November 22nd, 2011
It’s been awhile since my last bathroom update because all of Mr. Project’s extra energy has been going towards building the kitchen.But since the kitchen build is pretty much done, and my folks are coming to visit, we turned our attention towards the master bathroom.
The shower and toilet are working and the room is finished, but we don’t have a mirror or sinks etc. This is what it’s looked like since we moved in:
There are more pics on my Master Reveal.
And here is my original idea board:
A few things have changed in the process. And as we were drawing out the plans for the vanity, I just wasn’t feeling it. So we decided to scrap some of the ideas and go with something a bit more unique.
I liked the idea of a white plank wall, but we already had the tile, we talked about chipping out the tile, but in the end decided to keep the tile and do the plank wall above it. The sinks remain the same, but we made the vanity a more modern “floating” vanity with a wood counter and wood front. This is where we are at right now:
Not quite there, but close enough to get an idea of where we’re going. The vanity is finished, but the drawers need to be stained to match the top. The sinks need to be installed and the plank wall painted white. Also we scrapped the medicine cabinets and are now doing one long mirror to keep the horizontal flow. I’ll update with a final reveal once we’re done!
November 15th, 2011
Nearly 9 months ago we walked through our house for the first time. It looked and smelled pretty aweful, but I loved the spaces and I knew that with a lot of work and a little vision we could make it look beautiful and smell good too. I have tons of before pictures and will do a post with those soon, but for now, I’ll just share this gem:
This is looking from the family room into the kitchen. We new right away that the wall would have to go and the kitchen expanded into the eating nook, and now 9 months later we are *almost* done with the kitchen. I showed you pictures of it not yet painted yesterday, and today, after much sweat and a really really late night…
Tada! You can see in the right hand side of the image the wall near the end of the nook area. That stayed the same, so it gives you a point of reference of the expansion.
And here you can see how it interacts with the other half of the kitchen
Still waiting on the countertops and backsplash tile.
The cabinets will have glass doors, and the wood planks will be painted a smoky aqua. And once all that happens, the kitchen will be officially done! I can’t believe how long of a journey its been, but it was all worth it!
If you want to see the journey, you can view older posts:
Picking a Marble Slab
Kitchen update – install 2
Kitchen Reveal
Cherry Countertops
Kitchen Cabinets Painted 1
Kitchen update – install 1
Move-in Kitchen
Kitchen Plans2
Kitchen Plans 1
November 14th, 2011
One of the joys of building your own cabinets is the tedious task of painting them. However by the time you get to the point that they are ready to paint, you are so excited that the painting hardly seems like a chore (especially when your husband does most of the work).
It’s been so exciting to see the other half of the kitchen come together. We finally got the very last details finished — the crown moulding, the baseboards, the edging strips where the cabinets meet the walls etc. Its been a long and tedious journey, but the build and install are complete!
I got to help out by being moral support, by taping along the floors and insides of the cabinet with my trusty frog tape, and also the elite task of puttying nail holes. So here it is in all its pre-finished glory, just waiting to be painted white:
I love our corbels, I actually have a great story (and photos) to share about those!
And here you can see the crazy mess we’ve been living in while Mr. Project has been installing the cabinets. Trust me, it’s not fun to live in a crazy kitchen.
So there ya go! I’ll show you pics of the painted kitchen tomorrow!
November 5th, 2011
We found a slab today thay we just love… and its within the budget! The type of marble is called Statuario, and its white with grey veining, but its not as cold/grey as your standard carrera marble. I think it’s going to be just gorgeous in the kitchen.
Now we just have to pick out tile and have it all fabricated and installed. Yippee!
A few tips that I have for hunting for a stone slab:
• I recommend shopping for a fabricator before you visit suppliers. They will recommend you to one or two suppliers that they have a relationship with, and generally steer you in the right direction. In the end you will need them to do the templating, purchasing, and fabricating of the slab anyway, so might as well get their help from the beginning.
• Have an open mind of what you want, and really look around at all the offerings to see if something speaks to you.
• Visit more than one supplier. There could be varied prices or specials on the type of stone you are wanting, also batches of one type of stone can have different tones and marbling etc, from one batch to the next.
• Expect quality fabrication to cost roughly 2-3 times the cost of the slab. Ouch!
• Don’t skimp on your fabricator. Fabricators generally have pre-negotiated rates on slabs, so you can get a better price than the supplier will quote you if you were purchasing it on your own . Also some low-end fabricators use cheap glue and supplies, and if they are not insured they will not cover the price of a new slab if it breaks while they are doing the fabrication. You can ask your supplier about the reputation of the fabricator that you are working with. Whatever you do, don’t have “cousin jimmy” who “does this all the time” fabricate your slab for you. It’s not worth the money you may save if the slab breaks or if they don’t template it out correctly and you have to purchase a replacement slab to get the correct cuts you need.
• You’re going to have this countertop for a very long time, so take the time to choose something that you really love.
• If you have your heart set on a higher maintenance stone, do the research. A lot of people tried to dissuade us from marble, but I just love the look so much. We found that if you seal the marble regularly, clean up messes that might stain immediately, don’t put hot pans directly on it, and use a cutting board, then you shouldnt’ have any issues with marble (YMMV). Its totally worth it for us to do some upkeep on it to have the look that we want.
• If you are on a tight budget ask a fabricator or supplier about pre-fabricated countertops. If you have standard depth cabinets, this is a great option and can save you a ton of money.
November 4th, 2011
After taking a little break from working on the kitchen, Mr. Project finally got his hands dirty and started to build the cabinets for the other side. He picked up wood and got started on the 21st of October, and in the last two weeks built all of the lower and upper cabinets for the other side of the kitchen. On Tuesday of this week he demo-ed what remained of the pre-existing kitchen, and started installing. We also were able to get a plumber AND electrician that same day and they made quick work of the few placement modifications that we needed.
Anyway, I think they are looking so great! We are planning on putting cream marble on this side of the kitchen and so tomorrow we’re going to go pick out our slab, and on Tuesday we’ll make the final decision on the backsplash tile. All the cabinets should be installed by then, and all that will be left to do is paint! So it won’t be long and I’ll be posting FINISHED pics!!
I asked for bead-board on the backs of the upper cabinets (which will have glass in the doors) – I love it! It just needs to have the header and footer board painted to match. You can also see the beginnings of the range vent hood and a little glimpse of the fabulous Mr. Project.
So just a quick update, but we are getting super excited over here — and making do with no stove.
