Preparing for the Renovations - Part 1

Preparing for the Renovations

Part 1

As soon as we realized that we were going to be going through a major kitchen remodel, we decided to make some changes to the rest of our downstairs before the construction work began.  

At this point, we knew that we were going to have to replace all the hardwood floors and the entire kitchen was going to get gutted.  If we were getting new hardwoods, we figured we had better buy new carpets throughout the house, as these are 20 some odd years old, and have the stains and wear and tear to show for it.

And as long as we were going to replace all the flooring, it made sense to paint all the walls and all the ceilings before the new flooring was installed.

And before the painting could begin, it made sense to sand all the pocket doors and stain them.  And before all the pocket doors were sanded and stained, I needed to sand and paint all the trim around all the windows, doors, and baseboards.  Then it also made sense to refinish the laundry room cabinets.  I mean, after all, if I didn't have to worry about dripping and spilling, now was most certainly the best time.

So I took my time, plotted and planned everything out and set to work.  I'll update this page with links to the projects as I get them up on the blog.

First:  We gutted the house of all furniture, decorations, wall hangings, and everything else that we could remove.  A traumatic experience, indeed.  We put just about everything into our garage -- which soon took on the feel of a hoarder's nest.  I fully intend to live a more minimalistic lifestyle when this renovation is complete.  Nothing is coming back into this house unless it HAS to.  All else I'll sell at a major garage sale later this summer.  Everything must go!!  It's amazing how much stuff a family can accumulate over a period of a few years.  I have been loving living more simply during this renovation process, and hope to reduce the amount of excess stuff we have over the next few years.

Next:  I tried (and failed) to remove the baseboard trim so that I could sand it and repaint it.  Unfortunately the lovely owners before us reinstalled the baseboards with ginormous four inch nails that, after strenuous effort and several close calls to serious bodily harm, eventually detached -- leaving gaping holes in what SHOULD have been plaster or dry wall, but really was a paper thin coating of "wall," barely thicker than a coat of paint.  Sigh.  Then the boards themselves chipped and broke on the ends because the reinstallers decided to use upwards of eighteen or nineteen nails at a time per end of the board to slam those suckers into the wall.  Sometimes straight into the metal wall support.  Ugh.  At this point I quit.  I called the contractor and had him add new baseboard install, paint, and caulking to the job bid.  Sigh.

Third:  I took advantage of the empty rooms, and sanded and painted the wood baseboard trim in place.  (No more taking it off!  No more holes in walls!).  After I sanded and painted the trim, I realized there was no reason to buy the same short, minimal baseboards to replace the ones in the hallway.  I could replace them with beautiful, bold, bigger baseboards.  And if I was going to replace the ones in the hall, I'd have to replace the ones in the shared living room.  And if I was going to replace those, it made sense to replace the ones in my office as well.  So that was a futile waste of a day sanding and painting the office baseboards.  Lesson learned though.  I didn't do a darned thing to the baseboards in the living room.  I'm just leaving them to be professionally removed and replaced.  Sigh.

Fourth:  I painted the ceilings and walls in the office.  Easy peesy.

Fourth:  I moved our couch, chairs, and a few end tables into our room formerly known as the office to set up what would become our studio apartment w/ kitchenette.

Fifth:  I sanded and stained each of the three pocket doors.  I hope I took before pictures, because these transformations were truly amazing.  At least I can show you some after shots.  I also replaced all the hardware with oil rubbed bronze.

Sixth:  I sanded and painted all of the window and door trims in the hall, kitchen, and dining room.

Seventh:  I sanded, stained and sealed the laundry room cupboards.  For the before/after shots, see this link:  Laundry Room Before/After.

Eighth:  Then I sanded, stained and sealed all the laundry room cupboard doors.  I took this opportunity to sand, stain, and seal the laundry room door, and the hall closet louvered door as well.

Ninth:  I sanded, stained, and sealed the doorbell box.  For the before/after project, see this link:  Ding Dong Ditch It.

Tenth:  I sanded, stained, and sealed the staircase railings.  For the before/after project, see this link:  Stair Transformation.

Last:  I painted the ceiling and the walls in the living room.

Whew!!!  Now we're ready for the renovations!!!

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