Let there be light

One thing about all 1970's home are all the same... They have no lights in the living rooms. So today we solved that by putting in 4 can lights and a fan light in the living room and switched the two current lights in the kitchen out with 6 can lights.

Here you can get an idea of the spacing.

I got a tool from my neighbor Merrill for pulling the wire between light openings and it made a world of diference. 

We tested one of the lights in the living room and it already makes a world of difference.

Waiting for the wall to come down to get and idea of the whole space and what the lighting will do.

Demo day

Friday marked the first day of construction or deconstruction. We had the dumpsters in the neighborhood so we took advantage of them. We were just going move the couches out and pull some paneling down. That turned into us completely getting the front room. We pulled the paneling and baseboards, tore up the carpet and pad, and ripped out the railing. The house is feeling so empty but it seems like it full of twice as many peoples with all the echos!

Taking the kitchen Reno outside.

To get things started last weekend my dad and I changed our front door. Then a buddy of mine, Ben Llyod put some new windows in for us. It really gives our house a finished look from the outside. Now we just need to paint the door.

Here is a reminder of the door and 1970 yellow glass windows before.

Here it is after a few hours or labor.

We also put in a few other windows in the back of the house. 

Kitchen Reno, Let it begin...

This month started the long process of remodeling our kitchen. We've got some big plans and 6 weeks to pull it off. Working for Autodesk I get a 6 week sabatical every 4 years. Since I started there almost 6 years ago we have been planning this remodel. It's gone through many variations and I've modeled it many times, in about every software I use at work. You might think I'm crazy but yes my idea of vacation is working on my house. (We will mix a 9 day trip to Disneyworld at the start of my Sabatical.) We've been saving and now we are ready to begin...

Here are a few of the ideas I've had along the way. 

(Done in AutoCAD Architecture)

(Done in Autodesk Homestyler)

(Done in Autodesk Congigurator 360 & Autodesk Inventor)

(Done in Ikea home planner)

We originally were going to go with a brown cabinet but after watching #fixerupper & #fliporflip I was able to persuade Kira into doing gray. Here is the final rendering our kitchen. 

(Done in Autodesk Fusion 360)

Also watching Joanna Gaines Kira has fell in love with Shiplap. So we are doing one wall in shiplap in the family room by the window.  

Just so you have a starting point here are a few before picture of what we started with.