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Kitchen Facelift
November 16 - December 15, 2015 |
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The plan has always been to tear
the kitchen down to the studs and rebuild the
kitchen from scratch. This would include a new
layout, new drywall, new cupboards, new appliances,
etc. This would of course run into the
thousands of dollars, even if I did most of the work
myself.
I keep hoping to run into the folks from DIY's
"Kitchen Crashers" at Lowe's or The Home Depot,
where I will get down on my knees and cry, "Yes,
please tear out my kitchen and break down as many
walls as you need!!!"
But the chances of them ever coming to El Paso, are
like me winning a $25,000 jackpot. A slim
chance to none..
So while I have dreams of a beautiful kitchen, the
reality is.....this will not happen anytime soon.
In the meantime, I can do a little with it to make it
look better. |
|
The food
prep area of the kitchen - Before |
The first item I planned on
working on were the countertops.
For each of the main kitchen projects, I have
created separate web pages for them in case you are interested in only that particular project.
- See the
counter top facelift here...
- See the
backsplash installation here...
- See the
cut
paper artwork and framing here...
- See the
kitchen light
transformation here... |
| Before
working on the counters I needed to do some
general repair work to the walls above the
elevation of the counters. The drywall
had some large cracks to fill and the seam
at the top of the wall which met with the
popcorn ceiling had some areas where the
paint had cracked. This happened when
the roof was being trampled upon during the
Raising the Roof Project earlier
this year. |
Cracks in paint seam between wall and
ceiling |
|
Before -
Large crack and seam to fill |
After -
Crack filled and moulding used
to hide electrical cord and crack in seam |
|
There
was also a large gap above the cabinets over
the refrigerator that needed to be fixed.
I needed to fix the dropping cabinet and
reposition the moulding at the top of the
cabinet.
When we had moved into the house, our new
refrigerator was too tall for the space so
we busted out the bottom of the cabinet. We
covered the old shelf gap with some
moulding. |
Before - Crack at top of cabinet and issues
with doors |
|
This
moulding looked silly now so I worked on
that also.
I removed the moulding at the top.
Pushed up the cabinet as much as I could and
secured it. Took off the cabinet doors
and fixed them. Gave the handles a
fresh coat of paint along with the doors.
After cleaning off the moulding that went on
the top, I
reattached it to the top of the cabinet
against the ceiling. |
After - Crack issue addressed and doors
fixed |
|
I re-did the
moulding underneath the cabinet to the right
and left of where the refrigerator goes.
Then painted the whole area.
Now I was ready to work on the counters. The
finished faux granite countertops are shown below.
They came out great! To see the details on
how I did the countertops,
please
go here... |
|
Faux
granite counter tops |
The next thing I wanted to work
on was a backsplash.
While I was waiting for those materials to come in,
I repaired the lower cabinet doors where needed,
painted the handles, and gave the cupboards a fresh
coat of paint. |
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Backsplash installed on walls behind stove and sink |
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OK I admit, the backsplash may be
considered a little garish for this kitchen, but I
got the materials half off so I am going to go with
it for now. Details about the
backsplash materials and installation are here...
After installing the backsplash,
there was one section of the wall that was bothering me....
The huge wall area next to where I decided to stop
the backsplash. It is just too......I don't
know...white? stark?... next to the newly painted
counter and backsplash.
I had already created some art pieces for the wall
that needed to be framed. In the meantime, I
decided to use some of the left over Corsica wallpaper that I used in my Master Bath
(see
this here...) The off-white and
gold color in the textured wallpaper would work
nicely with the newer color scheme in the kitchen
and soften the look of this bright wall. I
could also cover-up the stupid hole in the wall,
where there used to be a phone jack.
See
the details about the artwork here... |
|
Wall to
add some wallpaper to. Also needed to cover
phone jack hole. |
|
Wallpaper on. No more phone jack hole. |
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Artwork installed on kitchen wall |
The next area of the kitchen that
I worked on was the light area above the kitchen.
In retrospect, I should have done this before the
counters but I did not come up with the idea until
later.
To see how I transformed the light covering,
please
go here... |
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Kitchen lights before |
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Kitchen lights after |
In addition to the physical work
that was completed in the kitchen, I bought a few
items to complete the look.
I had
some old braided rugs on the kitchen floor
previously. These rugs had moved
around the house for over 10 years and were
faded and in pretty bad shape. They
were tossed. |
To replace them, I purchased some rugs that
are technically outdoor rugs. They are
lightweight and can be hosed down to clean
them. With the dogs, it is necessary
to be able to hose a mess down if needed.
