Since we moved in 8 years ago (!), we have been talking about improving the kitchen, particularly the countertops and floor. We got a little more serious about it a year ago and started actually researching options and making plans. And then it all just started and has kept happening, rapid fire, for a couple months now, with more to come. This is a progress report to keep Michelle happy.
It started with me deep cleaning, repairing and re-polyurethaning all the cabinets. Also, getting all the greasy, grimy, gopher guts off the nasty hinges. And I went through all the cabinets, rearranged and got rid of a ton of unused stuff. We also did things like remove all the baby latches and replace the drawer and cabinet pulls. About 2 years ago, I had removed the really-nice-but-doesn't-match-and-looks-out-of-place-plus-I-have-plenty-of-other-cabinets pantry in a fit of rage at 8:30 one morning. That is what kind of forced us to finish this project because it left a huge hole in the floor, a nasty exposed edge of countertop, and a wall with epoxy all over it. I call that motivation!
Then I bought a couple of sliding shelves for my pots and pans. I used
this website and measured and installed them myself. I'm very happy with the process, service, and quality. They are sooooo wonderful!
We knew we wanted to remove the chair rail and repaint. Considering the drywall prep needed to fix all the various holes, epoxy spots, chair rail remains, and wall anchor marks, we opted to hire someone with more experience and patience than me. He did a good job, and now we have one very blue wall, and many white walls.
We also have finished one of our biggest requests - the floor. We used
Marmoleum (the color is Donkey Island - love the name!). It took a whole year to make this decision and we changed our minds many times. I'm very happy with the outcome!
Here's a close up. We also have new baseboards and base shoes.
Quite honestly, the floor is almost hard to get dirty. Not only can you not see the particles that you sweep up, it doesn't leave streaks and spots like our old laminate and vinyl tiles. It's kind of perfect for our messy family :)
This week, I just finished the white trim around the top of the cabinets, and the wood trim around the cookbook shelf. This shelf used to have cabinet doors over it, but I thought it might be cute to leave it open, and we liked it! But of course, it led to more work covering the hinge holes.
I have never been happy with the storage of our stuff in the "mudroom" area. We enter our house 90% of the time directly into this kitchen/dining area, so all the coats, shoes, hats, mittens, backpacks, mud, leaves, and salty snow end up right here, in the middle of the room. So I consolidated all our stuff onto one wall (instead of two), bought some "lockers" from craigslist.com and made a shoe rack for Jim and me. I still wish the lockers had doors, but this is what I could find in our budget and it really does keep everything contained. (Except boots. I haven't found a satisfactory way to handle big, wet boots, of which we have many. I guess they will just have to stay on the rug.)
When I was looking for a shoe rack, I couldn't find anything small enough for our needs, and I really wanted 3 shelves vs. the 2 shelves most shoe benches have. I like the idea of a little seat there, though I'm not sure it will ever actually be sat upon. Maybe more of a purse catcher. Anyway, I didn't like what I could find and my sister and mom encouraged me to make one. So I did! It is exactly what I wanted and very cheap. Between making this and putting up the trim around the cabinets, I have learned a lot about woodworking and tools. I am comfortable with a nail gun! Who would have guessed?
Next up...
Countertops and built in sink are on order and due to be installed early July. They extremely simple white Corian.
Backsplash decisions still need to be explore, designed, and installed.
Maybe replace the lights someday?
