Operation UK: Finished!

working on a ceiling patch (photo by my mom)

After almost six months of working on my kitchen, I am happy (and relieved) to report that I put the final touches on this project yesterday. Over the course of this undertaking, walls were knocked down, cabinets were refinished and re-hung, ceilings and walls were patched and textured and painted. As this moved along, it prompted a bit of freshening throughout the rest of my house. I painted the main bathroom a soft, lilting blue and my hallway, entryway and living room a dreamy, gentle gray called day spa (I mean, really….who doesn’t want to live in a day spa?) I’ve been living in chaos for quite some time, with half-finished walls and cabinets missing here and there, but now that it’s all done and pulled together, the end result is really lovely - serene, inviting and calm.

One part of this process that surprised me is how much physical and mental work actually went into this makeover, and how empowering it is to know that, for the most part, I did it myself. I spent hours sanding and smoothing and refinishing. I wired the new lighting fixtures. I learned how to patch holes in sheet-rock. I now know how to mix joint compound. I can tape and texture a wall. I primed and prepped and painted. Me. I did it. By myself. In my limited spare time. Often with a three year old little girl as my “helper”. I’m pretty damn proud of myself and how this project turned out.

The process of working on my condo helped me to recognize a pattern in my life. I like order and organization. A lot. I need it just to keep on top of things in my busy, sometimes chaotic life. But occasionally (ok, often) this need for order and organization makes me reluctant to make the kind of changes that will bring me closer to where I want to be, because I know that usually these changes will result in a mandatory period of messiness that just has to be lived through and dealt with. It’s part of the process. Over the past six months, my house has very often been a disaster, but with time and patience and steady effort, the disaster found it’s way back to order and the clarity and serenity that were waiting to be uncovered.

I can see how my life has often echoed this pattern: chaos occurs, tears have been shed, patience has been applied, work has been done, and eventually, peace has been restored. My house is currently on the peace end of that spectrum, but there are other parts of my life that are messy- we all have those messy parts, right? Working on this big home project helped me to learn to embrace the mess, to respect it as part of the process of digging out and moving onwards and upwards. It's a work in progress, but I’m trying not to let the fear of disorder and disarray discourage me from moving through the mess to arrive what I really want.

Now that this whole project is done, the paintbrushes are put away and the floors are swept, I’ve decided that it’s time to move on from this place that I’ve lived in and loved for nine years. It’s time for more space for Riley and for me and it’s time to embrace the mess that comes with shutting down this chapter of my life and starting a new one. Even though I love how it turned out, and even though I put my blood and sweat into this little project, it’s finally time for me to find a new home for Riley and me. I listed my condo on the MLS this morning and I’m hoping to move in the next few months - I really think the new kitchen look will help it move quickly for a decent price.

I took what was a little bit messy and in need of some elbow grease, and I made it beautiful and functional. I made a lot of messes, created a bunch of chaos, and I put all the pieces in place. I've learned a lot through this process - both about home maintenance and myself, and I'm so grateful for the experience. Still, it's time to let go and move on to bigger and better spaces. It's time.

After view. See the "before" photos here.

What's going on around here

A quick update on what's been going on around here:

Riley
After a week of being super-sick, Riley is almost back on top of her game. She's been much better this week, but she's still not operating at 100%. She continues to be more tired than normal and is a wee bit irritable, which is not the norm for my sunny, happy little one. I'm confident she's on the mend, however, and will be back to herself very soon.

Me
After being out of work most of last week with a sick girl, this week has been all about digging out, getting back on top of things at work and at home. It always amazes me how everything just seems to drop when you have a sick little one. I've been really focused and productive at work this week, and I think I'm pretty much caught up there, which is good because there are some really busy weeks ahead and I hate going into a busy time already behind. I'm digging my way out at home, as well, and I am grateful that Riley is with her dad this weekend so I have some time and space to really get things done. With any luck, I'll have some time left to do some cross country skiing, too.

