2020 Hall & Kitchen Updates

Last year we volunteered our home as a place to host my grandma's 90th birthday.  We also found a farm that we fell in love with with more acreage, multiple barns, and a beautiful farmhouse with original character.  Finally, my end of year profit share bonus was more than anticipated.  All of these were motivators for us to get cruising on updating 3893.  Unfortunately, the farm sold after over a year on the market (guess we weren't as motivated as we thought).  Fortunately, with the help of ALL of my family; Mark, Merida, and I were able to get the house ready for the party.  Lucky for us, due to Covid, the party got moved twice, giving us more time on the house.  (Side note - grandma is doing great and almost ready to celebrate her 91st birthday.)

Because there is so much to update, I'm going to break up the updates into separate posts.  

I'll pick up where we left off last year's blog (showing us working on the drywall in this corner.)  
January found us painting and trimming it out.  I love that Mark seems to always be able to make my Pinterest inspiration pics a possibility in our home.  LOVE LOVE LOVE how the pallet wraps the wall.

Once the hall and dining room were done, we moved in to the kitchen.  Drywall finishing, new counters, new flooring plus grout, new backsplash plus grout, new sink, new faucet, new trim, new lighting, distressing on cabinets - I think that's it.  No joke it was quite the undertaking!!  

 

I don't know about you but when we do construction in one space, it introduces chaos to other areas.  I   DO NOT DO WELL IN CHAOS but here we were.  It was a bit of a nightmare for a hot second (or way too many!!)  I actually took pics because it was so overwhelming.

 

Removing the old counters and measuring for the new ones.  We were really fortunate to not have to cut corners on any of our counters.  We just had to worry about length.
 

  

The counter between the laundry and pantry was just a touch short so Mark came up with a solution that made the difference in length disappear. Have I mentioned how awesome my handy hot husband is??  I was not sad to see the cigarette burned laminate counters disappear.  Not sad at all!

Once the stained counters were able to be temporarily placed, we laid out a few floor tiles to figure out what pattern we wanted.  Ultimately, we went with simple. I love clean lines.  I figured simple would reduce the amount of cutting we had to do on the tile too.  I was right and Mark was appreciative.

 

When the counters were stained and dry, we double checked everything to make sure it was perfect and ready for poly.  My ONE regret about the kitchen is not using the pour on polycrylic rather than polyurethane.  We're 10 months post renovation and I am already seeing wear marks in the poly from where it's constantly being wiped down after cooking and meals, not to mention scuffs from actually using the counters.  When we refinish, we'll definitely be using the polycrylic.  Probably soon.  Boo.

Because we didn't have enough going on, while the counters were being finished, I tackled antiquing our cabinets.  Basically you "paint" on a special glaze and then wipe it off, leaving some of it in the cracks and crevices of the cabinets.  I started with 2 doors to see if I liked it.  I didn't.  Then I did 2 more doors, feeling indifferent when those were done.  After the 3rd set of doors, it was growing on me.  It was the look I'd wanted but it was different than what I'd been living with for 5 years so change was hard.  Once we'd done the entire row of cabinets, I was in love with how it was coming together.

We saved the sink / stove counter for very last.  My dad has been a builder for years so he came over and made sure we did it right.  I didn't relish the idea of buying another piece of countertop because we'd cut the sink hole wrong.  Mark didn't relish the idea of cutting sink holes multiple times.  Glad we agreed on that.  Unfortunately, my large kitchen wasn't large enough for all of our counter prep.

 

After the counters were in, we started working on the backsplash.  I wanted something that would hide well and be washable.  Ultimately, we decided to use the same tile we bought for the floor and cut it to a different size.  Our floor tiles are 12" square, our backsplash tiles are 12" x 2".  I voted for 3" but Mark cut and installed the first tiles.  When it all came together, it really didn't make much difference.

We have both trash and recycling containers.  I asked him to see if he could build me a custom cabinet for both in this unused corner in our kitchen.  He did a pretty great job of building a custom cabinet there but it only fit a single can so we scrapped it.  Poor Mark!  A few hours of his labor lost.  Sorry babe!

 

We have a friend that lays tile for a living.  He came over one Saturday and showed us how to lay tile.  Then he came over another day and showed us how to grout the tile.  This was how it looked when he was finished with both.  We still had the tile under the appliances to do and the small rooms but we were thoroughly trained when he was done.  Thank you Mike Ford!!

 

Before Mark left for several weeks of out of town work, I begged him to finish tiling under the appliances and in the pantry.  He did!  Then he left town and left me kitchen-less. lol.  I had to grout everything before it could be put back together.  So I did.  Then my dad came back over and helped me level all the counters and install the kitchen sink.  Discovered we couldn't install the new drain with our existing garbage disposal so we had to buy a new disposal and install that.  I didn't have the muscle necessary so we called in another friend.  Dad and David installed the garbage disposal properly and then dad rewired the dishwasher and put that back in place.  Poor guy offered to solve my lack of kitchen problem but didn't realize how much was involved.  He is the best dad EVER.  (Note the Valentines flowers in the window from my parents)

 

 

 I had to finish the backsplash and grout before I put the other appliances in.  Don't look too close; it's far from perfect but the backsplash is done and I did it myself!

 

Once the backsplash was done, I turned this unused counter in the kitchen into a cute little coffee bar.

When we bought the house, all the skylights leaked.  We replaced them but there was some damage to the drywall around the window so we had to do something once we removed it.  Mark came up with this on his own and I love it!  Well done, husband!

 

One thing I loved about 11 N Clover was the character of the home.  The trim, the windows, the little nooks, etc. When we bought this home, I REALLY struggled with the fact that there was nothing unique about it.  Mark assured me that he could add character to any home; I just had to tell him what I liked.  Wouldyalookatthat!!  He did it.  Hello farmhouse trim and antique egg basket light fixtures.  It doesn't matter what I dream up, he pulls it off every time. (note the lettuce growing in the window vase.  I bought this when the virus first hit and I was trying to save on trips to the grocery store. lol)

 

 

Other than me needing to fill trim nail holes with caulk and put a final coat of paint on the trim, These rooms are DONE!  Well, and someday I'd like to put different flooring in the dining room, entry, and hall.  I mean, who carpets all that?!