It's Going to Get Worse Before it Gets Better

There are many of you who have lived through weeks, even months of remodeling--I salute you.

When we first bought our house and it was truly unlivable for myself and 3 small kids, Aaron camped out on an air mattress, often with my dad, for 5 weeks, and worked until the wee hours every night.

After he put in a full days work art directing.

He lived amongst paint buckets and dirt, kitchen and bathroom that mostly didn't work and spent weekends working and missing his family so that we could move back home.

I meanwhile, lived in comfort at my parent's house, driving my mom crazy with our 3 kids.

I was spared the difficulties of living in a remodel.

The last month or so, I've had a glimpse and it is fair to say that, I am a remodel wimp.  

I don't know how anybody does it for long periods of time.

I am not good with disorder, disarray and chaos.

Don't worry--I kept it all in and didn't complain to my hubby who was working his tail off yet again--but on the inside I was having some minor nervous breakdowns.

We're closing in on the finish line now, counter tops went in yesterday and sink and dishwasher will be installed today.  It is so much fun to watch our plans and dreams become reality.  I'm a pretty happy girl.

But I couldn't show you the end product without showing you all the work it took for Aaron to get us here.

I give you :  It's Going to Get Worse Before it Gets Better

The first of many times we emptied the cabinets

Sparks fly!

Aaron using a dremel saw to cut out the metal cabinets
 in order to fit in our new dishwasher.

Now there's a gaping hole and 50+ years of dust under a that cabinet.  

How does that all get in there when it's completely closed off?

And underneath all that dust is the original linoleum--still in great shape.

Let's hear it for linoleum! 

It was a marbled pattern.  It looked a lot like a bowling ball.

Next up: getting rid of that old. grimy, tile back splash.

Bring on the sledge hammer.

 There was a lull in the progress as we waited for our counter tops and edging to be done.  

It took longer than originally planned (of course) but this weekend, 

Aaron was finally able to remove the sink and counter tops 

in preparation for the new ones to come in.

How do you remove a sink?

With a car jack, of course!

I do love a handy man.

 There were some creaks, cracks and scary sounds along the way,

but Aaron was pretty happy his idea worked.

The old metal ring came out first.

The the heavy sink.

When Aaron threw it into the grass in the backyard, 

the pipes sunk right into the ground and made a deep hole.

Next the counters came off.

Bye bye 70s faux wood.

We were left with this.

We moved stuff out of the kitchen again.

Aaron removed the last of the tile, re-plastered and sanded the walls.

We realized too late that laying down drop cloths 
during the sanding would have been a smart idea.

I'm not going to lie--I hated this part.

But on Monday morning, the kitchen was ready for the new counter tops.

 Aaron put in long weekend hours, and plenty of late nights to get us here.

I am really grateful to have a man that knows how to do so many different things

(I never would have thought to use a car jack)

and who is willing to work on this old fixer of a house.

 And let me tell you, even with out the sink in, our new counter tops look 

AMAZING!

Can't wait to show you all.

Check back tomorrow or Thursday for the big reveal/

And thanks sharing my excitement as we've gone through this process.  It has been really fun to read your comments.  I'm sorry to those who feel I have tortured them.  You only have to wait 3 more months for our next big surprise!

Love from,

Greta