Category: Kitchen 2

Cap and Crown

Published on by Our Humble Abode20 Comments

As I mentioned yesterday, we spent most of our weekend relaxing, but we did slide a little kitchen work in there.  Ben installed the crown moulding in the kitchen on Saturday.  We didn’t want to pull the good crown from the dining room, so Ben cut a small piece to fill the gap between the old crown and the new cabinet.  Then he wrapped around to cover the cabinet:

Remember the gap above the marble back splash?  Before Ben could put crown up, he nailed a filler strip in place.

Then tacked the trim to the filler strip, keeping it flush with the ceiling while covering the gap and a little more of the marble tile.

See how nice that finishes the tile off and makes everything seamless?  Love it!  (And, that’s a peek at the grouted back splash).

To match the other cabinet, we wrapped the trim around the upper cabinets.

For some reason, the small back entrance and stairwell never got crown moulding.

Problem solved.  After a few coats of the same blue paint from the stairs and dining room, everything will flow together.

One of the reasons we chose the vent hood we have is because we wanted the rest of the kitchen to shine.  To make the fan as un-noticeable as possible, we agreed (after some debating) to carry the same trim around the vent hood.

I considered adding different trim and painting the box white, something kind of like this.

But Ben persisted that this was the best way to go.  I have to say, I agree.  White paint on the trim and blue in the middle will give this side a splash of color, too.

Now we need to caulk the cracks and joints, sand everything smooth and slap some primer/paint combo and we’re done.  With the trim.

What kind of vent hood do you have (or like)?  Sleek stainless?  Painted white?

P.S.  I used my new camera to take these pictures.  On my desktop, the pictures look fine, but on my laptop, a strange gradation/solarized thing happens.  Is anyone else seeing this?

P.P.S.  A few more readers took the survey (thank you!!) and I got a few requests to share some Photoshop action.  Consider a post in the works!  Oh, and to the surveyor(?) looking for bookshelf decorating, check out this post, or this one, this one, and this one.

Custom Cutting Board

Published on by Our Humble Abode8 Comments

To thank Ben for all of his hard work on our kitchen, I got him a custom cutting board from our newest sponsor, Joseph Thompson Woodworks.  Joseph Thompson Woodworks is a husband and wife team, so Katie actually made my cutting board.  And she did a wonderful job, I might add.

True to form, I am a pain in the butt, requesting custom items.  So, I asked Katie to make me a board with a cherry center, flanked by a maple strip, and the rest wenge wood.  Here she is:

The board has a smooth, sleek, durable finish.  I hate when cutting boards slide around, Katie fixes that problem with rubber feet.

It’s the prefect size for most of our cooking, too.

 

Different wood tones, but each looks lovely together and with our wood counter tops.

Speaking of our counters, we’ve changed our minds.  We’re painting them!  Ahh, just kidding.  But we did change our minds about the mineral oil finish.  While the oil is affordable and odorless, it didn’t protect the wood enough from water and left an oily residue on paper.  And with the cabinets extending to the counters, it’s too much of a pain to oil around everything once a week.  So we made the switch to natural colored (clear) Watco Danish Oil.

Basically, the Danish Oil is a cross between mineral oil and polyurethane.  It gets applied and wiped off like an oil, penetrates like an oil, but hardens like a polyurethane.  Recoat is the same as an oil, too.  Lightly sand, remove the dust, reapply, let it soak in.  Wipe if off after 30 minutes and leave it to sit over night.  Sure it’s a little more smelly than mineral oil, but we want to protect our counters and actually use them, so it’s totally worth it.  Thanks to an unseasonably warm winter, we were able to turn on the vent hood, crack a few windows and get working on the counters.  If there had been a drastic difference in the look, I would have included after pictures, but they still look the same.  Yay!

But back to the cutting boards from Joseph Thompson Woodworks.  Want to snag a cutting board for yourself?  Check out these beauties:

Natural Edge Black Walnut:

Striped Serving/Cutting Board:

And there are plenty more in the shop.  Or, talk to Katie about a custom design.

