"Spring"ing toward completion

Hello friends,

We hit two important milestones this week: (1) We broke the one year mark since starting the Remodeling 1070 adventure and (2) We officially emptied the POD, the trailer sized portable storage unit that has been sitting in and blocking our driveway since this marathon project began.

It is with a light heart and many choruses of delighted "amens" and "hallelujahs," mostly from the neighbors, that the POD will be picked up and removed early next week. We now have to retrain ourselves on how to back down a full length driveway. Most of the credit goes to Jeff, who has been chipping away at the POD for the past few months. I'll be back next month to help unpack remaining boxes that were in the POD and, more than likely, stack up even more stuff for the "to be sold/donated" pile. It has been amazing to filter through the years of accumulation and discover just how much stuff you become burdened with over time. For two people who don't collect anything special and who are pretty minimal in terms of decorations and such, we still managed to build up an impressive amount of "why the hell are we saving this??" moments.

At this writing, the last of the major interior renovations is well under way. Deconstruction is done on the second bathroom, and reconstruction has begun. This week, the workers will begin replacing the remaining old windows in the house, and then it's on to replacing the old interior doors. After that, all that remains are the two entry doors, the hardy plank on the outside and the final run through to fix up spots here and there to make sure the job is complete.

We should have some new photos soon, but at long, long, LONG last, we can actually start thinking about a housewarming party!!

Ho Ho Holy Crap, We're Still Remodeling

Happy 2011, friends and loved ones,

Sorry for the belated holiday themed blog post title, but it seemed fitting. It's hard to believe that Remodeling 1070 started on February 7, 2010. Here we are rapidly approaching the one year anniversary of our estimated four month project. It has been a labor of love and many other four letter words, but the results speak for themselves.

So, it's been two months since our last post. In that time, the kitchen, den, living room, dining room and pantry have all been completed. Additionally, the two front bedrooms have been converted to wood floors - which means all the wood flooring is done - and repainted. All that remains on the interior is the remodel of the second bathroom, which is now underway, and the dreaded punch list. For those who may not know, the punch list is the list we get to make of all the little missed items, corrections and fix-ups that inevitably happen with a large construction project.

For the exterior, it's a matter of replacing the remaining old windows and replacing the vinyl siding with hardy plank. There is light at the end of the tunnel!!

Though we are epically behind our anticipated finish date, the house is looking every bit as beautiful as we envisioned. We've included some photos below.

This is the view of the new, open, far more modern kitchen. Where the rounded counter top is now used to be the wall that housed the refrigerator and kitchen shelves. The junction of the blue den wall and the kitchen used to be the fireplace. We opted for white cabinets and brushed nickel hardware to match all the new stainless steel appliance and brushed nickel accents on the new lighting fixtures.

This is possibly the most exciting and most envied part of this whole renovation: a walk in pantry. I don't know how we ever lived without one.
This is a view of the kitchen from the front of the house (if you were standing in the doorway between the kitchen and dining room). Everything just looks bigger and brighter.

Okay, well, depending on the photo....sorry for the bad lighting, but here is a view of the kitchen looking into the den.

This is one view of the den taken from the back wall of the den. We love having the counter space that doubles as a bar on the left. We also love the white beams that, again, make the room seems bigger and lighter.

Here is a view of the den from the blue tv wall. What also opened up this room and added to the brightness is the bank of windows along the outside wall. These windows are actually the wrong windows and will be replaced by three windows with the two windows on the ends that can open.

Here is another den view that also capture the entrance to the master suite on the left, a better look through those tall windows out to the deck and pool, and a smartly dressed Howard enjoying the softness of his new area rug.

Howard + rug = happy wienie.

Kitchen, Den, Pantry and Hall Closet

Hello friends,

Happy end of Daylights Savings Time. I wish it was the actual end of DST - is this outdated concept still necessary? - but for now, we'll just have to settle for being disoriented for a few days, adjusting to total darkness by 4:00pm and seeing who wins the office pool that bet on which employee(s) would forget to turn back their clocks.

