Well, between work and life and such, we are slowly getting things moved back into the kitchen. We've run a few loads through the new dishwasher (which we installed ourselves!! Go us!) and I can already feel my blood pressure dropping. Making dinner won't be such a chore anymore! YAY!
We are still, however, in need of a cool light fixture to put over our sink. Our electrician installed a bare light bulb for us the last time he was here, just so we could use the thing, and we've found ourselves kind of liking the austereness of it. Still, we need something a liiiittle bit prettier. Anyway, this wordy little post is really just so I can show you all something awesome I found during The Great Kitchen Lighting Hunt. I was trolling Etsy and discovered this little beauty in woofwoof's shop.
Oh...My...Granite!
Well, we weren't expecting our countertops for another week or so, but the wonderful gang at Mountain Marble & Granite here in Asheville had an opening and they worked us in. And now.....
There are some yummy garnet flecks in there. Love it! Big thanks to the Mountain Marble & Granite folks who were SUPER nice and super speedy (yet thorough). *Sigh* We are so close to having a real kitchen again, I can almost taste it! Just some painting, wiring and backsplashing left. Oh, and our mystery hardware still needs to be installed...now where is that stuff???
Survival of the Fittest
While we await the new countertops and figure out when our electrician can come hook us back up, I thought I'd keep the old blog a-goin' with a little background (and maybe some advice for any future remodelers out there) on how we've lived...er...survived this, I'll just say it, intense remodel.
The old fridge will stay down here as part of a future project that we're REALLY looking forward to (no, really this time), the bar area! |
The coffee pot is also a must-have in the survival kitchen. Seriously! |
Happy Homemaking!!!
A-team reference! If only I had a Hannibal-style cigar... Anyway, it's celebration time here at Casa de Heuer because the cabinets have been installed!!! My amazing woodworker of a father-in-law was the brains and installation engineer behind the whole thing, though the rest of us hoisted and un-packaged and generally assisted in our fair share. (I can now take off and reinstall a cabinet door like nobody's business!) It was a long 3 days, but I'm super pleased with the results!
Fridge side |
We have a dishwasher!!! |
The granite guy is here templating the countertops, which we should have in a couple of weeks and we've still got to put on some hardware and some painting and backsplash installing to do, but it's aaall coming together! I pity the foo'! (cue theme song)
Tile Style!
Wow gang, sorry it's taken me a few days to post. Let's just say, tiling a kitchen floor is no joke! I'm just now getting all the mortar out from under my fingernails, but the floor itself looks awesome!
Here's a super flattering pic of me layin' it down...
Right: Fat Max box cutter for mortar scraping and general cutting; Top Center: Sponge for cleaning said pesky mortar; Right: Catching Fire by: Suzanne Collins for reading and wife sanity maintaining. |
Lowes: Canyon Slate Ceramic Tile |
Our brand new cabinets arrived today and they're occupying most of it! The in-laws will be here in a few days to help with the install, so look forward to that!! (I know I am!)
Adventures in Subflooring
Make no mistake, a kitchen remodel is the true test of a marriage! I think we've recovered well from this weekend's subflooring adventure, though we're still pretty sore and groan-y. There were several trips to Lowes, the untimely death of our brand new chalk line reel, and lots of grumpiness and "I can't do this!" declarations (mostly from me) as we worked late into Sunday night, but we managed to escape largely unscathed. Being the newbie fixer-uppers that we are, we were clueless as to just how involved laying cement backer board would be and Kevin now thinks that the backer board folks are in cahoots with the screw manufacturers! (We counted 49 screws per a full panel.) But, it looks pretty good so far. We have a little more taping and mortaring to do this evening and then we can lay the actual tile!!
Pretty professional looking, no? Check out the new drywall under the window...we did that too! |
Setting the Mood...
Let's be frank for a moment, I'm new to this whole design and decor game. Living in apartments and rented houses for the last decade, I never got the sense that my living space was actually mine. And who wants to sink a bunch of money into decorating a place you might not even be living in next year? So, I slogged along with bare white walls and left over college dorm decor (purple butterfly tapestries are still hot, right?) and never really got my feet wet with fabrics and color combination and style.
Now that we own a house I find myself wanting it to be as awesome as possible, which means I've been doing a lot of research on how to whip it into shape! During said research, I noticed that designers use these handy little things called mood boards to create a color scheme and an overall, well, mood for a room. (Yes, mood boards = new to me. As I said, I've been living in an undecorated cave for the last 10 years.) But how can I get my hands on the expensive design software to make mood boards of my own? Turns out, no need. MyDeco.com has a make-your-own-mood-board design tool. And that, my friends is what I've been playing with for the last several days. (When I'm not working and sanding kitchen walls, of course.) Here's a little color combo sampler for the kitchen.
It's a pretty awesome and free tool. While I searched for and uploaded these on my own, the site also lets you choose from photos from their sponsor shops. I'm also playing around with these colors for the master bedroom.
Gotta love those never ending projects!
About Me
- Leigh-Ann
- I am a freelance editor living with my supremely awesome husband in our favorite little city in the mountains. We are fixing up our first home and trying to love every minute of it!!
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