What do you think of the cutting boards?  Do you buy gifts to thank someone for their hard work?  What did you get for him/her?

P.S.  Use the code OHA2012 at check out to get a 5% discount from Joseph Thompson Woodworks.

The Big Splash

Published on by Our Humble Abode33 Comments

Warning!  This post is filled with over enthusiastic commentary and gratuitous tile pictures.

Along with installing most of the trim, we’ve finished another item on our long to do list.  Along with the drawer fronts, I think the marble backsplash has made the biggest difference in the kitchen, making it feel more finished.  I guess it kind of almost is finished.

First, take a look at our old back splash.  A four-inch tall piece of oak topped laminate.  Not. Pretty.  And, it didn’t function well protecting the wall from water.  In fact, the laminate covered a piece of particle board.  Particle board and water are not friends.  When wet, particle board swells more than my feet when I was pregnant.

So, we decided to make our new back splash pretty and functional in a wet area.  And that’s why we chose 3 inch by 6 inch marble subway tiles (from Home Depot), taking the tile up to the ceiling.

Before I get to the big back splash, lets take a look at the smaller one behind the stove.  We had to approach this one a little differently.  You see, our floors aren’t perfectly even, so the space between the counter top and the bar top varies about 1/2 inch from the far left side to the right end.  The wood tops are 3 1/2 inches apart.  If we had used the same 3 by 6 tiles, this difference would have been much more noticeable because the cut slivers would vary.  Luckily, Home Depot also carries four packs of 6 by 6 inch marble tiles.  The perfect solution to our uneven problem back splash.

Now for the install.  We started by measuring and marking the center of each wall space and the first tile.

Back butter the tile, line up the marks, and press firmly into place.

Because our first four tiles tuck behind the stove, we decided to leave them the full 6 by 6.  Then Ben measured each opening, cutting one tile per side, installing, then measuring for the next.

I’m guessing the marble tile cuts like a hot knife through butta because Ben made very nice detail cuts, like these around the outlets.

And he joked the he’ll start carving chess pieces from marble when we finish the house.  Here’s another shot of the tile behind the stove.  Once it’s pushed back in place, it won’t look any different.

Bright and pretty, just the way I like ’em.

Now that we’ve gotten the little ‘splash out of the way, let’s get to the main event; the back splash behind the sink.  Our starting process was similar, but Ben had some cutting to do first.  We agreed the first full row of tile should start at the counter, so Ben had to cut pieces to fit in the lower sink area.

Thanks old back splash for leaving so much ugly junk behind.  That’s why water and particle board are a bad combo.

With the sink row cut, things went up really quickly because Ben installed the full tiles, then moved to the smaller, detailed pieces.  Here’s a little space under the window sill.

And after, with the tiny pieces stuck forever.

Tons of one inch pieces on each side of the window and we made it to the top.

Instead of back buttering each tile for the part above the window, Ben spread the mastic on the wall.

Putting in some of the final cut pieces.

Because we’re putting crown moulding along the tops of the cabinets, we decided we’ll continue the crown across the front of the marble, covering the gap near the ceiling.

Before going to work the next morning, Ben pulled the spacers so I woke up to this pretty wall ‘o tile.

Pretend all the shelves are painted and we’ve got crown at the top, okay?  Oh, and pretend we’ve got doors on the upper cabinets, too.

Is it wrong that I want to stare at it all day?  Maybe I’m turning into a tile stalker.

The blue-gray works so well with the stainless, gray cabinets, and the warm wood counters.  Which is why I love this shot.

Just a detail shot of the cuts around the sink.

Now, a before and after for added drama.  Before:

After:

Ahh, the magic of the internet.

What do you think?  I’m in love.  Like seriously, in. love.  I’m just visualizing this shot with trim and doors and I have a dopey, just-fallen-in-love smile on my face.

Of course we still have to grout the tile, so we’ll be back to share more info on the install and pictures when we’re done.

Kitchen Trimmings

Published on by Our Humble Abode10 Comments

We’re racing toward the finish line of our kitchen remodel.  Can I get a ‘Yippeeeeee’?  After being out-of-town for three weekends (and eight weekdays) in December, we finally got a chance to get back to work.  And waddya know, we crossed four things off our list.

