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{Crashing at Christy’s} Kitchen Makeover Update #3

March 25, 2013 in Crashing at Christy's, Kitchen

Hey guys – First and foremost – I’m so sorry I’ve been MIA! I stated a new job about a month ago and it’s been a lot of road time commuting back and forth. Hopefully there will be some big changes in my near future that’ll put an end to all that. ….but I’ll spill more about that later. For now – let’s get a KITCHEN MAKEOVER UPDATE from Christy!

….and yes, it’s been forrrrever and a day since her last update. I’d love to say it’s all her fault, but it’s not. She sent this to me a few weeks ago and it’s just taken me a bit to find time to add it to the blog. #bloggerproblems

I hope you enjoy her latest update. I can’t wait to visit her and see kitchen in person. The tile is gorgeous! …and be warned. There are a solid 25 photos in this post. 25!

Kitchen Update #3 I think? Whew, it’s been a while. Ever notice how when you get a room functional again, the progress slows? Yep, that’s where we’ve been. All we lack is finishing up! ☺ So, let’s update you on what has happened since the last time I visited Crafted Niche.

Oh my goodness. I just realized that the last update was at the beginning of November. Wow, I’m the worst blog sister EVER. But, things during that time have been a little crazy and hectic. Life. So, anyway, worst blog sister EVER and let’s get started.

The last update we were only here. I can’t believe how long ago that seems. (Christy, it WAS almost 4 months ago!!!) Well, I’m feeling generous so I’ll show you where we’re at now.

Whew! It’s coming to life finally and it’s a real kitchen. Now I’ll get started with telling you how we went from no countertops to a functional kitchen.

When I last updated you, we had cabinets but no countertop. Well, the Lowes contractors did a phenomenal job on the countertops. Did it take over 5 weeks to get them in after having templates made? Yes, but the wait was worth it. So pretty.

As soon as the countertops were laid down I covered them in plastic. It was backsplash time!

I won’t give a step-by-step of how to tile because there are so many online. And, who knows if I’m doing it the absolute correct way. But, my mom and dad taught me and so far it hasn’t failed me. Slap some mortar up, slap some tile up. Thankfully this tile came in 12×12” sheets. Thank GOODNESS.

I used a trick I’ve seen around blog land for tiling behind the stove. Basically, I wanted a straight line across the back of the stove so that it went from one side of the countertop and joined over on the other side. Does that make any sense? How about a picture? That casing trim will stay there. It was left over from another project and will get a fresh coat of white paint when I run out of other things to do.

Making progress!

Then, Thanksgiving came and went. The man and I got to see some family and friends in Little Rock and the backsplash remained ungrouted for about a week. My parents and man helped me out while I was recovering from illness and grouted the ENTIRE THING for me! Feelin’ the love, people!

Then it was time to cover those beautiful counters finally.

Yep, Christmastime came and went.

I really wanted to use my bar top so I found myself some Craigslist counter stools for $10 each! But, the seats needed recovering. So, I got to work.

Oh, and I have three of those rugs now. Thank you Target clearance! One in front of the stove, one in front of the sink, and one at the backdoor.

Okay, I guess now it is time to get those shelves hung on that tiled wall. I got my brackets (or corbels) at Home Depot. I used the same ones as Young House Love did in their kitchen renovation. They really were the best option out there and not too awfully priced. I also used their tutorial for my install. Don’t reinvent the wheel, Christy. So head over there and see their fantastic tutorial.

To start, I mapped out where I wanted the shelves and marked it with tape.

I did that on both sides of the window. Then, I got out my masonry drill bit and drilled a hole. Yikes. I cut four of my fingers and it took FOREVER. This is when the logical side of me decides that there are some things that I’m willing to hire someone to do. I have wonderful neighbors who always know someone they’ve used in the past. So, I got a guy to come in and hang the shelves for me. I didn’t want to risk ruining my tile!

Is the kitchen all complete today? Nope. It’s functional, so like I said, progress as s…l….o…w…e…d. But, I’m getting a second wind. Third wind? Probably fifth wind. Here’s where the kitchen sits today.

There’s now stuff on the shelves, but I’d like to wait until the rest of the list is complete before I show you that. J

Things left to do:

Paint walls grey where we misjudged cabinet coverage
Caulk and fill nail holes on window trim and baseboards
Paint all window trim and baseboards
Install, caulk, and paint crown molding

That’s not too awful. So, want a little before and during?

Thanks for taking a look. Hopefully I’ll make some more progress this weekend!

- Christy

I think she’s on a roll. Now the question is, has she made any progress on her kitchen makeover since this post? Here’s hoping she doesn’t make us wait another 4 months for an update! (hint, hint Christy)

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{Crashing @ Christy’s} Kitchen Makeover Kick-Off

October 1, 2012 in Crashing at Christy's, Kitchen

Christy’s back again! This time she’s sharing how she kicked-off her kitchen makeover. I’m amazed at her progress already! I’ll let her take it from here…

Oh my. So, I’m writing this post because I couldn’t stand the thought of working on this project for one more minute tonight. I’m extremely tired and will continue tomorrow. Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?

