Welcome to the blue collar world.

Thank you for the welcome roof35, but we've been living here (and in other worlds) for some time : ) Wouldn't attempt so much if we hadn't!

Completely feel your pain and also feel your happiness and excitement as well. It’s very daunting to look at an “empty mess” as I like to call it. But there is NOTHING more gratifying than stepping back after it’s all done (even if it takes 10 years) and saying “We did that by ourselves”. It really makes it worth it! I promise you’ll make it through and you will be so proud in the end!! Good luck! Pictures of our mess in progress for posterity <3

dtrivino, thank you so much! I use humor to dispel the blahs/blues, but your "in progress" pic, and more importantly, your words, made an impact. Of course you're right, and this is how we've felt (gratified, proud) with every project we've started and finished over the years, but this one, well, it's much bigger than any other we've attempted! And 10 years sounds about right...

crowfarm, I hear ya! Thank you and best wishes on your remodel/reno! I, too, dragged my feet for a bit, making excuses (I need to cook more for the freezer, we need to finish our drainage problem first, the lawn needs reseeded before we demo inside... etc.) But now... we're in it! Keep your chin up, and keep laughing!

ETA: it'd all be easier if we were 20 years younger! Naw, make that 40 years younger!

Thank you for your post. It was lovely to read. Laughter and joy fill my heart at your visuals!

Awww, thanks boxerpal... I'm feeling better already! Nothing like a good laugh!

2manydiversions laughter is everything. Let me tell you if mys husband and I didn’t laugh at the VERY MANY, pardon my French but, f*** ups we make everyday we wouldn’t be married still lol!! Oh and word of advice, take ALL advice you get from “pros” on this site with a grain on salt or a swig of whiskey because some of them are brutal...they aren’t fans of DIYers and frown heavily on the use of anything that isn’t white subway tile LOL! I’m being a bit dramatic but it seems to be a theme with some of them here. So the best thing to do is laugh, cry, scream, whatever you need to do to get through this because YOU WILL GET THROUGH it and it WILL be worth it I promise!!

dtrivino, now THAT made me laugh out loud! We're sure to have lots of those f*** ups, and I hope we can laugh at ourselves!

As for the Pros, eh. They can hate us all they wish... although I must admit, some non-pros (and pros) have helped us here on GW tremendously! I'm continuously grateful!

As for white subway tiles... I'm aware of the infatuation (I blame that Gaines' couple on the tv show)... subway tiles... white... subway... tiles... not in my kitchen, or bath, or laundry room! Fine for others, but it's not our style or aesthetic.

There was a line from the movie 'Jaws'...'we're gonna need a bigger boat!" For us, it was 'we're gonna need a bigger dumpster!" And that was only for our kitchen a year and a 1/2 ago (we're DIYers too except for the countertop). Somehow, while my husband was lifting and hanging and measuring and tossing cabinets and swearing, I was wandering the house occasionally looking for extra things that were a million years old and useless to anyone to toss in the dumpster. Anyway the kitchen was a mess but only for a month or so. But yeah, the paper plates and cups and my jerry rigged 'coffee station' got old fast. The pets-yeah somehow they couldn't resist walking through sheet rock dust so the orange cat turned more of a cream color now and then. Anyway, you have good sense of humor and believe me it will be all worth it when the demo is over.

2manydiversions, absolutely! There is a wealth of information here and some really super nice people!! I even made a nice friend to chat renos with here and we text ideas to each other! It’s nice to be able to chat with someone who “gets it” when your partner/spouse has had enough LOL!!

Better you, than me!!! I don't deal well with chaos and a year of that could send me off a cliff!

dtrivino, you're so right... I've met so many here on GW whom I consider friends - and wouldn't hesitate to ask them for help and suggestions... I'm thinking I've found another friend now : )

ETA: Sorry, my brain is in slo-mo! Amazing work on your kitchen! Sure wish we had that much cabinetry space.

