Renovations (part 1)

When we were getting ready to buy this new house earlier in the year, we promised each other to not repeat one big mistake we had made in our previous house: we waited far longer than we should have to make some important updates to the place. We bought that house in 1996, in 2003 did a major addition so that both kids would have their own bedrooms (and I could have a real, dedicated home office), and then in 2016 we did a complete rethinking of the kitchen. Living with the horribly tiny and outdated kitchen for 20 years was a bad idea then, and I don't think I've got 20 years in this house to wait for something like that.

We knew before we made the offer on this place that there would be two things we wanted to get done as quickly as we could:

1. The range hood in the kitchen wasn't vented to the outside, it was just a very noisy filter that recirculated back into the air two feet above where it was taken in. Needed: new range hood, quieter, ducted outside.
2. I need a real office; the room I'm using was a bedroom, and has no shelving or anything for my books and music stuff, and I'd been spoiled by the 2003 addition in Fanwood by having a ridiculous amount of built-in shelves. We started here wanting shelves build for one wall, that grew to wrap a corner, and then the available budget pulled things back to covering 1.5 of the walls in the office.

Before: wet wall { .img-caption }
Before: other wall { .img-caption }

We moved in here on the last Thursday in February, and a few weeks before closing we set up an appointment with a contractor recommended by our realtor for 9AM on the following Monday. We had every intention of going through whatever design/proposal stages we needed super-fast and getting all the work done before summer.

Just before closing, the wheels came off our lives for a bit and that took a few months to settle down. Mid-summer, we reached out again to finalize plans and sign a contract, and then wait for availability to get started on the work. Last week was that availability.

On Monday, they very quickly framed out a new soffit between the top of the cabinets for the duct work to exit through, then in short order added a new tile backsplash on both long kitchen walls, hung the new range hood, and sheetrocked the soffit closed.

Framing the ductwork { .img-caption }
Enclosed... { .img-caption }

A few new lights added (in a very dark closet and over the sink). Thursday/Friday were prep for painting and then repainting the entire downstairs.

Prepping... { .img-caption }
Prepping... { .img-caption }
Prepping... { .img-caption }

Looks like there's another few hours of touchups and final tweaks (there are a few switchplates missing still, etc.) and this phase of the work will be over. It already feels more like home down there.

After { .img-caption }
After { .img-caption }

Next, the contractor will be fabricating the shelf units in his shop for installation here in a few weeks, and then I'll finally be able to get all of my stuff unpacked and get my real office back.

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• Annual Report
• First 90 Days

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• Renovation 2016

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