Kitchen Backsplash

We got one more item crossed off our kitchen to-do list this weekend! And based on the title of this post, you might guess that Joey finished the backsplash in the kitchen!

Here are the final steps he took to finish the job...

1. Tape off cabinets and walls where it meets the backsplash (to keep grout from getting all over said cabinets and walls).


2. Fit remaining subway tiles in behind the stove underneath the new microwave (ignore the paint can in the picture - more to come on that later)...


...much better, no?


3. Grout, grout, grout all the tile. Joey moved the stove away from the wall to grout behind it more easily.


This was a messy process - making sure grout got into all the little grooves and crevices, especially where the tiles met the countertop.


4. Wash the excess grout off all the tile using a sponge. Grout tends to leave a filmy layer of stuff all over the tile and countertop. So, it took quite a few wipe-downs to get it all clean.


5. Attach outlet covers and enjoy the results!





It looks fabulous! And we're one project closer to a finished kitchen!

Weekend Plans

Guess what? I think I might FINALLY have a weekend with few enough plans that I can actually get a few projects accomplished around the house and crossed off my to-do list! Whoop whoop for weekends!

See this corner of the kitchen? It needs some paint action to finally be completed. There are little built-in cabinets that need painting inside and out. After that the cabinet door can be put back on the tall, open cabinet. The walls and door that leads to the porch also need paint. I plan to attack this corner this weekend!


AND maybe with Joey's help, the marble tile backsplash in the kitchen will get finished too!


The rest of the tile behind the stove needs to go up. And then the whole thing needs to be grouted, and plate covers attached around light switches and outlets.



There are other odds and of things that need attention too. So, hopefully it will be a productive weekend!

So, tell me, what do YOU have planned for this weekend? Gonna take it easy and get some rest? Or get to work on cleaning, gardening, or projects around the house? Do tell!

Kitchen Shelves

It's time to decorate the new shelves that Joey just built in our kitchen last week (see here for details).



I actually started working on this decorating process last night, and I put together a little display (which I don't have a picture of yet), but I'm not sure I'm totally satisfied with it. My mind tends to think "symmetrically" when it comes to placement of items. Sometimes this can be a good thing, but other times it can look boring and predictable.

I want to try and think outside the box a little. So, I'm looking around the world wide web for a little inspiration on what I can put up on those shelves. Here are a few pictures I found, but first a few things to keep in mind:
1. There are only 2 shelves that aren't super tall or wide. So, there's not a ton of room for a lot of items.
2. The shelves are really high (as in, not reachable without a step-stool). So, I don't want to store items that I might need to use on a regular basis.
3. I want to try and use things I already have on hand without buying a bunch of stuff.
4. I want to keep it versatile so that I can change things up in different seasons etc.

Picture #1: I like the idea of using dishes. I have a ton of dishes (including china) that are mostly used for decorating purposes since we don't eat off china too often in this household (but might starting doing so if my name changed to "Princess Kate"). I also like the variety of colors/patterns/shapes in the dishes displayed here.




Picture #2: I like the dishes (again), but this also includes items like cake stands, gravy boat, and other serving pieces.




Picture #3: I like the variety of items and the fact that the each shelf has a little space on it. It doesn't feel too crowded this way. We obviously wouldn't put small appliances on our shelves since they wouldn't fit and need to be accessed easily. Random Note: The backsplash is beautiful. Love the herringbone pattern! But it has nothing to do with this post.




Picture #4: I like how some of the objects lean back against the wall. This is one of those displays that looks so random and is not symmetrical yet it looks so "put together". How do people achieve this? I always feel like my random display of items looks sloppy.




Picture #5: I love this display and it makes me wish our shelves were bigger/longer/taller. I like the variety of colors. I may try to do a variety of shades of colors. And maybe hang items on the wall itself like below. I definitely want to layer items in height and depth.




Picture # 6: This picture shows a white-on-white color scheme (minus the black "S"). I really like it in this picture, but think I want a little more color. We'll see...





What are your thoughts on open shelving? Keep is simple? Dress it up? Make it practical? Do you like a lot of color? Variety? Which is your favorite picture above?

I know you have great ideas. So, help me out! :)

Feel the 'Wave!

Yesterday, I promised you a little breakdown of the steps Joey took to complete the installment of the shelves and microwave above the stove in our kitchen. So, I'm going to try and fulfill that promise to you today. Joey did this all pretty quickly on Monday night. So, I was trying to snap pictures as quickly as he was moving. Hopefully, it will make more sense to you then it does to me.

Below is a picture showing where we left off on Monday (click here for that post). As a reminder, last Friday Joey had removed the too-tall cabinet in the middle, put leftover beadboard on the back wall, screwed in 2 strips of wood where he would hang the shelves, and gave it 1 coat of paint.


Over the weekend, he actually got 2 more coats of paint on the beadboard that would be exposed. So, by Monday night, it was looking like this...


I didn't show you a picture previously of the shelves he built over the weekend, but here is one of them. He made them kind of beefy in front so that they wouldn't look wimpy in between the cabinets. The underneath back part of the shelf has a little lip on it where it will sit on the strip of wood on the wall. The top front has 2 holes drilled where Joey will screw the shelf and microwave together (and those screws won't show because the shelf is too high to see the top). Both shelves got 3 coats of the cabinet paint as well so that they will blend in with the surroundings.


Moving along...

The first thing Joey did on Monday was screw the metal plate seen below into the back wall where the bottom of the microwave will sit. The metal plate came with the microwave. You can also see 2 screws above it in the wall (one screw is sticking out) ... Confused, I asked Joey what they were for and he didn't really give an answer...


...later the 2 screws were removed. So, I'm assuming they were an "oops-not-really-needed" item, but the holes will be covered by the microwave anyway. You can also see below the first shelf installed...


