Of Sinks and Tile

The past week we’ve putting plodding away at the kitchen.  Andy finished building the bask cabinet for the sink…complete with the “borrowed” pillars.  What do you think?

We also started putting up the tile backsplash. 

We had a hard time finding a pattern we agreed one, but we are quite happy with what we picked. 

So far we’ve finished one wall of tile.  We also caulked along the windows and crown molding, just to seal everything in.

We moved the dishwasher in.

And Andy finished putting in the light fixture above the sink.

 

 

 

We’ve also been experimenting with the concrete to do the counter tops.  That’s our big project this week.

I didn’t take a picture, but Andy also wheeled the oven in so that I could put the self-clean on.  I even baked Andy’s bday cake in it!  We also bought a new range hood and that should be in soon too.

Makin’ My Dreams Come True

The past few weeks, my husband has been working tirelessly to finish this kitchen for me.  Of course, we’ve had our setbacks.  Things we wanted to do didn’t work, and surprise expenses have eaten away at our remodeling budget.  Yet, the Lord has been faithful, and our house is slowly coming along.

We finally finished painting the upper cabinets and got them in.  Yippee!

And then Andy put the trim on top of the cabinets, as well as up in the raised ceiling.

We got the doors on the cabinets, which I was THRILLED about, because I was able to unpack some of our dishes and what-not!

And then came the flooring.  We found a great deal online on a laminate wood floor…only problem was we hadn’t seen it in person.  To our relief, we love, love, LOVED it!  Plus, it’s a floating floor, so the installation was very quick.

My sister, Hilary, also came to visit…

She helped us paint, as well as a billion different other things.  I also took the time to fix up the guest room a bit and get it usable.  It’s rough, and needs some work, but it’s nice to have a 2nd bathroom.

I have a vision for it when it’s done, but for now it we’ll just have to settle for the ugliest color walls ever.

Once we got the floor in, we were finally able to finish painting the bottom cabinets and get them in!

We painted the inside of all the cabinets and drawers white to make them easier to clean.  I also think it’s a fantastic look!

Using old cabinets, you find weird things.  Like the corner cabinet doesn’t go all the way back…

And people cut funny holes so they can reach things…

We experienced a bit of a set-back when we realized that the awesome drawer glides Andy had saved from his cabinet shop would only work on one set of drawers.  Apparently the drawer frames aren’t big enough…sad day…

We have since ordered new ones, and should get them in soon!

The cabinet for the sink was pretty much ruined, so Andy’s designed and built a new one. 

My ingenious man recycled the columns  from the peek-through in the living room.  Turns out they are solid oak!

 

We were also able to get the molding up around the baseboard, window, and door frame.  What a difference it makes!

 

And this takes us through the middle of last week.  Since then, we’ve done a lot…and I can’t wait to show you pictures!  But…you’ll have to wait a bit. :)

We Live in the Funny House

The past few weeks have been somewhat crazy.  We’ve been working tirelessly on the cabinets.  Or, at least when we have time to! 

The last I left you, Andy was installing the lights in our kitchen.  Here is the finished product!

Seven halogen can lights line the lower part of the ceiling, and in the middle is this awesome light fixture.  If it looks familiar, it’s because you may have seen it somewhere else in the house.  There were two of these giants hanging above the sinks in the master bathroom.  Now there is only one.  It still hangs a bit too low for the kitchen, but we’re going to try to pull it up higher.

Then it was on to sanding and painting the cabinets.  For the inside’s Andy mixed a white paint with Kilz, in order to prevent mildew and make the surface easier to clean.

For the outside we picked the neatest shade of green.  I know green is not the typical color of your kitchen cabinets, but I absolutely LOVE them!

Andy also distressed them by sanding and another process that he wants to keep secret. :)

We’ve been working on them outside in the sweltering heat.  The cabinet above was thanks to sweat dripping all over me last Saturday.  It was worth the effort though! 

Yesterday Andy worked on putting a few of the upper cabinets in.

Can you believe it’s the same kitchen?

