Feeling a little nervous (tomorrow is D-day)

12 years ago

The dumpster will be delivered tomorrow, I'm packing up the present kitchen, and I am feeling strange. I am not excited -- the feeling is more "apprehensive." I expected to feel apprehensive AND excited, but only getting half!

Even at this early stage of the project, almost everything is taking so much longer than I thought it would. (I am planning to do essentially all aspects of the reno myself.) For instance, the KD has not finalized plans, it took two full weeks to get a new tile saw blade delivered, I just found out that my municipality won't allow the homeowner to add any branch circuits, so I had to find an electrician willing to work with me, etc. I thought I had the pre-demolition process well in hand, but turned out to be wrong.

Tonight, I cooked what could be the last meal for quite a while, along with cooking a few things for the freezer. I know that I won't be finished the kitchen until something like Thanksgiving, because I am going to take a work-related 2-month hiatus from the project in late summer. I am planning to set up a pretty extensive temporary kitchen (gas range, DW, MW), so maybe I can still do some respectable cooking. Thank goodness it is barbecue season!

If there is a question here, it would be "Is this feeling normal?" When will I get excited?

Thanks just for listening. Even writing this helped a little. Back to packing boxes.....

Angie_DIY

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Comments (10)

Redhead47
12 years ago
I feel your pain.

We had our kitchen demolition last week. Actually, it went quite well, except for the unexpected loss of an electrical circuit serving the room where we planned to set up our temporary kitchen. (Wiring on the kitchen side blocked the area where our laundry room door was to be relocated to, and wall outlets in the other room were on the same circuit.) This should be remedied soon, though.

This week, we are relaxing at the beach while our floors (all downstairs) are being replaced. When we get back, we will have plumbers & electricians in, cabinets the following week. But we are not doing any of it ourselves -- no time, and even worse, no skills!

I'm feeling much better about everything since the kitchen got torn out. I actually got excited looking at the empty space and imagining my new, improved kitchen-to-be. It seems much easier to envision it without the old kitchen there.
detroit_burb
12 years ago
Good luck with everything and know that there are interesting times ahead, I'm pretty happy for you.

I'm working on kitchen #4 now, all different homes, at least this time i'm not living in it... each remodel/construction has brought me the same apprehension/sinking in the stomach feeling, but always glad to live with the results. as far as your question about "normal" i'm not sure i can answer anything about normal!!

i'm looking forward to your progress, you've got a great project!
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angie_diy
Original Author
12 years ago
Dear Redhead and Detroit,
Thanks for the warm words. I need 'em!

Redhead: I am so pleased for you that you're feeling better. I like the blank canvas imagery you call to my mind. (And selfishly, I hope it works that way for me, too!) Hmmm, beach... that sounds pretty good right about now.

Detroit: Thanks for your continuing interest. I appreciate it. I cannot believe you are on kitchen #4! You are braver than I am! It took us about 12 years to work up to this first one. Actually, this was an interesting process. We realized that what had stopped us twice before was our fear of ceding control to a GC, having heard so many horror stories. We realized that we had the skills needed to do this ourselves, and that would allow us to keep control of the process (at the expense of a lot of work and a longer time frame, of course).

Kitchen is almost packed up. Funny, my biggest concern at the moment is clearing away the boxes in time to get a "before" picture before a helper comes to move the range and DW downstairs!

I am feeling a little better now that the process is under way.
A_D
dianalo
12 years ago
Any big undertaking is daunting. You'd be in denial if you were not a little freaked out.
It was a lot like labor for me. No matter how long you wanted it (both, years), going into the process is scary. The outcome is worth it (jury is still out on oldest ds.... j/k) so you take the plunge. Your new kitchen will be wonderful. It will be painful at times on the way to it. You will get to the other side and will be so grateful when it is done!
happycook2
12 years ago
Gosh - I'm so happy to know some else is in the same boat! We spent the last 2 days taking everything out of the cabs and pantry - when they seal off the old kitchen tomorrow the only water will be in the bathroom, or outside in rainy Oregon! Suggestions as to how to make it through the next 6 weeks or so sans kitchen will be much appreciated. My "temp" kitchen in the living room looks ok but know I've probably forgotten something. What an adventure! But, as someone once told me, "focus on the end game!"
francoise47
12 years ago
I think I know exactly how you feel! We are now on day 13 of our renovation. The night before the crew arrived as I was packing up I was surprised at my nervous second thoughts about a renovation that had been planned and anticipated for so many months/years.

Now, having survived almost two weeks with no kitchen and nothing but a half bath I can say that I am having a blast with the renovation. I have tremendous admiration for our hardworking crew of four who work on our house from 8:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. every day. "Camping" in our own house and cooking in our backyard still feels like a lark (at this point in the reno).The dozens of treks up and down the basement stairs to wash dishes in the basement sink is doing wonders for my thigh muscles. Washing my 15 year old son's hair in the powder room sink is bringing back memories of happy toddler days. Despite gutting the whole back end of our house and pulling down all the original 1928 tile and plaster in kitchen and bathroom, the dust has not been nearly as bad as I thought it would be. And I have a new appreciation for the stoicism of our cats. I'm even thankful that the renovation was delayed five months so that we didn't have to go through this in the winter. We would be freezing with the open roof and cavities where we once had windows. Every day I reflect on how lucky we are to be able to do this renovation when so many people lack even the most basic necessities.

Enjoy your reno! ( And please resurrect this post for me in three months when I start whining that the project still isn't finished.)
angie_diy
Original Author
12 years ago
Francoise: Excellent post! I am happy for you and encouraged that the endeavor can seem like a challenging adventure. Love your positive attitude.
Yes, it will be interesting to see what we feel like in 3 mos! Back to boxing...
angie_diy
Original Author
12 years ago
Okay, thanks for the support everyone. I feel MUCH better now that the Rubicon has been crossed. Dumpster is here, some cabinets are in it, and the DW and range are pulled out and awaiting helpers to carry them to the basement. The game is afoot! (The long, painful game, that is...)
angie_diy
Original Author
12 years ago
Well, I managed to get all of the cabinets out and into the dumpster. The space looks great, as Redhead47 indicates. Tomorrow, I'll start on the wallboard.
breezygirl
12 years ago
We moved out of our house for the whole house reno on Halloween, which is so long ago that I hardly remember how I felt. Sick, anxious, irritated, nervous, apprehensive. Dianalo's analogy is very apt. You know labor is coming. You don't know how you'll make it through, but, one way or another, you must.

Drywall removal is much easier than cabs. Keep up the good work!

Feeling a little nervous (tomorrow is D-day)

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Feeling a little nervous (tomorrow is D-day)

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