Joey used the strip of wood on the back of the wall to help support the shelf, but also used cabinet hanger screws and screwed the shelf into the side of the cabinets. He screwed in both sides, but I only took a picture of one side. Trust me, they ain't movin'...


Next, Joey drilled a good sized hole into the cabinet (this made me cringe - the thought of a hole in our brand new cabinets) for the microwave plug to feed through to the new outlet he installed on Friday.


You can see all this drilling created quite a mess, but it worked. Nice, perfect little hole.


Next, Joey propped the microwave up, fed the cord through the new hole, and made sure everything fit nice and tight.


Then he screwed the shelf and microwave together so that both were secure.


We held our breath, plugged the microwave into the outlet, took a peek, and guess what? It worked! We had power. Wahoo!


Joey then had the pleasure of hanging the second shelf, which was tricky because it was a super tight fit with not much room to move. The shelf has a gap in middle (that you can kind of see on the side of the shelf below) that allows it to slip over that strip of wood on the back wall. Then Joey screwed it into the cabinets like the first shelf.


We promptly took the plastic covering off the front of the microwave and stood back and took in the sight...


It was lovely!

Then we had to fidget with the microwave - just to make sure we could kinda sorta use it. The buttons were all pretty self explanitory.


The vent and light underneath the microwave seemed to work well. The light has 2 different settings. I love having a light over my stove when I cook.


We finally got the time all set on the microwave (after about 4 tries by Joey)...


And just in case you were wondering, the microwave was made by Whirlpool. We bought it at Lowe's for $199. As you can see, we did commit to purchasing white appliances instead of stainless steel (remember this debate here?). We received our Whirlpool dishwasher for free last summer (someone was getting rid of it), and it is also white, and we didn't want to buy a new dishwasher just to get it in stainless steel. That's how us cheap-o's roll! Now we just need to get the new stove and fridge in white too.

As for the old microwave...


...it was quickly removed and relocated (to Joey's "man cave" in the basement). This freed up some counter space.


What's next on the kitchen-to-do list? Well, I will get to work decorating those 2 shelves above the stove, and Joey will now get to finish putting up the marble subway tile behind the stove and grouting the entire backsplash around the kitchen! I'm so excited!


We'll have results for you as soon as the job's done.

Anyone else bought new appliances recently? What kind? Did you like 'em?

That Was Easy

Just punch the button and listen...


"That was easy" just came out of the button's mouth.

Did you hear it?

*crickets chirping*

You didn't hear it?

Well, I did.

And that is exactly how I feel about this little kitchen cabinet-turned-shelving switcheroo that Joey masterfully (and quickly) implemented over the last few days to accommodate the new microwave.

I mean, Friday, this section of cabinets looked like this...


And as of 6:30 this morning, it looks like this...


Can I get a "Whoop Whoop"?!

I love it!

While I take credit for the design (which was really the easy part), Joey gets full credit for the difficult task of figuring out how to make the design "work" in the space and then implementing it. So, kudos to Joey.

I'll be back later to break the down the final process of completing this transformation. But I was just too excited not to show you the results first. Stay tuned!

(Another) Kitchen Update

This makes for 2 kitchen posts in row (click HERE for Friday's post). Woo Hoo for Kitchens!

I mentioned on Friday that the middle cabinet installed directly above the stove is the wrong size. It's too tall. The over-the-range-microwave we want to purchase will not fit correctly with the current cabinet height. And to top it all off, a new cabinet will cost about about $300.


I hinted that I just recently thought of a work-around for the cabinet/microwave problem that will save us the money of buying a new cabinet. Joey was on board with the solution and decided to get to work right away (cuz we want to get this kitchen FINISHED!).

Well, when I got home from work on Friday afternoon, I found that the kitchen was not quite how I'd left it that morning...


...there's a missing cabinet! Yay!

So, here's the basic plan:
1. Remove wrong-size cabinet
2. Line the back wall with leftover beadboard from our 1/2 bath remodel
3. Create 2 built-in shelves in place of the cabinet and above where the microwave will hang
4. Paint shelves and wall cabinet color to blend in like one built-in piece
5. Purchase and Install new microwave.
6. Decorate open shelving (the fun part)!

As you can see from the picture above, Step 1 and 2 were already completed by the time I got home from work (go Joey)! Joey also added a smooth board to the top of the space to act as a "ceiling" under the crown molding.


Let me just tell you how much I love the open-shelving concept here! It makes the whole space feel more open. It will allow for additional decorative accents in the kitchen (of which there was little space for previously). And I won't miss the cabinet space as I already more than I can fill. So, it's a win-win!


Over the weekend, Joey did a little more work to prep to prepare the walls for the shelves to be installed. He had to add 2 strips of wood to the back of the wall for the shelves to sit on.

First, he nailed the wood strips to the wall using his nail gun. Then he went back and drilled holes into the wood in between the nails.


Third, he used cabinet hanger screws and screwed those into the drilled holes...


This thing ain't fallin' down! It's screwed in tight!


A few other tidbits of the process...

Joey had to move an electrical outlet from the middle cabinet to the side cabinet. The cord from the microwave will be hidden underneath the first shelf and plug into the outlet hidden here. Here's a picture of the electrical box. He did get the outlet finished (I just forgot to take a picture).


Joey also filled the nail holes on the sides of the cabinets where the middle cabinet was originally screwed into them.


Lastly, he got the first coat of paint on the back wall and "ceiling". It will probably need 3 coats total.



What's next? Finish building the 2 shelves. Then paint and install the 2 shelves. Last - hang the new microwave ... which we purchased this weekend (*grin*).



Yay for progress! More to come this week (hopefully)!