Demolition Days

We finally vacated the property - thank goodness! 

I documented the empty house before we left.  Demolition started immediately.  Our contractor emails pictures daily. 

Here's a bunch of before & afters.  Catch your jaw before it drops to the floor ;)

First up, the staircase.  The only thing we're keeping intact on the whole first level.

Before

After

Uh, yeah...yikes!  Come on in a little further and have a look at the livingroom.

Before

After

Yes, that's scaffolding.  And, yes, those are multiple layers of ceiling on the floor.

Turn around and have a look at the dining room.

Before

After

Gonzo.  Look at all that light!  We're eliminating that small far right window for a range hood.  And replacing the window and door on the back wall with a slider and transom.  It will be a flood of light!!

Let's walk back into the kitchen. 

Before

After

All I can say is...look at that staircase!  I've never seen it from the kitchen!!

Quick, look to the right.

Before

After

Ok, found the chimney.  But we're hiding it again behind a powder room & pantry.

Walk forward to the shared wall and look toward the front door.

Before

After

Hallway be gone!  Almost.  But it will be, soon. 

So, what's going on upstairs?  Less wall removal.  Ok, I lied.

Guest Room Before

Guest Room After

The wall between the Guest and Boys rooms is gone.  It was side-by-side closets (one for each) that we've decided to swap.  Meaning, guest gets closet location that was boys and vice versa.  I'm so amazed by the demolition work that I don't make sense anymore.

You can see that we're replacing baseboards, leveling and installing new flooring up here.  Depending on the structural requirements for the main floor (we may scale back based on finding good, solid, shared-wall-to-outside-wall joists), the exterior walls may come down here, too.  Cross your fingers for spray foaming both floors ;)

That's it for before and afters.  But here's a parting shot of the entryway.  I've never seen this much exposed.  It was allllll walls before.  So, picture a big white wall connected to another white wall and a door.  Now this:

Entryway

Wow. 

Can it really get better than this!?!?

Ode To A Really Great Stove

This is it.  The beginning is upon us. 
We are saying goodbye to random things as we go.

Tonight, it's the stove.

Goodbye uneven stove.

You're missing a rear left leg.  But you've made impressive meals.  Saved me with simple pasta.  Baked birthday cakes, seared mouthwatering steaks, and cooked authentic Spanish tortillas.

I can't complain. 

Thanks for the memories.  Good luck in your new home.
I'm sure you'll serve them well.

It's been a great 10 years...

...bring on the demolition!!!!

Deconstruction

I've been quiet on the blog...which means I've been busy at home. 

But I've been struggling.  Because none of it seems very blog-worthy.  In fact, it's all opposite of what I've posted.  Everything I've done.  Now it's un-done.  This is not progress.  Well, you could argue this is progress, just in a different way. 

Progress toward demolition.

!!!!

Here goes:

BEFORE - organized mudroom

AFTER - hooks drilled into cleat

BEFORE - styled livingroom

AFTER - basement couch, coffee table gone, rug rolled

BEFORE - dining room

AFTER - table & chairs sold, pictures away, staging area

BEFORE - dining room other view

AFTER - boxes for storage, goodwill pile

BEFORE - welcoming basement

AFTER - 1/2 an ikea kitchen, rolled rugs, bannister removed

I'm documenting "befores" of the 1st and 2nd floor.  I'm mega-stressing over clearing out half a house.  I'm dreading/anxious to be moving into a local furnished apartment for three months. 

I can't wait to get this party started...!

Selling Off

I've had little to report around the house...because it's go time.

For example:

Guest Room - a week ago

Guest Room - today

Multiply this room by 7 (including a kitchen) and that's how much work there is to do.  I don't think I've felt this stressed since...um...well...  No, giving birth was easier.  We came home after a couple days.  With this, we're out for three months.

Back to craigslisting, boxing and bagging up!

MIA in NYC

My husband sprung a post-Valentine's getaway on me.  Back to our old life...back where we met...NYC.

When we left for Toronto, we promised we'd go back once a year.  It's been that and then some since last time.  I'd been saying how much I miss it lately...

Here are our highlights of the city I love.

ESB

Straphanging

Home

My Favorite

"The Scream"

"Girl Before A Mirror"

Oyster Bar

Central Park

I missed my kids to death.  I think I'm that person now.  But in a good way...I can't WAIT to show them the city.  XO NYC!!!

Pantry (Almost) Perfection

Amid the sickness that would never end, I managed to get a little project done.  What else does one do while housebound with germs during naptime?

Last we spoke, I started here.

And got as far as a freezer.

Then I got busy.  First, I ran an extension cord to the utility room beside the pantry.

I know, really not pretty.  And not the best source of power.  When we wire our main floor, I'm going to have an outlet wired down here for the freezer.  Consider this temporary. 

Also, that hole in the wall.  That is an additional pull for the cold air return.  It just happened that we needed to place it here.  Which works well for the freezer, and my conscience, because I know it can breathe.

And freeze.

Then a few days later, when we only had the first two men down, I took the big boy with me to the store.

I considered MDF or some kind of white wood planks that were 3/4" thick.  But they only came as wide as 12".  So instead, I chose 1" thick pine panels to make deeper shelves.  I almost went 16", but ended up with 14".  Not too deep, not too shallow.

It was my first time planning something wood-related and having the store people cut it for me.  Should be totally easy, right?  Picture me in the store second-guessing myself 15 times while the kind sales associate stands there with safety glasses and a line up.  

Luckily enough, I got the department manager, and he helped me cut the panels to eliminate buying an extra 1x2.  Yes!

We got it all home, threw the pieces in "position," and I got excited.

Can you see it?  Storage beside and above.  With vacuum cleaner tucked nicely between shelving and door.  Beautiness. 

A few days later, after the next wave of sick, I got down to business.

I started low first.  I figured the first shelf will be the hardest, and if I screw up, it's so low, holes will be hidden.

Then this happened.  Hmmm.  Not the bracket's fault.  Not the wood's fault.  It's the ledge.  Since our basement was underpinned, we have a ledge in the back of the pantry where the new foundation wall juts out a bit.  Unfortunately, the studs creating the ledge aren't angled perfectly.  But it's nothing a wedge won't fix. 

And I made sure the other side was level when I screwed the 1x2 into the studs.  So when the wedge goes in, the shelf will be square. 

Yup, that was the hardest part.  The rest of the shelves went in smoothly.  Find the studs, screw in the bracket and 1x2.

Ta Da!!! 

I ended up forgoing a bracket in the middle of the long shelves.  Since the pine is 1" thick, it's not bowing.  If I end up with heavier items on the shelf, I might reconsider.  But for all those light bulbs and paper towel rolls, it's perfect.

My goal is to paint the shelving so it doesn't look so unfinished.  Maybe some baskets.  But for now, it's functional. 

How about the before and after, shall we?

Before

After

Once the main floor pantry is built, all edible dry goods will go there.  Anything DIY, paint, cleaner, or tool-related will stay here.  Which means, I'll need a new name for this little storage area that could...hmmm...

In the meantime, anyone who wants that old GORM shelving unit, come visit my curb tomorrow..!