So excited for you, and anxiously awaiting pictures. I am so in awe of all you DYI'rs out there.

I wish I could hire you to g.c. our project, lol.
Congrats on your progress and esp since you are DIYing so much of it. ;)

That's wonderful! I suspect all your planning helped you have a smooth remodel...that plus is sounds like everyone you work with is very reasonable and takes pride in their work!

(I don't mean to imply that anyone who has problems didn't plan enough...just that it helps! I did a lot of planning but still ran into problems...sometimes you still run into issues despite all your planning. Just have a plan for handling issues as they arise.)

I'm really looking forward to pictures...your cabinets sound great!

You must be excited to be nearing the end!

Getting rid of the popcorn ceilings in the rest of our main floor is what is happening at our house now. What a yucky job, but such a huge improvement! My dh just primed two areas today and they look smooth and beautiful!

I'm glad you found good people to work with. Looking forward to seeing pics!

Ok, here is a link to my pictures.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hockeychikspics kitchen remodel

That looks like you will have a wonderful space with the walls down!

Hockeychik, your progress is so exciting!!! I can't wait to see those cabs installed! Why in the world was that wall there in the first place (I know, open concepts weren't done back when the house was built).

How did you figure out how to be your own GC and how did you find your contractors? I'm considering being our GC if I'm still working part time when we finally are ready to get started. However, since I have no contacts whatsoever in the building trades, I'm not sure this would be the smart way to go--but it sure would help our budget go further.

Flwrs-the house was built in 1988 and at the time we didn't think anything of it. It was a split level and the wall kind of separated the kitchen(dirty dishes, etc) from the living room. Of course as the family grew, the kitchen felt cramped. There wasn't enough storage and it was really hard to have more than one person in the kitchen without constantly bumping into one another. I wanted to remodel the kitchen for years but instead we put an addition on the house that would add a master bedroom and more living area, which was much needed. Once that addition was complete, we began using the old living room as the new dining room. Old dining room just became more storage for kitchen stuff. So now many years later, we finally got around to the kitchen remodel.

Regarding the issue of being the GC: I have to say, I really don't think I would have considered it if I hadn't been following this site for years. I have learned so much from everyone here. Whether it was getting ideas from others' remodels, asking questions, searching out info on topics, following the trials and tribulations that other posters have documented, this site has been invaluable. I feel like I am with family when I come here and I frequently recommend this site to others. As fellow TKOs know, most people just don't get it. So many people just want the work done and don't really think about how it will function after it is done. I could talk all day about kitchens, when I'm not talking about hockey, that is.

It was scary deciding to be the GC, because I really didn't have any contacts with people in the business either. I asked friends for referrals, looked on Angie's List, read up on kitchen remodels and so on. I had a lot of ideas about what I wanted in my kitchen and felt that using a GC was not that necessary. I have the time to oversee things being done and had already figured out many things that GC usually handle for their customers. I wanted to be the one in control of what happens and when. Because we were slightly involved when the house was originally built and also had the previous experience of hiring a GC for the addition, I knew there were some things that they would just decide and not even consider asking me if I wanted something different. I also didn't like the fact that I didn't really have control of what subs they used. With this project we have tried to use subs that are more local to our town. I met with a lot of people to decide who we would use. In the beginning, I would have been happy with cabinets from Kraftmaid or something like that, but after meeting with a local cabinet maker, I was so impressed, that we decided to do totally custom cabinets with him. He has really been a great help in guiding me through the whole process. His knowledge and advice has kind of been like having a GC to go to with questions. He assured me that I could do this- a real confidence boost. It also helped me feel good when some of the subs I met with told me I was more organized than many GCs. I knew my attention to detail would come in handy some day!

So, I suggest you do as much research as possible before you get started on anything. It will help you feel more confidant that you can do this. We still hired most things out because I didn't really have any DIY experience and my husband works full time and although he is fairly handy, we didn't want to get in over our heads. Some things are just worth paying for someone else to do.

My husband thought I was nuts because I kept changing the floor plan. He kept saying "I thought that was the final plan" and I would say, "No, it just isn't quite right yet". Don't rush the design stage. Make sure you will have the storage you need, where you need it. Sorry for such a long response. I do like to talk...

What a difference in how the space feels! I can't wait to see how the pile of cabinets gets put together.