Speaking of time and adjusting, Remodeling 1070 is still in full swing. I know it's been a while since the last post, but we wanted to wait until we had some substantial photos to share. For the most part, the kitchen and the den are up and running. There are some details to finish, as you'll notice in the photos below. But we have working appliances, completed cabinets, new sinks and fixtures and one gorgeous kitchen counter top. We love how open and bright the kitchen is now. The flow into the den feels spacious and very organic, and the rooms seem almost cavernous in comparison to the original layout. It's amazing what taking out a half wall, removing the fireplace and tearing down wood paneling can do. Add in some bigger windows, and it's like a house I don't even recognize!

The focus now is on building out the walk in pantry, which we cannot wait to see completed. As was pretty typical in those mid-60's suburban houses, the cabinets were very chopped up and not very deep, and the cabinets ran floor to ceiling, with the top two cabinets being mostly unreachable without a step stool or some creative jumping. You'll see the framed pantry in the photos below. Once the shelves are added, the walk in feature will make it so much easier for storing and retrieving dry goods.

On the opposite side of the pantry will be an all new hall closet. The original hall closet is now one of the expanded closets in the master suite. The new hall closet will back up against the pantry and will again provide a much more convenient layout. It makes a lot more sense to have a coat closet right by the front door as opposed to coat closet that you have to walk halfway in to the house to access.

Enjoy the photos below. Once these two closets are done, we move in to the final push: reflooring the two front rooms and the two remaining bedrooms, repainting those rooms, and redoing the second bathroom. Then it's down to replacing the remaining old windows, putting in the new front and back doors, and replacing the existing siding with hardy plank. The end is starting to come in to view!

Here is a view of the new kitchen taken from the end of the open counter top that bridges the kitchen and the den. All of the old oak woodwork and fur downs are gone and replaced by clean, white cabinets and brand new stainless steel appliances. Also gone is the tile floor, replaced by the same wood that is being used throughout the house.

This view is standing in the kitchen looking toward the dining room (red wall) at entry to what will be the walk in pantry. You can get a glimpse of the kitchen counter top (granite) and the way the kitchen opens to the den (blue wall). The red wall will be repainted to the more neutral color you see in the den photos below.
This is just a straight on view of the framed out walk in pantry.
Here is a shot of the den viewed from standing in the kitchen. As you can see in the details, there are some things to clean up and finish (ceiling beams, the rounded end of the counter top is missing shelves underneath, etc). This really shows how much more open and spacious this room is. The very left of the photo is where the fireplace used to be, and the rounded counter top area used to be a wall.

Here is the other side of the den, still being viewed from the kitchen. The single window has been replaced by four tall windows, and all the wood paneling is gone. The door on the left is the entrance to the master suite.

As mentioned above, back up to the walk in pantry is the new hall closet. This is a view of the framed out closet. Yes, the green walls will also be painted neutral.

This is the new wall that now divides the hall closet/pantry area from the two front rooms (dining room and living room). The red will go away and become neutral, but this new wall will likely be painted in the accent blue that has been used in the other main rooms.

It's All About the Kitchen and the Den

It's flying fast and furious at Remodeling 1070. It seems like every day there is a big change or a new accomplishment. We are getting to the point where we can really visualize the final results, and it's beyond exciting.

We met recently with Matt, the general contractor, to go over where things are, what things are next and review the little cosmetic finishes on the master suite. Right now, it's all about the kitchen and the den, as you will see in the photos below. The den is gutted and looks absolutely cavernous. It's difficult to believe how much larger the room looks and what a huge difference it made to tear down all that dark paneling and remove the fireplace, which took up far more square footage than either of us realized. Add in the open wall between the kitchen and the den, and the whole space just feels so much lighter and more modern.

The kitchen is actually in the process of getting its new guts put in. Again, with the reconfiguration of appliances and the removal of the den/kitchen wall, the space will be brighter, bigger and more functional.

The final set of photos show the newly installed master closet shelving and hanger units. The set up is identical in both closets.

Since the work is happening so quickly, we will try to keep up with photos of all the changes.

This is a view standing at the end of the laundry room looking in to the kitchen with the den on the right. The cabinets on the right will have a rounded granite counter top that will function not only as additional cooking space but also as a seated bar area. The blank area behind those low cabinets will eventually be built out as a walk in pantry.