Op: UK
My work on the kitchen was way-laid for a while by the sickies, but it's back on. This week, I took the first big step and had a wall cut out. Where you once saw this:
You now see this (ignore the construction chaos):
If you are looking into my kitchen from the dining area, you see this:
It's so much more open than it was before. I can stand at my stove and see the whole living and dining room. It's fantastic! I've also removed cabinet doors and sanded down the frames on one side. I started painting the cabinet frames and the walls behind the refrigerator and the stove tonight. It's coming. Slowly, slowly, but it's coming along. I still can't decide on countertops, though. I keep going between the less expensive IKEA butcher block (which I like and looks nice) and just springing for solid surface (which I really like but is significantly more expensive). Any opinions out there?

The unexpected benefit to working on my kitchen is the chance to thoroughly and completely deep clean it. I pulled my fridge out to clean and paint behind it, which I haven't done in, oh... you know....ever (don't judge me) and it was horrifying and strangely satisfying. I'm currently degreasing and de-gunkifying my oven hood (the filters are soaking while I post this). And I solemnly swear that I'll buy oven cleaner tomorrow so it doesn't feel left out. It's sorta like I'm spring cleaning early, but in all reality I never spring clean because by the time spring comes, I just want to ride my bike. But I digress...

That's what's happening over here this week. It's been a full, busy, somewhat overwhelming week and I'm glad to have it over and to have my weekend stretching out before me. I hope your's is fabulous.

Operation: Update Kitchen 2011

I've been thinking about launching Operation: Update Kitchen for a while, but a pesky little pipe burst incident last week ruined my kitchen floor, and so Op: UK 2011 (oooooh, heeeey...that's so British. Maybe Daniel Craig will come help me on this project. Or the hot English guy who works at Barnes and Noble...but I digress) has been moved from a "someday-soon" project to a "right-now" project. Actually, this is probably good timing because the cold is keeping us home and indoors more than usual, and a big project might be just the thing to keep me busy. (oh, who am I kidding? I need another project like I need another three-year-old, but whatever. It's time to get this done.)

My kitchen is a teeeeeeny-tiny galley style kitchen, and you'd thing this would make it easier, but in fact it makes it more difficult because everything has to be efficient and practical and space saving. It's the first thing you see when you walk into my condo, so I want it to be friendly and fun, yet easy to keep neat and clean. I already have nice stainless appliances, so the necessary updates are mainly cosmetic, which require either paying someone to do the work for me, or doing it myself. Since a trip to Hawaii is calling my name for April and Riley and I are spending time back east in June, I'm opting for DIY.
To make this more fun for myself and to keep me motivated, I'm issuing myself a little challenge. And I'm posting it here to keep myself accountable.

The Op: UK 2011 challenge is as follows:

• As much as is possible, the current kitchen materials will be re-used or repurposed (I'm keeping it green, folks.)
  
• I will do as much of the work as is possible, but will gladly accept friends and family's help. I'll probably hire out having the floor tiled, because I just don't even want to deal with that.
• I'm allotting myself the total $$ of the insurance payout for the floor (minus the plumbing fees) plus $500 to do this project. The insurance was more than fair, but it's still a lot of work to do on a limited budget, so I'll have to be careful.
  
• I still have to maintain a functioning kitchen, so it's going to be important to have a strategy for what is done, when.
  
• This project has to be done by April 1, 2011. Because April is about when biking season ramps back up and, let's face it, I'm not gonna be working on my kitchen when I could be on my bike.

Sounds like fun, right?

So what do I need to do?

• Cut out this corner, so my kitchen opens up to my living room. This is something I've wanted to do for a while, and I think it will make a big difference in the room.
  

• refinish the cabinets. I've already started stripping and sanding.

• Paint the walls (depending on what color the cabinets end up, the walls will either be white or blue).

• install new countertops (probably IKEA butcher block).
  
• install open shelving over the refrigerator.
  
• new lighting.
• new tile floors.
• new kitchen faucet. Because I hate the one I have right now.
  

I think it's doable. And I think it will be great to have it done and out of the way. My plan is to update here every week or so, provided some progress was made. Can't wait to get it underway.