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Oscar the Grout

Published on January 18, 2012October 18, 2012 by Our Humble Abode44 Comments

We’re already shared our crown moulding progress. Now that we’ve installed and grouted the marble subway tile kitchen back splash, we’re ready to share the details. Ben likes to use pre-mixed mastic for small jobs like this. Our tiles are relatively small (3 by 6 inches), so a 1/4 inch notch trowel worked perfectly. For the most seamless look possible, we used 1/16 inch spacers. Ben borrowed a wet saw from work to get the job done. Before grouting the tile, we waited a week to give the tile adequate time to set up.

We had white unsanded grout left over from our bathrooms, so we used what we had.

Before mixing the grout, I taped off the cabinets and counters. Grouting is a messy job and we wanted to protect everything as much as possible. Then Ben mixed up some grout in a large stainless steel bowl. Like nearly everything mixed material in home improvement, you want the grout to have the consistency of peanut butter.

Using a foam float, Ben applied the grout, smooshing it in the cracks and wiping the extra off quickly after.

Be careful not to wipe off too much, though.

For the tighter strips along the window, Ben used his fingers to push the grout in the cracks. After finishing up the wall, Ben sponged most of the grout off the tile surfaces and the window trim.

Next up, the stove side tile. Again, the float was too wide to get this tile, so Ben applied it with his hands.

And now waiting for the grout to set up.

Here she is, all grouted and lookin’ pretty.

Here’s my favorite shot, showing almost every kitchen detail:

Everything except the awful soap color. Why does Palmolive make their soap glow in the dark green?

Any suggestions for pretty dish soap? Hand soap is easy enough to find. I like that this pump holds two different kinds, but I’d like something prettier. But doesn’t the grout make everything look so much better? And finished? And preeeety?

Cap and Crown

Published on January 17, 2012October 9, 2012 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.

Survey Says?

Published on January 16, 2012October 18, 2012 by Our Humble Abode14 Comments

A week ago, we shared our 2012 resolutions and asked you to take a ten question survey. Today I thought I’d share the results and elaborate on a few comments.

Sixty generous readers took the survey, offering up valuable insight. For instance, 56 readers found our blog through another blog. While only three found us through a search engine. That’s interesting. I didn’t realize how dramatically other blogs directed traffic our way. And, I now know nearly 50% of our readers follow through Google reader and only 20% are subscribed right through the blog.

Twenty-five percent of our readers have referred Our Humble A{Bowe}d to friends or family. Thank you so much! Seventy one percent are daily readers while others visit weekly. A few people read more often if we’re working on an interesting project.

Your comments about what keeps you coming back left me smiling for days. Seriously, we have the greatest readers. Ever.

Here are a few examples:

I love seeing how quickly and beautifully you update your house. The little craft projects are also really creative and fun (especially the cute christmas ones recently). Also, your kids are adorable so the little pictures of them are great.
Its consistence, its regularity, it appeals to my interests, the cuteness of the four Bowes, everything (I love the Etsy recommendations also)
My husband and I did board and batten and since you and your hubby do such a great job, we got a lot of inspiration from that! Just general interest as well- can’t wait to see the kitchen! 🙂

All the detail you provide, budget friendly projects, real life scenarios, your positive attitude!
‘That’s what she said’ jokes in your posts :). But seriously, I like that your blog has the same caliber of projects as the big ones, but you’re more low-key (type A, but low-key) and don’t overdo it. No one needs 2000 words on a cabinet-painting post. You post the details, good photos and a brief tutorial, but don’t ramble. I like that.

See what I mean? Wonderfully sweet, encouraging, supportive readers. I cannot thank you enough. And I guess you want to see more of our projects and lives. Whew, that’s a relief. I thought I was going to see a lot of checks for guest posts and giveaways. I promise to keep our inspiration, building and craft projects, and organizing solutions coming.

A few requests I found interesting and I’ll try my best to accommodate:

1. A cabinet building post. It’s already in the works, we’ve just got a few cabinet doors to build, then you’ll get to read about the entire process.

2. Recipes. In all honesty, I’ve stayed away from this because I don’t have any original-it-was-my-creation recipes. I didn’t think you’d want to read about the Gordon Ramsay or Rachael Ray recipe I cooked. And I don’t consider myself to be a good cook and I’m definitely not a baker. Don’t get me wrong, I can make something edible, but nothing that is ground breaking or special. In fact, 99% of the meals I cook are planned by rummaging through the fridge and/or pantry and tossing something together. But because several requests were made, I’d be happy to share an occasional recipe. For those interested in only house stuff, don’t fear, this will never turn into a cooking blog. Cross my heart.

3. More pictures of me. I know, I know. I’m terrible about getting in pictures. But I’m guessing none of you wants to see me bra-less, in my pajamas at three in the afternoon. Okay, usually I have the decency to put a bra on before ten, but you get my point.

4. Videos. Again, I’ll try my best, but I’m usually home alone with the boys, which means there’s no one to do the camera work. I’d love to hear video content suggestions, though. Something to better explain a sewing project? How Ben builds something? Lay it on me!

