Kitchen reno - mudroom

After a lot of debate during the kitchen planning process, we came to the conclusion that keeping a mudroom space at the side door was the way to go.  And I'm so glad we did!  Here, you can see the before photos...small, but functional cabinets, beautiful peg coat rack, awesome light(bulb) on the side of the wall, and the pantry... all in the mudroom...

Before...

There was a decent amount of storage in the pantry, but having it around the corner from the kitchen was less than convenient.  So where the doors were is where we decided to put the new wall - adding 18" of space in the kitchen.

During...with the wall and pantry gone!

We ordered cabinets for the mudroom to match the kitchen.  We also went with one big, pantry/closet sized one to put Cady's food, towels, and other stuff that comes along with having a dog.

We needed to build the big cabinet up a bit so it would go up to the ceiling, and Steve our contractor suggested this - a shoe cubby!  So he built us a little box to throw flipflops, etc, and it's perfect.  We had paint matched to the cabinets so we could paint the shoebox to make the whole thing look custom.

We originally were just going to run the hardwood through the whole space, but after the messy, snowy winter we had last year, I made a last minute decision to go with tile.  We found these darker, slate looking tiles at Lowes and it only too a box and 1/2 to do the whole mudroom.

We love the floors!  They look so good.  Once everything was finished, it was time to get some hooks up...which proved to be a little more difficult than we'd hoped.  Instead of putting them straight into the drywall, we had to add a board and drilled them into that.

Once painted to match the wall color, you can't even see it!

The mudroom is finished!  We would like to find a new rug, but for now - this one will do just fine.  It's the perfect spot for Cady, muddy boots, coats and bags, and will lots of use.  I'm so glad we decided to keep it separate from the rest of the kitchen.

And it's great to come home to a nice, functional space, especially when you're greeted by this crazy one! 

Kitchen reno - island part 2

It's been a couple of weeks since the guys installed the island and the new panel has arrived.  The guys installed the new panel, and it looks so much better - there's not a huge gap running down the back of it!  So the painter came back, with the pre-painted doors and molding.  The molding was installed, and the spray painting began.

I'm really glad we opted to put molding around the base and on the 2 legs.  It really gives it a finished, custom, built in look.  

We opted to have the island painted once in the kitchen, and painted with a sprayer to give it a nice, professional finish.  It was a little terrifying for the few minutes he was spraying, as the paint color is navy and the rest of the kitchen is white!

But he had on a white shirt, so that gave me a little bit of comfort...

It just took 2 quick coats, and it was finished!  The sprayer left a fine dust all over the floors and counters, that did come up.  However, I would suggest covering more than we did for peace of mind.  He said that was enough to cover, but we had to bring out the Magic Eraser to get some blue streaks off of the new counters.  So - my tip - if you ever have your cabinets sprayed in the room - cover everything!

Moving right along - now we just need to install the final appliances in the island and put in the final touches, and it's finished!

Kitchen reno, previous posts:

Before photos

Cabinets

Progress

Hardwood and cabinet installation

Island

Countertops, hardwood finishing and paint

Asian adventure

We're back!

After an awesome trip to Seoul, Shanghai, Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo, we're home and getting readjusted and over our jet lag.  For those waiting on the edge of their seats looking for kitchen updates...you haven't missed much.  It's 95% finished.  And the rest of the updates will come soon!

Kitchen reno - counter tops, hardwood finishing and paint

Week 5 got off to a bit of a hectic start - counter top installation AND hardwood sanding and finishing both on the same day...much to the contractors' frustration.  I've learned that they don't really like when there are 2 different groups in there at once.  

The hardwoods that we had installed were unfinished, so they had to be sanded down and then stained.  My goodness the DUST!  I thought drywall dust was bad....

About an hour into the sanding, the counters arrived.  So the hardwood guys took a break, got some fresh air, and the counter top installers went to work.  When we were looking at different options, we knew we wanted something lighter than the last house - and something that looked like white marble without all of the maintenance issues of marble.  We also decided that we liked the durability of quartz, so looked at several different quartz brands - Silestone, Cambria, Caesarstone.  

