Will and I bought a 1978 home. The floors had been redone for resale. But, pretty much everything else was original to the home. That means every cabinet in the house is going to need some renovation at some point while we are here. The kitchen is no exception!
I tried making it a little cute. A very little. But, notice the scar on the cabinet above the coffee pot. Was that a toaster fire? And, then look at the underside of my cabinets. That could also be the inside of my cabinets. If you hit the cabinet just right, wood chips from the pressed wood fell down onto the counter tops. Yummy!
We were ready to put these projects on 3-year, or 5-year or even 15- year savings plans. I told Will that I just wanted to know the price to re-do the kitchen, so that we could be deliberate in our 3-year or 15-year plan. As I got to know my neighbor Rich, he told me he was a retired cabinet maker. I could feel free to ask him questions. I would visit and we would chat life and some times cabinetry. I talked about it enough that he said he would come over and look at it. I thought he would just tell me what a cabinet maker would charge so that I could compare with Lowes.
Long story short, those conversations turned into my retired cabinet-making neighbor giving an estimate and offering to do our kitchen renovation! With our neighbor hoping to sell his house and move back to his hometown, we knew this was a very limited time offer. It was an offer way to good to say no to, so we said, "Yes Please!"
Rich has a second garage that is his wood shop.
Build in the shop...
...store in the garage
His shop was also the paint station on many of these humid days when it was too sticky outside to pain the cabinetry.
Our first glimpse of what the counter tops would look like; his garage became our model kitchen.
One of the absolute best parts of this process with my neighbor was that I was able to visit almost everyday. I really felt like I was a witness to the whole project! The kids became very comfortable with Mr. Rich's house, uummm maybe too comfortable!
After 4 weeks of building, painting, ordering, it was time to start the project at our house! Will helped Rich wheel the trash can over! Apparently no tall kitchen bag would do when tearing out an entire kitchen!
Will helped Rich with the demolition on Saturday. I came home from a morning out with the kids to see this picture. They immediately enjoyed pointing out that insulation where the island used to sit. Look we found a mouse nest! Eeew! I mean, neat? I mean, Eeeeeewwww! Maybe I don't want to be nearby for every part of the renovation!
Will realized wall paper had been painted over in the kitchen. While the cabinetry was out, he felt like it made sense to go ahead and work on getting that out. Day 2 was spent with Will steaming off old wall paper while Rich started figuring out the electrical details.
When we went to bed on Day 2, this was the pretty site we left downstairs! Cabinetry gone, wall paper stripped with unfortunately some drywall paper removed.
Only a couple days later, we were primed, some walls were mudded and primed again.
The first corner of cabinetry was up within 4 days of starting the project!
One week later, we could see a kitchen come together! The amazing part, my neighbor did 95% of this by himself! One hour with an electrician. My contractor neighbor retiled a little portion of tile near the fridge's new spot. Rich's buddy Pete (another neighbor) helped him carry a few things in. The rest was all him!
Two weeks after demolition day, it was time for us to go to the beach. This was our last image of the kitchen. Cabinetry up. Counter tops on but not secured. Most appliances not in. But, we could totally see the kitchen coming together! We were so excited to know that we could home to a kitchen mostly complete!
When we came home from the beach, so much of the major construction was done! Appliances were in. Counter tops were done. Drawers and doors were in. He had long lists of details to finish.
And, he had just started my happy place, the bench!
Aaah, the bench! I already loved sitting at my kitchen table. Now. You can not get me away from it! The bench has two lids for storage. It is big and wonderful...aaahhh... You can also see here the gray samples that went up on the wall. Gray is not an easy color; samples are a must!
We were home from the beach for about 3 days, about 3.5 weeks into the renovation, when it was our turn to start priming and painting. My muscles are enjoying a break from that task!
Some of the facts:
It took Rich 4 weeks to build the cabinets, just under 4 weeks to install them.
Rich took care of the minor electrical changes that happened, only requiring an electrician's help for one odd quirk that we inherited from the previous owner.
Rich took care of the plumbing for us when the space under the sink became a bit smaller and when we moved the fridge over about a foot or so.
Rich built the bench by sight. How cool is he to be able to do that!
Rich's 30-year in the business friend Sytse came over and did a little bit of the molding (at no charge!). Our contractor neighbor Bill came over to help only a couple times for small tasks. Rich's buddy Pete came over with his truck a couple times to help transport things and two of the really big pieces he helped carry in the house. Rich did the rest!
Will helped with demolition. I was nosy and watched a lot. Will stripped wall paper. Will and I primed and painted the walls, as well as the trim work. To get the kitchen done before my parents came over, we stayed up until 11 several times, 12 a time or two, and we even saw the clock strike 2am once! Those hours are not something Will and I see ever! Also, to help us finish before my parents came, Rich helped for a couple extra days, doing some of the odd jobs, like scraping paint off the windows, painting the molding for a short turn, and helping me make our bench cushion.
Have I mentioned that it means the world to us that our neighbor did the project?! We are happy with the results and feel quite blessed!
