At the end of day 7

Tammy's comment on my last post reminded me of times we've talked about how much we enjoy seeing remodeling / construction projects in all their various states of progress. I'm sure we're not the only ones, so after exactly one week of remodeling, I thought I'd share the progress pics. (And if we are the only ones, Tammy, this is for you!)

These are the before picture of my kitchen in all its glory.



Yes, my kids used the dishwasher as their own personal white board. But how can you say no to that when it produces pictures like this?


These two cuties came to help us empty everything out of the cabinets and the pantry. Because they're cool like that.


My old pantry.


And this is how it looked the night before we started gutting. At about the last moment we would ever see it looking this way again. If the picture is blurry, it was because I was shaking with giddiness.


Day 1: Demolition! Dang it felt good to get those cabinets out of our house. That's Lance's mom there on the left. She has put in countless hours helping us do the work and tracking down screaming deals throughout the county. We seriously couldn't have done it without her. Certainly not as fast as we've been working, either.


We had to tear out some sheet rock and insulation behind the old sink....


.... and in the pantry, along with its sub-floor, due to some water problems that the previous owners (Grr!!) chose to ignore. But all is good and pretty now with new sub-floor here.



And here. Although, this sub-floor wasn't damaged; it was just missing.


Day 2: And.... Officially gutted!! Ahh. Feels nice. (Until I go to use my sink. Or walk in my living room. Or a million other things. So I quickly run back into the kitchen so it feels nice again.)


Building the walls for my new pantry. :)


Yeah. I'm a little excited for it.


Day 2: Sheet rocking said pantry.


This is the pad that goes on below the flooring. Pretty, huh?


Apparently I don't get to show you how pretty the half of the floor we laid on Day 4 is. Maybe the camera was lost below a pile of tools and reconstruction paraphernalia during the time between laying the floor and covering it up. Or maybe I was just too exhausted to think. But trust me when I say IT IS BEAUTIFUL! Oh my gosh, I love it so much. I can't wait until it's all installed and I can lay down on the floor and rub my cheek against it. So pretty.

We got to take a much needed break from all the hard work to hang out with this little bundle of excitement while her mom was at girls camp for a couple of days. My kids were absolutely thrilled!


Sheet rocking done here...


And on the pantry. (And notice that red on the floor. Everything is completely new and sealed and water-proofed just in case. It's our little gift to our some-day future owners.)

We got it all mudded and taped, too. I think this was Day 5 or 6.



And then on the evening of Day 6 I sanded all that mud. Although I was really feeling those beyond blood-shot eyes, I don't think I was really feeling that smile on my face. I was mostly feeling dirty. And I was feeling the before-affects of the strep-throat induced fever that was to come about 18 minutes after this picture was taken. But at least I was done. And at least the strep waited just long enough for me to finish the toughest part. For that, I am truly grateful. So I showered and then crashed. And then at 1:00 in the morning when I couldn't sleep, I got up and primed it all. Although I was sick when I woke up that next morning, at least I knew I was done with those parts. And that made me feel a little less sick.


Freshly sanded.


Freshly covered in sanding dust.




But at least the rest of my house wasn't covered! Thanks to our awesome door. We're thinking of keeping it up year-round, based on how cool it looks.


Putting cabinets in our old pantry.


And the first of the ones on my newly painted walls.



And, this is what it looked like at the end of Day 7! Hopefully in another week, I'll be able to post before and after pics. You know.... as soon as I am done kissing my new kitchen sink.