Anglophilia, after being married, albeit briefly, chaos is something I'm getting only slightly used to... it's the filth and dust that bothers me most. Oh the horror!

MrsM, thank you for sharing your story and the encouraging words! That's pretty funny! I easily imagined you tossing all kinds of things in the dumpster, and your hubby wondering what the heck was going on! For now, we're just using DH's truck to haul things away... though he has a trailer we've used in the past on his house before we married.

We don't want to do the countertops ourselves either - I'd be awfully worried about mucking it up, and as we're older, dropping the darned thing!

Absolutely! If you ever need an ear to bend, shoulder to cry on, or long distance binge eating (or drinking lol) friend I would be happy to oblige!!

dtrivino, from the bottom of my heart, thank you! I hope I/we don't have to take you up on that, but I'm thinking a friend who's been there, done that, still doing that, would be a godsend. I may call on you for morale support or just to share that I need a stiff drink (and a shower)!

Seriously it’s REALLY hard to talk to someone who hasn’t done it or who hasn’t lived it. We have lived it twice so far and I’m sure it won’t be the last because we do enjoy DIYing. I love when people walk into our home and ooh and ahh and ask “who did the work” and we get to say proudly “we did”!! Best feeling in the world!

dtrivino: You are speaking my language : ) Years ago (ok, decades!) I had long lists of 'wants' but I'm a penny pincher (and this has served me well), so I bought books (I said decades, before google) on how-to's. I often got discouraged, but kept at things like a bull dog, and yes, it's pretty wonderful to hear "ooh, where did you get that?" and reply, I made it, I did it. DH is the same... a very can-do guy who also researches things to the nth degree. But though together and separately we've done a lot of DIY, we've never tackled anything this big, or spent as much on a single budget. And we are not young. In truth, there is a lot we cannot do ourselves. But we are hiring our own subs for that which we can't do.

I keep hearing "have you started yet?", and "oh surely it won't take a year!" and my least favorite - "We got ours done in X days". Well, yeah, they hired it done. All of it. We just want to get it 'right'. Hopefully : ) But one can't sweat every single item that may go wrong (I say that, but I will!).

I moved out for my demolition. I was hoping that they'd get maybe half way through the renovation by the time I'd gotten back, but that was too much to ask for......still, I was away for the chaotic, messy part. Smartest thing I ever did. (It helps that the crew was the same crew that worked on my sister's home reconstruction, so I didn't worry too much about theft.)

Yep, hoping we survive as a couple with only one room to retrieve to that isn't chaotic!

I was not present when tile was installed on the flooring some years ago... needed it as I was wheelchair-bound at that time and clearly couldn't do that myself. The mistakes and mess I found upon returning are one reason the tile must be ripped up. I don't think I'd have the courage to leave a home unattended while work was being done, but I know many do. My parents had a house started by a well-respected contractor here while they lived elsewhere. I walked through many times and pointed out serious flaws and mistakes - none corrected properly. They finally fired him, subbed out the work themselves. I'm sure having a great contractor one can trust makes a ton of difference.

" I'm sure having a great contractor one can trust makes a ton of difference."

I don't think I ever would have done it if I didn't already know of a contractor whom I could trust and whose work I'd seen and liked. I don't think I'd have been confident in finding a good contractor and team.

LOL, great read. I love demo!

I love demo!

Great! Can I talk you into doing ours, then? : ) Oh, and cleanup too? : )

"...type mumbling..." I'm so stealing that.

Joseph, you can steal anything of mine, anytime : ) I truly admire your work and integrity : ) uh... just don't give me @rap about my love of Kohler Whitehaven sinks... I know you and most prefer SS ; )

2Many - Hooray! The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step (Lao Tzu). Demo was a year and a half for us. My advice is get the plastic up and keep it up as much as possible. Knowing you, you already have researched [numerous threads[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/getting-ready-for-major-kitchen-reno-with-2-young-children-any-tips-dsvw-vd~4616173) on how to survive the demo.

