take three

Island put together--first coat of primer...

after deglossing, sanding, filling, etc.

 Primer coat again

 one more view

 Last look...

 One coat of paint now.  We were going to go black on the

island but decided with the rich wood floors we really wanted

it to POP, and went with our creamy white. 

 Paint coat

And again.

Progress is going faster now.  At least is it much more

visible...for a while it was just deglossing, sanding, priming

and painting cabinet faces--so not much to update with

pictures.  The end of this is much more interesting to see.

Freshly painted cabinet doors arrive Tuesday--will photograph
before and after pic's as well as door and drawers with their

new knobs and pulls.  

Still to do?  Paint crown molding (it came with cabinets too!)

New back door and garage door--they are REALLY

starting to look bad against all the new clean paint.

Trim, counter tops, subway back splash, the counters
tiles are still on the slow boat from Italy.

...and about 1 million OTHER

little finishing touches.

island: take two

It is now officially ONE piece of furniture.


It needs a good sanding, deglossing, priming
and several coats of paint.  Among other things.


It is in its roughest form here.


After all of this it will be screwed to 
the floor, have a "top" put on it and then some
counters added.


Once counters are installed on this there will
be a spot for 4 bar stools (2 on each side)
for island sitting/eating/chatting with the 
cook. (me!)


In my wildest dreams I will still find a granite 
remnant on KSL for an insane price to put on
this.


NOTE:  We have found several for $20 and $50 
(no joke)--they were just the wrong colors
and a tad small.


Fingers crossed something will turn up--if not
it will be "Plan B" for the island top
--just not sure what "Plan B" is yet.

How to make an island out of some old cabinets...

Last 2 cabinets...lets see how we can make this work.

Which configuration is best?

And where will everything go?

Add some old legs to the mix....

Build a couple of false fronts to make it all fit right.

Making progress

Coming together

A little at a time

Some "texture and trim" pieces to pull it all together.

Cut and measure and caulk and measure and cut, repeat.

Lots of tools needed for this process.

ALMOST ready for paint

Sneak peek at counter tile and back splash tile

I will have to say that for a "recycled" kitchen, I 
am VERY pleased at how it is coming all together.


We really lucked out on cabinets, all the right
pieces, and the fact that I have a VERY handy 
husband.  We both have a "vision" and never
have a hard time "seeing" the finished product
which I also think is a bonus.


It's all coming together nicely.


There were two "left over" base cabinets from our
kitchen purchase.  That paired with some old
"recycled" legs off of my parents 20 year old
butcher block are all being used to create a 
new island for the center of our kitchen.


It is a lot more labor intensive and Kyle has
been plodding along on this and putting all 
the pieces together.


I wanted to show the progress so you could
appreciate the finished piece.


When it's all put together, it will be painted
and then attached permanently to our kitchen floor.
(Makes me a little sick to think of screwing it
to the new floor--but it must be done.)


After all the finishing, painting, attaching, etc.
It will then be ready for a counter top and some
bar stools.


The last picture is a sneak peek at our 18"
counter tile (a fake, cheap version of honed
black granite AKA $3.99 porcelain tiles)


The white subway tiles are smaller than "regular"
subway tiles and will be the back splash.


It's coming along...


Slow and steady, slow and steady!!!

my shout out to an online company

I don't normally do this (nor do I have a huge
"blog following" to influence) but I *have to* 
give a HUGE SHOUT OUT to this company.


ebuilderdirect.com


We have ordered door knobs and hinges from them in
the past and recently ordered our cabinet door knobs
and pulls.


Shipping is FAST and CHEAP and best 
yet?  So are their prices for EVERYTHING.

These knobs were $1.20 each.

1/3 LESS than *any* store we checked

in the entire valley.  Satin nickel finish--

they had many finishes to choose from 

if you're not a fan of nickel.

These drawer pulls were $1.50 each.  Starting price at 

Home Depot, Overstock, Amazon, Sutherlands or 

Lowes was in the $4.50 to $6.00 range. (and UP!)

Now, as you all know by now, I AM CHEAP!  I will

shout it from the rooftops...if I have to buy

something, it HAS TO be a deal.  That's just how

I run the show.

These knobs took the "deal cake" and I am beyond

thrilled they will be decorating my new/old cupboard

doors and drawers for WAY LESS than I could

have ever hoped for.

So, if you need knobs, pulls, handles, etc.

Check out that above mentioned website.

They get 5 stars from me!!!

it's beginning to feel a lot like ....

Christmas?

No, that's not right.

But it's beginning to feel

a LOT like a kitchen again!

WOO HOO!

Yay for my super-hero husband

for working a 50 hour a week job

and STILL being the 

"Construction Man"

after hours and on the weekend.

