Valuable Lessons and Home Depot

I've been a little busy doing the same things again and again, and waiting for the contractors to do their part. I thought that might be a little boring to report. But I finally have an update! Before I get to that, I've learned some valuable lessons...

Repeated sanding day after day after day will eventually kill your Fitbit. Dead. 😭 and now I have no clue what time it is. 

DIY renovations will mean going to Home Depot exactly 8,763 times. Even on the days you are not going to Home Depot, you will go to Home Depot. Perhaps out of habit at this point, but you will go! You'll decide one day that plaster seems to fill out wood grain pretty well and end up with more. You'll need more caulk than anticipated (and still need more after that!) You'll accidentally cut the wrong piece of trim and now need another eight feet. But you'll buy sixteen feet, use it all, and still need more! And while you're there, you'll forget the light bulbs and need to go back ONE MORE TIME. 

Or perhaps because you will suddenly realize one day that you've done nothing to customize the lower cabinets and decide on a whim they need end caps. A whim. I'm either getting comfortable with my abilities here, or I'm spending too much time on Pinterest. But eventually you'll do this...

And then, as you're on your knees sanding the last little bit you'll realize the baseboards on the cabinets are not really baseboards at all. They are simply flimsy pieces of laminate that have no real aesthetic value at all and certainly not worth your time painting. So you'll need more trim. 

You'll buy a cabinet to add to the island... yeah, it's a little cheating and I WISH I had ample time to build the add-on myself, but I don't! Anyway... you'll buy a cabinet and then realize you bought one that houses a bathroom sink and has no top drawer. So you'll go back. 

You'll also need a new washer and dryer because you sold the last set since they were perpetually off balance, and quite frankly probably wouldn't have survived a move. And Home Depot will be having a SALE! 

The great part is that Home Depot just happens to be on the 5 mile route from the rental house to the new house. Thank goodness! 

It always amazes me when people offer to help me at Home Depot. It's absolutely NEVER an employee. Always someone who is cautiously offering because it's clear I know what I'm doing, but they're being nice because I have two kids in tow. I appreciate it, thank them, and then decline. I usually don't need help by this point! I could have used them while I was pushing a race car shopping cart and dragging a lumber cart behind me. 

Update!

I finished the crown molding, and I'm ready to paint the cabinet housing (not the doors yet). Worst case scenario at least I can put my dishes in the kitchen! I hope to paint this weekend once the dust settles a little.Once I do that, I'll have a full post on the ups and downs of crown molding.

They've installed enough of the floor (YAY FLOOR!) that I could start working on the island today. I was a bit intimidated by the island, but my plan to use a pre-fab cabinet is actually working really well. I'll take some more pictures and do a full post on the island when I finish assembling! 

The shower in the master bathroom is on it's way as well. The contractors are working on that part—as much as I would have liked to have tackled a shower...