5. More quick, easy, and inexpensive projects. Once we’re done with the kitchen I’ll have more free time to work on little projects. I’ve got plenty to do, just need the time. Don’t we all?!?

6. Don’t waste a post by announcing a giveaway winner. I hear ya. Usually on Fridays, we’re busy running around so I quickly write up a post. Every other Friday, when I announce the giveaway winner, I’ll also add a little something. You’ll get to peek into the insanity that is my mind. This could be anything from a recipe, window shopping, pictures of our lives, a super quick project, inspiration images, something from Pinterest, or a themed round-up.

Now, I don’t want to seem defensive in this next part (I know, I asked for your honest opinions), but I do want to address a few comments I received.

1. You do a great job with updating daily with lots of pictures and coming up with interesting ideas for the home! Maybe have a bar on the side of the blog with categories (living room, kitchen, entertainment center, vacations, etc.)?

If you look on the left side bar, there’s a ‘Topics’ drop-down filled with categorized posts. 🙂

2. I would really love it – and think it would make more sense – if you would write personally (i.e., “I”, “me”, “my”) instead of “we” since you guys don’t seem like a blogging team – or if you are, that doesn’t come across!

I totally understand the ‘we’ versus ‘me’ thing. The main reason I say ‘we’ instead of ‘me’ is because Ben plays just as much of a part (bigger, actually) in updating our home. Sure, he isn’t the one writing up the posts (I cringe watching him peck at the keyboard) but without Ben, we wouldn’t have this home. And without this home and the updates we’ve done to it, I would have no reason to write a blog. Let’s be real here, Ben is the star of the show; if you could choose one of us to work on your home, I can guarantee it would be Ben.

3. Don’t remove comments that are meant to be as constructive criticism, unless they are filled with profanity. It might be helpful to others readers what ‘others’ think and can either defend you or agree in a nicer way with the constructive criticism.

I can think of only one instance in which I’ve deleted a negative comment. And it was in no way related to our house. Rather, it was an attack on me personally. I don’t think that’s helpful to anyone, but every house related comment has been published, good or bad. Positive or negative.

4. I really mean no offense, but your pictures are often dark and blurry. I feel it would greatly improve the look of your blog if you invested in a better camera. I’m sure you could find a good deal on one if you looked around online. Best of luck growing your blog, I think it’s great!

I’m two steps ahead of you. Actually, I had already ordered this Canon T2i camera package. I just got it in the mail Friday afternoon. You can bet I’ve fiddled around with it all weekend. In fact, I’ve already updated ‘The Grand Tour‘ page with some new pictures.

Old camera:

New camera:

Thank you so much for taking time to answer my questions. Truly, I reeeeeaaaalllly appreciate and value your opinions. If you want, the survey is still open and I love reading more from you. Oh, and for those of you who did take the survey, did you like the format? Last time readers left answers in the comment section…

With the formality out-of-the-way, how was your weekend? Do anything exciting or different? We mostly relaxed, but we did get a little kitchen work done. Details (and better, brighter pictures!) to come tomorrow!

Gimme a Giveaway Winner: Milk & Cookies Canada & Rug Deals

Published on January 13, 2012October 18, 2012 by Our Humble Abode11 Comments

Last Friday, we asked you to tell us your favorite afternoon snack in honor of the Milk and Cookies Canada giveaway.

My favorite afternoon snack lately is a small handful of pistachios. So good, it’s hard to eat only a few. The winner of one Milk and Cookies Canada pillow, Kristen eats a granola bar in the afternoon, saving cake for an after dinner dessert. That’s my kind of gal!

Kristen, this Friday the 13th is your lucky day!

But that’s not all, folks.

In our survey, we asked you to answer 10 questions to help improve the blog. One question was “What would you like to see less of?” A few readers requested fewer Etsy related posts, others didn’t care for giveaways, and two readers didn’t like that we used a post to only announce giveaway winners. I hear that. So, we’re making a change, starting today. When I announce giveaway winners, I’ll also share a random snippet. Notice I said random. Anything that’s floating in my head, really. This could be window shopping, a recipe (yep, had a few requests for those, too), inspiration pictures, Pinterest ideas, a round-up of a particular item (like soap pumps), anything. Basically, you’ll get to see how my mind works. Scary, isn’t it?

Today, I thought I’d share a few rugs I liked while browsing Overstock.com. Like this 8 by 10 chevron rug for $151.99.

Or this 5 by 8 wool rug for $177.99.

And this 5 by 8 foot Ikat rug for $167.99.

How ’bout a wool Moroccan number like this for $169.99.

This grey ombre rug by Martha Stewart is only $170.99.

Finally, take a look at this olive and ivory wool rug for $171.99.

Which one is your favorite? Like that every other Friday you’ll get to peek in to the insanity in my mind? Have any suggestions for content? Send us your recommendations!

Please note: We were not compensated for this post, we just like these rugs and wanted to share with you.

Custom Cutting Board

Published on January 12, 2012January 12, 2012 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: