Last Minute Renovation

We had been saying for months- once we're done with the 2 bathrooms and the steps, it's on to the Nursery and then time for a DIY break to give us time to chill out with our little man.  Really.  And we meant it. Until- well... we didn't mean it any more.  For the record, it wasn't entirely our fault.  As you may recall, first this happened.

The Hubs and I agreed that considering I was 9 months pregnant, and refinishing the ceiling required a lot of ladders and a lot of mess, this was a project that we just were not going to take on.  Although I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a struggle to decide- especially once the quotes started coming in.  I mean, it's just not in my nature to pay someone $750 to do something that would cost me $25 to do myself- and that was our lowest quote!  But I wasn't getting up on a ladder for hours on end, and the Hubs didn't feel comfortable doing it considering that I've always been the sheet rock re-finisher in the family, so we agreed it was time to let the pros come in. 

And that's how it came to be that a highly recommended contractor was at our house quoting the job, and we noticed on his business card that he also does paint work, so out of curiosity we had him give us a quote for painting our kitchen cabinets and trim.  And we were shocked with how affordable it was.

For the record I always planned to do the Kitchen paint project on our own, and the Hubs had always planned to hire someone.  Maybe that's why we hadn't tackled the project yet, we were just agreeing to disagree. The Hub's opinion was cabinets were way too big and dramatic of a project to do ourselves. His fear was that we would see drips or brush marks and always regret it.  True, I have researched a lot on the topic, and there are dozens of bloggers out there that in retrospect suggest getting them professionally sprayed or using enamel for a more professional finish.  But the kicker for me was when I asked John and Sherry from YoungHouseLove to give me their honest opinion of the cabinets they just meticulously painted themselves, and they replied with the very honest, "you get what you pay for."  

So somehow, before I knew it, we had agreed to work with our contractor, and to have him not only do the ceiling in the Dining Room, but paint the entire kitchen as well.  He said it would take 5 days, and Boomer was due in 15, so we crossed our fingers that the little guy would stay in there.  The Sunday before he started, we removed all the cabinet doors and brought them out into the garage.

 

And pulled out the shelves from the glass front cabinets and removed the green contact paper I put up previously.

 I'll be honest, it was a little scarey to be creating such a mess so close to due date. 

But we had all the time in the world... so we thought.  On Monday our guy James showed up for his first day of work and got a ton done.  That evening I was celebrating the amazing feeling of someone else doing work in your home while you kicked your feet up on the couch and ate ice cream- when my water broke.  Operation "Keep Baby in There at Least Until Friday"- failed.  Not that we were disappointed, how could we be?  Our little guy was just anxious to meet us.  When we returned home from the Hospital on Thursday morning however, things were still a little chaotic...

...but exciting.  We did our best to stay out of the contractor's way, mostly spending time back in the Nursery cuddled up on the daybed.  It took us a bit of work to get the place back together, so stay tuned for the big reveal post coming up soon- I can't wait to show you guys how it turned out!

How about you guys- are there projects that you're willing to pony up the money for someone to do for you, while others you want to save the cash and take on yourselves?  Anybody ever take on a project they wish they had hired out from the beginning?  I'll admit it- the Hub's was right on this one.  It was really nice to have this work done for us so quickly, as it would have taken us weeks, if not longer.  And clearly we didn't have that kind of time.