Thursday, March 22, 2012

Downstairs Remodel- Day 2

I am writing this blog post throughout the day, so if it seems a little choppy, that's why.
Day 2 of our remodel started with a trip to the Depot to get some basic supplies like wood, sandpaper, paint rollers, etc. That trip cost less than I was afraid that it would. We left the Depot, dropped our supplies off, and went to Benjamin Moore to get primer and paint for the cabinets. Holy expletive Batman! I was glad that the Depot trip was less than expected because that trip to BM... it was NOT cheap! This primer and paint better jump up on the cabinets by themselves when I open the buckets. Anyway, after we sucked down our Mickey D's, it was time to get to work. Henry had already taken the doors off the cabinets while I was at an ortho appt (he says at least 2 more appts, so maybe I'll get them off Summerish- his terms, not mine) so when I got back, I took off the hinges and started sanding. He cut plywood to cover the contact paper that the lovely cabinet makers chose to put on the sides of our cabinets instead of wood. We have puttied holes and cracks in the cabinets and they are drying. Henry sanded the cabinet frames. :) What a nice guy!
We had this crazy quarter round at the top of our backsplash because the wall is so uneven that it left a gap. We learned about this gap when we removed the quarter round because I think it looks cheap and like a half hearted attempt to upgrade. The crack was so big in some spots that even caulk wouldn't fill it because it would fall down before it got the chance. What to do? Henry had this brilliant idea that we could get spray foam! Brilliant I say! I used said foam to fill the big gaps. When it's dry we will apply caulk over it and do a little paint magic to make it look like the counter top goes all the way back to the wall, at least that is our plan.
I should mention that we have used baby gates to block off the kitchen/dining room from the rest of the house, and we have hung sheets up in an attempt to keep the dust contained. We have also been reading that young house love blog thing and we are attempting to follow their directions on cabinet painting. We could not get their recommended brand of de-glosser or primer, so we got another brand instead. Here's hoping that it works as well. 
I think that we have decided to break up this huge downstairs remodel into sections so that it isn't so overwhelming. This week we really hope to get the ceilings painted, and the cabinets primed and painted. I think we are going to order the new hinges and handles tonight. Maybe next month, we will paint the walls and trim. It's all the little things that add up and become a time drain. That is why our deadline is Thanksgiving. I will just be pleasantly surprised if it is done before then.
So at 7:30 this evening, we were attempting to sand the edges of our cabinet doors, by hand, on this crazy curvy surface when it hit me, they make a tool for this! I mean just for this! Why in the world were we doing it by hand?!?! I dashed back to the Depot and purchased "The Mouse". We tested it out and it's so much easier than doing it by hand with a tiny scrap of paper. I will finish the edges tomorrow. Tonight we are ordering the hardware! Woot.
Tonight I'm feeling a little relieved that we have really started and we've made good progress. I will post pics soon, but honestly I'm just too tired to do it tonight. 

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