More Remodeling

We're steadily completing our kitchen remodel. It is going to be so wonderful to be done! We plan to have an Open House as soon as it's finished. We love to have people over and have wanted to do an Open House since God blessed us with this home, but with visitors (and now this remodel) it hasn't worked out. Soon....very soon!

So, last Monday I ordered our new counters. Bonus: Lowe's had a 10% off for special orders on cabinets and counters. Yeah! For some reason, the girl rang up 20% off. Praise the Lord! Our counters were even cheaper!

Here's what our countertops will look like.

I'm so excited we got the extra discount! The counter purchase and sweet deal came on the heels of another great deal we found. Because we took out some cabinets and part of a wall to create a walkway around our island, we have to replace the floor. I wasn't too sad about this since the tile was not laid straight. I felt like I was living in a Dr. Seuss house.

We decided we wanted a chocolate brown tile (hides dirt best, will blend with the counter and our oak cabinets, and would be easy to find). Nix the last of that...not easy to find. So, after not being happy with what we saw at Lowe's and Home Depot, we tried a place called Floor & Decor in Plano. Bingo! Tiles for 39 cent a square foot. Unbelievable!!!!

(if you have never done work on your house...that flooring price is about as cheap as you can get)

So, yesterday Joel got all the rest of the tile removed.

We were doing it by hand, one tile at a time. This is how far we got the last time. We chose to go the faster route...rent a demo hammer!

Rylee cut her foot Friday night on the uneven flooring between the kitchen and living room. Her pain was all the persuasion we needed to get moving on the demo and get the new stuff in. My poor baby...she was quite brave though!

We draped the kitchen with sheets (for some reason we have TONS of old sheets to use for projects like this). The kids were fascinated with the closed off kitchen.
Once we got the demo hammer home and Joel all set up, the kids and I went for a walk. It was LOUD! (the hammer does what we were doing but much faster...pops up the tiles) When we came back, this is what I captured.

Since Joel had another bit to do, we went to a playplace and had lunch.

One pile of the old tile.

You can tell it was a dusty mess inside the kitchen.

Once the floor was gone and the dust was cleared, the kitchen looked more normal again.
(top pic: looking from our dining room into the kitchen, big windows to backyard; bottom pic: looking from the sink towards the dining room. Our kitchen is about 9 ft wide by 24 ft long)

As if that wasn't enough work for one day, Joel decided to stain some of the cabinet doors. Our dining room and front living room provided the space to stain without bugs flying around.

Yep, that's our washer/dryer in the living room. We had to move it for the tile demo.

Even the kids are getting involved. Today, they were checking out tile--well, counting the little squares.

Joel plans to finish the cabinet doors today. After I strip the final set of cabinets this evening, Joel will stain them. It will be so nice to have the cabinets completely done and just waiting for the new counters to arrive.

On our to-do list: install new floor, paint walls, install new counters, install pendant lights above the island, and pick out trim.

I think we're really going to enjoy our new kitchen.