Category: Kitchen 2

You Got the Light Stuff, Baby

Published on by Our Humble Abode19 Comments

All you NKOTB fans, that was for you.  For all you light fans reading this, the rest of this post is for you.

Before we started tearing apart our kitchen, we had a single boob light fixture in the center of the room, a recessed can over the sink, and a lame light in our vent hood.

The light in the center cast shadows and didn’t properly light a room in which wielding knives is an everyday occurrence.  So with the soffiting gone-zo, we installed four recessed can lights, each centered over a work area.  One on either side of the stove, another over the peninsula, and one over the dishwasher.  Three halogen lights are built-in our vent hood, so we have plenty of task lighting over the stove.

I had dreams of pretty pendants, specifically these, over the sink and the bar top.

Sadly, that couldn’t happen.  Remember the off centered sink?  Pretty sure a pendant centered over the sink, but not on the window wouldn’t look so great.  Neither would a pendant centered on the window but not over the sink.  That and the pitch of our roof doesn’t allow a larger box that close to the exterior.  So we’re going with a small recessed can over the sink.

But we can still have two or three pendants over the bar top, right?  Wrong.  For some unknown reason, I hoped we’d have enough space below the header to install pendant lights.  Ben built the header to match the dining room, which is made of two by twelves with sheet rock over.

Of course structural integrity is priority over pretty lights.  No pendants for this kitchen, but we need a way to light the new bar.  And I still want pretty lights somewhere in the kitchen.  We settled on pendant lights on the posts and the search began.  True to form, my requirements are based on looks and price.  Pretty yet sleek design, a combination of silver (whether brushed or polished) and glass, has to be 4.25 inches or narrower, and of course, the cheaper the better.

An online search yielded three favorites, all from Home Depot.  First, this frosted glass brushed nickel combo for $37.61.

 

Then this brushed nickel swivel light for $84.60 each.

I would have rotated it 90 degrees to pivot up and down.  Finally, this nickel and glass beauty for $38.16.

Ben and I agreed that this one was our favorite, so I called our local store to check the availability and they don’t carry this one.  Boo.

Then fate stepped in.  While at Home Depot to buy marble tile for the back splash and a few other kitchen essentials, we took a stroll down the lighting department.  We found sconces we loved for $34.97 a piece.  Apparently these weren’t listed on Home Depot’s website.  But they’re Hampton Bay chrome and glass sconces.

We’re waiting to install the sconces until we’re finished with the counter tops.  In related news, Ben hates the teal door knobs.

He said, and I quote, ” “It looks like something an old lady dealing with gender issues would like.”  I don’t know exactly what gender issues have to do with anything, but it can’t be a good thing.  I’m guessing he’ll also hate these mercury glass knobs from Anthro.  Ben wants something brushed nickel or stainless to match the drawer handles we’ll use for the lowers.  (We bought a ten pack of identical handles from Lowe’s for $31.50)

After hearing great reviews about Top Knobs, I did some research.  I like this simple brushed nickel knob for $5.20 each.

And these matching pulls for $4.70.

Love the look, don’t love the price tag.  Maybe Ben will like the teal knobs more once he learns six cost only fifteen bucks versus $28.20 for these.  I haven’t seen anything else that pumps my tire.

What about you.  Do you hem and haw over finishing details like lighting and hardware?  To me, lights and hardware are the jewelry of a kitchen.  It makes the outfit special and personal.

Got Wood?

Published on by Our Humble Abode15 Comments

We do.  Big, hard wood.  Lots of it.  (Sorry, Ben’s 15-year-old boy humor has rubbed off on me).  After a week and a half of waiting.  Ben got a call Monday afternoon, but missed it because he was working out.  Yesterday we looked at the slabs and loved what we saw.

That dark spot is water, but it kind of shows what it will look like when oiled.

While paying for the boards, Ben talked to the clerk about the cabinet shop to do the finishing work.  I guess they refer customers to two shops often, so they delivered the slabs to the shop, free of charge.

Yesterday afternoon Ben went to the shop to help sand everything down to get them ready for install.  He and the shop foreman sanded both sides of the slabs, cut the backs square, squared up the pieces for the bar top and glued them together (more on that in a minute) in about an hour and a half.  The price?  $125, because they did more than we initially agreed on, Ben paid him $160.  And here’s what the Bubinga looks like now.

There is a lot of variation in each board.

I can’t wait to see the grain pop once we get oil on it.

