A little change of plans

Last night I had an almost completely sleepless night of worry about the when, how, and how much of the kitchen project.

I was worried about how busy our fall is and how we weren't going to have time to get things done.

I was worried about how the timing of everything was going to make our vacation stressful, make my fall scrapbooking retreats stressful, make everything stressful.

I was worried about the outflow of money for the kitchen and vacation coinciding, and causing more stress.

I was worried that being in a hurry was going to make the project cost more than it would otherwise.

So I decided to give us a break. We aren't going to do the bulk of the kitchen until early spring. We are going to enjoy our busy fall. We are going to enjoy the church dinners, weddings, family get-togethers, and even a little motorcycle trip. I will be able to focus the needed time on preparations for my fall scrapping frenzy. I will be able to prepare for our long-awaited anniversary trip and come home to a house that isn't all torn up. (Because there isn't much worse than returning from a vacation to a mess.)

I might even have the opportunity to make some money, allowing me to have more of what I want in my kitchen.

We are going to go ahead and take out the ceiling, move the door, and continue with the electrical work that Colin has been doing. Then, in late-winter or so, we'll order the cabinets and get ready for the big job.

I feel so much better.

There is some good news

I have my floor. It's in a pile of boxes on my front porch, but I have it.

 That's especially exciting because when we were ready to purchase, I discovered that it had been discontinued. A few cartons were available spread over a 100 mile radius. I was picturing a couple of days of driving from store to store buying 1-3 cartons at a time. 

Then I remembered that the husband spends all week in the 'burbs. The 'burbs have LOTS of stores, and a search showed me that one of those stores had 70 cartons of my discontinued flooring. 

So he went and bought it. On clearance.

One step forward, four steps back

As I promised, this kitchen thing isn't going to be quick.

After getting cabinet prices from a local family-owned place, I decided to compare what the big-box stores had to offer. Sticker shock, mainly.

Our kitchen presents some challenges. It is small. The measurements are such that the most standard cabinet sizes don't fit without leaving more space than we ideally want to leave. We are planning to have the cabinets run to the ceiling to gain space, but that also limits the availability of cabinets other than high-end. So, yeah. Pricey.

And then there is the plan to move the basement door, which is filling me with more than a little trepidation. It would add two feet of counter space, and room for the dishwasher on the perimeter of the kitchen, but, if not well-executed--or finished promptly--could leave me with an ongoing unsightly opening in the center hall of the main floor of my house. (Did I mention that my husband, who doesn't live here during the week, wants to do the work himself?)

(My main bathroom is unfinished after almost five years.)

You see my problem.

Trying to stay within my budget, figure out all of the details of something that is way outside of my comfort zone, and fear of making a huge mistake are all contributing to a certain paralysis.

But those holes in the ceiling are calling for progress.

It has begun

My long-awaited kitchen remodel is not going to be quick. It is going to happen in small increments interspersed with bursts of activity.

This happened Sunday:

There are actually two more like it now.

We can see the original plaster ceiling above the lower ceiling that was put in in the late 1940s. We can see the water damage that happened in one corner of that ceiling sometime in the last 70 years. We can see the wiring for all of the outlets and lights in our kitchen that runs between the two ceilings.

It is helpful to know what we are dealing with.

What I don't have a picture of is the aftermath of this job. After Colin pulled out the power tool. After the cloud of drywall dust covered the contents of the main floor of my house. After COlin left on his motorcycle.

Thank goodness for my friends Jacqui and Effie, who--fueled by margaritas--helped clean the mess up while the men were out riding. I'd still be cleaning.

I've decided that this much-neglected blog is the best way to document this process, so any of you who are interested can be along for the ride. Hang on. This could get bumpy.