Showing posts with label IHeart Kitchen Reno. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IHeart Kitchen Reno. Show all posts
Sunday, November 29, 2015
IHeart Kitchen Reno: Four Weeks Later!
Wow! Another month has come and gone since our previous kitchen update. I was really hoping that we would be able to wrangle both kitchen and living room projects and updates all at once, but the living room sort of took over at the end, both on the blog and in our lives. After the last update, I had a few questions I will be chatting through today, and I will also be sharing a few big things that have happened over the past few weeks. Although we were so focused on the living room side, there are quite a few changes here as well. It is finally starting to look and act more like the space we have been working for!
Based on the photo above, I am guessing there are a few differences that stand out from the last update.
We installed and set the island as soon as we could, which allowed us to finish installing our flooring. That was a major game changer. Like wow. It really unified our entire kitchen and living area and added so much more warmth in contrast to all of the white. And it is so clean! Looking back at the last post, my photos seemed to have a blue hue which was throwing some you off. I totally get it, I just revisited the photos and they are pretty bad. My guess is that much of it had to do with the cloudy day paired with reflections bouncing off of all of the white. Not really sure. The picture above is a much truer photo of how our kitchen really reads, especially now that the floors ground things a bit more (floor installation post coming soon).
Some of you asked about measurements... We currently have about 3 1/2 feet between the outer cabinets and island. We always read that between three and four feet is best, and we have been really happy with the amount of room and flow that the 3 1/2' provides. We are able to easily navigate around the dishwasher when it is completely pulled out for unloading, and the refrigerator has plenty of room to open and get around without any crowding (more on that in a minute).
I can't wait for layering in finishing touches to really start warming up the space. Things like rugs and new dining chairs and window panels, oh my. And cutting boards. We still have a lot of items to pick-out that we haven't landed on yet like backsplash (although my heart is set on one) and also have to troubleshoot a moulding issue we may run into with the beams and cabinets. But everything left is really just a lot of finishing touches at this point! And after next week, it should at least be 100% functional (fingers crossed). With that big list lingering above, I think you know where you will be able to find us when we aren't at the baseball fields. Happy weekend everyone!
You can follow all of the kitchen progress here.
Read more »
Based on the photo above, I am guessing there are a few differences that stand out from the last update.
We installed and set the island as soon as we could, which allowed us to finish installing our flooring. That was a major game changer. Like wow. It really unified our entire kitchen and living area and added so much more warmth in contrast to all of the white. And it is so clean! Looking back at the last post, my photos seemed to have a blue hue which was throwing some you off. I totally get it, I just revisited the photos and they are pretty bad. My guess is that much of it had to do with the cloudy day paired with reflections bouncing off of all of the white. Not really sure. The picture above is a much truer photo of how our kitchen really reads, especially now that the floors ground things a bit more (floor installation post coming soon).
Some of you asked about measurements... We currently have about 3 1/2 feet between the outer cabinets and island. We always read that between three and four feet is best, and we have been really happy with the amount of room and flow that the 3 1/2' provides. We are able to easily navigate around the dishwasher when it is completely pulled out for unloading, and the refrigerator has plenty of room to open and get around without any crowding (more on that in a minute).
When coming up with a kitchen design, we were extremely limited with where we could place our oven and stove. Our fridge and pantry had to go on the outer walls, and with the window and plumbing on the outer walls as well, we had no other choice than to place our cooking pieces in the island. In the end, I am happy it worked out this way as we will be able to face the living area while we cook (great for watching the fam and television). We also had to go with a larger island to accommodate the oven, cooktop and downdraft without compromising countertop work surface space and to provide enough distance between the cooktop and stools on the opposite side. This allowed us to add a lot more storage in the island, so it all worked out in the end. Plus, I got the oven I was lusting after for a couple of years! It is a beautiful white glass option which was originally purchased from IKEA (and was discontinued when they released their new kitchen line).
As you can see, we also installed the remainder of the hardware on the island cabinets to match the rest of the kitchen.
I also received a couple questions and emails regarding the island details. The doors are full overlay, meaning that there is very little cabinet frame showing around each door and drawer front. It creates more of a seamless appearance and is also quite similar to our IKEA white cabinets across the way. The color is an option offered by the cabinet company that built the pieces, so I don't have a specific name or number (other than a generic Slate), but I did have it color matched at Sherwin Williams and you can see the code here. It is a beautiful color in person, just extremely challenging to photograph because it reads a bit differently depending on how the light hits it (as illustrated between the photos above and below).