One of my favorite tips was to swap out a bathroom sink faucet with one with a tall faucet - see left sink - SO much easier to wash dishes! This was back in 2011 and is still in place (awaiting bathroom remodel).

I came across the next picture just today while searching for pictures of our mudroom wall studs / electrical wiring. (I cannot emphasize how important it is to take not only before pictures but also pictures when the walls are open and before they are closed up).

Very dorky of all of us but as you can see I did transition our old family room into a kitchen / dining room for the duration. Function, organization, everything but water :) Dry goods storage on the left, saran wraps mounted to the wall, coffee pot at the ready, and spices in bins.

Ooh I think that's Marcella's ham and peas pasta. It does take FOREVER to boil water on a camping gas stove.... (not a lot of fresh corn that summer).

You'll make it through! Take lots of pictures and please share with us along the way.

oldbat2be, Wow! Thank you! Although I could have gone forever without the "Journey of a thousand miles" quote, LOL! But this: "Demo was a year and a half for us" was incredibly helpful as it's easy to get discouraged at how long things drag on.

buehl very kindly gave me links to just about everything some time ago, and yes, I read through every link, and link within links, making copious notes! And guess what? I noted your high arched sink faucet way back then and typed that out for myself! However, we have a utility sink to use... thank goodness for small favors!

I love your photos (and may I say, you are far too attractive to be waiting for old bat-hood!). We don't have a room left for a kitchen set up like yours. And our temp kitchen must be movable. Sigh... DH packed up my camp stove, saying I wouldn't use it... I'm rather upset now!

I'll post the good, the bad, and the ugly, as long as people here on GW can tolerate it!

Thanks!

Following! Good luck

UPDATE: We are moving along, but ever so slowly it seems! I think that is the way it might feel for some time : ) Working on other areas of the house, inside and out, has taken us temporarily away from the kitchen, but we are getting back to it now!

I've been in the process of setting up our temporary-temporary kitchen in the breakfast nook, which is in the current kitchen. DH informed me it'd have to be moved soon so he and I could begin demo of the kitchen... I am clearly too tired to think straight - he's right! He suggested we move it to the dining room-to-be TV room for now... but first we had to remove his widescreen TV, which he seemed unable to live without (sports fan that he is). This was a sacrifice for DH.

Bless his heart!

Yesterday we began to set up the temp-temp kitchen (2 temps) because eventually it will be taken down to remove and rebuild a wall between the future tv room and kitchen...

My prep space, and only a few of many storage units... The water source is all the way across the house... I'll be keeping a jug nearby!

The only problem? We removed the only light in that room... this is the scene from early this morning... making DH's lunch using an emergency light! Felt a bit like camping days from the past! We'll be adding a cheap light pronto!

coffee stations are all the rage now... and we have one!

Living the life! I have double ovens! (ancient toaster oven sitting on top of old microwave). I'll sure miss that "feature" as our new kitchen will only have a slide in range. ; ) The microwave came from DH's bachelor pad, and to my dismay still had 'gunk' in it, after it'd been sitting for 2 years! I used a flame torch to sterilize it.

We put an old rug on the plywood subfloor for now... it adds a certain je ne sais quoi to our formal dining area, don't you think?

Things I've learned thus far:

1. 1) When vacuuming plywood sub-flooring, always vacuum with the grain. That way you'll get up half the dirt as opposed to none.

2) Those plastic drawer storage containers won't open if you put anything heavier than 15 paper napkins and a single plastic fork.

3) Keep a plastic drop cloth over everything when not in use... demo dust can find it's way into anything!

4) Maintain a sense of humor, maintain some semblance of order amidst the chaos, and always, always, have a hot pad ready for hot casserole dishes!

Best wishes to those going through the process - or preparing to!

I was young once!

Then I grew older and learned to go big:

Mr. Komatsu clears the way.

Ha! We may decide that's just the ticket!