So, I took the plunge and decided that 2012 would be The Year of the Kitchen. Woot woot! Very exciting until you write down what all needs to happen to get a new kitchen.

This is how it’s looked for a few years.

Ever realize how a home project in one room can spiral into the adjoining rooms? UGH. There are two types of flooring in the dining room/kitchen/laundry areas. I knew that I wanted to all be tile. So, once I ordered the cabinets and countertops (I ended up going with Lowes’ Shendoah Cabinetry line), I wasted no time ~~suckering~~ talking my guy into scraping out the old parquet flooring. Thank goodness he helped. It would have taken me triple the amount of time that it took him.

Walking on the bare concrete was gross and I’m looking forward to the whole room being tiled. Notice the paneling in this room (dining room)? Well, it kinda just ends at the current cabinets. So, I needed to get this room drywalled so it would make sense with the new cabinets and open shelving I have planned. This part I had done by a pro. It’s totally worth paying someone to mud/tape and hang drywall. They’re so much quicker and better at it! See, project continues to spiral…

So, I had to rip out the cabinets first. That took about a week of ripping out and taking breaks. Then, I found a guy on Craigslist that would haul away the materials from demo for only $125! Sweet. Less than a dumpster and what I had wouldn’t have fit in a Bagster. Score.

All my cabinets were built in place back in 1965 so they were a bear to tear out!

Pretty right? One of the holes was from a laundry chute that dropped into the kitchen. And the others were from old leaks. Creepy. Enter the drywall guy…

In addition to tearing out the paneling, they had to tear out the scrap drywall pieces that was placed as filler behind the paneling.

Add some primer and it’s really looking nice. I still need to caulk the ends of the beams where there’s now a gap from the paneling not being there.

Getting ready for tile now! My mom offered to help (and she’s a worker bee) so I definitely took her up on her offer. I got her help for 7 hours. She’s a master tile cutter and mortar mixer. Definitely a handy lady to have around during a project like this. And, my guy helped us out by carrying in tile, mortar, and running to get tools we forgot or lunch. Everyone was exhausted at the end of the 7 hours. BUT, it was totally worth it to knock out a major chunk of the tiling.

This is us getting our layout correct and snapping our chalk lines.

My guy had pity on me and helped by taking out all the spacers. I probably would have cried if I had to do it before grouting. My body was soooooooo tired.

A series of pictures makes it look so quick. Ha! Is it easy? Yes. But, it’s time consuming and you will definitely be sore and tired. It’s all sealed and helped us spread out some of the sore muscles,

Lowes installers are coming this week to install the cabinets so we’re making a mad dash this weekend to finish up prep work for them. We have to remove the linoleum in the kitchen, would like to paint the walls and ceiling in the kitchen. I just think it will be so much easier to do that before the cabinets are in. So, back to a little couch recovery so I have a little energy in the morning!

-Christy

How GREAT does that tile look? Uh-mazeballs right?! I wish I had a fireplace in my dining room. How cozy. Who am I kidding… I wish I had a fireplace in ANY room. #MantleEnvy

Stay tuned for the next update… this one is going to be GOOD!

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Monkey Business

September 6, 2012 in Get the D-Tails, Gettin' Crafty

If someone handed me a cake… all my own… and egged me on to dive right in… cheering… maybe a little clapping… lots of smiling faces….

Do you think I’d dive in?

You bet!

Did my nephew dive into his smash cake at his 1st birthday party?

Eh… not so much.

I wanted to share some of my favorite photos from my trip over Labor Day weekend to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Both my sisters live there and my nephew, Thomas, was turning the big 1.0!

Atta boy Thomas! High Five………. No? You don’t know how to do that yet? Ugh… fail.We’ll get there kid.

My sister MADE that pinata out of cardboard boxes and tissue paper. She’s a closet-craftsy-patsy. I think she’s finally realizing that after seeing the fruits of her labor come together! She also made all of the cupcake toothpicks, monkey head cake and cupcakes. Just looking at those appetizers makes me hungry. We had spinach dip, veggies and BLT dip to kick things off.

For dinner she made slow-cooker BBQ chicken sandwiches, home-made slaw with jalapeno (to top the BBQ), home-made mac-n-cheese (OMG YUM) and a salad.

What? You didn’t think I was going to write a post about a 1st Birthday Party without including pictures of the birthday boy did you?! That’s Thomas… and I think he’s pretty stinkin’ cute. (That’s also my sister Karen… and I think she’s pretty stinkin’ pretty.)

Yep… that’s as messy as he got. Thomas was NOT. HAVING. IT. When Karen would slide the cake closer to him, he’d just push it away. It’s a wonder he got any icing on him at all.

Someday… when he gets married… I don’t see it going well for the bride if she tries to smash cake in his face. That marriage might be even shorter than Britney Spears’ Vegas wedded bliss.

Here are a few pictures of my sisters, brother-in-law, Thomas (of course) and my Mom:

You know all those Crashing at Christy’s posts that I share with you? Well that purty lady in the headband & bun is Christy. Say hi!