Over the edge into total chaos

A couple of months ago, Mrs. Geek and I uprooted ourselves from our home of 22 years to move about three miles. The new (to us) place is only 11 years old, we were the first owners of the old place so ... do the math.

The new place needs lots of work. With Mrs. Geek, it's just a given that every wall and ceiling in the place will get painted. And she works like a dog at doing it. Since moving in she's already done everything upstairs except the master suite. Downstairs, the study ceiling and walls have been done. Last weekend we pitched in together and did the main downstairs ceiling. The new place is an "open floor plan" so the entire downstairs except for the study is one connected ceiling. Since then she's done the dining room and foyer areas. Along with the painting has been lots of cleaning and patching the seemingly thousands of nail and screw holes the previous owners made.

So the upshot is that the household has been pretty unsettled ever since moving in. Minimal unpacking in rooms not yet painted, ladders, drop cloths and tools everywhere. That sort of thing. The carpet from the study and dining room has been ripped out so those rooms are bare concrete. The study is jam packed with displaced furniture plus the wood and associated paraphenalia for the future wood floors.

But this weekend it's going to go from unsettled over to total chaos. The major things we're doing are to replace the kitchen cabinets and countertops and to replace all the carpet and tile downstairs with wood and nicer tile or stone.

The new cabinets are due to arrive on July 6th. Between now and then I'll be taking down the existing cabinets, a DIY project that saves me about 10% of the cost of new cabinets. Then we'll have someone come in to remove the existing tile in the foyer, kitchen, and breakfast areas. Some time within a week or so after the delivery of the new cabinets the installer for those will come do his job. Then will come the new tile floor, new granite counters, new backsplashes, new sink and faucet, new dishwasher, etc. Mixed in there while the kitchen is a gutted shell will be some painting and rearranging of wiring.

Oh, and there's a downstairs powder room that will also be stripped to bare walls and re-done. Tile floor to replace ugly vinyl stick-downs, remove ugly wallpaper, paint, new sink, and new toilet.

So after the tear out we won't have a functioning kitchen or any source of running water downstairs. And 90% of the dishes will be in boxes. And the coffee pot will live in an upstairs bathroom.

I have to keep reminding myself how good it will look.