The Beginning of the End

I stumbled on a cool blog that motivated me to get going again since I’m getting restless now that the major work is done on this home renovation project. I decided to start in on the last piece of the renovation – the former studio apartment. The bathroom was finished in October so now on to the other two rooms of the apartment - the kitchen and combined bedroom/living room.

Before I begin the demolition, I want to formulate ideas of how to change the rooms for better functionality and aesthetics.

My dream for the rooms
Since the combo bedroom/living room is an addition, there is no attic above it which leads me to dream about a vaulted ceiling with a small loft over the old kitchen area. The ceiling is starting to fall down anyway so it has to go! The walls all need to come down because I figure under the ugly paneling will be awful drywall. I dream of smooth, white walls! No much to add, just some additional electrical outlets, and new lighting fixtures. I peeked under the vinyl flooring and it is oak that looks good. New replacement windows would be great since those are so leaky (and I love to be able to wash both sides of a second floor window from inside!) Now is the time to dream so I can figure out what I can afford to do. I have 2K left in the budget and could squeeze another 1K out of my next few paychecks. Can I renovate two rooms into one and decorate the room for $3000? I figure the new dry walling will be the major expense for this project.

First comes the demolition
Here’s the demo plan:

• Take out all remnants of the kitchen, which includes the sink, the wall cabinet, the gas line for the stove, the ugly paneling and florescent light fixture.
  
• Open up the doorway between the two rooms so it becomes one big room.
• Remove all the ugly paneling on the walls.
• Tear down any plaster and lathe that is in poor condition.
• Remove old drywall ceiling that is sagging.
  
• Pull up the vinyl floor tiles to expose the wood floor.

Next comes the bids from contractors
Here's what they need to do:

• Cut the copper drain pipe below the floor level and cap it off.
• Remove the gas pipe that runs from the basement to this second floor room.
• Check the wiring for safety and add a couple more outlets.
• Hang and finish drywall.

Here's what we can do:

• All the demolition (except the gas pie and drain).
  
• Insulate walls and ceiling.
• Replace 3 old drafty windows with new vinyl ones.
  
• Prime and paint walls.
• Replace window trim; sand and paint it.
• Buff the floors.

That's the dream and the plan so far!