The Long Awaited Kitchen

Yes, I know, I’ve been slacking.  And everyone has been asking to see the completed kitchen.  But where to begin?

When I left you last we were working on laying tile and putting in lights.

Next we began working on the concrete countertop.  This wasn’t something either of us knew how to do, but, as always, my sweet man learned.  we started by laying plywood on the countertops.

Andy cut a hole for the sink…

 

We tested the sink and faucet to see if it would fit.  It did!  By the way, this sink we got for less than $100 online (Ebay I believe).  I absolutely love it.  It’s not the apron-front or undermount I wanted, but it’s brand new and the design is awesome.  The right side is extra big and the left side is smaller, which I actually like.  It’s so nice to be able to fit my big cookie sheet in the sink without turning it diagonally.  Even my 9x13 casserole fits in the bottom (it didn’t at the old house). 

Anyways, then Andy cut strips of plywood to put on the front side under the actual plywood (so the countertops wrap around the cabinets, in essence).

Then he cut strips for the sides.  What we were doing was making a frame to pour the concrete in.

Have I mentioned my man’s a genius?  He used our old flower bed edging to make the frame around the curved sink!

TA-DA!

Finally, we nailed skinny little strips to the back against the wall, to help guide our concrete pouring efforts.

So then we worked on mixing the concrete.  Andy’s old concrete mixer tanked (some squirrel made a nest in it!)  So we had to mix it in our wheelbarrow by hand. 

Andy used some old wire fencing in the middle of the concrete to reinforce it.

Finally, we got it done and started pouring the concrete.

It was kind of hard to get it smooth, but we tried our best!

And here was what the one countertop looked like.

We sanded it, painted it black and then sealed it with polyurethane.

And here it is with the sink!  We bought the faucet at Lowe’s.

Andy had to do a lot of plumbing work, since there was no dishwasher before and all the old plumbing was bad.

Next we did the second part of the counter, which was much easier.  I think we got the hang of it!

Next we put in the range hood!

Then we worked on laying the rest of the tile.

Done!

 

Well, almost!  We had to cut the tiniest little strips of tiles ever to fit between the countertops and tile.

As a side note, we had a little work buddy who likes to watch us through the window!

Next came the grouting!

 

Proof that Andy’s not the only one working!  Emily asked if I liked green.  I do, but my work shirt just happens to be a shirt I’ll never need again. hehe!

Once the grout dries, it wipes off of the tiles really easily.

Doesn’t it look awesome?

Finally, Taylor and Lane came over to help us move our fridge into the kitchen.  And guess what?  It didn’t fit!  The old wall was so bowed that the fridge didn’t quite squeeze in.  So, we just left it in the corner.  At least it was in the kitchen!

Thankfully it wasn’t for too long!  Andy cut into the wall from the other side.

  

Look how curved the wall was!

So, to fix it, we cut into the bowed stud part of the way…

…and, ahem, pulled the stud back.

And then pushed in a wedge to hold it in place.

Then we added a brace on the wide to screw it in and make it secure.

And, guess what?  We fixed it!  Look at how level it is now!

And you know what?  The fridge fit!  We were able to move in the fridge, oven, table, chairs, and all of our other kitchen stuff. 

And so…

 

 

…without further ado…

 

 

…I present to you…

 

 

…Are you ready?…

 

…Oh, but wait!…

 

….First, let’s take a trip down memory lane and see the before…

And now…

 

Our BRAND SPANKIN NEW KITCHEN!!!

Lots of counter space! Yes, we still have one outlet to put in.

  

Our kitchen table looks great in here!  And I love the great big window.  It more than makes up for not having a window above the sink!

We were going to put the table in this corner, but we liked sitting by the window too much.  So, I think a nice baker’s rack is in our future!

I love having an oven back!  We’re going to get a stainless one to match eventually, but this white one works great for now!

Oh, and did I mention that I love all the cabinet space I have?

And more…

Andy’s going to take some pictures with the better camera so you can see it better, but until then, I hope these suffice.  I can’t believe that this is the same kitchen…and especially the same cabinets!

Can anybody guess what the final cost was?

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. :)