The Kitchen, Part 1

Hi there lovelies! We have been knee deep in kitchen renovations and thought it about time to get you up to speed. The last time we really touched the kitchen was last Summer. We bought the house knowing that everything was in great condition except the kitchen and the four bathrooms needed to be renovated. We have no idea how to do this stuff, yet felt the need to own the challenge at hand, and give it the 'ok college try. So last summer we covered up the awful floors with some temp flooring we liked from Ikea. Then we had our major painting fail. Alas, a few months back we "updated" the fridge with some chalkboard paint, and that's where our kitchen "reno" stopped, until recently. I have moaned and groaned everyday about the gross yellow countertops for two years now. They are where so gross, I don't even have words.

It makes me sad to look at. I don't know why, it just does. And, I want to feel good in my house. Especially my kitchen. I love to cook and I hate being in there. So for a while, things were looking like not-so-awesome, while looking into the joining finished back mudroom, which we think turned out awesome.

So step one was the floors, two was repainting everything white, again. Then Joey had the idea of painting the doors into the mudroom red, and I said "Go for it!".

We kept the old hardware, and Joey just used a dremel to "brush off" the old finish.

So if you add everything together, this is where we started the official phase two of making-the-kitchen-something-to-smile-about.

So what did we decide to do first? Countertops! Hello happy dance! So we went from this...

...to removing them

along with their connected backsplash. Classy, eh?

After the removal, this was a semi-shocker. Raw cement wall. We had to solve the counter issue before getting to this.

We decided to go with butcherblock countertops. We knew we really wanted to go with the wood option and Ikea has really great oak ones for a super reasonable price. We figure we like the way they look and we like the price, this is a super combo for our thought process of prepping for renting. They ran us $89 per 49 5/8X25 5/8, and we bought two. So for less than $180, we got new countertops we like a lot and add character to our home, and we kept the price sweet.

When we put them on the cabinets, we realized we were living an uneven counter life, and joey cut some wood to fill the gap. We were good to go after that.

So, to solved the problem of the exposed cement, we disassociated the wall part of the removed countertop combo and screwed it right into the wall. Our friend Todd (who helped with the whole process), suggested getting wonderboard (about $12 per sheet) to put between the "old" wall and the soon-to-be applied subway tiles.

Next step was to do the other side of the kitchen. We decided to keep out sink and replace our faucet, so Joey carefully removed the sink and set aside before removing the countertops.

We also removed the dishwasher, now seemed good-as-time as any.

It's crazy to see your home in this condition!

So we have a little project we have going on a little later, but take note there is about a two foot slab of wood which looks removable.

We used the old counter (you could use a sink too!) as a stencil to draw the shape of the sink on the new counter. A simple jig-saw made it easy to cut the sink hole. That extra wood is so turning into a cutting board!

This side is also getting the subway tile treatment, but not until after we install the dishwasher. Just in case we need to lift the counters to install it! So right now, this very moment, we are knee deep in this here below! We'll be posting all about it!

Step by Step. Day by Day.

Hi there! Hope your Monday was kind to you! We have been busting our behinds to get things in check and the Kitchen has been the beast of the to-do list. We added some reclaimed wood to add some interest on the window wall, laid down some new floors (temp), and refinished the hardware on the doors leading to the mudroom. We have been in process of refinishing the cabinet doors and replacing the hardware when Joey brought to my attention everything looked a little too white, and drab.

As I looked around our completely horrific mess of a kitchen, it hit me! Resort to the moodboard, something is missing.

Ahhhh, yes. The color! Where were we going to add that red without it screaming retro kitchen or country barn?

The door into the mudroom was the perfect choice! With some simple tools and the patience of a saint, we transformed the boring white, into a vibrant and fun focal point.

First we taped off the doors to spare the glass any blood like stains.

Then we carefully selected the color, Glidden Door and Trim Gel, in classic red. Next was to review a three pack of Purdy Paint brushes. We chose the 1.5" for this project. Gel is tricky when it comes to using a brush again, and we figured this was the brand to test it on.

The process went something like this: Dip brush. Paint. Gasp! The gel and Purdy paint brush combo - awesome call when all was said and done. The first layer of paint on the door looks like someone smeared blood over a white wall. It's really scary until you get that second layer on. It's oil based so we had to wait eight hours in-between. Those eight hours were painful. Oil is a beast to work with.

The paint brush was SUPER easy to work with. Not a single stray brush hair, and it held up to the weight of the gel quite nice. It also cut better than any brush we used before. It took a lot of paint thinner and cloths, but the brush was totally save-able! Even with such thick oil based gel. Pretty awesome. Tomorrow we are going to show you what the brushes look like after oil vs. after latex paint.

We also had this super gross problem to solve. This is a week of build up. See the mudroom had these tiles before we put the glossy white floors down and it crept into the kitchen a bit. When we laid down the floors in the kitch, we didn't properly merge the door frame with the floors, hence the gross canal build up of life every week.

Luckily a simple strip of painted wood solved that problem. We simply nailed it into the floor and made sure the door can glide over it easily. Now for some paint thinner and goo-gone, and the door frame will look good as new!

So the door is done and dried and we really dig her. Perhaps this is a step in convincing Joey we should paint our front door something bold and fun! If you look hard at the pictures above you can sneak a peek at the newly finished cabinets we have going on. Yep, we are 70% up! Though the door wasn't technically part of the list, it feels good to add a little bonus to the room. The cabinets on the other hand are going to be the best thing ever to check off! The sink and counters will be here soon! I have the perfect title for that post....

We're Sinking

Yep! Cabinets are 99% done. Counters have been picked out. Backsplash in the house, and oops! I forgot to say "hi!". I'm all out of sorts! Well, hello there. How is your week treating you? I hope you have been having an easier time than us with whatever your ventures are! We learned: If you are going to paint a room when it's raining outside for three days straight, it's going to take a realllllly long time for the paint to dry. Eesh... But this isn't what we are sinking about. Back to the good 'ol kitch!

So, yea. All is in order, except the sink. We picked out this faucet from Brizo, and now need to find this pretty little lady a companion. 

I want a farm sink. I want a farm sink so bad. Ohhhhhh, I want a farm sink! I want a sink I can wash the puppies in. I want a sink I could wash a baby in. Ohhhhhh I want a farm sink. Yes. This is what I said to Joey. So yep, we are getting a farm sink. But which? We posted a while back about ideas we had for the kitchen. A lot has stayed the same, but we edited some color choices. This is where we landed.

Ok. Faucet, check. Colors, check. Sink, let's figure this out....

  

So these guys are pretty similar. The pop out a little but further than the counter and cabinets. They are deep and white and work well with similar style faucets we will be using.

To me, this is the classic farm sink. One big porcine tub. Love.

While researching, I can across a slew of options I didn't know existed. 

Like this beauty. We are not set up for this at all, but goodness. She's a pretty lady.

I had a moment when I was checking out stainless steel sinks and thought it could work.

...but then as soon as I looked at the white shiny goodness, I was over it. 

I think our micro-moodboard works well with our final decision. Now where to adopt one of these is a new mission to check off the list!

 

drool.

sources: 1, 2, 3, 4