Weekend progress update

I worked all weekend and made lots of progress — even though the inside of my house still looks like a tornado blew through it.  That’s just the way it is.  Things look like crap during 80% of the project and then all of the sudden it all comes together and looks amazing.  I think I’m at about 50% on 4 or 5 projects so I have a ways to go before I get some gratification.

I’ve never been shy about showing you the mess that is the reality of living through DIY projects.  I don’t want to set false expectations about starting a project.  There’s a lot of CHAOS in between the “before” and “after” pics I generally share in my reveals.

Keeping it real– that’s what makes me so special! 😀  So just for fun, here are some messy “in between” pics to make sure you know that mess and chaos in the middle of a remodel is totally normal!

Projects underway…

1.  Barn door

Here is the wood I purchased to build my barn door for my wide hallway that I planked but still haven’t treated the unfinished corners.

I stored the wood in the basement so it would adjust to the humidity level inside our home before I put it together.  It needs to be here for a few weeks to properly adjust but I don’t have time for that so I settled for like 5 days.

It is surrounded by my old kitchen cabinets that we are storing until I decide if I’m going to sell them or use them somewhere.  Right now they are taking up 1/4 of the basement.

 

2.  Kitchen Drawers

I actually got these installed last weekend.  I’ll tell you more about these later because the glides deserve a post all on their own.

I installed some drawer organizer inserts and we now have use of 6 whole drawers in our kitchen which is making life so much more fun!  I have 7 more drawers coming so we are slowly but surely getting the kitchen functioning optimally.  Yeah!

 

3.  Small Hallway light

I think I redid the plank on this ceiling about 6 months ago but I lost the little Doohickies that hold the light on the ceiling brace so it’s been dandling like this for all that time.  This weekend I decided to run to Home Depot to see if I could find replacements.  I found a baggie of 6 bright brass Doohickies for $3 but opted for a $5 light with Doohickies of the right color so I didn’t have to Sharpie the bright brass ones and then have 4 leftover Doohickies to lose.

Plus, in about 10 years when I’m bored, I’ll discover this light and probably think of some amazing DIY project to do with it – sans the missing Doohickies!

Also, I secured the smoke detecter that had also been hanging for 6 months for no good reason but to keep the dangling light company!

 

4.  Kitchen Entrance “Drop Station”

I drew some plans, went to Home Depot and bought some lumber which I had them cut down for me.  Then when I got home I redrew my plans to make adjustments for the smaller dimensions I would be using and re-cut everything because nothing was cut correctly.

Then I started building my Kitchen entrance Drop Station.

It’s not what you think it’s going to be.  It looks like a bench.  Which it is.  But it’s going to be so much more than a bench.  I’ll share all the details when the time is right!  😀

 

5.  Getting ready for puppy

 

As you may have known per Madison’s post about doggie beds, we are getting another puppy.   With all the projects going on, I tend to let things pile up without noticing how bad it has gotten until I have a reason to  — take a look.  Usually that reason is that someone outside our immediate family is coming over.  We SCRAMBLE and clean up a bit and it always feels so good to live in the house for the next few days until it gets ridiculous again.

We have been using our dining room table (covered with a blanked then a sheet of plywood and then a sheet of insulation) as my work table during this kitchen remodel.

My tools have found a home in the corner of the living room.

 

It has NOT been a pleasant place to live for a while!

 

Well with “Little puppy” coming into our home, we need to get her little puppy area ready and have things cleaned up so it’s not a stressful environment.    So we got that cleaned up.  Now the dining room is my designated “tool home” and temporary indoor workshop.

 

The living room is now only cluttered with normal stuff — couch pillows and dog toys.  I can not understand why the couch pillows can not stay put on the couch!

Seriously.  Like there isn’t enough chaos in our lives already.

But all in all- progress is progress and life is good!