Our long awaited arrival

I'd say that this house has been like giving birth, but it sure is taking longer than 9 months.

This was a good weekend, mostly because we hit some sort of Babysitters Club Book jackpot at the library's used book sale. They had about 45 of them at 25 cents each (I just reached for the "cents" key and it doesn't exist anymore :( I guess there's an option+ keystroke, but how very sad that it's not obvious; I just looked this up and, um, looks like maybe there never was one on a computer keyboard. Does this show my age, or how little I use that word...or both?). I think the kiddo was a little overwhelmed that we told her she could buy all of them-- she would only take 12.

Anyway, if we'd done nothing else all weekend, that alone would have made it great.

But luckily, we did get a ton of stuff wrapped up. First and foremost, as I mentioned in the last post, we got our backsplash installed. This is what it's looked like for about 8 months:


And now:



I cannot stress enough that it looks metallic-- not nearly so browny chocolate. The final layer is several thin sprays of metallic copper outdoor paint so the initial sheen is that of copper, then an oil rubbed bronze base coat. It's fairly dark under our cabinets, even with the lighting, so you see those subtle metallic highlights when standing in person. Unfortunately, with the flash, it washes out the highlights; without the flash, it just turns yellow. So there you go. We still have one side wall to do, and once we get an over the range microwave, we'll extend the backsplash behind the stove. I'm also faux finishing the outlet covers and switchplates to match.

I'll quickly explain the process for cheapest backsplash ever while it's still fresh.

These were 18X24 inch pressed aluminum panels from MBoss, Inc. ($6.50 each for 12, plus shipping). First we rubbed them with 00 steel wool and primed them with Rustoleum's heavy duty primer for rusty metal ($4/can, for 2 cans). Then we dry fit them into the space and used kitchen shears to cut out the window. We decided to split the back wall into 2 sections for ease of handling and storing and painting, etc. Once we had decided where the split would be (under the window), we glued the panels together using PL Construction Adhesive (there's an overlap in the pattern for this purpose). After each set was dry and adhered, I used a fine grit sanding block and my fingernail to get rid of any glue that squished out, and reprimed any places that had been sanded off. Then, we added the trim pieces. These are plastic edges that create a smooth transition to the countertop and in the corners. They're from Home Depot's plastic/composite backsplash panels kit usually housed back in the cabinet showroom ($0.99 each). I laid out the whole wall's worth of panels on the lawn and snapped on the edges, then made sure that the center seam would piece together naturally and adjusted the edges accordingly. Then I painted it all together.

We used Sophisticated Finishes Blackened Bronze, an acrylic medium with powdered bronze mixed in (Michaels, $8/ bottle, for 2 bottles), so it looks a little more authentic. It's also rated for outdoor use. I brushed it on very thinly with a sponge brush and then very, very lightly patted it with another sponge brush to take out the brush strokes. After it dried, I misted several layers of the outdoor copper spray paint (Krylon, I think, about $4) until it looked like we wanted it. We decided it would be best to err on the side of copper, considering how dark it is under there. (FYI-- we used outdoor grade everything so it could withstand getting wet.)

After they were painted, we dry fit, yet again. We had to scoot the edge pieces down on one side and shim a place where the concrete wall dips, but everything fit well otherwise. While the panels were up there for fitting, we applied blue tape up against them on the counter so we knew where they laid. We pulled them out and ran a bead of siliconized caulk behind the taped line (NOT silicone caulk, after what happened last time...), then applied PL adhesive to the back of the panels. Of course, we ran out halfway through one panel and you only have about 10-15 minutes with this stuff, so I had to sprint to the hardware store. They didn't have any of this particular brand, so I opted for Liquid Nails Heavy Duty. Liquid Nails hasn't failed me yet-- my dad even tiled the upper portion of their mantle with liquid nail. It's the best. Anyway, we'll see how it holds up. We set the panels onto the caulk and raised them into place. So far so good.

And that's it.

See? No flash turns EVERYTHING yellow. But this pic shows how our lights are like little spotlights.

I know it sounds like a lot of steps, and it's certainly not the swankiest or most polished looking backsplash possible, but with an uneven concrete wall, and at about $150 total, this seemed like the way to go. Throw in another $15 of testing paints and that's a grand total that would barely buy the plywood, hardibacker, thinset and tapcons that we'd need to tile-- forget paying for the tile itself! That wall was just a nightmare. Even if it lasts us a few years, I'll be a happy camper. Hell, we could have set a toddler up there with a pack of magic markers and it would have been better than what we had.

Patience is not my strong suit

Lots to report from the weekend, but I can't upload all the pictures until the morning...Still, I couldn't wait to report the one thing I CAN show you.

Remember this?


Now it looks like this!


Eeeeee! It's so exciting! And it's even better from this angle:


The backsplash is up! More details and pics to come...

New colors and stained glass finds...

We tried some more combinations of backsplash colors and the order in which we layered them. And if everything still looks good in the evening light, we've found one we're going with. Basically, we rubbed the panel with 00 steel wool, quickly, then primed with Rustoleum primer for heavily rusted metal. The heavy duty stuff. It's a very reddish brown. Then I painted the Sophisticated Finishes blackened bronze on the panel, 2 squares at a time with a sponge brush. After that, I daubed and patted at the wet paint with a dry sponge brush-- a wet brush causes a ton of bubbles., and it dries very quickly; 2 squares was all I could do at once. After those layers dried, we sprayed the Krylon outdoor formula copper paint as a brief passing mist...just enough for some copper sheen.

A picture wouldn't do any good-- it doesn't look much different in pics than the panel I photographed last night, and you can take my word for it that it looks even less like a choco bar and more like an oil rubbed bronze. We also tried our paint technique on the connector pieces that Home Depot sells for their plastic ceiling panels. The finish looked good; we'll know more about how well they work when we install the backsplash.

I know this is a bit of a laundry list of "accomplishments." I feel a little better about the hole in the ceiling knowing that something else is getting better.

So continuing...

We affixed our under cabinet lighting. Sam's Club sells 3 packs of these Sylvania Dragon Cabinet lights. They are like Sylvania's more colorful Dot-Its, but they're a step up, I think.


They are LED lights with stickum on the back. They are battery powered, have a motion sensor and 2 settings-- bright and dim. At $28 for 3, it's a pretty solid deal. We like them so far.

This week is also our city spring clean-up. There are dumpsters located in each city ward, and we made 2 runs, getting rid of the nasty carpet and old mattresses. This couldn't have been better timed, what with the hail storm on Wednesday night.

We also did some temporary repair work on my grandmother's windows, and while we were there, we went through some more of the stuff that no one else wanted or needed. We picked up some good measuring cups, a marble rolling pin, mixing bowls, a silver butter dish, meat grinder, good liquor, etc. But we also got some cooler and more sentimental items. One was an old sewing machine that was my great grandmother's and which I played on for hours and hours; I would lay on the floor and kick the fly wheel until someone came and made me stop. 2 fabulous peach FireKing Lustreware custard dishes-- great for ice cream!


Another FireKing, milk glass oven ware serving dish on the left and the bread basket we used every family dinner; it has a slate panel in the bottom that goes in the oven while you bake and sits in the bottom of the tray to keep the bread warm during dinner:


And this one was a real surprise. In the back on a high cabinet, I found this coffee carafe and cups:


It's Franciscan Pottery from the mid-thirties, I think. It's really, really cool. I've never seen in at the house, but I've fallen in love with it. I'm guessing that my grandmother may have picked it up when she traveled on the train out to California before she joined the Navy and met my grandfather. She didn't do a lot of traveling after that, so I think this is really something special.

And finally, the thing I'm probably most excited about, is the stained glass that my grandfather made, and which hung in their kitchen for years.


The window directly beside this one has a gigantic window unit. We'll replace that with plate glass and we can hang this panel in front-- it fits perfectly. And that is the most exciting thing.

Well, acquiring my grandmother's recipe collection might be more exciting. It's a toss-up.

Huzzah

After this week, we needed something exciting. Something GOOD exciting, not golfball sized hail. Or softball sized as was reported a block down the road.

No, we needed some good old fashioned DIY home improvement handy ass something to keep us excited about this project.

On Friday, the backsplash panels arrived! Yay! I did not jynx their arrival as I feared. Our bathroom towel bar has arrived, as well, though it's not been installed yet. Now if I can just find my drawer pulls, I can declare the bathroom as done as it's getting for a while. They've been, ahem, misplaced.

So, the backsplash. We unwrapped the panels and propped them up on the counter and they were, well, bright.


A little too shiny. So I made a trip to Michaels and Hobby Lobby and we did a few tests. First, we tried 3 different "bronze" paints:


We used a flat black spray paint, and did 2 coats, one coat and none, then tried each of the 3 paints. One was a Spanish copper Rub N Buff, one was DecoArts Metallic paint in Espresso, and the best one, the one on the left, was Sophisticated Finishes in Blackened Bronze. It's actually bronze finely ground and combined with an acrylic medium. Next, we painted the whole panel solid matte black and daubed the whole thing with the bronze:


First, I brushed it on, then patted it with the foam brush to get rid of the brush strokes, then patted it with a dry foam brush to knock down the foamy air bubbles that the foam brush was leaving. I had a system. Then we hit it with a glossy polyurethane.



Aaaaaand........it looked like a Hershey bar. We tried it with a satin finish and it didn't look any better. I thought maybe a copper base coat would be best, so I ran to the store and bought a can of Krylon Outdoor copper paint. The plan was to just paint over the choco bar, since the metal primer I bought is brown...But I thought I'd try misting it first. And it looked great! It's much better!


We think so, anyway. We'll look at it in the daylight and decide for certain. The left side, with the glossy poly underneath, looks better. But we'll try it tomorrow using the brown primer, and eliminating the black and poly steps to see if it comes out the same. We may also see what happens with the copper as base coat. But at least we know we have a system that works, even if it is 10 steps long...

Yahoo!

Backsplash is on its way!! I got the notice that our aluminum "tin" panels have shipped. If all goes well (and I'll probably be kicking myself for saying this), we might actually get to tackle it this weekend...

More kitchen decisions

Well, today Adam is plugging away at the particle board countertops, I think. He's down there working, at any rate, and that's our next project.

We're going to need all the help we can get with the granite tile counters, though, so I've been trolling the internet looking for How-To's and Tips.

I found this Reader's Digest article with a lot of detailed info and pictures. And we've already received some tips from Jennifer at Tiny Old House-- much thanks!!

I'm also working my way through the counters section of the 10k Kitchen Remodel blog. The problem I'm running into here is that we're using 12" square tiles and he used much larger rectangular ones, I think. We're also not bullnosing the edge, but rather will choose wood trim to match the cabinets...

And speaking of cabinets, we're also considering new doors. We currently have the red oak standard stock cabinets you can get at any big box store, with that yellowy finish and raised panel doors. They're just not really my style. And, I would have loved to do dark cherry cabinets, but dark cabs, dark counters and medium to dark floors might be a bit too much, even with our bright yellow walls.

So. When we sanded the upper cabinet bases, we found that they are a nice pinkish color naturally-- the "red" of red oak, I suppose-- so we're choosing to clearcoat. As for doors, I found this company: Advantage Cabinet Doors. At $5.25 a square foot for oak, they are wicked cheap, and they carry the shaker style recessed panel doors that I like. They also come unfinished, so we could use the same thing on them that we use on the base. Anyone out there heard of them or used them before? They're cheap enough that I think I'm willing to give them a shot!

Also, I think we're leaning toward this backsplash from M-Boss:



We just have to decide whether to order it already clearcoated or whether to buy it in the mill finish and go through the coating process ourselves...My understanding is that we'd have to oxidize it fist in lye??? If anyone reading this has done it before, I'd love a recap of your experience, and whether you think it's worth doing it... It's a difference of $6.50 uncoated vs. $11.25 coated per panel, and we need around 10 panels if we just do the backsplash area, another 6 or 8 if we decide to fill in the space behind the stove.

I think the shiny aluminum will be a nice way to bring everything together. It will work with the Silver Mist appliances and reflect the green and gold of the Uba Tuba and yellow of the walls.

I might be getting a little ahead of the game here. We should probably focus on one thing at a time, but sometimes, I just can't help myself!

Focus on the kitchen...

This weekend we begin sanding the house full force. Then once we get the floors out of the way, we'll be in a position to move into the house and stop paying for 2 homes. But after the floors, it'll be full steam ahead on the kitchen. So now that we've made some decisions about how we're handling the floors, we can start planning the remaining aspects of the kitchen.

Here's a reminder of the before, so you'll understand that anything we do will be better than this:

Yep, that's fruit-themed vinyl faux tile on the backsplash. The fridge goes on the far left of this picture. The only change being made to the layout is that our new gas stove, is being installed on the opposite wall from the one you see here. We'll be choosing a yellow color for the walls, and the ceiling fan is a goner-- a new gift for the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. We purchased the appliances during a labor day sale-- Frigidaire silver mist gas range, microwave and top-freezer refrigerator. I don't like the way stainless smudges and we couldn't afford the non-smudgy kind. The dishwasher is a black Frigidaire with all the bells and whistles-- I haven't lived in a place with a dishwasher since I was 9 years old, so this was the one appliance we wanted to splurge on. Someday, I'll upgrade to drawer style...mmm...Oh, and lighting decisions come a bit later, when we decide if we have room for an island. We're gonna live in the kitchen for a bit before we make that choice.

So anyway, we gutted the thing, replaced the walls and here's where we stand now.

Cabinets are at least partially in place. We will be adding another upper cabinet to the far right so that we can attach the microwave. We have an old lower cabinet component that we won't be using, so I guess we'll adjust that to fit. We started sanding the uppers so we could refinish, and ended up deciding that they really are a pretty color naturally, so we'll just clear-coat them and leave as is. I don't like the door style, but they're pretty solid, so I may just learn to live with them for the time-being.

We still need to replace the countertop base; it's currently particle board, which will swell under the tile. Sink is graphite ($235 at Lowes), and faucet is in oil-rubbed bronze (which I happily found on Overstock for $65!!). The surface is going to be Uba Tuba granite tile (also part of the Labor Day sale purchase-- at 20% off they were about $7.70/ft2), and we'll do a wood trim edge-- I think we should get a piece of trim that matches the cabinets. Adam's not sold on the idea.

As for the backsplash, I had wanted to use yellow/beige 4 inch translucent glass tiles. They, however, cost an arm and a leg. Then we discovered metallic glazed tiles in bronze. They cost the other arm and leg. I suggested bead board painted the same color as the walls (a light yellow, eventually) but with a slightly shinier top coat, and that one was nixed right out of the gate. "Too country," apparently. We both think a tumbled stone look would look good, but I think that would be a little boring-- predictable.

My newest suggestion is faux tin ceiling tiles. They're moderately priced; somewhere between nice ceramic or stone tiles and glass at ~$18 per 18X24" tile. if nothing else, these just seem so much easier to install than tile, especially with the goofy, uneven masonry/concrete wall that this stuff is going on top of.


At any rate, neither of us has outright nixed this idea, so it still has a fighting chance.

Then again, I do have a knack for talking myself out of Brilliant Ideas all the time.