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House Renovation Update #1

I’ll be posting updates on the house renovation every Friday, so if you love this kind of stuff, yay! If you hate it, Fridays won’t be our day. It’s okay, I understand. I still like you a lot.

I will definitely put together more succinct before/after shots at a later date, but these updates are more of the nitty gritty. (I want to document EVERYTHING so D and I can look back and sigh.) Also, if you have any questions about the process, just leave them in the comments!)

So! This week was all about destruction. Nothing pretty to report over here at demolition party central.

Let’s start with the kitchen and surrounding living areas. The previous owners’ floor plan teetered on a great room concept, so we just wanted to take it to the next level. We decided to redo the kitchen entirely, as well as open up some wall space.

Here are some before shots of the kitchen area from the vantage point of the family room, shooting from left to right.

The wood-paneled room in the back left of the first photo was originally used as a den, but we will be using it as the dining room. Here’s a look back at the kitchen from that soon-to-be dining area.

Yep, LOTS of wood paneling. Wowza.

Well, it was nice knowing you.

Here’s the kitchen area after the first full day of demo.

(Wito is totally confused as to where the house went.) And the view from the dining area.

So far we have stripped the wood paneling off the walls, knocked out the entire kitchen, added structural beams, opened up the wall in the formal living room, a removed part of the floor. (The living room floor is original oak, but the kitchen and dining room floors are laminate. We are removing the laminate and replacing with oak.)

Here’s where we stand today.

Loving the open space. Feels so much better already.

Until next Friday!

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25 comments
  1. Jen

    September 14, 2012 at 7:17 am

    I love this stuff. Can’t wait to see more pictures!

  2. Laura @ Sweet Life à la Carte

    September 14, 2012 at 7:23 am

    Wow, these photos are incredible! What a difference the extra space makes. Can’t wait to see more!

  3. Angella

    September 14, 2012 at 7:24 am

    It reminds me of when we moved in here eleven years ago – the first thing we did was rip out the wall between the kitchen and living room. Love!

  4. Beth

    September 14, 2012 at 8:13 am

    I LOVE LOVE LOVE house updates. Keep ’em coming, with tons of pictures.

  5. Lori

    September 14, 2012 at 8:23 am

    Well I will be here every Friday…I love house remodels!

    Wow that kitchen was tiny! And phew…yes…lots of paneling…

  6. Sarah Merlin

    September 14, 2012 at 8:23 am

    The progress is really good. I can’t wait to see the final result. And it’s spacious!

  7. Jenny

    September 14, 2012 at 8:44 am

    Wow! So awesome. I can not wait to follow this reno!

  8. Abby

    September 14, 2012 at 8:44 am

    Loving it — can’t wait for more! Are you keeping a little bit of the wood paneling, just to remind you of what the house once was? Maybe tuck it away in a drawer somewhere, so that you can bring it out every year or so and shudder!

  9. sizzle

    September 14, 2012 at 8:53 am

    I think on Fridays we’re going to be BFFs. Love this stuff! Your house is so cool (of course) and I love you and D’s style so watching the transformation is going to be so much fun.

  10. cc

    September 14, 2012 at 9:20 am

    Congratulations on the house! That space is going to be great once it’s complete. I can’t wait to see the finished product (and the in-between).

  11. GreenInOC

    September 14, 2012 at 9:40 am

    Next Friday is too far away to see more!

    I love “Young House Love” and yesterday they posted a Reader Redesign and the original layout reminded me of yours and what they did was incredible!:

    http://www.younghouselove.com/2012/09/reader-redesign-when-the-walls-come-down/

    I totally love how the demoed house is SPOTLESS!

    • whoorl

      September 14, 2012 at 9:46 am

      Oh, I love that redesign. Thank you! (And yes! Can you believe how clean the demo was? They did a great job.)

  12. Leslie Capron

    September 14, 2012 at 10:54 am

    You guys move fast! This is amazing progress, I’m so excited for you!! I’ll be here every Friday too!

  13. Amy Smith

    September 14, 2012 at 11:09 am

    Yippee!! I LOVE renovations…especially opening up spaces. This is going to look AMAZING! I will live vicariously through you b/c my husband says no-way-in-hell will we but a fixer upper with 3 youngins :P

  14. Elizabeth

    September 14, 2012 at 11:23 am

    This is utterly fantastic! I am so excited to see things progress. No, really excited. Like, super super excited. Home remodeling makes my heart go all aflutter.

  15. Isabel

    September 14, 2012 at 1:24 pm

    Wow! Isn’t it crazy how much it can change in just a few days? I can’t wait to read and see all the updates.

    Seeing your before and after pics makes me wonder why we didn’t take more pictures of the two houses we built. Seriously, I think we have less then 10 pictures. Hum….we’ll do better on the next house.