We’re still knee-deep in dust over here at the Daly Digs. The renovation of the kitchen and area off of the kitchen continues but we are making progress and BIG things are happening in the next couple weeks.

Demolition Update:

We had to delay the install of flooring but since my last update, we finished the electrical and drywall in the kitchen (GAME CHANGER!) and filled in the holes in the foundation from the plumbing work.

Remember this disaster?

Here’s how it looks now! What a difference, huh?

We still have to finish the electrical on the columns and make sure they’re framed out so the dimensions match. After we get that squared away, the drywallers will cover the columns in drywall too. We’re leaving the horizontal crossbeam exposed.

Design Updates:

As far as finishes go, after mulling over several faucet finish samples from Waterstone I finally made a decision.

I selected the antique brass finish for all of our Waterstone faucets and sink accessories (pot filler, soap dispenser, air gap, and bar faucet).

I have not yet decided on cabinet hardware but I’m considering stainless steel cup pulls and knobs to tie in with the handles and knobs on our Aga range and the other appliances.… Read more

I’ve dropped a couple hints on Instagram about doing a little farmhouse dining room refresh so today I’m sharing the deets. Since we’re redoing the floors in the dining room as part of the big kitchen renovation, I figured now was a great time to make some changes.

Dining Room Before

First things first, let’s take a trip down dining room memory lane. The dining room was one of the first rooms we completed after moving into our house. I shared the reveal of the space in February of last year. Here’s what it looked like then:

 Whoa mamma, look at all that stuff. Since then I’ve pared the decor way back. I eliminated the bar cart and simplified the gallery wall. Here’s a more recent look:

Farmhouse Dining Room Refresh

So what do I want to change, you ask? Just the light fixture, the rug, the chairs and maaaaybe the buffet! (Insert monkey emoji with hands over eyes). Here’s the direction I’m headed:

More simplistic, less colorful, more farmhouse-y.

Light fixture: I want a fixture that is grander in scale so I’m replacing the current 3-tier vintage fixture with a large brass dome light fixture which just may become my new favorite in the space (the house?).… Read more

Since my last powder room post, I’ve made a lot of decisions and all of the powder room finishes have been finalized, including the patterned tile selection!

In case you missed it, check out the intro post to the powder room remodel.

Powder Room Remodel Demo Update

But first, a quick recap on the demo situation. Here’s a look back at the space:

We pushed the powder room into the area that used to be a coat closet.

Here’s the current state of the powder room remodel:

The sink and toilet plumbing were moved to the far left wall and the toilet vent was adjusted to accommodate a door across from the window. We still have to re-frame the walls, add the pre-hung door and move the electrical for the lighting, but the room is starting to take shape.

Powder Room Finishes Finalized!

If you recall, I was dying to use some handmade Tabarka tile in this space. I narrowed down some of my favorite options and ordered samples.

After mulling it over for a few days and looking at each pattern’s repeat on a larger scale, we decided to go with Toureg 5.… Read more

The farmhouse kitchen remodel continues! We’ve been under construction for 4 weeks and we’re moving along considering we accomplish the most on weekends when hubby is off – although we’ve hired a lot out that has been done during the week.

If you missed the other farmhouse kitchen remodel posts, my last update is here and the original kitchen reno project introduction is here. We’re also remodeling the area off of the kitchen including the powder room, mudroom, pantry and adding a wet bar.

Demolition Complete

Since my last update, we finished all the kitchen demo and had the AC ductwork re-routed from the exterior of the wall above the kitchen to the attic.

We also tore down all of the walls in the area off of the kitchen in preparation for the re-configuration of that area. 

Flooring Removal

We hired out for the removal of all of the old flooring to make way for our new wood floors. 

Plumbing Progress

Having the flooring removed meant the plumbers could come in to move the kitchen sink plumbing, add a water line for the pot filler, add sink plumbing for the wet bar and move the sink and toilet plumbing in the powder room.… Read more

If you’ve been following along then you know that as part of the kitchen reno we’re also remodeling the space off the kitchen that will include a mudroom, pantry, wet bar and powder room. I’ve talked a little about the mudroom on Instagram but today I’m sharing all the details and plans for our small mudroom design.

Previously, the area that we’re making into the mudroom was being used as an office nook with desk space. The space greets you immediately when you enter the house from the side door, the door we use primarily. It has a tall window you can see out when you’re standing in the kitchen. There is also an attic access door on the ceiling. We toyed around with the idea of changing the way we access the attic but either our ideas wouldn’t work or were just too difficult, so we’re leaving it as is. The purpose of the mudroom is to provide storage for purses, briefcases, future kiddos backpacks, jackets, mail, etc, which all used to accumulate on our kitchen countertops. I want the new kitchen island to remain free of clutter, so we need a better solution.… Read more

We’re still in the messy phase of our big renovation but progress is happening and lots of decisions have been made. Since my last update, we’ve decided to work in a wet bar/coffee bar in the area off the kitchen so I’ve had wet bar design on the brain.

Here’s how the whole lets-do-a-wet-bar-thing went down. After we opened up the area off the kitchen that used to be the powder room/coat closet/pantry/mudroom, my wheels really started turning. I had a pretty good idea of how I wanted to reconfigure the area, but something just didn’t feel quite right. I wanted to make sure we were taking advantage of the opportunity to make the best use of the space. We are moving walls, plumbing and electrical so if we want to do something, now is the time. And then it occurred to me. What about a wet bar that could also serve as a coffee bar? It could house not only liquor, stemware and bar accessories but also the coffee maker and coffee/tea accruements. Since we are moving walls we could recess the cabinets and since we’re moving plumbing and electrical we could add a bar prep sink and a mini-fridge.… Read more

Renovating The Area Off the Kitchen

Last week I introduced you to the kitchen remodel and explained that in conjunction with the kitchen, we’re simultaneously doing a powder room remodel, as well as the pantry and mudroom directly off of the kitchen. Today I’m introducing our powder room project with you guys! It’s been a little overwhelming designing 4 areas at the same time but as we finalize the kitchen design plan, I can finally start focusing on the others.

Here’s an overview of the area off of the kitchen:

Floor Plan Before:

The space is oblong and as you can see there’s currently a closet right off the front entry, the powder room on the other side of the closet, a pantry and an office nook that we’re planning to turn into a mudroom. We’re planning to reconfigure this area a little bit to make the pantry larger. There is also a finished L-shaped attic above this whole area and the kitchen. Currently, the attic is accessed by pull-down stairs in the office nook/mudroom, but we’d like to try to add a narrow staircase for easier access so that we can use the attic for an office or small guest room.… Read more

Our kitchen remodel is moving right along. Since last week, we got down and dirty with some demolition and worked a lot on kitchen cabinet planning, which was pretty darn exciting.

Demo Update

Over the weekend, we tore out the entire island and most of the back wall and started on the overhead built-0ut. There was a lot of ugly tile to demo.

That’s pretty much where we ended after two days of demo and completely filling up our dumpster. We have another dumpster on the way and this weekend we should be able to knock out the remainder of the back wall/wall oven/microwave and upper build-out.

The next step is the demolition of the floors, which we’re hiring out for. It’s just too difficult and time-consuming for us because of the way they were installed, so we’ll leave it to the pros who can do it in 1 – 1.5 days. (The floors extend into the dining room on the right, as well as the hallway and entry, so it’s not just what you see here.) After the floors are removed, we have to install a gas line for our new range and move the sink plumbing about 3 feet (closer to the back wall).… Read more