REMODEL PROJECT/NEW KITCHEN AND FAMILY ROOM

WARNING: LONG POST WITH LOTS OF PHOTO'S

Almost four years ago we embarked on a rather large home project.  I never did post about the process and being as I am at a loss for ideas for posts I thought I would share our remodeling journey. (And yes, our marriage survived, although a little battered.)

This project was started in July of 2007 and we were able to host Christmas.  The window trim wasn't up and there were lots of little things that we finished later. 

Here is my husband Jim beginning the task of tearing down the patio cover.

The foundation is going in. Hubby Jim, son Dustin {the job foreman} and son-in-law Jason hard at work.

If it were not for family we would probably still be sitting in the middle of this babbling to ourselves incoherently.

Another view of the foundation.

Ah, progress!  A wall finally went up.  It gave us new enthusiasm for the process.

Here is the pile of debris from the patio tear out.

                                                                                                                                                                           

  This is a shot of the family room just after most of the sheet rock was installed.

You can see in the foreground the table that served as the kitchen.  We had lots of microwave meals and cold cereal during this process.  It think we were without a kitchen for about three weeks.  Living with very few dishes and washing dishes in the bathroom sink was not very fun but the end result was worth it.

Here is a shot of the kitchen just after the tile was installed.

I was really getting excited at this point.  The cabinets were in the garage and I would go out and just gaze at them imagining how they were going to look.

Here is the cabinet installer hard at work.  He is a  high school shop teacher that started his own cabinet business.  The cabinets are made out of sugar maple.

Can I just say I was elated with how they turned out.

And now here is what it looks like today.

Here are the AFTER pictures.

One of the next projects we would like to do is put up a deck across the back.  I am anxious to get my patio furniture out and be able to use the barbecue more.

 This area (below) is where I would love to have a cobblestone patio with an outdoor fireplace.  Unfortunately it is a little lower one the priority list.

This is the view from the front door looking in.  My craft room is just to the left behind french doors.

You can read about the craft room here.

 This is a view from the dining area into the kitchen and family room.

 This is where I have fun cooking.

I must say that I have a very wonderful husband  This poor man would come home every night after work and put in at least another four or five hours working on the remodel.  He deserves a medal or something for sure.

And there you have it.  I guess I did have something to blog about after all.