Life Under Budget

The kitchen is functional…I repeat…the kitchen is functional! You can see progress from the previous weeks by clicking on the links below. Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 It is such a relief to be up and running again. After 12 weeks of chaos, dirt, and hard work we can finally start to relax and enjoy the space. Granted, we still have quite a few things left to completely finish everything up. Still on the To-Do List: Backsplash Crown moulding Shoe moulding for the cabinets Electrical plugs for under the upper cabinets Sand and…

Well, I am very hesitant to assume items will be crossed off the To-Do list for the next week. Last week we had planned on the electrical work to be completed and that was a bust. Don’t get me started on the cabinet handles and all their defects that had to be shipped back. Also wishing the countertops would be on was also sort of a let down. Needless to say, what we expected to be accomplished this week was not. This has left us with a week of stand still…once again. Week 1 You can see progress from the previous weeks by clicking on the links below. Week 2…

We are on the final stretch! This past week I feel like I can see the vision for the kitchen coming together more clearly. You can see progress from the previous weeks by clicking on the links below. Well, I am done assuming items will be crossed off the To-Do list for the next week. Last week we had planned on the electrical work to be completed and that was a bust. Don’t get me started on the cabinet handles and all their defects that had to be shipped back. Also wishing the countertops would be on was also sort of a let down. Needless to say, what we expected…

This week we are moving in the right direction! You can see progress from the previous weeks by clicking on the links below. Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 The three elements that were holding up progress finally let up.  The doors are finally here and they look great! The exterior door especially updates the look of our 1950’s ranch home. While the basement door helps to keep us from toppling down the steep stairs as we come inside.     The spice/wine cabinet also arrived this week to go next to the beverage center in order to finish off…

As expected, not a lot was accomplished on the kitchen during week 8. You can see progress from the previous weeks by clicking on the links below. Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 What takes the cake for week 8, is the pantry cabinet. I was super nervous about the pantry after demolition because I ordered the wrong size cabinet. I didn’t realize the exact location of the stair header underneath the kitchen, and thought there was more room to play with. I guess that’s one of the downfalls of doing it yourself with limited knowledge. But, lesson learned!     Weeks…

The One Room Challenge may be over, but our major kitchen renovation is not! Let’s consider this week 7! You can see progress from the previous weeks by clicking on the links below. Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Our big progress has somewhat stalled with Thanksgiving coming right up. Also as you can guess, we will not be hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our house! There are three items holding up the completion of the kitchen. An exterior door A basement door A cabinet for the end of the island The door size was a little funky, so the doors had to be special…

In a perfect world, we would be revealing our finished kitchen today. But we do not live in a perfect world, nor is anything in renovating perfect. It is the end of the One Room Challenge, but it is not the end for our kitchen updates! To see the progress so far, click on the links below. Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 This week was the definition of challenging. Knowing that when we started this process, we expected to be pretty much done with the kitchen – minus a few small things here and there. Then, seeing all of the finished rooms for the challenge…

Let’s face it…the deadline for the One Room Challenge will not be met. Starting off week five I had high hopes we would only be a couple weeks past being finished in six weeks. But as everyone knows in remodeling, things don’t always go according to plan. Especially with so many moving parts! To see the process of our kitchen renovation thus far, click on the links below for the previous weeks. Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Things are still humming along, lots of progress is being made, and I even took three days off work to get more done! Well all that came to a halt,…