Remodel supposed to begin next week and so much to do, I cannot sleep at night. I lay awake thinking about the amount of things that still need to be done before we can start the remodel and am unable to get back to sleep. Everything has gotten so crazy, so many decisions needing to be made, it is all very overwhelming. I hope once the project starts it is much smoother with everyone else just doing the work for us and stopping bothering me about the 100 million details that go into ever small square inch of the remodel. Progress towards starting is however being made. This past weekend was spent cleaning out the basement and pantry, and the reloading both. All of the kitchen cabinets, drawers, bookshelves, mantle, and walls have been emptied. Other than toys, tvs and furniture which need to stay as long as we can, the first floor is pretty much empty. For some unknown reason I do not understand, boxing up everything made me feel sad. Again, I have no idea why this was. Maybe finding the unopened wedding presents we have never used and forgotten about over 5 years later discovered in the pantry, tons of pictures and holiday cards I refuse to throw away because they have pictures of people important to me I kept stored in drawers that brought back memories, (including some of my independent 2 year old that seems so far from a baby but I was reminded she really used to be one), or just the end to a large chapter of my life. Though the house was never what we loved, I spent endless hours sanding and painting the cabinets, putting on new hardware, making it our house. The carpeted island, zodiac cutting board built into the island, green odd shaped not available any more tile in the hallway and sub flooring showing in the doorway Matt installed, gave our house character. As odd as it sounds they were all just quirky features that made the house uniquely ours. The new house will be uniquely ours as well as we have made every tiny detail decision from the can lighting to cabinet pulls to placing new light switches. I never knew so many decisions and details would have to be attended to or I might have rethought many years ago before ever buying such a project....
As for my last post, Shawn came through wonderfully in regards to the lighting. He said us up with Fred at Northern Lighting in Westerville who came to our house, helped us decide on what kind of lighting, how much lighting, and where it should be placed. He provided us with catalogs and detailed drawings for the electrician. Last night we visited their showroom and the process of picking out the lighting became much easier, and UNDER budget. That I must say was a first along this journey - but hopefully not a last. From there we let Maddy burn some steam at McDonalds playground on 270 and Sawmill Road which is awesome for anyone with kids. It will definitely be a great place for the winter when she needs to run and climb. From there we proceeded to Lowes and narrowed it down to two exterior door choices and again, both were UNDER budget. I came home with so much adrenaline I finished packing the kitchen and living room. I went to bed feeling accomplished and managed to sleep pretty well through the night.
We have had other snags the last week or so which we are trying to work out. Our contractor for some reason went MIA on us and we were unable to get a hold of him. With less than a week before he is supposed to start and questions we need answered - this was extremely stressful. He finally called today, though got Matts voice mail and now have been unable to reach him again. I am pretty sure we are pushing the start date back a week.... Shawn is coming tomorrow with an electrician to work out the exact details of upgrading the electricity and where we are putting lights, switches, new outlets, etc. I am sure that is going to be super fun!! It will be nice to get done though because we need to make sure he is available when out contractor needs him so we do not have our house torn apart and sitting for weeks with no work being done between contractors. I know there will be glitches and snags in the future, but as few as possible and completing this process once it begins in a timely fashion is my main concern. In a house that is already crazy filled with a 2 year old, 2 wild dogs and a cat sure to get into as much as possible as that is her main goal in life, exposed studs and wiring is not really something I look forward to.
In final stress of the week, our cabinet final proposal came back about 30% higher from where we began. We knew we had made some changes but didn't really expect that jump. We are exploring out options there and hopefully it will all get worked out.
BREAKING NEWS: Just got confirmation, construction has been halted until further notice. Relieves some stress, yet now with unknowns, not to mention all of the loss of sleep and hard work put in clearing all our belongings out of the first floor, kind of disappointing. Just some lose ends that need tied up before we move on. Hope to get those done quickly and set a new start date soon..... Should make for interesting times living out of the pantry with most of our stuff already packed and put away. Wonder if this project will be complete by the time I turn 31??? (December 2)
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