This view is also standing toward the back end of the kitchen but looking towards the outer wall of the house rather than toward the den. The granite counter will be in an L-shape, and there will be a new stainless steel gas stove and microwave with hooded vent in the blank area on the far wall.
This is a shot of the den looking into the den from the kitchen. You can see the master bedroom peeking through open door. The right wall here is actually the outer wall of the house facing the deck and pool. There will be four tall windows across that wall to let in a ton of light and offer a great view.
This is the den as seen from that back, outer wall looking toward the front hall. The left corner is where the fireplace used to be. That wall will now house the entertainment center and (hopefully) large flat screen tv.
This is the hanger side of the new master bedroom closet units.
This is the storage side of the new master bedroom closet units.

Moved Out of the Den

Sorry for the long pause between posts, but the work has been continuing at Remodeling 1070. Here is what's been happening since the last entry:

• We have ordered organizer units for both master closets. The units will be delivered and installed on September 22.
• The kitchen has been gutted, and the garage is now filled with rows of custom cabinets being sanded and painted and readied for installation.
• All the new kitchen appliances (in stainless steel), have been ordered.
• The wall between the kitchen and the den has been demolished and the support beam has been put in place.
• The den has been emptied and demolished as well. The paneling has been removed and the back window and extra back door have been taken out in order to start placing the row of tall windows across the rear facing wall.

Below are some photos of the den and partial views of the kitchen and master suite. There was a little surprise when the den paneling came down - keep scrolling!

The rear facing wall of the den with a peak into the completed master suite. The single window in this photo is being replaced by four side-by-side, nearly floor to ceiling windows.

This is a view of the den from the corner of the rear facing wall. You can see the nearly gutted kitchen, the kitchen-den separation wall gone and the new support beam in place.
This is another view of the den from the rear facing wall, looking in to the front hallway.
This is another view of the rear facing den wall. The secondary back door in this photo will be removed and replaced by a tall window.
This bottled was found behind the paneling in the den.
And inside the bottle was the business card of a contractor who apparently did a lot of the original work in the homes in the subdivision. It was nice of him to leave the date the work was done. Interesting find!

Moving Back to the Master Suite

It's official. The master suite is functional and nearly finished, and we got the green light to go ahead and start moving back in to the rooms. It's a big day at Remodeling 1070!

There are a few finishing touches, like the granite top piece on the shower wall and the build out of the closet shelving units, but the rest of the suite is fully functional: lights work, toilet works, shower works, sinks work, a/c is reconnected.

Some of the final results are posted below. Ready for the next phase, which we hope is the den and kitchen. It would be nice to have appliances again.

Lighting fixtures in the master closets.

Ceiling fan lighting fixture in the master suite.

The assembled cabinets, sinks, mirror and hand towel racks. The gray towels are not staying - going with navy and khaki instead.

The fully functioning, comfort height toilet. There will be a granite top on the half shower wall.

The shower with all the hardware attached.

Wall towel rack.

The other wall towel rack. Again, the gray linens are being replaced.

Master Suite - Getting to the Finishing Touches

Well, it looks like we may be able to start moving back in to the master suite by this coming weekend. It's almost a fully functional room at this point, and by the weekend, all that should really be missing is the interior closet build outs (and those will be ordered soon).

As you will see in the photos below, the rooms are making tremendous progress. The bathroom is 90% complete. All that's left are some fixtures to install, cabinet hardware and doors to add, some window trim painting. The bedroom itself is nearly complete. There again, we're down to some trim painting, door fixtures and the closet interiors, which will be made to order and installed soon. Each closet will have a customized wall of shelving and drawers with a long rail facing on the opposite wall.

So, hopefully, by the end of the weekend, we will be able to put the furniture back in the master suite and start unloading some of what has been stored in the POD in the driveway. Enjoy the photos below. More to come this weekend!

The master bathroom with rain shower head and flexible hose.

All that is missing in the temperature fixture at the bottom and

the granite top on the half wall on the right.

The new window of the master bedroom. Trim will be painted white.

A fully functioning toilet (amen) and a framed window of glass block, which

will also have white trim.

The glass block on the adjacent wall of the master bathroom.

The tall white doors will be installed on the end cabinets this week.

A nice view of the double sinks, granite counter top and custom cabinet work.

There will be a mirror that takes up the entire space between the end cabinets.