One problem though.  We were told each slab would be three feet wide and 11 feet long.  They’re only 27 inches wide, but 13 feet long.  In a way it’s good because we’ll have less waste.  To get cabinet depth counters, we’ll cut two inches off each piece.

The reason the narrower pieces are a problem?  We planned to use the one foot or so wide remnants for the bar top.  Although our counters are only 34 square feet and these pieces have 52 square feet total, the remaining 18 feet are in one large 7 foot by two foot chunk.  And we need a piece twenty inches deep and ten feet long for the bar.  So we also bought two boards of Sappelle (African Walnut).  Each is about ten inches wide and nearly eleven feet long.  Hence the reason the cabinet shop joined the pieces together.  They’re still drying at the shop.  Most likely Ben will pick it up tonight.  Countertop cutting can start soon.

After stopping to check out the wood, the boys and I headed over to Hobby Lobby to look for knobs for the upper cabinets.  Luckily, all hardware is 50% off!  And there’s a lot to choose from.  My mental list of requirements: has to have silver to coördinate with the drawer pulls, glass or metal, not ceramic, must look chic, not cheesy.  Here’s what made the cut.

Faceted glass knobs are always pretty.

But I think they’re a little safe.  I want something fun to add some personality to the neutral space.

Diamond clear glass pulls.  Again, too boring.

These square ones are pretty, but they only come in clear glass.  Boo.

I looooved these pale pink bubble knobs.  Too bad there wasn’t a blue or green or something.

Then, I saw these.

The color is fantastic, the small bubbles and decorative plate add personality.  With 50% off, each knob is $2.50; we need six.  I think they’re perfect for the kitchen, but we’ll have to see what Ben thinks.

Are you on board with the wood counters?  (Pun intended)  Have a favorite door knob?  Often make jokes a teenage boy would?

P.S.  We’re Fresh Faces and today we’re sharing a recap of kitchen progress.

Just Face It

Published on by Our Humble Abode14 Comments

As I had hoped, we crossed a few more items off our kitchen to do list.

  • Install the new dishwasher.  Did that on Thursday night.
  • Sand the ceiling and walls smooth
  • 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)
  • Fill, sand, prime and paint said drawers
  • Install every drawer, 16 total
  • Buy the wood for the counters.  Hopefully we’ll get a call today!
  • Haul the wood slabs to a cabinet shop to have them sand both sides smooth
  • Cut the wood to fit and install the counters
  • Hang the upper cabinets
  • Add decorative face trim to all cabinets for a smooth, pretty, even front
  • Fill, sand, prime, and paint all cabinet faces
  • Build the drawer and cabinet fronts, including two glass front doors
  • More filling, sanding, priming, and painting of the cabinet fronts
  • Install the drawer fronts and hardware pulls
  • Prime and paint the kitchen and living room.  Probably the dining room too.
  • Add lights: sconces, recessed light halos, and the rope lighting
  • Trim out the posts and door frames
  • Add crown molding to the top of the cabinets
  • 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
Ben built five drawers: the top dining side:
See the window sill?  We had to make this drawer narrower than the others so it doesn’t hit the sill.  Instead of wasting three inches on the entire stack, Ben attached a few plywood scraps to build the cabinet out to the width of just the top drawer.
Three for the drawer stack we thought would be the trash drawer:
The top drawer by the sink isn’t installed because we ran out of drawer glides.  We bought 15 when we planned to have only two drawers in that stack.  We’ll install it once we get another set of glides.
And one under the sink:
I think this one is my favorite, just because I’ve never seen a drawer under the sink, and it’s so much more functional with the drawer.  To cover the exposed plywood edges, we filled the top with wood filler, let it dry, then sanded it smooth.
We could have used iron-on wood veneer, but it peeled off easily when we tested it for the laundry room.  That’s why I’ve made a few light fixtures with it.
After fitting the drawers, Ben started on the cabinet face framing.  Quarter inch MDF cut into strips cover the rough plywood edges.
Visible cabinet ends got a layer of 1/2 inch MDF followed by a 2 1/2 inch wide by 1/4 inch thick MDF decorative frame.
Wood filler seals the cracks.  Once everything is sanded, it should have a seamless edge.
We have a special plan to deal with the bare back and the drawer front for the dining side.
And, the trim covers the gap between the dishwasher and counter.
If all goes well, I’ll have the trim sanded and primed later today.  Hoping Everett takes a long nap.
What did you do this weekend?  Start or finish any big projects?  Planned out your Thanksgiving dinner menu?  Rake up leaves?  We tried but then it snowed.  Can you believe winter has already started?  Folks in warm climates, please send your weather our way.

