Our Kitchen Renovation Timeline

Oh, friends, we have so much to discuss. I know many of you have been patiently awaiting my kitchen reveal and I’ve gotten a few messages asking when it’s going to happen. I figured I needed an entire brain dump of a post to explain. The kitchen renovation lessons I've learned

As you probably know by now, I’m an insane planner. I plan my editorial calendar months in advance and I like to have everything organized when it comes to both my personal life and my professional life. So when planning out all of the kitchen content, my goal was to finish the kitchen in early November and then reveal it the week before Thanksgiving – which would have been this week! That way, I could publish the annual gift guide on the Monday of Thanksgiving, as usual, and then dive into holiday content after Turkey Day. Carrie chairs from Castlery

Obviously, my plans have changed as the kitchen isn’t 100% done yet. It’s about 93% there. After all of this hard work, the last thing I want is to reveal a kitchen that isn’t completely finished. I know you guys wouldn’t mind, but for me, it’s important to give this kitchen the big reveal it deserves! So I’m not trying to be secretive and keep our finished kitchen from you. Trust me, I’m as eager to share it as you are to see it! Our kitchen during renovation

I think one of the main remarks I’ve received throughout this process is, “Omg your kitchen is coming together so fast!” And I completely agree with that statement! It really did all happen fast, mostly because my contractor and his crew are super-efficient with their time. I wanted to break down the entire kitchen renovation timeline so you can see how long every phase took.

Our Kitchen Renovation Timeline

September 21st – Demo (2 days)
September 23rd – Move plumbing/electrical/water/gas; install new flooring; redo ceiling (7 days)
October 2nd – Install cabinets (3 days)
October 6th – Measure for countertop
October 13th – Install countertop; measure for backsplash
October 20th – Install backsplash
October 21st – Finish small remaining items: paint, hardware, crown molding, sink, faucet, light fixtures, etc. (4 days)
October 26th – Finished with all contractor work; waiting on final items; clean; move back into the kitchen!

I think our kitchen renovation timeline is very efficient, especially considering that we completely changed the layout of the space. If we were keeping major appliances in place and didn’t need to move the water lines, gas lines, etc., that would definitely cut back on some time and money. I think it’s important to have a chat with your contractor well before the project starts so you can budget your time accordingly. My contractor told me he would need four to five weeks and that’s exactly what was needed in the end. Our new butcher block in our kitchen island

The most important thing you can do is have everything on-hand before construction even begins. That way, there is never a delay and your crew can just keep on working!

What’s the Hold-Up?

So what’s the hold-up? Well, we’re waiting on items to ship and unfortunately, due to COVID, things are taking a lot longer than normal. I know I told you to have everything on-site before construction even begins, but there were a few items that we couldn’t order until the cabinets were in. We wanted to wait until the hood was up to measure for the open shelves and we wanted to wait until the island was in before we ordered the butcher block, so it would fit perfectly!

The butcher block arrived in early November (I shared all about it earlier this week). The shelves and the dining bench cushion should be arriving any day now.

Appliances have been a hot commodity during COVID. No matter the brand, refrigerators and dishwashers are in demand, which means a lot of items are out of stock. Even though I ordered my appliances in August, our items just arrived late last week. Our other appliances were also delayed, but we were finally able to get them installed during the first week of November. (More on the ones we chose coming soon!) My new kitchen runner

Someone asked me if we would have done anything differently and honestly, I would say no. We couldn’t have ordered anything earlier than we did and when it comes to timelines during a pandemic, you just need to be flexible! So again, order everything you possibly can well before your project kicks off and be flexible with the other stuff. At the end of the day, I realize I’m so lucky to be transforming this space during this crazy time in the world. So how could I possibly be upset about shipping delays?

Sharing the Process

For me, it’s important to share the entire process here on the blog. I don’t find it very helpful when others only share a before and after. What about all of the hard work in between? What about the countless decisions that have to be made? I think the most helpful thing you can do is share all of that “not so pretty” stuff! I already have almost two dozen blog posts about the kitchen and we are not even to the finish line. My hope is that these blog posts can guide you when it’s time for your next big kitchen project. So instead of just showing A to Z, I want to show A, B, C, D, E…and so on.

The New Timeline

When will the kitchen actually be revealed? I’m trying my best to be flexible and patient, which are not my strong qualities, and I’m aiming for the first week of December. Here are a few other kitchen posts I plan to write as well…

Our New Appliances
The Kitchen Budget Breakdown
A Kitchen Reveal Video
What We Learned from Our Kitchen Renovation
Styling Our Open Shelves (coming in January!)
Kitchen Organization (coming in January!)

Our family before the kitchen renovation Thanks for bearing with me, friends. This project has been so much fun and we are thrilled that we are almost completely done with this space. (Holy smokes, look how far we’ve come since that above photo!!!) If there are any other kitchen related topics you want me to write about, be sure to let me know if in the comments below so I can add them to my calendar! I’ve done my best to be as thorough as possible every step of the way, but I’m sure I’ve overlooked something!