Home Improvement

Marble Back Splash

Published on March 6, 2015March 11, 2015 by Our Humble Abode20 Comments

As I mentioned on Wednesday, the backsplash tile is installed. Just last night we finished it up with grout. But, here’s the uneven, ugly step before.

To get started setting tile, I opened and sorted the packages by color. All tiles are 4 inch by 12 inch Carrara marble from Home Depot. Indeed I am the crazy person sorting white tile by color. I’ll explain more in a minute.

Install went smoothly, but took a lot of cutting. Ben rocked it out in six hours though.

For detailed tile jobs, Ben prefers to use pre-mixed mastic to avoid making several batches.

Unfortunately, it also took forever to dry completely. Obviously that is an exaggeration, but waiting four days was a test of my patience. Pulling out the spacers took only a few minutes and then I cleaned the mastic off the surface.

Yesterday, Ben took a couple of hours to grout everything.

When sorting the tiles, I created 4 different groups. Group one was bright white with little veining, the second white with veining. The third group was pale gray, the fourth gray with heavy coloring.

With such color variation, we made a point to pull from each group to avoid blocks of similar colors.

Also, we chose to keep the trim on the windows, cutting tiles to fit around.

Same goes for the baseboard.

The only difference is for the crown, because the profile is thinner. We’ll add a thin spacer behind, then secure the crown, slightly overlapping the tile.

Weekend plans include replacing switches and outlets, building cabinet doors, painting window trim, and working on the office cabinetry. Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Slow Going

Published on February 19, 2015February 19, 2015 by Our Humble Abode1 Comment

Kitchen progress is steadily, but slowly chugging along. Much like the Little Engine That Could, I’m just chanting I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. Ben pieced the maple desk top is pieced together, but 1/3 of the way through sanding, our belt sander broke. As we wait for the part to arrive, we’ve switched gears and made some progress on the cabinets. Most of the perimeter drawer fronts are cut, painted, and curing before install.

As much as I love shaker cabinets, I wanted something different. A less detailed design to keep the island the attention grabber. Flat panels with a 45 degree edge, painted white should do the trick.

The island now has 2.2 sides of this solid 3/4 inch thick walnut gorgeousness:

Going through our planning, the island was the warmth the room was lacking. I’ve already filled small cracks, sanded smooth with 220 grit paper, and applied one coat of teak oil. We followed the same process on the bathroom vanity and love the results.

Teak oil hardens in the wood, protecting and enhancing the beautiful grain. Just as the bathroom looked flat and boring before sealing, (see above) the island did, too. Another benefit is that if the wood looks dry, or we have to sand out a scratch, a coat of oil refreshes the wood like new. No full sanding or refinishing required.

Attaching the wood to the sides was simple. Walnut is attached from inside the cabinet to hide all fasteners.

From certain, limited angles, if you squint, the island looks almost finished.

Until walking around the front to see the drawers lack fronts. The toe kick is still exposed and we need at least one more light sanding and a coat of teak oil. Hence the blotches at the top near the counter.

If we decide oil isn’t the best finish, we can always go over it with polyurethane. Next up we’ll build the island drawer fronts and install the perimeter faces. Who knows, maybe we’ll even get started on the tile backsplash. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

Door Number 1

Published on February 12, 2015February 12, 2015 by Our Humble Abode2 Comments

In addition to getting the bar installed this weekend, we finished up the pantry. Here it is, right after install.

I went back and forth on colors for the door. Initially, I wanted white to blend in with the surrounding cabinetry.

But the wood tone looked pretty. So maybe giving it a darker stain, to pick up on the walnut we’ll add to the island?

Then again, the same gray I used on the rest of the interior doors could look great.

A reader suggested chalkboard paint.

Great in theory, but I’m almost certain it’d be a dusty mess that would drive me insane. I’m not far off right now, don’t need to add to it. It even crossed my mind to use something crazy like a grass green.

To work with the green curtain panels in the adjacent living and dining rooms, of course.

While we had the door off to paint, Ben added oak strips to the shelf fronts. Oak for added strength. Something’s happening to me; I liked the oak. I decided to clear coat it, not paint.

Not surprisingly, after weighing the options, I went with the most boring option and my gut. White paint, to simplify the corner. In our plans, the pantry door was always white because it isn’t supposed to be a focal point.

To further match the white cabinetry, I used a drawer pull as the handle, just with slightly longer bolts.

Even with the handle sticking out, there’s still a few inches of clearance between it and the oven doors. Nothing to interfere with opening and closing the oven or pantry doors.

Much simpler and it’ll match the rest of the cabinetry on this side. You know, once we’ve built and attached doors and drawer fronts.

The only upper cabinet is up, too.

Complete with under cabinet LED pucks to give ample task light.

Pantry Party

Published on February 2, 2015February 2, 2015 by Our Humble Abode13 Comments

Before remodeling the kitchen, the cabinet arrangement had a lot of wasted space.

Either too specific for a use, like a full bay of vertical dividers.

Or the polar opposite with a big, blank cabinet.

At any rate, we knew lower drawers would help most problems. But corners are especially awkward and usually wasted. Knowing we wanted to remove the wall between the kitchen and dining room, we’d need to move the pantry. Living with every non-perishable item on the opposite side of the cook/prep area got old very quickly.

