Yes, we're crazy

So the open house last weekend went OK - but we definitely didn't get the stampede we were expecting. Apparently it was "too" nice outside! People are so picky! And that leads us to our recent project. People are picky, which is understandable, but still a pain in the ass. We decided to finish our hall closet out with doors. We hadn't done this earlier because we very carefully made sure the height of the closet was standard, but we didn't think about the opening (duh). So it was 4 inches to wide for the largest standard bi-fold door. You can imagine how that felt. Oh well. So in order to fix it we had to rip out the inside piece of drywall - cut some of the drywall out of the opening and add some more structure. It's ready to paint tonight and E already has 1 door up and just has to hang the track for the second. E also wanted to replace the closet doors since they're kind of jinky and out of shape. So he got those cut down last night and ready to install tonight.

ripped out the inside wall

added new framing and drywall

did the corners and mud - reminds me of grout! yuck!

one door on - second one on tonight!

Day of Destruction - part Duex

OK! So now the wall is gone! and we got a look at the mystery floor. I'll know more tomorrow after I use our brand new 7.25" circular Skil saw we got at the new Home Depot down the street. The guy at Lumber Liquidators recommended cutting along one of the seams to see whats under the floor. So tomorrow that's what I'm gonna do! Hopefully we'll be able to get a similar wood floor and patch the kitchen back together. Looks like there are 2 pieces of plywood and then the flooring, which unfortunately for me, is glue-down. ugh. anyway. Here's some more photos. Right now we're trying to figure out how to get rid of all the old cabinets and steel framing from the former wall. It's alot trickier when you don't have a car!

There's no turning back now

It has begun. Hammer has hit drywall and hammer has been victorious! Today we begin our new kitchen! whoo-hooo! We are going to do as much as possible ourselves. The upper cabinets came down very easily, just an electric drill and zipped the screws out (while standing on old countertop) And speaking of countertop I don't care what anybody says, formica stinks! Mine is white and granted 15 years old - but I can't get it clean, only less dirty! But anyway, the upper cabinets came right down, the range hood was hard wired, but E threw the breaker and cut the wires.

A little about our plan: We are DIY of course, so we're thinking IKEA for the cabinets. My only nagging concern is the "IKEA factor" - when someone walks in and says "Oh, you got that from IKEA!" Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, I mean they have incredibly flexible cabinets and configurations, the drawer organizers are the best and all the addons you can get would be available to the next owners of our condo if they wanted to change stuff around. Still, I wasn't very happy with any of the door fronts. The style that I liked, Hallarum, was discontinued early (they said there were quality issues). But it was a flat-front door style in a eucalytis wood (veneer). All the others are raised panel styles, and my second choice was a shaker-style cabinet. But I couldn't get past putting something so traditional in a loft in downtown Chicago. We also didn't want to go too far the opposite and do a laquer red or black - we thought it would turn too many people off when we sell in a couple years.

So the new plan is IKEA cabinets and fittings with custom cabinet doors! I got the idea from a designer on http://www.ikeafans.com. Now, I just have to find a cabinet maker I can afford! I think in the end it'll be gorgeous though, so it's worth a little extra running around.

Here's the original kitchen - your last look!

Here's some pictures of the destruction so far!

Here's my "new" kitchen at the moment: