kitchen comes to an end

chapter 1

chapter 2  

chapter 3 

We finally tiled the backsplash. The kitchen is finished.

Before the move we scored this glass/marble tile for $6 a sheet at Bedrosians. We found it in the "seconds" section (normally goes for $15-20 a sheet), but despite some areas of inconsistency or discoloration, it looked pretty good.

We knew we wanted it in our kitchen so we bought five boxes. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.

11.04.11

Prep work. Brent and I taped paper over our countertops and filled in wall holes (from the old backsplash tear out) to make  it easier for the thin set and tile to adhere to the wall.

11.05.11
After watching lots of how-to videos online, we figured we could accomplish most of the project in one day. Hah. Snag after snag kept pushing back our start time. Wrong tile blade, electrical wiring in the way of the vent hood, no studs for the hood to be secured to, wrong grout, wrong size of screws, not enough wire, not enough caulk, needed more tools ...

I made two or three trips to home improvement stores. Brent cut a 1x2 ft hole in the wall, moved the electrical unit and wiring, and installed studs to support the range hood.

And we found the only store in Vegas open later than 5pm on a Saturday that carried a glass tile blade for a wet saw. Miracle.

We finally got started at 8:30pm that night.

Through trial and error, we learned the proper consistency for thin set, how to spread it on the wall, how to apply the tile and help it bond with the thin set, how to space sheets evenly with spacers ...

We finished this section at 11:15pm and went to bed.

We spent the next several days installing more tile.

11.10.11
We got to the other end of the wall and realized we needed to buy more tile (to finish where the hood would go).

Bought another box, installed it ...

11.15.11
Grouted the tile. What a mess.

We spent a few days caulking and sealing, Brent installed the vent hood, I painted most of what was left of the kitchen, Brent finished edging the paint, and now ...

the end.

epilogue: I may have been without a stove for two weeks with the rest of the kitchen as a construction zone, but it was worth it.

lighten up

10.29.11

Started off the day by driving 3.7 hours to the closest IKEA to Las Vegas, which happens to be in Covina. Spent the entire day there, J missed his nap, bought what we needed (so much cheaper than it would've been at BBB or Target), and drove home -- J still didn't sleep.

10.30.11

On the eve of Halloween, after J was down for bed, we got this ambitious idea to install the new IKEA Kryssbo pendant lights. After all, how hard could it be if it's from IKEA?

 Well, it was harder and took longer than it should've, but once we figured out the wiring in the ceiling actually did work, found a once-lost piece that was crucial for the light to stay suspended, cleaned up shattered glass from a cheaply-made light housing attachment, and determined the height for the lights and made them level, we were rewarded with this:

I am still in awe at how fantastic they look up there. And that it took til 2:30am Halloween morning to install them. More pics to come with the backsplash and range hood added!

countertop and appliances swap

10.10-11.11

When choosing countertops for the kitchen, we decided to go with one of the standard granite colors the builder offered instead of their pricy upgrades. We knew upgrading later on with another company would cost much less. We told the sales agent about our plans and she asked if we would instead choose the other standard granite color. Apparently another home buyer didn't want it but it had already been ordered. I wasn't a fan of this new color, but we worked it out and figured it would motivate us to change the countertops sooner. And it did. Gray on Gray on Gray was not for me.

We priced out quartz countertops with several companies and found our cheapest option was actually the same company that provided our flooring -- Carpets 'N More. Go figure. After weighing our color options we chose Hanstone Aurora Snow. We also decided to mod up the kitchen some more by wrapping the sides of the island with quartz. The crew, Manuel and August, worked meticulously for two days transforming our kitchen. They tore out the old granite, hauled the huge slabs to the garage, then hauled the new quartz slabs in and out of the house as they measured, cut, recut, polished and installed the pieces. Then they made sure we were completely happy with the final result. And we were.

Let's compare. Before:

After:

 I am ecstatically thrilled with how the countertops turned out! Especially the island sides wrap. It works beautifully with our cabinets, handles and flooring. We picked out a new sink to replace the builder's top mount standard sink and Brent installed our kitchen faucet that we already owned.

The sink looks huge since it's a deep single-basin. I could probably bathe my almost two year old in there. Thank you, random decorative plumbing store behind the Palms! We'll be back soon for a shower system.

About a year ago, when we thought we would be buying a different house, we bought a set of appliances on craigslist to put inside this gutted house. Even after that house fell through, we kept the appliances hoping we could use them somewhere else. This set is a few years old but an upgrade from GE's standard stainless line. Fast forward to our new house. We still liked the old set we bought more than the set that came with the new house, so Brent uninstalled the new appliances and we sold them on craigslist.

 Then he installed the old appliances we bought before. May sound weird but I like this old set much better. And it included a five-burner cooktop.

We actually planned out the cabinet underneath to be wider so it would fit this cooktop. Something to think about if you're looking to upgrade. And we added pot drawers (I'm already thanking myself for forward thinking).

Now we just need to install the range hood, tile the backsplash and paint the rest of the kitchen. That's all. Hah.

getting a handle on paint, cabinets

10.05-06.11

Spent these days painting more Frozen Pond in the front room and hallways. We had friends Jourdan and Greg help us, so the work went super fast. The 20-foot walls are something else.

I also painted the family room with friend Sarah. We chose another Behr color: Contemplation. It coordinates with Frozen Pond but is a bit lighter and a hint greener. 

The company that manufactured our cabinets, Del Grosso, also installed our cabinet handles and moved our microwave cabinet. Our cabinets are by Cardell, Urbano II Maple in Smoke finish.

Before:

After:

And the cabinet is now here by the oven. Microwave will be installed soon.

 We carried the same handles (Ikea Lansa) throughout the house. I love how they turned out.

Their employee, Jose Luis, did a fantastic job lining up the handles and making them look perfectly modern (easier said than done).

Carpets 'N More surprised us with our laminate flooring, too! We weren't expecting it to arrive so quickly, but they pulled through for us.

The laminate we chose is Scottsdale Zanzibar Gray. The hand-scraped planks are 5.5in wide and 12mm thick. For laminate, it looks really good and will hold up well for our toddler and future children.