Our DIY Kitchen Remodel

I’m so excited to be able to not only finally share our kitchen remodel with you, but to also just be D-O-N-E!! I I think that the progression from concept to completion went very smoothly with only a few tweaks (tile and range hood) in the overall original design. I’m also very sure that I will want my cabinets in any future home setup like this, with open cabinetry below closed cabinetry, it just works so well for all of us and no extra dusting required!

So here is where we started (that’s the home inspector at the island), my hubby took photos of the house as he was inspecting it. What we have is a nice, open, good sized kitchen just not exactly what we wanted.

The first stage for us was replacing the can lights for pendant lights, new fridge, microwave, sink, faucet, dishwasher and updating and painting the island.

Stage two was the easiest and quickest, installing marble subway tile backsplash…

It remained like this for just over 2 years, but I always knew that painting the cabinets was next…

The third stage was to update and paint the butlers pantry, it was also my “test” for the kitchen cabinet paint color (Benjamin Moore White Dove).

Then FINALLY the last stage, raising the original cabinets to the ceiling, making new open cabinets to install below, adding decorative molding, installing more tile above stove and sink window, installing new range hood and adding a decorative cabinet above stove and fridge and painting all of the cabinets and installing new hardware… WHEW that was a mouthful and I’m pretty sure a run-on sentence!!

I hand painted (with a combination of foam roller and soft bristle brush) with Benjamin Moore’s Advance paint line all of the cabinet boxes and trim, but I spray painted the doors in the garage. I always follow the same routine, clean the cabinets with Formula 409, fill imperfections, lightly sand, wipe down with tack cloth, spray prime, sand, clean, spray paint color and repeat as many times as necessary. I sprayed 4 coats on each door side, letting them sit for 24 in between each coat and a week before I flipped them from the back to the front (always paint the back first). The final finish looks great!

The molding I added is the same we added to the island and helps disguise where the 2 cabinets are connected.

So much easier to access glassware and everyday dishes now!

We love our new hood, it works so much better than the microwave vent and because it is mounted much higher than the microwave was it helps open that space up.

My one small decorated area…

The wall color in the kitchen is Benjamin Moore Chelsea Grey.

Some before and after comparisons for you…

Well that’s it! No more phases left to do, whew!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed this walk-thru of our kitchen renovation!

Kitchen progress, looking good so far!

Even though I only have one coat of White Dove on the cabinets (but not all of the trim) it’s looking much closer to a finished project… however don’t even ask about the door fronts as they have technically been ready for painting for weeks I’ve just been neglectful and reluctant to paint in 90% humidity…

We also got the tile grouted this weekend as well. Have I ever told you that I have tiling anxiety? No, I’ve never been formally diagnosed, but I’m pretty sure it’s a real thing. You see tiling itself is not difficult at all, but you have to move pretty quick in order for the mastic and grout to not dry out and cause problems… SO I get anxious and pretty crazy about moving quick, quick, quick (like at a DEFCON 10) and my Super Awesome Hubby just wasn’t born equipped with anything over say DEFCON 7, so if you can imagine he’s moving at like a 4 and I’m at a full on 10! I’m so lucky he puts up with my crap sometimes I swear… but anyway on to the progress shots!

My favorite cabinet so far is the one over the refrigerator / oven area. At first I was not really thrilled about having to stage that area, but I have a plan and I’m super excited to get it finished!

And I don’t regret for one minute adding the tile over the window here, I think it really finishes off the area nicely.

I still have to caulk the crown molding and fix some areas that aren’t quite perfect before I can paint them. Also, the blue tape is marking areas I noticed after I painted that needed some additional repair so they have been fixed and re-primed and I will paint spot paint those areas when I paint the trim.

Also, a follow up on the cooktop I broke… we haven’t replaced it yet, but I did get “lucky” and was able to buy a replacement glass top for it instead of having to replace the whole cooktop. I would have much rather replaced it, but finding one that fit the exact cutout dimensions proved nearly impossible.

The rest of the to-do list consist of painting the ceiling, installing the range hood, reinstalling the under cabinet lighting, a few more coats of paint and painting the doors… so I think we’re on the downhill slope, right?!

Until next time…

August 9, 2016 3

What a Day…

Well today was the day that I was going to get shit done on the kitchen remodel! I had one last cabinet to prime, a few repairs and then sanding of all of the primed cabinets… it was going to be a big day! And truly all was going well (albeit messy and dirty and overall not fun) and I was moving along at a good clip and on track to finish what I had planned to finish until this happened… (insert lots of bad, bad words here…)

I dropped my mouse sander on the glass cooktop and the top shattered big time! I was lucky that the glass didn’t fly off of it, but I was extremely pissed to say the least. Now granted I hated this cooktop, it is 13 or so years old and it was hard to see the numbers beside the dial but it worked just fine and I wasn’t yet ready to replace it. I mean it takes me a lot of time and research to find just what I want and also what will fit the cutout in the granite that already exists. So my search begins today and I need to find a replacement quick because I cannot use my cooktop in this condition, I guess I will be using the crockpot for a while…

On the plus side we really are at a good point with the kitchen cabinet updates.

All of the new cabinets are installed and everything is primed and ready for the first coat of paint! I’m so excited about the cabinet over the oven and refrigerator that I have already been mentally planning on how to stage that area.

As you can see we got the tile installed (but not yet grouted) over the stovetop, but we had a little scope creep and decided to tile over the window over the sink as well… it just looked awkward without tile there.

So I’m off to find the perfect/inexpensive/right size/quick ship stovetop, wish me luck… I have a feeling I’m going to need it!

Until next time…