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…

August 2, 2016 9

Adding feet and molding to cabinets

Adding feet and decorative molding to the butler’s pantry cabinets was a pretty straightforward and easy project. We started off with these cabinets.

I removed the shoe molding from the kick plate and we dry fit a 4” piece of poplar wood which is very smooth and solid. We chose to use solid wood instead of MDF because we were routering the top and MDF doesn’t look as crisp/sharp as real wood does when routered in my opinion.

I also installed one of the doors back on temporarily to ensure that it would fit once the molding was attached… I don’t always think ahead, but when I do I sure as shit am happy about it in the end! So the door fit and we were back on to the next step…

Using SmartDraw I designed the exact cutout I wanted for the feet. We did consider adding 4 feet (one for each set of cabinets) but in the end opted for just 2 which I am so glad we did!

My Super Awesome Hubby used the jigsaw to cutout the design and the router to add a nice ogee edge to the top. Since the wood is placed against about 1.5” of cabinet face all I needed to do was nail it directly into the face, very sturdy and simple. I then filled in all of the nail holes and a long dent I didn’t see when we bought the piece, I use spackling for this process rather than wood filler as it is quick to dry and sands very easily.

I also added a small chair rail backer piece of molding to the sides of both of the top and bottom cabinets. Just used some Loctite and 1.5” nails and it’s not going anywhere.

Once everything is filled, sanded and caulked we can move on to priming and painting!

I’m almost finished with the the door and drawer fronts, hope to share the finished product with you soon!

Thanks as always for stopping by!

May 12, 2016 5

Kitchen Updates, Tile, Lights, Paint

Hey all! This post has been stuck in my “to finish” pile for a while but I wanted to share with you the kitchen updates we have completed so far. We still have some cabinet painting to do, but that is a project that I might get started this winter.

So here is a BEFORE shot my hubby took while doing the home inspection (that’s the inspector at the island).

This I took just after we moved in, we had not yet replaced any appliances or done any work.

Here it is after we had replaced the dishwasher, microwave, refrigerator, sink, faucet, added pendant lights and painted (Chelsea Gray by Benjamin Moore). I had a VERY difficult time deciding on a paint color, I kept trying to go light but I didn’t like any of the combinations. As soon as I saw this color I was smitten, but a little concerned it may be too dark… I loved it the moment I started painting. It was the perfect choice for us!

We installed the backsplash using Queen Beige tumbled Amalfi marble. It is a nice neutral color that worked well with the existing counter. I normally would have removed the 4” granite backsplash and tiled all of the way down to the countertop but they had also installed the backsplashes on the sides of the oven cabinets and I wasn’t sure what would happen to the cabinets if I tried to remove it…

My Hubby replaced all of the outdated florescent under cabinet lighting with new LED lights. I like the cool bright light here vs. the warm yellow hue. Also, I LOVE using my vintage tool box to hold the tools, oils and vinegars that I use most frequently.

I “shopped” in my storage room and found this antique scale which was the perfect color to coordinate with my toolbox. The measuring cups I purchase from Anthropology several years ago and are not only pretty to look at but it is handy being able to have them setting out.

This was the original sink and faucet setup (and no I didn’t bother to clean it before I took this picture)…

We hired a plumber to come replace the sink, faucet and garbage disposal… my sweetie is very handy but plumbing is not his best skill set so we usually leave the pluming up to the professionals

I cannot begin to describe how much I L-O-V-E this sink! It is SUPER deep which is great for leaving dishes in and the single bowl just works so much better than double bowls for us. I can fit sheet pans, baking pans or a child or two in here… (just sayin’ it’s awesome)! We also had an extra hole (where the sprayer was) so we now we have a hand soap dispenser and a dish soap dispenser!

I bought a set of the new blue jars and frog inserts to go with them. Eventually I hope to have pretty, fresh flowers from the garden in them, but for now I just adore the way the sunlight from the Sunroom filters through the blue glass.

This little area to the right if the refrigerator we have setup for all of our drinking “tools”, coffee maker, Magic Bullet, Soda Stream. We keep all of the coffee mugs above and the blender cups and big blender below. Having a drink / coffee bar area just works so well for our family.

This is what the original eat in area of the kitchen looked like. This light was in such a weird place for the traffic pattern to work. I think they had it setup for a round table there…

The whole kitchen / eat-in area are painted the same Chelsea Gray, I took down the light blocking valances and put up curtains and rods. I just cannot get rid of our farm table even though it’s just the 3 of us most of the time eating there. We bought the table 13 years ago and it is made by Hoskins Creek Table Company. The tables are made in Virginia, by hand, and are put together like they were long ago with beautiful joinery and old looking nails. There is a bench on the one side (for lots of little kid butts ) but the chairs are vintage hand carved with original rush seats. The rug is from FLOR and is really carpet tiles, easy to care for and they can be cut to fit ANY area.

I do love the beaded chandelier we purchased to replace the oriental looking one that was here. It’s hard to see but the beads are a washed out gray color, I bought it at World Market and I thought it was a great price considering what similar ones are being sold for elsewhere.

From the kitchen you can see somewhat into the Family room. I originally thought I’d want to remove the wall that the bar is on, but I really have come to like the setup as it is now.

We bought this bar set from Pottery Barn about 4 years ago and it fit in this space like we built around it!

I will eventually paint this pantry area as well, but I’m still on the fence with a couple of choices I need to make. The speaker above the cabinets is wired in from the TV in the family room so we can listen to music or whatever.

We added these pendant lights where there used to be can lights and I really love the way they look. We found them at Shades of Light if you’re interested in them. I wrote a previous post on the island update we did and you can find it here.

One of these days I would LOVE a new Thermador gas stove and double oven combination, but I’m thinking that might not happen in this house (or ever), but I can still dream right?!

We have come a long ways with our kitchen, but to finish it up I need to get these cabinets painted. I painted the cabinets in our last home 5 years ago and I still remember the “pain” of it, so I’m pretty much putting it off until I can’t put it off any longer…

Hope you all are feeling some Fall weather, it’s just gorgeous here today in Louisville, KY!

Thanks as always for stopping by,

Until next time!