A Washer of Dishes

Published on by Our Humble Abode15 Comments

Our kitchen is officially back to a fully functioning condition.  All because we installed the dishwasher that arrived yesterday.  After plenty of online research and in-store visits, we decided on the KitchenAid Classic Series dishwasher in stainless.

We like that it has the stainless tub interior, hidden controls, some adjustable tines, and an adjustable upper rack which they claim can hold full-sized plates.  That would be cool, but we haven’t tried.  After all, we just installed it.  Originally, we thought we’d end up with a LG, but Ben didn’t want to pay their higher price.  The normal price of this KitchenAid is $799.99, but thanks to a Columbus Day sale we got it for a mere 513.89 bucks.  Also known as 36% off, which is actually better than our smokin’ good deal on our range.  Thank you Columbus for discovering America.

Ben picked the dishwasher up from Sears yesterday afternoon and installed it after work.  Installation was easy.  Add a hose, an electrical cord, plug-in this, clamp that.  But we do have another problem.  Do you see it?

Ahh, we built the cabinets 1 1/4 inches too tall.  Gah.  I guess we were in a hurry to get the kitchen started and forgot to measure our old cabinets.  Apparently 36 inches is the standard height including a counter top.

Oh well.  We gained another inch of cabinet space.  And it’s nothing a piece of trim can’t fix.  It just makes it easier to see the hidden buttons right now.

I’ve never had a dishwasher with hidden controls, but I’m nerdy excited about it.  Now I just have to re-learn how to load this reconfigured dishwasher.  Ha.

Now you’re 100% up to date on the kitchen status.  Hopefully I won’t be able to say that come Monday.  Have you ever made a silly rookie mistake?  How’d it work out in the end?  Maybe this is for the better because the trim will be a better match to the drawer stack on the other side of the sink…

Manormous Cabinet

Published on by Our Humble Abode25 Comments

All of our lower cabinets are in and we’ve even installed one of the three uppers.  A giant cabinet over the refrigerator, in fact.  We decided to frame out our refrigerator for a more finished look.  This started with hanging the large cabinet, screwing into the joists and studs along the back wall.

Now do you realize how huge.  It is 36 inches wide, two feet tall and 29 inches deep.  In a small kitchen, every inch counts.  Actually, when I was painting the insides of the lower cabinets, I accidentally painted this guy because he was that big.  Moving on.  After installing the cabinet, Ben screwed a small strip of plywood to the floor.  The sheet of plywood screwed into the cabinet and this small strip to keep it from shifting.

He did the same thing on the other side, too.  Another strip of 3/4 inch plywood on each side filled the gap between the fridge and wood nicely.

We’ll cover the ugly edges with a face frame for a smooth, polished look.  But this already does a lot to make the kitchen look fancy and custom.

The doors still swing open all the way because the panels are set back slightly.  We also made the opening a standard size as we plan to get a new refrigerator when this one conks out.  And it helps detract from seeing the fridge when you walk in the front door.

Of course once we get the dishwasher, which should be here today, install the counters, (we’re hoping they get the wood by tomorrow), and hang the other upper cabinets, everything will look much more cohesive.

While we’re discussing cavernous kitchen storage, let’s look at the newly installed drawers.

Obviously we still have more to install.  Well, we have to build them first.  But the drawers on either side of the stove are in.  Those puppies are massive.  43 inches wide to be exact.  Oh, and you can see the rope lights.  Vincent wanted to show you.

I’ve already started putting things in the drawers, too.  What used to be split into three drawers now fits in the top right drawer.  Yep, every single utensil we own is visible with the pull of one drawer.

The middle drawer has all of our mixing bowls, strainers, a salad spinner, and food storage containers.

And the bottom drawer holds our pots, pans, baking dishes, and toaster with room to spare.

Other drawers have some stuff, too, but nothing else is in a permanent place.  Before we started the kitchen reno, I had a few moments of concern about having enough storage space.  Now, I’m wondering what I’ll put in the other side.  Not really because we still have food in the pantry and dishes in the guest bedroom closet.  But we’re both so excited about the space we’ve gained without enlarging the footprint of the kitchen.

So how ’bout you.  Are your drawers over sized?  No, not your pants.  Have you encased your fridge for a high-end look?  Do you have similar items dispersed all over your kitchen?