It's like magic

I left at 7am for work on Friday. The sheet rock was up, plain and sheet rocky. I came home Friday from work, the sheet rock had texture, the plastic around the laundry closet/refrigerator area was gone and I could see straight outside instead of through cloudy plastic. The kitchen looked bigger, but it took me a while to realize it was because the refrigerator itself had been pushed into the hole designed for it. It really feels like magic, I go to work and come home to a home that is different, poof, what money and labor can do.

We have our kitchen back for a couple more weeks before the counters are torn out and it becomes not so usable for a while. The kids don't even seem to realize that anything is different, they just ride their bike through the plastic doors and over the bumps of the protective floor covering as if it's just a new obstacle. Hatie keeps asking where Thomas (the Foreman) is and Olivia smiles at everyone who comes in the door.

Peter wanted me to write about the "green" stuff we are doing, so here goes:

Demolition

• Cabinets were taken out with care to preserve them for taking to urban ore and re-use
• The "wall" which was taken out was really a double thick MDF wall. This was cut out carefully and reused as as partition between the refrigerator/laundry closet sides
• All electrical outlet components and covers have been carefully removed and are being reused in other places whenever possible
• The woodwork around the built-in was removed with care and will be used to construct the cabinet around the "new" built-in. It's in our shed awaiting its turn.
• The furnace air intake is in the dining room, but we had it closed off for the remodel to ensure that nothing was being pulled into the air system that we didn't want there. Indoor air quality is a concern.

Building & buying

• The insulation is all cotton and feels soft: the cotton insulation
• The cabinets are being constructed using formaldehyde free MDF for the shelves and backing so that we do not have off-gassing
• We are using LED pendant lighting for over the peninsula purchased from Berkeley lighting but available online. The LED component costs more than you'll save, but it's an investment in the future production of these products.
• The new dining room drum light is produced from natural materials (silk & bamboo) and we are using dimmable CFLs in it.
• The new counter will be ceasarstone, which is a product that gives you LEED points. Yes, it is stone, not a product made from recycled content like Paperstone or Vetrazzo, but the production is pretty clean and unlike everything else it has no maintenance like sealing. The lack of maintenance was the seller for me.
• The raised countertop is being fabricated from reclaimed African hardwoods from Windfall lumber. We are purchasing this through Ecohome improvement here in Berkeley
• The backsplash. After much looking we choose not go with recycled glass due to the cost, but we found a good eco option-- my skin mosaic-- a porcelain ecolabel and European green building product, meaning it is labeled as having no negative impact on the environment.
• Non-VOC paints are being used for the wall and ceiling painting - yea for unsmelly paint!
• We had to purchase a new washer and dryer that were stackable. We choose front loaders, both electric, that are tier III on the PG&E lists which means they are the most energy efficient and qualify for the greatest rebate.
• We are installing outdoor heaters (wow that seems un-green to heat the outside, doesn't it), but they are electric as compared to the standard propane ones which means we can tap into renewable sources to run them (like our future solar panels).

There is also the general idea that we are trying to make the almost 1500 square feet that we have feel like more than it is. We're not adding on (for the moment), but are trying to live in the same amount of space as we add more and more people. The average house size in America is almost 2500 square feet and we always grapple with if we really need that much space even as we plan an addition that would take us almost to that amount. Opening this wall is a way to see if we can internally expand what we have so that we can delay expanding our footprint.