One Room Challenge | Week 2 | Demo and Cabinetry Updates

The One Room Challenge is well underway and today we are chatting about demo and some of the first cabinetry updates.

We are working with a local carpenter, Matt from Castleguard Home Services. He had glowing recommendations in our local mom group and I knew he was the perfect fit for our carpentry needs from our first meeting.

When we were deciding the direction we wanted to go in our kitchen we interviewed so many contractors. One of my main concerns with this project was freshening and brightening up our space without taking away from the character of our home. I did not want a brand new modern kitchen looking like it had just been sat down inside our older, nineties home. I wanted it to look like an intentional update and to flow with the features I already love in our house.

I was so surprised by how many companies I met with that recommended we rip out our beautiful crown molding or replace our custom wood cabinets with prefabs with shaker doors that are all the rage today. Not that I don’t think that look is gorgeous in other homes but our kitchen flows openly into our living room with floor to ceiling built-ins with the same molding and cabinet style so I was left scratching my head at these recommendations and wondering if we would ever find the right match.

From the moment we met, I knew Matt would be a great fit for our kitchen refresh project and he and I have seen eye to eye perfectly about maintaining the charm and character from our old kitchen and carrying that into the refreshed space.

So, without further adieu, let’s chat about the first week of this project. The first thing Matt and his team did was rip out my old built in desk. I can’t say that I was sad to see that thing go in the slightest. This desk served as a dumping ground with mail to deal with later, school art work, random toys and art supplies, and just junk. I am so picky about papers ending up on the table or countertop so they all ended up here and it frustrates me to no end. Now, with no desk no papers can be piled anywhere!

We also said goodbye to our over the range microwave. It no longer worked so we replaced it with a countertop style that is located in our pantry. After paying to have our previous over the range microwave repaired more than once I am just giddy that if our new microwave ever breaks I can just toss it and buy a new one for eighty dollars from Home Depot. Oh, the things you get excited about in your thirties.

We are building a range hood in the place where the microwave previously was and I am just so excited. Above you can see just the beginning of it. Our space looks so much more open already with the higher clearance from the stovetop and I am told that the insert is much more powerful and should keep my smoke alarm from going off every time we sear something on the stovetop.

We worked with Queen City Home Store in Charlotte to choose the right insert and chose one by Zephyr that has a charcoal filter recirculating kit since our kitchen does not have a vent to the outside.

Matt also modified the cabinetry below my old under mount sink to fit our new farmhouse style sink and built the supports needed to hold the weight. I closed my eyes and held my breath as the first of the old countertops were pried off to accommodate this but once that was done I really felt like there was no going back and that this project was officially underway.

I wish I could say that this has gone off without a hitch so far but that is not the case! The day that our old sink was removed I turned the dishwasher on out of habit after we finished dinner then went upstairs to put Connor to bed. When I came back down, there was water everywhere! I am so used to running it every night that it didn’t even click in my mind that without the sink the drain in my dishwasher wouldn’t work. Luckily, about ten sopping wet towels and a big glass of wine later, everything was all dried up.

Next up: Countertops!

If you missed last week’s post with all of the before pictures of our old kitchen and my plans for the space, you can find that here:

Week 1: Before and Inspiration Board

I hope you will also stop by the One Room Challenge to check out the other guests’ progress so far. I just love seeing the behind the scenes process of these kind of projects. Its like real life HGTV.