Showing posts with label butcherblock countertops. Show all posts

Pour Myself a Cup of Ambition...

Oh. Em. Gee. It's been so long! I got sick, like a lot sick, and was out for a while. Then I saw a specialist who told me my septum was deviant, (which explained a lot), and that was keeping oxygen from flowing freely to my brain thereby explaining my exhaustion, but not my dehydration. So I opted for surgery, which is not as fun as it sounds.

In between all this we finally finished our kitchen! And Jane Fonda hugged me. Not in that order.
So,...some befores?






That's right, asbestos floor, navajo white cabinets, tile counters, lathe and plaster, everything that only makes a redo more impossible. Nothing plumb, nothing level, nothing at all, in any way, easy.

And now, what you've all been waiting for...
We finished the sink and the mini subway tiles! Which was really hard! Since nothing is plumb or level, our solution was to use matching birch trim to frame out the tile. Quarter round tiles didn't work and I couldn't find any tiles that had finished edges. 


Bug plate! I think it is a perfect mix of me and John.
I love the beads I added to my wood mini blinds...
Paint brush storage!
Maybe those canisters hide something,...you'll never know...
To refab the doors, my husband knocked off the top rail, cut the door down to size with the handles still on them and then reattached the top rail piece. I painted and he rehung the same doors. He says it was super tricky.

I put a piece of cork under the toaster. No idea if the heat from the toaster will do any damage. It looks nice and might help. Plus I got it for 49 cents at a thrift store.
Take a turn about the room...
 What?! Did I leave my Mother's Day stuff up?!
The thrifted basket lamp...
Discount IKEA cabinets...
Things I need close at hand...
Mini Buddha shelf...

The beginnings of our front yard landscaping plan...
So much fresher and cleaner! No more dirty grout and sink full of 80 year old stains...

Next up, landscape the front yard, finish painting the house, turn my garage into an outdoor dining room...hopefully, my nose surgery will solve my exhaustion so I can get back into the swing of things! And maybe it will solve my money problems and I will get everything I want for free!!

Thanks for hangin' out with me! I always liked you best!

(Oh! I almost forgot! Jane Fonda...My husband worked on the HBO show The Newsroom and we went to the wrap party whereupon I talked to Jane Fonda and she pulled me in for a hug! She's delightful and down to earth and I highly recommend getting a hug from her. It may have led me to my improved mood and rehydration!)







Top Counters!

The counters finally went in today! Here is a pic in the daylight of what they will kind of look like.

We spent two days sanding the oil finish into the wood. John wanted to do a wet sanding situation where you start with regular 220 sand paper, then add the Liberon oil and use a 320 wet/dry sandpaper. Let it dry 5 hours, then oil and sand with 400, then dry for 5 hours and then sand with the 600. You end up with a super smooth surface. Really soft. And water resistant. Then you have to maintain it every 6 months to a year. Good times.

We had a lot of fun cutting everything to fit non-plumb, non-square cabinets. And we still have some work to do to make it look right. But here is the photo of the counters installed:
Right now it's so lovely I'm scared to actually use them or set anything on them. But I'm sure that'll change in like 2 days. When I have screaming children demanding quesadillas and milk.

Okay, I took a photo this morning...that's better...