You may also have noticed that we only have about half of our counters installed. They always say to prepare for the worse when it comes to major home renovations, and we have experienced a few different hiccups along the way. I think it is just important to know that a few things will go wrong at some point, and do your best not to turn into a Kitchenzilla when they do. You have heard about our dishwasher saga and maybe also read about our first refrigerator being delivered damaged. Both were no big deal in my eyes. Truly nothing to get upset about and maybe they simply prepared us for the next uh-oh. The day the beautiful counters arrived to be installed, we went to place our oven into the oven cavity of the custom cabinets. Guess what guys! It didn't fit. Um, what? The cabinet was built to the dimension of the appliances we had already purchased. They were able to install the outer counters and sink while they were here, and now that we have since been able to figure out the cabinet situation and set our oven, will be coming back next week to finish things up (counters can typically be set without the oven installed, but we didn't know if our island would need to be taken apart or changed so we opted to wait it out). As frustrating as the cabinet situation was (it caused a three week delay in the island counter install), the counters are about the most beautiful moment this entire renovation has seen yet.
When we first built our home, I selected green faux marble laminate counters because I was 19 years old and thought they were so cool and grown up (ha). It only took me about four months to no longer like them. For the next 13+ years, I was left trying to work with something that I didn't love. I am pretty positive that experience has scarred me, and may be why a lot of our newer kitchen finishes and selections are a bit more neutral and classic. Being this is such an investment, we don't want to change things each time a trend comes and goes. And we don't want to have regrets four months from now (although, I am sure there will still be a few lessons learned). Just like a lot of the other decisions we have made in the space, we did a lot of reading online when selecting the types of countertops to install. Ultimately, quartz won out. Both durability and the fact that it is non-porous (which means it won't harbor bacteria), were the main reasons we selected quartz.
I don't think we will regret these counters four months or even ten years from now. They are Cambria in Torquay finish and another thing I am smitten with is that they are manufactured right in Minnesota. (For local readers, we shopped around and ultimately decided to purchase from Selective Countertops and we couldn't be happier with the results). The veining and colors are a mix of beiges and grays and are quite subtle, almost a marble-like result but in a much more kitchen friendly finish.
We also ordered our sink with the counters, and once again, a major difference has been made in how we use the kitchen.
The sink is a total of 30" x 17" and 10" deep. We went with a stainless split sink, about 2/3 is the main bowl and the side bowl is the remaining 1/3. And it is all seamless. I knew I wanted a deeper sink for washing large pots and pans and filling my mop bucket...
But little did I know it would also be amazing for hiding a pile of dirty dishes when the dishwasher is full/being ran. Definitely a jumbo sized bonus in an open concept layout. Another new-to-us feature is a pull out faucet. The kids and I have been having fun with this! It reaches all corners of the sink which is great for cleaning, and offers two spray options.
We purchased a model that complimented the cabinet hardware, not super modern but not overly ornate either; it was juuuuust right.
But wait, there is more! I had no idea how much really has changed in the last month. Big post today folks.
One thing I have been challenged with throughout the entire process, is knowing that we have a garage door to work around. And it was a previously very unsightly door with about eight different layers of paint and dings and dents. Although not an ideal setup, moving the door really wasn't an option as there is other place to move it to. Keep in mind that we really only use the garage for projects, and even when we start parking in there again, we will most likely be carrying in a handbag and groceries. The boys always come off of the bus and enter through our front door, which is why their belongings are all located there. So fortunately, we don't need much of a system for more than a pair or two of shoes, maybe keys and some hooks. But visually, oy!
Our solution was to build the fireplace built-ins in the living room, to mimic the cabinets in the kitchen. Once the moulding is installed on the kitchen cabinets, they will be the same height and color as the built-ins, as well as the same distance on either side of the door. Our very lovely new paneled door!
See how we only trimmed the living room side? Haha, darn One Room Challenge. And no, we weren't really that lazy, we only purchased enough to do the living room side and that is exactly where we ran out. Hoping to get the rest finished up in the next week or two. Just sort of funny how that worked out.