Our 2 favorites were Cambria's Torquay and Caesarstone's London Gray.  We really liked the London Gray the best - it was a little darker, would make the cabinets look pure white, and didn't look as manufactured as the Torquay.  However, the prices that our contractor was able to find left a bit to be desired - the London Gray was TWICE the price of the Torquay...not sure we liked it THAT much....

So M decided to give it a try and set out to call around and price check some things.  First he called the folks at Pyramid Granite who installed the granite in the townhouse.  They were able to get us the London Gray at the same price as the Cambria!  

They are great to work with.  Claudia and M emailed back and forth to coordinate everything, and the guys work quickly and had everything installed in an hour.  

Once the counters were in...back to sanding...

We had them do the whole kitchen plus the stairs, so it would all be the same color.  One quick coat of clear stain went on, and they were gone!  They came back Tuesday to put a coat of polyurethane down, and we couldn't walk on them for 24+ hours...

M was out of town during all of this, so I snuck in before the polyurethane went down to get some quick pictures to send to him!

Having counter tops in makes a big difference, it's starting to look like a kitchen!  A couple of days off for the floors to really dry well, and the guys were back at the end of week 5 to put the appliances in, finish putting handles on, hook up the sink, and patch some final drywall.  

Our painter, who was originally scheduled to come not for another 3+ weeks, called last minute on Friday of week 5 with an opening the next day - so of course we jumped on it!!  Canyon Cloud, be gone!  We are painting the mudroom, kitchen, and sunroom all the same color because they are all connected together.  I was traveling on business so I called M real fast to run to Sherwin Williams and grab some paint!  Walls and ceiling - it's so great to have it all finished.  AND we got in during the 35% off sale, too.  

Week 6 starts with tiling the back splash....then a few days off before the island piece comes in, is installed, and painted, which should be the final steps!  We have moved our food and plates, utensils, etc back in... it's only a matter of time!

Kitchen reno, previous posts:

Before photos

Cabinets

Progress

Hardwood and cabinet installation

Island

Kitchen reno - island

During the planning process, we decided we wanted to have an accent color on the island.  With a relatively white/gray color scheme, we decided to go with something different on the island.  The color options with Ikea are limited, so we M did some research, and found a cabinet maker called Barker in Oregon to order the island from that could make doors and panels to match the other cabinets.  We ordered the island weeks before construction started, with a plan of it shipping in 5-6 weeks.  Well, 8 weeks later, after some shipping 'challenges' and delays, it finally arrived.  In dozens of pieces, the pallet was delivered to our driveway.  

These are made in the same way as Ikea - assembly required.  So after they arrived Monday morning, that Monday night, we assembled everything for our contractors to install.  

We set everything out, measured the distances around the island, taped some pieces together with bue tape and left it to walk our contractors through our plan the next morning. 

When we got home from work on Tuesday, the island was installed.  And the recessed lights moved...once we got the island in the room, it was even more obvious that the 3 lights along the main wall weren't spaced properly.  Our contractor Steve, while he hesitated at the additional work, agreed that they were off center and we decided to shift them over a bit.  I'm so glad we did this!

The island will house a wine fridge, our trashcans, and drawer microwave.

Once everything was in, we noticed a few spaces between the back panels.  The one space was about 1/8" between the panels, which is very obvious.  We could caulk it, but over time it will expand and crack...

So....the saga continues.  We complained to the cabinet maker, so he's going to send us a new panel.  It should be here in 2 weeks...so the island is on hold a bit.  It has been primed, and the painter took the doors and trim home to paint while we wait for the panel.  It will be here soon...but at least the island is in, so we were able to measure for the counters and have them installed while we wait, and other items are finished.

Kitchen reno, previous posts:

Before photos

Cabinets

Progress

Hardwood and cabinet installation