He sure knows how to "bust and move!"

signs you've been remodeling for too long

the refrigerator is in the living room...still.

along w/ALL the contents of kitchen drawers, doors & cupboards.

chicken nuggets from McDonalds are starting to be a "staple"

AND even worse? starting to taste good.

The front of my fireplace is now a makeshift table/kitchen/MESS!

You may, or may not, find a microwave in the bathroom

when you walk in to use "it".  "It" = the bathroom that is,

NOT the microwave.  Two for the price of one, right?

Kitchen cabinets remaining to be hung sit in my bedroom.

Along with decorative kitchen cake stands and glass bowls.

There is a stove top sitting forlornly in my daughters bedroom.

Waiting patiently for it's new home.

Tile samples can be found all around the house, if you look

closely--or even if you don't--you will find them.

in other news

Eliza shaved both of her eyebrows off.


Don't even ask...


Yes, it was an accident.


We have laughed our heads off since Sunday.


The good news?


She is so fair and light of hair that you
can hardly tell...unless you look closely.


And well, then YOU might have a good laugh too.

92

In a perfect world my children would always

be/do/say/act like I want them to.

However, we don't live in a perfect world, 

and in any case I have to scratch my original

statement anyway.  I don't think I would want

my children to be/do/say/act like "I want" 

them to all the time.  Right? Right!

In reality it is THEIR life.  Theirs to live

and choose and fall and get up again.  I am 

here to love and support and be here for them.

If I'm doing my job right, I am here.  Not

dictating.

(Ok this is sounding WAY too 
serious for my post).

Speaking of choices (were we speaking 
of choices?) my 18 year old son informed 
me that:

a) he is 18 and can do whatever he wants 

(true that brother!)

b) was going to the W.W.E. when it came to SLC

with all his homies.  (wrestling for those

of you who don't know...)

(sounds like a dream day to me...not!)

c) and FAILED to inform me (us) that it was ON
SUNDAY(!!) until about the week before.  (or I

can fault myself for not checking into things

more thoroughly).

d) he went.

We were awful & mean parents and made him go

to sacrament meeting before he went off to 

break the Sabbath day.  




Balance in all things, right?

Ironically halfway through Primary Kyle came

into the room with his phone.

From Josh:  "Got a ticket on the way here!"

Along with a picture of the fight.

From Kyle:  "Well that's what you get for

going on a Sunday!"

From Josh:  "Well I was blessed for getting

a ticket on Sunday since I was going 92 
(NINETY FREAKING TWO!!!) on the freeway in 
a 65 zone and the cop only wrote me 
up at 10 over (75)."

Yup, nice policeman.

He said to the boys (I am imagining him with 
a hand on his gun belt, a swagger in his walk,
him chewing on a piece of straw in his mouth
and a southern drawl for some reason): 
too many movies right?  straw, seriously?

"In a hurry fellas?"

I'll say.




And in case you're wondering....and I KNOW
you are...he's paying the ticket. 

  

what a difference a day makes!

 the hole again

 starting floors on Saturday am

new over old

halfway point

we apologize in advance for all the dust in our home right now.

SORRY!

coming together...oh YIPPEE!

Most of the floor is in (kyle is leaving
me a sink and dishwasher until the end...
when he can transfer in one day the
"old" to the "new".)  Most of the
cabinet bases are in.  It's starting
to feel like a kitchen again.


Although our refrigerator just happens
to be in our living room along with
all the boxes from our old cupboards
still.


I LOVE the wood floors!  We finally
decided on countertops (remember this
is NOT a $20K kitchen...we didn't have
$50 (and UP!) a square foot for
counters and so it was a very hard
decision since most things (granite,
quartz, cement, butcher block,
well, ALL solid surfaces start
in that price range.)  We wanted to 
find something that was more in the
$5/6 a square foot which made it 
hard.


We finally found a "cement looking"
tile in a very dark grayish black.
It is an 18" square tile so that
leaves very few grout lines (which
was a worry) but they will be filled
in with dark grout too which will
help on cleaning and kyle can do
a 1/16" tile spacer which will make
for a smaller grout line and easier
cleaning.


I keep telling myself, "not your dream
kitchen Dor!  HOWEVER, a huge HUGE HUGE
upgrade from the plywood you just left!"




It's coming together and if all the
tile pieces arrive via UPS, we could 
have new counters done, a sink back 
in place and (our old) appliances 
workingby next weekend or early
into the next week!


My kids are getting sick of cold
cereal.


In other news (going along with the
theme of "what a difference a day 
makes...")  


I was released from Primary President
yesterday.  Bitter/sweet.  Glad to
be done w/the responsibilities and 
heavier things that rested on my
shoulders.  SOOOOO sad to leave
the kids, my dear sweet counsellors
and a sliver of my heart which stays  
in that funny long skinny Primary 
room of the Olympus 3rd Ward.


It was a good gig and a good run with
some very wonderful people, experiences
and blessings in my life!


Somethings always changing.