Anyway, still not the most amazing setup, but I love how it worked out to create more of a nook or alcove for the door, making it almost look like intentional placement. And the paneled look on the door is much more polished and matches the remainder of our interior doors. Definitely happy with how it all is turning out.
Last but not least, we finally have a fridge! It is counter depth, and also finally framed out. Or in? Whichever way, it is so much cleaner.
When we began the kitchen planning process, we realized quickly that to maximize our space and to accommodate the island with cooking appliances, that our fridge would be best at a countertop depth. First, I ordered a white side-by-side option. There are not a lot of white countertop depth refrigerators on the market, especially with great reviews and decorative bar pulls. And the ones that did have good reviews, were about a few thousand dollars over our budget. But I found one and ordered it and when it arrived, it was completely dinged and dented and the pulls were nothing like they were pictured online. The company took back the refrigerator at no charge, and we were left starting over with our search. We thought that a side by side was the way to go since that was what we were use to, but after quite a few recommendations to try out the french door option, that is what we ultimately landed on. I have to say, I love how much more space there is in this style and that the doors can swing wide open and leave us a ton of room to navigate, even with the island directly behind us (we purchased this model).
What I don't love is the freezer drawer. This thing terrifies me. But I always love a good organizational challenge so I will let you know if I ever get this thing figured out. We also kept our previous fridge in our garage as a replacement to our freezer chest, which we will love for holding six packs of be... I mean soda. And for party throwing and entertaining and freezer overflow. Also, for some reason my regular stainless cleaning solution does not work on this fridge, so I would love recommendations on streak-free stainless cleaning.
So, a month later we have a fully functioning sink and fridge and even started unloading (but not organizing) our fridge and cabinets. After the counters are in next week, we can have our stovetop hooked up and start cooking on real appliances again! If anything, this process has given us a much deeper appreciation for everyday kitchen conveniences. Like making coffee.
And just when I am feeling like the end is near, it is time to get real and take a look at what is left before we call this renovation complete.
- Install
HVAC/Oven/Cooktop InstallcountersSet island cabinetsInstall hardware on island cabinetsReplace garage doorInstall flooringFrame in refrigeratorFinish installing cabinet side panels- Install cabinet toe-kick
- Install cabinet crown moulding
- Panel gap above fridge
- Trim floors, doors and windows
- Install backsplash
- DIY a coat closet door
- Add shelving and doors to nook above coat closet (?)
- Install legs to built-in side cabinet
- DIY message center
- Hang window panels and roman shade
I can't wait for layering in finishing touches to really start warming up the space. Things like rugs and new dining chairs and window panels, oh my. And cutting boards. We still have a lot of items to pick-out that we haven't landed on yet like backsplash (although my heart is set on one) and also have to troubleshoot a moulding issue we may run into with the beams and cabinets. But everything left is really just a lot of finishing touches at this point! And after next week, it should at least be 100% functional (fingers crossed). With that big list lingering above, I think you know where you will be able to find us when we aren't at the baseball fields. Happy weekend everyone!
You can follow all of the kitchen progress here.
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Organizing Under the Kitchen Sink
I have no idea how it happened, but this past week was one of those blink-and-it-is-over type of weeks. All of the sudden it was Friday morning and I was hit with the realization that I hadn't organized one single thing all week. The horror right?
As far as our kitchen goes, the good news is that we have begun installing trim, toe kick and moulding! I am hoping to have a full kitchen update for y'all very soon; we definitely needed to step back and take a small break to troubleshoot a few issues that have come up as we near the end of the renovation. One problem is in regards to a major appliance/kitchen island snafu... We also have some cabinet moulding decisions to make and the Mr. and I are not seeing eye-to-eye. We appreciate you hanging in there as we work through some of those detailed decisions that we just don't feel comfortable rushing.
This week when I took a look at my giant Home To-Do List, I picked something that I knew I could accomplish quickly, something that would keep me excited about the kitchen, and something that would help us out during our day-to-day routine. I decided to tackle the cabinet under the kitchen sink.
Although our kitchen was far from finished, we needed to reclaim our guest room a few months back. All of our kitchen belongings that were temporarily being stored in the guest room, were brought back out to the kitchen and the boxes were unloaded in a single evening. When we came up with our initial cabinet design, I made sure to assign every last pot, pan, appliance and gadget a home. This made quickly unpacking our items fairly painless, however, nothing more was ever done. Many of the cabinets have since been in a state of chaos and waiting for that special touch, under the kitchen sink included.