We hit a little snag halfway through when we realized that the cabinets did not match up right.  Turns out the walls are not exactly level.  I know, crazy huh?  So, Andy’s going to fix that later…no pictures yet. 

I told Andy that the weird angles were making me feel like I was in Grandfather’s Mansion at Silver Dollar City.

He said that we bought Grandfather’s Mansion.

Maybe we did.  But I like it!

Back to Business

This past week Andy and I have been taking a break from the home reno.  Our church had Vacation Bible School every night this week, and we've been there from 5-9, leaving us very little time to do any work.  Right now we're trying to find some good quality laminate flooring that won't break the bank.  I do have some neat pictures to share with you of our painted cabinets. Whoot!  So stay tuned!

Work, work, work

I know, I know…it’s been a week and I haven’t updated you on our progress.  What can I say?  We’re busy with the house!  We’ve been making a lot of progress though!
Last week we were able to finish framing the raised ceiling in the kitchen, 

put in the wiring for the new can lights,

put in new insulation,

and put up sheetrock in the raised ceiling (thanks to help from our friends, Taylor and Jamie!).

 

Then, after a quick weekend trip up to Missouri to visit Andy’s brother and sister-in-law, we got right back to work, putting dry wall mud in the cracks and over the popcorn ceiling and finishing cleaning and sanding the old cabinets.

 

Look at all those cabinets…phew!

Then Andy sprayed texture on the walls and ceiling.  Thankfully, while up in Missouri the guys had visited Harbour Freight, and Andy found a great dry wall texture gun for about $20.  He had to cover up the door to spray, hehe!

And this is the result:

And here’s the finished box ceiling!

Today I spent all day painting the ceiling and walls in the kitchen.  For the ceiling, we just did a plain old “Antique White”.  For the walls we wanted a real pale yellow…almost a cream.  We picked a tint called “Early Morning Sun”.  It looked good in the can and on one spot, but once I painted the whole wall I realized it was just a tad too bright.  This is what it looked like:

So then Andy mixed our yellow with the “Antique White” color we used on the ceiling, and it came out just right.

I love, love, LOVE the new color.  You can’t really tell in the pictures, but it’s such a warm and cheery color.  It will make our kitchen seem so bright and airy, even in the grey of winter.
As I speak, Andy is putting in our recessed lights in the kitchen.  We also ordered a flooring sample of a laminate wood floor that we’re thinking about ordering.  Then it’s on to refinishing and painting the cabinets and installing them!
We’re so ready to get this kitchen done.  Camping is fun, but I can’t find anything when it’s in boxes stacked in a corner.  We’re making memories, though. :)

Day 4: Remodeling is Tiring

Up until this point, Andy and I have been pretty much running on adrenaline.  But then it started to hit us.  Yesterday, after waking up early to rain and dashing outside in our pajamas to save the cabinets and sheet rock we had left outside, we fell back asleep for “just a few more minutes” and woke up at 8:45 thoroughly stunned.  We must really have been tired!

Last night I decided to take the time to make a real meal (shrimp pasta…yum!) and also some cookies (my mother-in-law let me borrow their toaster oven), just to make everything feel a little more like home.  And also, we were sick of the hotdogs and other quick things we’ve been eating to save time.  Meanwhile, Andy worked on the framing for the raised ceiling.  He had to cut some of the beams out, which made me a little nervous, but he knows what he’s doing. :)

  

He used regular 2x4s and cut them to size to replace the planks that had been there.

It’s starting to look really good.  He makes it look better though. :)

 

Meanwhile, I’ve been continuing my work cleaning the cabinets.  I use bleach where mice might have been, and then straight vinegar on everything else.  Vinegar is a great way to clean things and cut through grease without the chemicals.

I’ve also been working on sanding down the doors and drawer fronts with steel wool.  Use the 3 gauge to get everything smooth, especially on the cracks and hard-to-reach areas.  It’s a great way to get in all the nooks and crannys and get rid of the gunk.  Be sure to wear gloves, though, because that steel wool really hurts!  For the record, that’s my husband’s arm, not mine…my arms are not that hairy!

It’s a lot of work, but somebody’s got to do it…and since I don’t know much about anything else, that person is me!