  • Add crown molding to the top of the cabinets
  • Cut shelves for the cabinets  {Still have to paint three more}
  • Build the cabinet doors, including two glass front doors
  • More filling, sanding, priming, and painting of the cabinet doors
  • Fill bar side cabinets and trim, sand, prime, and paint
  • Sand the ceiling and walls smooth
  • Prime and paint the kitchen and living room.  Probably the dining room too.
  • Add lights: sconces, light over the sink, and recessed light halos
  • Trim out the posts and door frames
  • Decide whether we want to add decorative trim to the vent hood or paint it to match the wall color
  • Install the pretty new marble tile back splash {If you follow us on Facebook, you caught a sneak peek of this.  And I’ll be back to share the glorious details tomorrow.}
  • Put everything back in place and enjoy
That’s eight things we have left to do.  See, progress!  So, let’s get on to the details.  Before we could get started on the pretty marble back splash, we had to install a few pieces of trim around the bar support posts.  Ben used 3/4 inch MDF to frame out the ‘door.’
Quotes because we’re trimming the bar opening to match the dining and kitchen door frames on each side of the bar top.
I decided I wanted the post casement to extend and terminate into the counter top.  This way, both the post and the marble tile had a definite stopping points.
Our other option was to keep the casement on the right as it currently is and extend the tile the edge.  The inside casement (on the left) would then butt up against the tile.  Ben wanted this, I argued it would look funny because the door trim is thicker than the tile.  As you can see, he installed the trim my way.  {Yes, Ben often reminds I am a brat.}
After installing the door framing and casement, Ben shed a little light on the bar.  Yep, our sconces are finally up and functional, despite a snag in the process.
With one sconce installed, we put in a light bulb and flipped the switch.  Crickets.  Nothing happened.  So, I got a different bulb.  Still nothing.  Which reaaaaallllly irritated Ben.  So, he took the sconce down, rechecked the wiring and everything was right where if should be.  It had to be the switch.  Sure enough, the brand new dimmer switch didn’t work.  He swapped the dimmer for a regular switch and the lights worked perfectly.  He carried on with the install of the second.
I thought we’d get started on the tile install after the door trim, but Ben was in a trimming kind of mood.  He reminds me of the mouse in If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.  He got carried away and finished nearly all the trim.  Like this around the bar side cabinets.
Then he put in new baseboard and plinth blocks around the back door.
Before we laid the new hardwood floor, we ripped out the old tile, including the subfloor.  This made our new floors 3/4 of an inch lower than the tile.  Hence the line right above the new base boards that I’ll have to fill and sand before painting.  Luckily it’s only in this small area.
While we Ben was changing out trim, he brought up the idea of changing the half wall along the stairs.  It was boring before, just plain white with baseboard and quarter-round trim to hide the edges.
Ben suggested adding trim to match the cabinets.  WTF.  Well that’s fantastic.  In much the same way we added trim to the cabinets, Ben added some detail to the boring wall.
Of course there’s still filling, sanding, priming, and painting before it looks finished, but we’re that much closer to wrapping up the kitchen.  That was Saturday.  Can’t wait to share our Sunday project with you!  Hint: it’s marbelous.
We had a great weekend, how about you?  Did you get started on your resolutions?  Maybe you tackled your own project?

P.S.  To see the official kitchen to do list, including links to everything we’ve finished so far, check out this post.

Upper Peninsula

Published on by Our Humble Abode5 Comments

What?  No, we haven’t added another peninsula.  We’ve painted the cabinets above the peninsula.  And the rest of the upper cabinets.  Which sounds like a lot but isn’t because we have only two others.  The last cabinet update we shared centered around the drawer fronts, but you also caught a glimpse of the upper cabinets, complete with a decorative face framing.

Before going to Minnesota, I procrastinated packing to give the cabinets a coat of paint.