Majority of the items under the sink are things we use to clean our entire main level. There were also a few items that were brought up from our cleaning cabinet for a single use and then tossed below the sink instead of being returned to the proper home. Paper bags were acting as our recycling bin, and things were always getting lost in the back of the cabinet. It was time for a little organizing action.
Step one, empty it out!
My initial impulse was to reach for some shelf liner I had on hand...
But the pattern was a little busy and the lack of color left me looking for a different option.
I found some gift wrap (purchased from HomeGoods) and knew it was more more fitting for my love of color happy organizing. I also knew that once things were placed back into the cabinet, that the boldness of the paper would simmer down a bit.
To ensure the gift wrap would be easy-to-clean and hold up to heavy daily traffic, I covered it in clear contact paper. Read more about this process here.
As I was emptying out the cabinet, I jotted down a list of everything that I needed to store, as well as the ideal way to do so. One thing I realized right away is that I wasn't taking advantage of the cabinet doors. Also, I have been wanting to find a second caddy to corral cleaning items as I have been enjoying keeping house chore supplies on both levels of our home. The entire cabinet needed to be purged down, items needed a specific home, and a few labels would be useful in keeping the entire family on the same page.
I began by addressing the items we utilize daily to clean the counters and wash our dishes; we use a combination of dish cloths, scrubbers and sponges. Because these items become wet during use, they needed to be stored in a location that would allow them to dry, without damaging the interior of the cabinet.
I found an acrylic spice rack at The Container Store, and thought I would give it a try. It ended up being the perfect solution because it is easy to clean and extremely light weight. I was able to use a couple heavy duty clear Command Strips to hang the organizer on the inside of the door, and now our daily tools are always within arm's reach, yet keep the sink area clutter free (and I can think of 1,589 other places I would love to add these charming little gems).
I also appreciate that the spice rack pairs beautifully with the clear stacking drawers we had used in our previous kitchen setup.
I removed the jumbled mess of cleaning rags from the drawers, and washed/re-folded all of our dish cloths and towels. I also added some vinyl labels to the faces of the drawers to keep things orderly down the road.
On top of the drawers I added our wet-sack to hold our dirty/damp used rags that are waiting for wash day.
HomeGoods came through for me in my quest for a second caddy to corral our daily cleaning supplies.
The caddy is large enough to hold a variety of items; everything from our hand sweeper and dusters to rags and cleaners.
When selecting items to use for storage and organization, the number one requirement was that they had to be easy to keep clean/wipe down. I also tried to select items that would be versatile should our needs for the cabinet ever change (which I really don't see happening in this case). A simple clear tray holds our extra soaps for the dishwasher, sink and fruits/vegetables.
Our pull-out recycle bin didn't fit in our new cabinet because the new sink is fantastically larger and deeper. I searched high and low for an alternative pull-out trash option but came up short. It is totally worth it to have the deeper sinks though, so I just stayed with a very basic bin that also received some vinyl labeling love.
I put the other cabinet door to work holding our paper towel roll and dish-washing gloves.
The paper towel holder is extremely light, and was also attached to the cabinet with a Command Strip. I am not ready to screw holes into our new cabinet doors just yet, not even for the sake of organization. And although I didn't end up storing our food wrap boxes inside the cabinet doors for long, I did want to re-use the dowel and hooks for my dish-washing gloves. I just wrapped the dowel in some vinyl to protect the wood from wetness.
And suddenly I had myself the happiest cabinet in our kitchen!
And a quick recap of our under-the-kitchen-sink essentials:
Aside from a little product sourcing/shopping, the entire project took about an hour (planning, cleaning, lining, organizing, Command hooking, labeling and admiring). Not bad for one of the busiest cabinets in the entire kitchen.
Now that I am feeling accomplished again, I can get back to fun in the sun with the kiddos. I mean, back to installing trim and moulding.... sigh...
Read more »
As far as our kitchen goes, the good news is that we have begun installing trim, toe kick and moulding! I am hoping to have a full kitchen update for y'all very soon; we definitely needed to step back and take a small break to troubleshoot a few issues that have come up as we near the end of the renovation. One problem is in regards to a major appliance/kitchen island snafu... We also have some cabinet moulding decisions to make and the Mr. and I are not seeing eye-to-eye. We appreciate you hanging in there as we work through some of those detailed decisions that we just don't feel comfortable rushing.
