Kitchen Update News

So when I first got the house I did round 1 of kitchen updates to get it livable but I didn't have time to really do everything I wanted. For the past six months I've been planning what I wanted and the holidays provided a perfect opportunity to get things done. Over a little longer than the past week I've been working to: tear out the old formica counter, add to/extend the cabinetry, install a granite tile countertop, replace the stainless sink with a classic cast-iron sink, add a garbage disposal, fill some insulation, tile a back splash, tile the floor, and other various touch ups. Oh and the budget for all of this is around $500. Pictures are older as you scroll down.



Here's where it stands as of today. I still need to put back trim, seal all my tiles, add an oak border around the counter, and put in base molding. I'm playing with the idea of full size crown molding but we'll see where that goes. I thought I was going to have to paint but moving the curtains from the living room into the kitchen seem to pull everything together with the existing blue.


After the floor tile was all laid.


I also ran out of thinset and stores were again closed for new years day so I had to wait yet another day to finish the floor tile.


Start of the floor tile. I wasn't totally sure I wanted to deal with tiling the floor but after finding 130+ sq feet of tile on clearance to 10 cents a sq ft the choice was really out of my hands.


Finished putting in the 3/4" plywood for the counter along with hardibacker for the the counter and backsplash tile. You can see all the dust in the air from the camera flash. The sink is set on top of the backer but still needs much more work to get it properly installed.


I took the opportunity to fill the walls below the window with blown-in insulation. Most of the walls already have blown-in but it obviously couldn't reach below windows.

Laser kept getting in the way of the power tools so we reached a compromise where he was allowed to stay in the corner on his bed.


To start I had to take down the cabinets to remove the old counter. Then it was back to breaking out plaster down to the lathe. The additional cabinets on the right are set in place for the picture but not installed yet. I actually had to extend a wall vent that was going to be covered through the toe kick. Even though I was lucky enough to pickup cabinets that were identical to what I had, they were still slightly taller and I had to cut off a half inch from the bottom and reframe the base before they could be installed.


This is the kitchen before I started. Much better than it originally was but still a ways from what I would call ideal. The main problem was the awful counter/backsplash and a severe lack of counter space.

So close I can taste it

The bathroom is about 95% finished right now. The rest are relatively smaller scale things like touching up paint, decorating, and I still need to get that my custom shower curtain rod fabricated. Like I said small things. At least the bathroom is back to fully operational and I can start to a sense of satisfaction. Also the pictures may be a little weird because each shot is actually a pair I had to seem together. I couldn't back up enough to get a full shot. Now I can finally put up a picture of what it looked like when I started.

And I thought it looked good before

I spent all night putting down the grout. Considering it was my first time working with the stuff I'm pretty pumped about the way everything came out. On a side note when grouting walls expect to get a lot less coverage than expected as the extra falls to the floor, preventing you from working it all into the joints. I had to make a grout run at 9:45 to have enough to finish.

Staying on track

It took four hours of solid work but I was able to get the floor tile laid today. I get a couple days off as the thinset cures then it's back to work. Here's the latest.

Light at the end of the tunnel

With classes starting back up I might be slowed down a bit having the regular obligations, a final the 25th, and a term paper due April 2nd, but I'm going to do my best to keep plugging along. I went with a nice chocolate-ish color for the walls and am pretty pleased with the way it came out. With a little luck tomorrow I can get the floor tile down, my chair rail boards should be arriving Wednesday, then it's just a matter of painting trim, making molding for the top of the rail, and putting fixtures back in. Not sure if I'm going to go with a white or this beige color for the chair rail yet but we shall see.

Wins the race

I knew it would happen like this. Despite the slow going things would rapidly fall into place at the end. Checkout the finished ceiling w/ recessed lighting and the tiled shower. Painting and mounting the chair rail will go quickly, as will the tiling of the floor. Feeling pretty good right about now.