January 3rd, 2012
It’s amazing how much of a huge difference a backsplash makes. After the countertop went in we lived without a backsplash for about 3 weeks. And I thought the kitchen looked pretty darn good. And then once the backsplash went up it was like 10 times better and finally felt like a finished space.
This is what it looked like when the tile guys came with their much-awaited boxes of tile:
And here is how it looks now!
The tile had to be custom glazed – which sounds really fancy – but it just means that the company that makes it is really small and don’t keep any inventory on hand. So we had to wait nearly 5 weeks to get the tile order in. The tile that we used is from Status Ceramics and the collection is Elements, the color is Borage Crackle (I hate it when I have to search all over the internet with my mad detective skills to find a source for materials). Price wise it was really affordable. I don’t know the exact cost since we paid for the marble counter-top and installation etc. all in the same invoice, but I think it was somewhere around $14/sq ft, which I think is pretty amazing for such a gorgeous tile.
I would say that this close-up shot is more true-to-color than the others. The color has a sea-foam tinge to it though it is still decidely pale aqua – just closer to green than blue. I think it might just match the color “light silver sage” by Restoration Hardware perfectly.
Cute glass jars! (you might recognize those from my halloween display)
They did a great job on the border where we met the wall and corner.
Can I just say that I LOVE my kitchen. It’s even better than I imagined in my head and I just love spending time there… and I don’t even mind keeping it clean! And with that the kitchen is 99% done. We are still missing the glass doors on the cabinets as well as the bar stools. But for now I am completely and blissfully happy! Everytime I look at it, I still can’t believe that Mr. Project built all of those cabinets from scratch. He did such an amazing job and saved us about 85% off the retail cost of similar quality cabinets.
If you are seeing this all for the first time (or just want to take a trip down memory lane) You can see more info on the kitchen as it progressed:
Kitchen reveal with lots of old links
A work in progress update
Original Kitchen plans
December 9th, 2011
Okay it’s been awhile since I posted part 2 of our kitchen reveal… I swear there will be only one more reveal when the backsplash goes in. After that we’ll just have little details that I probably wont post about because I don’t think that anyone cares to see small updates. But I know that is probably not true because I seriously stalk home renovation blogs yelling into the air for more updates. “Why (insert home renovation blogger), have you not updated in a week??? Don’t you know that I want to see the tiniest progress??” I swear I care way too much about what is being renovated in other people’s homes. We spend about 8 hours a day watching the DIY channel. I don’t think that is an exaggeration either. Don’t believe me, ask my ever-widening behind, and my baby who knows the sound that the TV makes when it gets turned on. We really do need to get out more. Okay so where was I… Yes the kitchen! Almost a month ago I posted part 2 of the kitchen reveal. I was just waiting on the marble counter tops which were just a few days away from being installed. It’s been more than 2 weeks since we’ve had the new counter tops, but I’ve been so busy (hence the lack of updates and Monday free downloads) that I haven’t had a chance to post the kitchen reveal yet. The countertop guys came and did a great job and the calcutta marble counter top is breathtaking. I knew it would be beautiful, but I am seriously in love with how stunning it is.
I have even placed my cute blue, white and taupe dishes in the cabinets. Suprisingly only the small blue plates and large teal cups were purchased recently. Everything else has been collected over the past few years.
The cabinets will have glass doors, but we’re not in any huge hurry. Also looking at this photo makes me want to do some Christmas decorations in the kitchen. maybe a dainty garland across the upper cabinets.
You can see the veining of the marble a bit better in this (awful) cell phone camera photo from the day of the install:
(I swear I need to put a disclaimer on my site about my terrible photography skills. I really am sorry that my photos are so bad. I should be fired from blogdom and have my blog taken away for such a crime against the blogging community).
You can also see above what a difference having stuff in the cabinets makes the room feel so much more homey.
Here is a peninsula view. I LOVE my corbels which I still need to post about. Can someone keep track of everything I have promised to post about and email it to me?
And an up-close shot of the upper cabinets.
So that’s the kitchen as it pretty much stands today. I don’t know what got into me but I was so verbose today! I guess I’m just so excited to have a fully-functioning kitchen!
(If any photographers in the Sacramento, Tahoe or Bay Area wants to take pity on me and come and take a few actually good shots of my kitchen please feel free to stop on by!)
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 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.