This week when I took a look at my giant Home To-Do List, I picked something that I knew I could accomplish quickly, something that would keep me excited about the kitchen, and something that would help us out during our day-to-day routine. I decided to tackle the cabinet under the kitchen sink.
Although our kitchen was far from finished, we needed to reclaim our guest room a few months back. All of our kitchen belongings that were temporarily being stored in the guest room, were brought back out to the kitchen and the boxes were unloaded in a single evening. When we came up with our initial cabinet design, I made sure to assign every last pot, pan, appliance and gadget a home. This made quickly unpacking our items fairly painless, however, nothing more was ever done. Many of the cabinets have since been in a state of chaos and waiting for that special touch, under the kitchen sink included.
Majority of the items under the sink are things we use to clean our entire main level. There were also a few items that were brought up from our cleaning cabinet for a single use and then tossed below the sink instead of being returned to the proper home. Paper bags were acting as our recycling bin, and things were always getting lost in the back of the cabinet. It was time for a little organizing action.
Step one, empty it out!
My initial impulse was to reach for some shelf liner I had on hand...
But the pattern was a little busy and the lack of color left me looking for a different option.
I found some gift wrap (purchased from HomeGoods) and knew it was more more fitting for my love of color happy organizing. I also knew that once things were placed back into the cabinet, that the boldness of the paper would simmer down a bit.
To ensure the gift wrap would be easy-to-clean and hold up to heavy daily traffic, I covered it in clear contact paper. Read more about this process here.
As I was emptying out the cabinet, I jotted down a list of everything that I needed to store, as well as the ideal way to do so. One thing I realized right away is that I wasn't taking advantage of the cabinet doors. Also, I have been wanting to find a second caddy to corral cleaning items as I have been enjoying keeping house chore supplies on both levels of our home. The entire cabinet needed to be purged down, items needed a specific home, and a few labels would be useful in keeping the entire family on the same page.
I began by addressing the items we utilize daily to clean the counters and wash our dishes; we use a combination of dish cloths, scrubbers and sponges. Because these items become wet during use, they needed to be stored in a location that would allow them to dry, without damaging the interior of the cabinet.
I found an acrylic spice rack at The Container Store, and thought I would give it a try. It ended up being the perfect solution because it is easy to clean and extremely light weight. I was able to use a couple heavy duty clear Command Strips to hang the organizer on the inside of the door, and now our daily tools are always within arm's reach, yet keep the sink area clutter free (and I can think of 1,589 other places I would love to add these charming little gems).
I also appreciate that the spice rack pairs beautifully with the clear stacking drawers we had used in our previous kitchen setup.
I removed the jumbled mess of cleaning rags from the drawers, and washed/re-folded all of our dish cloths and towels. I also added some vinyl labels to the faces of the drawers to keep things orderly down the road.
On top of the drawers I added our wet-sack to hold our dirty/damp used rags that are waiting for wash day.
HomeGoods came through for me in my quest for a second caddy to corral our daily cleaning supplies.
The caddy is large enough to hold a variety of items; everything from our hand sweeper and dusters to rags and cleaners.
When selecting items to use for storage and organization, the number one requirement was that they had to be easy to keep clean/wipe down. I also tried to select items that would be versatile should our needs for the cabinet ever change (which I really don't see happening in this case). A simple clear tray holds our extra soaps for the dishwasher, sink and fruits/vegetables.
Our pull-out recycle bin didn't fit in our new cabinet because the new sink is fantastically larger and deeper. I searched high and low for an alternative pull-out trash option but came up short. It is totally worth it to have the deeper sinks though, so I just stayed with a very basic bin that also received some vinyl labeling love.
I put the other cabinet door to work holding our paper towel roll and dish-washing gloves.
The paper towel holder is extremely light, and was also attached to the cabinet with a Command Strip. I am not ready to screw holes into our new cabinet doors just yet, not even for the sake of organization. And although I didn't end up storing our food wrap boxes inside the cabinet doors for long, I did want to re-use the dowel and hooks for my dish-washing gloves. I just wrapped the dowel in some vinyl to protect the wood from wetness.
