Hopefully what has happened so far is not foreshadowing for what is to come. We started this process a couple months ago bringing in the first contractor. He came to the house, gave ideas, talked about many things then left never to be heard from again.... We left messages and sent emails but apparently he was not interested in our project?!?! Not real sure but that was not the start we were hoping for. The next company came out right away, was very friendly, had great ideas, left and after some calling and emailing over a month later got back to us with an estimate. In communications, it is very hard to get a response in less than two weeks - or ever - from them so we do not take this as a good sign. Another not so great start.... (Ironically enough these all were referrals as well....) Finally our neighbors recommended the contractor they used to completely - even more than we are doing - remodel their home. He came quickly, had estimates prepared in a week and is easy to get a hold of. Next week he is coming to finalize the plans and set a start date - probably 1-2 weeks. Another bonus - Madelyn loved him. She kept bringing him her own tools and trying to get him to play with her.
As for the remodel, it started off as a kitchen remodel, but has now turned into a complete first floor makeover. We are adding a look through from the kitchen into the brick room which has never been well utilized in 6 years so it will be nice to open it up. We are also taking out the hall closet, expanding the hallway, and moving/enlarging the door opening into the living room to open up the first floor. When the work is complete you will be able to see from the brick room all the way into the living room which will be nice and make the first floor seem much more open. We are simplifying (or bringing up to date) the living room by removing the wood paneling on the walls, the beams on the ceiling and the built ins. The laundry room and bathroom are getting slight makeovers but all the details are not quite worked out just yet. The entire first floor will have brazilian walnut wood floors which are absolutely beautiful. (They were purchased at a great sale months ago and are patiently waiting for their new home!) A new front door is also being put in and new shiny white trim all throughout the first floor. Much needed as well, the electrical wiring and box is being updated so hopefully when we use the microwave the entire first floor will no longer lose power!!
The kitchen will still be the biggest project of all. The entire kitchen, sadly including everyones favorites, the dropped ceiling and built in zodiac symbol cutting board, are being gutted. Can lighting will be installed, as well as new cabinets and appliances. For the cabinets we started working with a free consultant at Home Depot to quickly find what we wanted really would not work through standard built cabinets. My parents and brother have both used Miller Cabinets in Plain City to custom build their cabinets. Both had great experiences and incredible quality. We have been working several months now with JD to design the kitchen, custom island and actual design of the cabinets. I never had any idea how much went into designing your own cabinets. The possibilities, and questions from JD, are endless!! There are 5 different ways just to mount the cabinet door, not to mention then you decide from a million different cabinet doors. Since we are custom building these pretty much anything goes. Same for color, pretty much anything you could imagine. They have multiple doors and drawers and you can pick what you like from one and add another detail from another.... the whole process gives me a headache and is an overwhelming process. When we thought we had it all figured out, we took Maddy for our last color consultation and then JD was like what kind of crown molding do you want, what kind of hardware do you want, what are the exact dimensions of your appliances???? I was like seriously, I came to pick out a color..... We finally, at least as far as I know, think we have all the details with the cabinets finally squared away. It is just stressful knowing they cost significantly more than the car I just bought from mom, really wanting to make sure we love every detail about them.
So that is my story so far. It is going to be a very long process filled with many decisions (off the top of my head I just realized we will have to pick out all new paint colors, new door knobs, not to mention if we have any money left we might need to furnish it as well..... so many details). Some days I think it might be easier to just start over - move and buy something move in ready. But when Matt weeds, cuts the grass and everything is trimmed, I know why we love it there. It is peaceful, a great setting and there is plenty of room for the dogs and Madelyn to run out their abundance of energy! More than anything, it is where we started our lives together, took wedding pictures and brought Madelyn home for the very first time. I hardly notice the carpeted island in the kitchen or missing tiles in the hall any more because it is home and that is what is most important. However, when it is a beautifully remodeled up to date home, it might be loved for more than just sentimental reasons!!
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