Walls are coming down!

There are lots of things happening around the house these days.  I guess you could say it's quickly becoming our "home away from home" as we spend most of our nights, weekends and any other free time we can find there.  We even ate our first meal together in the dining room! It may have been take-out on a blanket in the floor with a milk carton for a table, but it was a fun memory for sure.  We have also been so very blessed with lots of friends who have given up time to come help us with some major projects going on.  So, for any of you (and your wives) reading this, THANK YOU!!  We absolutely could not do it without all of you!

Knocking out the paneling in the den was one of the very first things we did in the house.  A fairly simple task but what a difference it makes!  Even without walls the room feels bigger and cleaner.  We also took out the damaged drywall in the laundry room and bathroom and got rid of the toilet and vanity in the bathroom.

The "demo phase" continues upstairs in the master bathroom where we've taken out the vanity, shower, wall, and soffit, and added the framing for the new wall and door.  I'm super excited about how much these changes have opened up the bathroom!

Without a doubt, the most noticeable and exciting progress so far is this huge wall coming down!!  Now, I have to admit at this point that when I say "we" I usually actually mean "Kyle and friends".  I don't have many skills that are useful at this point other than cleaning up after things are torn down.  However, I did get to help knock out drywall in this room and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  After all of the drywall came off the walls, a large section had to be torn from the ceiling so that the beam could be put in the attic.  (The picture of Kyle is the aftermath of ceiling demo)  Once the ceiling was out, the beam was put up, the studs were removed, and the wall was completely gone!

Another major milestone that we hit was getting the cabinets and appliances taken out of the kitchen. The soffit still has to be taken out but even this progress makes it easier to envision what this area will eventually look like.  I love how open the space is without the overhead cabinets above the bar area!

Isaac came to check out his Daddy's work and wanted to help!  He even found a screwdriver that's nearly as big as him.  It won't be long before he's big enough to be Dad's helper.