And suddenly I had myself the happiest cabinet in our kitchen!
No organization project is complete without a before and after to celebrate:
And a quick recap of our under-the-kitchen-sink essentials:
Aside from a little product sourcing/shopping, the entire project took about an hour (planning, cleaning, lining, organizing, Command hooking, labeling and admiring). Not bad for one of the busiest cabinets in the entire kitchen.
Now that I am feeling accomplished again, I can get back to fun in the sun with the kiddos. I mean, back to installing trim and moulding.... sigh...
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
IHeart Kitchen Reno: Planking Progress
I probably could have posted Friday, but we were thisclose to getting our planks installed, that I decided to wait until we put in the last nail and our abs were screaming in pain from all of the nightly planking sessions. OK, so although our abs really are not feeling the benefits of all of the planking happening over here, our ceiling sure feels the results.
If you recall, a week earlier our space looked like this.
And the same angle today.
We purchased the plank wood from a local lumber company and ordered 16 ft. boards of primed tongue and groove planks. We looked at quite a few options, and landed with the AllPrime product because it is lightweight, split resistant and double coated with oil primer. What I love most is that the boards are already super smooth and coated with the primer, which means less work for us before and after installation. We believe it was worth a little extra expense up front to go with pre-primed, smooth planks because they do not have any visible wood grain or knots, and after my cabinets in my studio yellowed even with multiple coats of primer, I was not about to risk it again on such a large and important project.
The boards were delivered on Friday afternoon and we started installing them the following day.
The first step was to locate the trusses in the ceiling to ensure our nails had something to grip to during installation. Bryan found the first truss by measuring two feet off of an external wall, and using a screwdriver and hammer to tap up into the ceiling (this is the homeowner's special version of a stud finder, which we realized we didn't have on hand).
He continued to check every two feet and mark where each ceiling truss was located. With each of us on a ladder on opposite sides of the room, we then pulled a chalk line across the ceiling.
With the ceiling marked, it made it much easier to know where to nail in the planks.
For this project, we borrowed my father-in-law's scaffolding, which was the key to our success in completing this project in a week. I was able to stay up on the scaffolding and be pushed across the floor to do a lot of the nailing.
We applied Liquid Nails to the backside of each plank to really ensure a good hold...
And used 2" brad nails every two feet.
We staggered the boards for strength, just as one would do when installing flooring. Every once in awhile a rubber mallet helped to tap the boards into the grooves (using a scrap piece as a buffer when tapping things in place).
The entire length of each row was 21 1/2" feet, and after the first day, we had a whopping five rows installed. We were definitely just getting our bearings and figuring out a system.
During the week, my husband would come home from work, we would feed the kids dinner, take them to their school activities, and typically start working around 7:30 or 8:00 as they were settling down for bed. A couple of hours later and we were ready to snooze as well.
Measure, cut, glue, nail, repeat. We managed to get things done with two people, but when we had three or four working on it thanks to friends stopping by to help, it made covering the 550 square feet even faster. Six days fast! (And I thought it was a weekend project... funny how that happens.)
We did all of our cutting inside because the garage is full of items for the kitchen and it is coooooooold in Wisconsin in January. My husband took a note from his old shop teacher and used our shop vac to reduce the amount of flying dust while making his cuts. Another homeowner's special.
Although the process was time consuming, it was not all that challenging. The hardest part was cutting out around the recessed lighting kits.
My husband's trick for that process was:
1. Using a white piece of paper and placing it into the groove of the last plank, he pressed around the lip of the light.
2. He cut out the indented circle.
3. He double checked to be sure it lined up correctly.
4. He marked the next plank board where the light starts and stops.
5. He traced the cut template onto the board based on the markings.
6. He used a jig saw to cut out the circle from the plank.
And YES!
Still not anything pretty to look at, but there is so much potential happening here! We finally pulled down those final wall studs; that paired with the new planks and it feels like our space doubled in size! We couldn't be more thrilled about the openness and all of the light streaming through during the day.
We had no need to run the planks to the peak as there will be a giant faux beam installed there next. I really think that will be the major turning point for this project.
Well, that and finally getting some new sheetrock on the walls in the kitchen. So that is what is on the agenda for this week. We are building our beams and maybe even patching the walls. The best part? No more staples to be pulled! It was all uphill after that.
