I've never been to excited about a mess before.
Our builder showed up this morning to remove the upper cabinets above the range and demo the tile from the backsplash.
It was very exciting. And loud. And messy.
But now we are ready for new cabinets tomorrow and day three of painting prep and I cannot wait!
One of the other things we are doing is beefing up the outside of this bar...
It looks into the living room and is quite a massive element to have just left kind of naked. (Add this to the rather long list of head-scratching choices made by the previous owners.) We are replacing those brackets with some basic corbels and extra trim as well as adding molding around the bottom to match what will be installed to the left around the dining nook. I have hopes that this will turn our blase stained plywood to something a little more interesting. It's even put the dog to sleep.
Also, these are the paint samples from yesterday. My camera battery died before I could download them. Of course.
It's hard to get the creaminess of the white and not lose the grain detail of the espresso stain in one photo... so you'll just have to trust me on the color part. At any rate, it's way better than the high gloss shellac we had going on before. (One of my friends and I were laughing about how they were so shiny you could have probably checked your lipstick in them.)
I was floored that the painter had just done these the day before and the tackiness that I have come to expect from paint projects wasn't there. Neither was the smell. He said the sealant product he uses takes a full 30 days to cure, and when it does it will be a floor grade protectant that I can spray with whatever products I want. Durability is one of the concerns I have had from the beginning. I didn't want to go through the hassle and cost of having them painted only to have to baby them! Because, let's face it, they are not going to get babied in a house with kids running amok.
It's nice knowing that the majority of the painting is being done off-site and that when it comes time to paint here, we're using low VOC products and can take advantage of warmer weather by opening all of our windows.
Tomorrow we have the new section of cabinets going up above the range, trimwork going up, and the painter coming back to clean the cabinet boxes and prep them for priming. And I will be freaking out and pinching myself while I start to see progress. Demo is fun... but progress? Ack! I love it.
Thanks for playing along and humoring me, too. xo
trembling with excitement for you!!! :)
Posted by: stacy | April 26, 2011 at 05:25 PM
woot woot!
Posted by: laeroport | April 26, 2011 at 05:52 PM
I'm not humouring you, I love a good before + after!
Posted by: Maggie | April 26, 2011 at 05:53 PM
Holy Cow! That was quick!
Posted by: Dalai Lina | April 26, 2011 at 11:01 PM
They are gorgeous! I can't wait to see the bar when it's done.
Posted by: liza | April 27, 2011 at 12:27 AM
Squeeee!
How exciting! Can't wait to see the before and afters!
Posted by: kriste | April 27, 2011 at 07:51 AM
I'm surprised at how quickly the whole thing is coming along! I always envision kitchen renovations as long-lasting and painful.
Posted by: Lisa Clarke | April 27, 2011 at 11:55 AM
I love reading about your kitchen demo... how exciting! We hope to one day do the same to our outdated 70's kitchen.
Posted by: julie | April 27, 2011 at 12:35 PM
what is that perfect white paint color?
Posted by: jessie | May 03, 2011 at 04:25 PM