Because our upper cabinets shouldn’t be as affected by dirty, slimy, jam-handed kids as the lowers, we decided to save $20 by using Behr Two in One paint in a satin finish.  To match the trim in the adjoining rooms, we used the same color, Behr’s Vermont Cream.  Following the same process as I did for the drawer fronts, I painted the outsides of the cabinets.  Three coats later, gently sanding with 220 grit paper between coats, we’re done.   Oh, don’t mind the tape along the bottoms of the cabinets either.  Ben was working on sealing the counter tops again and I wanted to protect my hard work.

Actually, we’re not because we still have trim to add.  See the tops?  Yeah, we’ll finish that off with the same crown moulding we’ve used throughout the house.  Rather than cut the tiles for the back splash around the crown, we’ll attach the crown after the tile is done for a seamless look.

The same goes for the vertical piece along the back of the cabinets.

I debated waiting to paint everything at the same time, but decided against it because I want to get shelves up and use those babies!

To find the shelving height, I started placing our dishes in the cabinet.  A piece of tape marks where I want a shelf placed.

After deciding on the height of each shelf, Ben drilled four holes, one in each corner, for the pins to rest in.  We used something like the silver L style:

The height of each shelf is adjustable two inches in either direction, too, so we I can move the dishes around for the best look and fit.

The lower the shelves, the more often the dishes get used.  So our everyday glasses, mugs, and plates are the lowest for shorties like myself.  I want to add a third shelf in each cabinet for lesser used, but pretty dishes.  Ben wants to space the shelves out more evenly, but have only two.  Seeing as we had two shelves in our old cabinets which were a foot shorter, I think we need to utilize the height we added by removing the soffit.

Those are the only shelves we’ve installed so far.  We’ll be sure to share more info on the process and pictures when we get the other shelves in place.

  • Buy all appliances: sink, stove, vent hood, dishwasher
  • Tear out the upper cabinets and soffit {more on that here}
  • Add support on load bearing wall before tearing out
  • Knock down the wall between the living room and kitchen {more on that here}
  • Install the vent hood {more on that here}
  • Remove the lower cabinets, counter tops, and sink
  • Rip out the tile floor and sub floor {more on that here}
  • Install the new hardwood floors {more on that here}
  • Build toe kick bases, wire everything for lights, replace the cabinets and sink {more on that here}
  • Get the new stove in place and hooked up {more on that here}
  • Add the cabinet above the fridge and frame it out {more on thathere}
  • Install the new dishwasher {more on that here}
  • Build the five remaining drawers we’ve waited on (we needed to see how things were in place before we could build one drawer in the dining room, the trash can pull out, and the under the sink drawer)  {more on that here}
  • Fill, sand, prime and paint said drawers
  • Install every drawer, 16 total 
  • Decide on sconces and buy them {more on that here}
  • Buy the wood for the counters 
  • Haul the wood slabs to a cabinet shop to have them sand both sides smooth {more on that here}
  • Cut the wood to fit and install the counters {more on that here}
  • Add decorative face trim to all cabinets for a smooth, pretty, even front {more on that here}
  • Fill, sand, prime, and paint all cabinet faces {more on that here}
  • Install the toe kicks and rope lighting
  • Hang the upper cabinets
  • Build the drawer fronts
  • Buy bar stools {more on the debate here}
  • Fill, sand, prime, and paint the drawer fronts 
  • Install the drawer fronts and hardware pulls {more on that here}
  • Add crown molding to the top of the cabinets
  • Cut shelves for the cabinets
  • Build the cabinet doors, including two glass front doors
  • More filling, sanding, priming, and painting of the cabinet doors
  • Sand the ceiling and walls smooth
  • Prime and paint the kitchen and living room.  Probably the dining room too.
  • Add lights: sconces, light over the sink, and recessed light halos
  • Trim out the posts and door frames
  • Decide whether we want to add decorative trim to the vent hood or paint it to match the wall color
  • Install the pretty new marble tile backsplash
  • Put everything back in place and enjoy

Next on our to do list: cut shelves, build cabinet doors, and install trim so we can get started on our back splash.

What’s on your to do list?  Something resolution related?  I know I’m going to get some cleaning and orgainzing done.