Once the beams are installed we will putty all of the seams and nail holes, and the entire ceiling will be sprayed white. And you may have noticed more colors have joined the paint swatches on the walls... and you know what? I still haven't committed to anything. I have never in my entire life had such a hard time picking a single paint color for a room. I may just go in a different direction all together. So stay tuned as the color drama unfolds. I am in suspense right along with you!
You can follow all of the kitchen progress here.
Read more »
If you recall, a week earlier our space looked like this.
And the same angle today.
We purchased the plank wood from a local lumber company and ordered 16 ft. boards of primed tongue and groove planks. We looked at quite a few options, and landed with the AllPrime product because it is lightweight, split resistant and double coated with oil primer. What I love most is that the boards are already super smooth and coated with the primer, which means less work for us before and after installation. We believe it was worth a little extra expense up front to go with pre-primed, smooth planks because they do not have any visible wood grain or knots, and after my cabinets in my studio yellowed even with multiple coats of primer, I was not about to risk it again on such a large and important project.
The boards were delivered on Friday afternoon and we started installing them the following day.
The first step was to locate the trusses in the ceiling to ensure our nails had something to grip to during installation. Bryan found the first truss by measuring two feet off of an external wall, and using a screwdriver and hammer to tap up into the ceiling (this is the homeowner's special version of a stud finder, which we realized we didn't have on hand).
He continued to check every two feet and mark where each ceiling truss was located. With each of us on a ladder on opposite sides of the room, we then pulled a chalk line across the ceiling.
With the ceiling marked, it made it much easier to know where to nail in the planks.
For this project, we borrowed my father-in-law's scaffolding, which was the key to our success in completing this project in a week. I was able to stay up on the scaffolding and be pushed across the floor to do a lot of the nailing.
We applied Liquid Nails to the backside of each plank to really ensure a good hold...
And used 2" brad nails every two feet.
We staggered the boards for strength, just as one would do when installing flooring. Every once in awhile a rubber mallet helped to tap the boards into the grooves (using a scrap piece as a buffer when tapping things in place).
The entire length of each row was 21 1/2" feet, and after the first day, we had a whopping five rows installed. We were definitely just getting our bearings and figuring out a system.
During the week, my husband would come home from work, we would feed the kids dinner, take them to their school activities, and typically start working around 7:30 or 8:00 as they were settling down for bed. A couple of hours later and we were ready to snooze as well.
Measure, cut, glue, nail, repeat. We managed to get things done with two people, but when we had three or four working on it thanks to friends stopping by to help, it made covering the 550 square feet even faster. Six days fast! (And I thought it was a weekend project... funny how that happens.)
We did all of our cutting inside because the garage is full of items for the kitchen and it is coooooooold in Wisconsin in January. My husband took a note from his old shop teacher and used our shop vac to reduce the amount of flying dust while making his cuts. Another homeowner's special.
Although the process was time consuming, it was not all that challenging. The hardest part was cutting out around the recessed lighting kits.
My husband's trick for that process was:
1. Using a white piece of paper and placing it into the groove of the last plank, he pressed around the lip of the light.
2. He cut out the indented circle.
3. He double checked to be sure it lined up correctly.
4. He marked the next plank board where the light starts and stops.
5. He traced the cut template onto the board based on the markings.
6. He used a jig saw to cut out the circle from the plank.
And YES!
Still not anything pretty to look at, but there is so much potential happening here! We finally pulled down those final wall studs; that paired with the new planks and it feels like our space doubled in size! We couldn't be more thrilled about the openness and all of the light streaming through during the day.
We had no need to run the planks to the peak as there will be a giant faux beam installed there next. I really think that will be the major turning point for this project.
Well, that and finally getting some new sheetrock on the walls in the kitchen. So that is what is on the agenda for this week. We are building our beams and maybe even patching the walls. The best part? No more staples to be pulled! It was all uphill after that.
Once the beams are installed we will putty all of the seams and nail holes, and the entire ceiling will be sprayed white. And you may have noticed more colors have joined the paint swatches on the walls... and you know what? I still haven't committed to anything. I have never in my entire life had such a hard time picking a single paint color for a room. I may just go in a different direction all together. So stay tuned as the color drama unfolds. I am in suspense right along with you!
You can follow all of the kitchen progress here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)