you light up my life

I wish I had more time to update this blog... However, all of my "free" time is now "house" time. So thank you for your patience! Our contractor is scheduled to start this week and will be working on the roof. We are getting a shade of grey, just need to pick one of two colors. But I last left off with the carpet and wallpaper removal. The next project we undertook was the kitchen lighting... Here is what it looked like in the beginning:

You can see how the low fluorescent lights make the kitchen feel small and closed off.

Closer view of the lights and the ceiling. It just felt weird going in there with all the natural lighting, and  then feeling like the ceiling was right above your head. Not the best combination and usage of space. 

We knew from the beginning we wanted to add can lights as it would create a cleaner and more updated look. However, the conversation about how to get them installed created some great groupthink, and after a good night of sleep we decided to make a big change. We were going to raise the roof! Because the fluorescent lighting needed to be encased, a box was dropped down below where the ceiling should have gone. We decided that it would be easiest to install the lights if we could just get to the joists and if we were going to all that trouble, why not raise the ceiling up as well. It also allowed us to take down the cabinets which is beneficial to the project I am starting this next week! 

Matt and I removing the old lights.

Matt and Nick taking down the cabinets. Funny to see the paint lines of  where they used to be!

The wall is complete! We also took the cabinets down that were to the left of the sink. 

Then we (and by we I mean Matt and Nick) started the demolition. Now tell me, what boy doesn't love getting a hammer and being told to have at it! 

I think they had quite a bit of fun ripping down the drywall and box boards! Projects like this made me so happy we have cement floors because we never have to worry about getting them dirty. One of the pluses of getting our work done before the contractor starts. 

Adding the housing for the cans. 

Ta-Da!!! New lights and a higher ceiling! We can't put the drywall in until after the contractor does a bit of work in there, but the kitchen is going to look so much better with new lights and about 7" more above our heads.

And once Matt installed the kitchen can lights, he decided why not replace them all! One more example of how these new lights look:

Old dome light...

Pretty new can! 

As you can see the projects are starting to come together! This past week/weekend we worked on painting, deck removal, bathroom upgrades, cabinet improvements and much more. Hopefully I can share those details in the next couple days!