With that in mind, keeping the pantry on the business side of the kitchen was a must. Hence the corner pantry. At 52 inches wide by 8 feet tall, we should have plenty of space to store dry goods. As listed in the original floor plan, we opted for a sliding door to eliminate an awkward door swing. After talking to several people, we decided not to use a pocket door kit. If the door comes off the track or needs to be replaced, it’s impossible. Instead, we went a similar, more user-friendly route with a bypass sliding door kit.

Often used in closets, the track has two sides and roller wheels. Ben built a standard header, secured the track and covered the front with an MDF panel. Above, as seen from inside, without the door. Below, from the outside.

In our case, the door opening is wider than the oven cabinet leaving the last few inches of door visible when completely open. I worried the 24 inch opening would be too small, but it allows easy access to everyday items.

Shelves are 18 inches deep, extending into the corner. We plan to keep extra supplies here, to grab when we need to refill.

Also, we’ve decided to keep the microwave in the pantry. This allows easier access and a shorter distance of carrying hot items.

Which also frees up space in the smaller cabinet, allowing a full drawer set. I still plan to keep coffee supplies and extra serving platters over here.

Now that everything has been cut and fits, we can take everything back out to paint. I’m oddly liking the wood door though. I’m undecided if I should paint or seal it. Thoughts?

Open:

Closed.

Once I’ve painted the inside of the pantry, we’ll set the shelves again and add trim to the fronts to cover the braces.

It’ll also give us a lip to hide under cabinet light behind to help illuminate the shelves.

Update: Due to a few emails and comments, here’s a shot of the far end of the pantry:

The overall depth of the pantry is 25.5 inches from the back wall to the inside of the door. With 18 inch deep shelves, that leaves 7.5 inches between the shelf front and the inside of the door. By making the shelves narrower than the full depth, we won’t have to worry about things getting in the way of the door slide. It’ll also make reaching in the back area easier. We’ll probably keep a broom in here too.

While I’m updating, I thought I’d include a shot of the closed door against the fridge.

After settling on a sliding door, we agreed we didn’t want the header flush with the front of the fridge cabinet. Mostly to add some interest to the wall, but also because the door itself would sit 3/4 of an inch back from the front.

Once that’s done, we can start organizing. We shop at Costco, which means we have produce for days. Getting bowls off the counter would be really nice.

I love the function of roll out wire baskets, which can allow ventilation and easy access. I’ve yet to pin down exactly which ones, but here are a few I’m considering.

This one is actually a hamper, but the depth would maximize space. Perfect for storing bags of cereal and chips.

Putting the corner to use and not having to walk around the island for everything is a game changer. Time for me to start painting so we can load it up!

Double Down

Published on January 29, 2015January 29, 2015 by Our Humble Abode10 Comments

As of this weekend, we have every appliance in and working. Double ovens and dishwasher included. Before we could install either, we had to add face trim to our cabinet boxes, fill, sand, prime, and paint. Each cabinet box is made from double-sided melamine, leaving the inner particle board exposed along the fronts.

After talking to custom cabinet makers, we chose melamine for a few reasons. Unlike plywood, it doesn’t warp as it dries. Melamine sides also protect the inside from water, without having to paint the inside of every box. For sleek, finished fronts without seams at every cabinet joint, we prefer to face our cabinets after install. Below you can see the 3/4 inch painted poplar front added to the melamine box.

Without fronts, the drawers are recessed about 1/4 inch to allow a tight closure against the cabinet.

Rather than using plywood for end panels, we used paintable melamine panels. Having never used these before, I worried the smooth surface wouldn’t take paint well.

Turns out, one primer + three paint coats covers flawlessly. I tried scratching the paint off with my nail and nothing happened, so I’m very hopeful. The guys at Sherwin Williams highly recommended their ProClassic paint for cabinets because it levels and hardens for a durable finish. Using an angled brush and small foam roller, I applied satin finish Snowbound. This paint dries quickly, with a super smooth finish. Brush strokes faded away.

Framing the fridge, ovens, and dishwasher just adds to the custom feel and really finished it all off. While I got my paint on, Ben set the two office drawer stacks.

Once the paint dried, we couldn’t get the new ovens in soon enough. Removing the doors made hoisting it easier.

Thanks to Ben’s measuring and remeasuring the cabinet and ovens fit perfectly. Almost as if they were made for each other. Oh wait, they were. It slid right in place, with only a minor tweak of the upper panel.

Ta-da! LG suggests leaving at least 12 inches from the floor, so we added a drawer below. This drawer is the same size as the other bottom ones, which also brought the height even with the top of the refrigerator.

After install, we pulled off the packing materials, which left some marks on the doors.

We’ve tried various cleaners over the years, but nothing worked well on our LG fridge. At the end of my rope, I asked my friend Jamie what miracle cure she used. She sent me a picture of the spray can: Weiman Stainless Steel Cleaner and Polish. I couldn’t find the spray, but I did find the wipes.

Let me tell you, these are almost as magical as the Magic Eraser. Seriously, how do those things work on almost everything?! Anyway, I wiped with the steel grain, then followed up with a dry rag.

Look at the difference between the cleaned top and untouched bottom.

After seeing how well the wipes worked on the ovens, I literally polished every other stainless surface in the house. The bathroom counters and shower pan have never looked better. No, this is not sponsored. Just thought this life changing cleaner was worth mentioning. Unless I’m the last person to know about these. In that case, carry on.