mostly scraping wall paper and vinyl floors. More sore muscles....
Day 4. Side porch... gone! Most demo in the kitchen is done and we did a major clearing of debris, which is now all "neatly" piled in the garage, and the garden shed (which is also kicking the bucket soon btw).
It's been hard work so far, but very rewarding! It's brought it's share of nicks and bruises, and plenty of sore muscles. But the week should be lighter, we're allocating a couple hours a day during the week and full days in the weekend... let's get this kitchen done!
Today, we demo the sink and bottom cabinets in the kitchen (after we find the stinking water valve to shut off! Where are you hiding!?)

Photo documentation!

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3 day countdown!

In 3 days we close on our first house! The process has been a learning experience to say the least... but a good one I think.
We looked for months, we must have seen a hundred houses and called every single real estate agent in Kansas City. Finally we found the perfect little house a few weeks ago. It needs a little love, some paint, some yard work, new appliances. Some things will have to come out... carpet... or down... wall paper... maybe even a wall or too if Max makes a good case. And all this will be executed by my sweet husband and I with the direction of our very experienced GC (a.k.a Dad/Dan). It's so exciting I can hardly contain myself! The past few weeks have been a continuous HGTV session, filled with enlightening tidbits. There are sketches and paint swatches and material samples waiting to be unleashed!

Check it out!