Kitchen

Since we started with the kitchen when we moved in (and it's *still* not finished), I thought I'd start there, here, as well.

As I mentioned, the first thing we did upon purchasing the house, was to gut the kitchen. Unfortunately, I don't have access to those photos currently, but when I do I will upload those at a future date. The previous owners had painted everything - walls & cabinets - flamingo pink. The cabinets were constructed of plywood, the countertop was a molded laminated pressedboard (also, painted pink), and the floor was a laminate ; white with pink flowers. That all had to go! We started from the ground, up; replacing the subfloor, and adding ceramic tile (12x12; Sand Slate) on the floor in a running bond pattern, and added a tile threshold to both interior doorways.


Billy custom built all the cabinetry, made from aged pine, wood which we purchased from a storage room at an estate sale Billy worked. Then we added a 4x4 tile (cobalt blue) & grout countertop and backsplash (2x2; dusty rose), a double stainless steel sink, and a gooseneck faucet (which I LOVE!)

We've added a shelf above the window & upper cabinet (which, you no doubt notice is missing doors. I am waiting to find some small, authentic plantation shutters to modify for that project, so in the mean time, they remain open shelving) We've also covered the ceiling in a golden oak-stained wainscoat & applied crown molding & finials to the corners.

We decided to paint the walls a neutral beige color (semi-gloss, enamel; Do-it-Best/ "Jumpin' Jimminy") that matched the lighter tone in the tile, as well as the beige in the border (watercolor tile print) that we chose.
As you can see, that made the room very...blah.




So; this past week I have spent in the throws of what it means to wallpaper a room. Remove all the pictures and paraphernalia stashed on those shelves. Remove the shelf. Remove painted doorframes. wash down walls, hang paper (make *extraa* sure the pattern is going in the right direction!) WITHOUT having to remove the border, which I intended to incorporate. AND...do allll of this in N.Florida's hottest week of the year! Ah...well,I survived.And, the room is coming along very nicely, if I do say so myself. But, since I'm not completely finished, I haven't taken any snapshots yet, but I will do that in the next day or two, and update this post at that time.
Until then, a pic of the pattern (vinyl, prepasted; 3 dbl rls; Village/ 587250):

9/2 Update: And, the (almost) finished project:

This first pic is the eastern wall, taken facing south from the dining room doorway.The second one is the southern wall, from the same spot. Yeah; we still need two doorframes and baseboards, but hey! Its coming along!!) The doorway on the left leads to the hallway, which runs the length of the house. The door on the right is the exterior door to the sideyard. (Isn't my little shelf cute?)

And, of course, this is from the hallway, facing the dining room.

(I just love my little plaques I picked up at BigLots...they go well, don'cha think?!)

I'm creating this blog, as a record for our home and property renovations.
We've been here 8 yrs.,purchased September 22. 1997. Built in 1944, and moved to this property in the 70's; 3 bedroom, 1 bath, single-family, framed structure, single level, corner lot. As we have done some renovation since the purchase, I can't provide for before/after shots of work already done - but that's okay...it's not much!! Mostly some basic structural repairs, we have replaced the floor in the kitchen (from the joists thru the subflooring, to the ceramic tile on top) and have 90% of the bathroom finished. We have also textured the walls in the dining room and have done some painting here and there. The house was empty for several years before the purchase, so there is ALOT of work to be done. We are doing 100% of the renovations ourselves, so it is slow going, but well worth the time & effort...a sense of accomplishment and pride (as well as the $$ saved on contractors) propels us slowly forward.

The plan for this blog: to create a space where I can SEE the ever-so-slow progress we are achieving. I expect it to consist of mostly photos, some explanation of what we have done, and perhaps the material costs. I also intend to add yard and garden progress as well.

So....until next time....