Over the years, the only online company that
I have been able to buy a set of rugs from
at the exact sizes I want AND have them all
match is the:
Home Decorators Collection - now at the Home
Depot
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Home-Decorators-Collection-Saddlestitch-Black-8-ft-6-in-x-13-ft-Area-Rug-2881480210/202769919
At the time I made my
rug purchase they had a $75 off a $200
purchase sale. The three rugs I
purchased totaled $195. Is this not
always the case? So I needed to look
for something else I wanted, to bring the
sale up to $200. They had some Insect
Plaques on sale for $26. So I ordered
those also.
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Saddlestitch All Weather Rug - Black |
The style of rug I ordered was
the Saddlestitch All Weather Rugs - Black.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Home-Decorators-Collection-Saddlestitch-Black-8-ft-6-in-x-13-ft-Area-Rug-2881480210/202769919
I
ordered one 2'3" x 11'9" runner and two 3'9" x 5'5"
area rugs to fit in the space on the kitchen floor.
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New rugs
on kitchen floor.
Because of odd kitchen layout, this was the only
angle where I could photograph all three rugs in one
shot. |
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Set of
three insect plaques placed above kitchen sink
http://www.homedecorators.com/p/anthropology-plaques-set-of-3/10/280/ |
I purchased some Haitian Steel
Drum Art originally to go above the kitchen sink,
but the item was smaller than what was specified and
looked too small over the sink, so I placed it on
the wall behind the stove. The actual
dimensions of the artwork are 28 1/4" x 3 1/2"
not 30" x 4" as stated on the website.
http://www.amazon.com/Primitif-Galleries-Haitian-Recycled-Horizontal/dp/B00IGRM65G/ref=sr_1_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1450035606&sr=1-1&keywords=Horizontal+Birds+and+Flowers |
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Haitian Steel Drum Artwork behind stove |
The one
thing I noticed in my photos of the kitchen,
was the ever present bottle of Dawn
dishwashing detergent.
This bottle represents a small household
feud. My husband likes to close the
cap after use. I on the other hand,
like to leave it open for quick dispensing.
I have also torn the snap cap part off in
the past and thrown it away to keep it from
being closed. I use this soap for hand
washing and the dishes. Yes, my hands
get that dirty.
The solution to all of this fighting over a
silly bottle and the tacky look of it always
sitting on the sink, was to replace it with
an automatic soap dispenser. I don't
know why I did not think of this before!!
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Spruce and Chic® Automatic Touchless Soap
Dispenser - Sensor Pump |
|
I
purchased the Spruce and Chic® Automatic
Touchless Soap Dispenser - Sensor Pump.
This little battery operated wonder
dispenses the right amount of soap without
having to touch it. It matches the
sink. No more tacky plastic bottle.
No more opening and closing cap.
4 AAA batteries keep in running for about a
year.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016L9G0Z2?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailpages00 |
Soap dispenser on sink to replace detergent
bottle |
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While
moving the stove in and out to work on the
counter tops I was reminded about the gaps
where all kinds of gunk gets stuck between
the stove and counter.
The one thing I wondered about, when looking
for a solution to this, was whether it would
work for my stove.
The gap on the right side of the stove is
tight. The stove rests right against
the edge. Also, because the floor is
not level, the left side of the counter is
level with the stove. On the right
side, the stove is slightly above the edge
of the counter top.
The gap fillers I found that work great are
the McClure's Flexible Silicone Stove Gap Seals.
I ordered the black. |
Black silicone stove gap seal |
|
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/
B00UYB67LG?psc=1&redirect=true
&ref_=od_aui_detailpages00
The gap fillers were
exactly the right length for my stove.
On the right side, I had to push the stove
to the left to get the gap filler lip inside
this tight gap. The seals only overlap
the edge of the stove by about a 1/2" so I
don't have to worry about them catching fire
from the gas flame.
The black blends in with the new countertop
color which makes them barely noticeable.
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Stove gap seals barely noticeable on stove |
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They wipe clean easily with a microfiber
sponge.
The photograph of the "new" kitchen after I finished
the light fixture is below. I am now happy
with the look of the kitchen until I get around to
tearing it all out. Wow, I may even start
cooking!! |
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The food
prep area of the kitchen - After |
Total cost for the kitchen
facelift
(prices are the total cost of what I paid, including
any shipping or taxes):
| Giani
Granite counter kit (bought
11/2012) |
$77.72 |
|
Backsplash |
83.46 |
| Wallpaper
- part of roll I had on-hand |
15.00 |
| Artwork
frames |
30.80 |
| Light
fixture upgrade |
223.28 |
| 3 rugs +
set of 3 insect plaques |
201.35 |
| Haitian
art |
40.05 |
| Stove gap
seals |
15.99 |
| Soap
dispenser |
37.64 |
|
Total |
$725.29 |
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