The Kitchen is DONE

We finally wrapped up the kitchen project (99% anyway).  We are absolutely in love with it.  It has been heaven to use it every day.  I feel so lucky we had the skills to get this all done ourselves.

We put in some pretty neat strip power outlets under all of the upper cabinets.  We also put in strip LED lighting.  It's really great to leave the under cabinet lights on in the evening to provide a glow in the room without every recessed light being on.

 

After we put the crown molding on, it was quite a relief to see everything come to a close.  We still need to do a back splash but I think the kitchen looks and functions perfectly fine without one for now.  That is the only thing!  Whoo hoo!

I do have my eye on this tile as a potential back splash, but I need to order a sample before I commit to anything.  I love the look of cement tiles, but they are very expensive.  This one has the look but it ceramic.  I originally wanted a subway tile but I'm feeling like that might be too boring.  No rush to decide.

Here's a link to what the kitchen looked like before our remodel if you wanted to see that again.  It's come a long way!

Washer Dryer Ikea Kitchen Cabinet Hack

Surprisingly this project was super fast to complete.  We expected it to be a huge headache so Brian kept putting it off.  Once he started it he finished in less than 45 minutes!  We were shocked it worked so smoothly.

Basically, we wanted a panel on the side that would be removable to easily access the water valves behind the washer and dryer if needed. 

Brian routered out three pockets and added these metal cleats.  Genius!

If you have any questions, let us know.

We've Really Slowed Down... But Still Finishing Up That Kitchen

So since the kitchen is totally functional and pretty amazing, we have totally slowed down.  We are close to done, but just a little left to do.

On the to do list is just:

• attach cabinet toe kicks
• add door trim and baseboards
• install crown above cabinets
• finish installing the under cabinet LED lighting strips
• finish installing power outlet on island 
• choose and install a back splash of some sort
• and soooome day we will open up the wall between the living room and kitchen to make a bar top, but no rush on that.

We finally put all the pulls on (except one, can you find it?).  The under cabinet trim pieces were put on as well.

The drawer for recycling in the island is up and running.  What a convenience!  This originally was designed to house our trash, but we like our old trash can that we operate with our foot and it has a nice location too.  This was a welcome change of plan.

Every upper cabinet has these awesome power strips under them instead of a socket in the back splash.  We bought different lengths depending on the cabinet it went under.  We did a little outlet overkill, but that's ok.  It's better to have too many than not enough where you need it.  Plus they are hidden, so why not?

Also the dishwasher is so cool with the built-in door panel attached.  So fancy.  ;)

I love having my little breakfast bar area for cooking bagels and making my daily iced caramel macchiatto!  These two items used to take up the entire counter in the last kitchen.  So, it's nice having their own area off to the side.

Thanks for following up!

Faucets, Knobs, and Floors... Let's Decide

For about a week now I have been browsing online which faucet to choose.  There are so many options.  I had a few reqirements:
     1.  Must have a pull down sprayer.  I didn't want an extra hole on the counter top.  Also I would think when wet hands put back a counter mounted sprayer, that's another chance for water to pool.
     2.  Must have one lever for hot and cold.
     3.  Preferably include a soap dispenser
     4.  A sweeper spray would be an absolute bonus.  Who doesn't wanna have a power-wash blaster setting?!

I finally came across this one, the Kohler Bellera:

Here's a video of it's neat-o-ness.

It met all my criteria and will look so great with our farm house sink!  I typed in its name onto houzz.com and discovered lots of other people who actually chose this same faucet with their farm house sink.

We had changed the pulls in our old kitchen about a year or two ago because the original ones were just so gross.  So luckily, these pulls I think will function great in our new kitchen too.  The knobs will be on all the upper door style cabinets.

 For all the drawers I really like these cup style pulls.  Brian isn't a huge fan, but he said it's my call.  What do you think?  It's a tough call between either the half circle or the more flat shape.

As you may have read before, we were deciding between two slate looking floor tiles.  One was dark gray and the other a lighter gray.  Today I went to the slab yard where our counter top is being stored to take both floor samples and make a final decision.

I decided I really prefer the dark over the light next to our granite.  However, I still was curious to find a wood looking tile as an alternative.  At the slab store, they also sell floor tile and had a really great gray wood tile.  I really loved it a lot when I set it next to our slab!  The color is the same as the dark slate tile I chose, but with the wood look.  Hmmmmmmm.... better make up our minds on this one pretty quick.

The slab is outside right now so the sun made the shade of the tile and granite a little off, but you get the idea.  What do you think?