Adventures in Remuddling

It’s a good thing I finished the wall before last month’s winter storms hit our area. Three snowfalls within a week netted almost 2 feet of snow.

Underneath that pile of white snow is the wall I finished a few weeks ago.

Continue reading “Finishing the dry stacked stone wall” »

We’ve been talking about doing a major hell-raising kitchen renovation in about 5-7 years so that we have time to dream, plan and save money. In the meantime, the kitchen needs a mini-makeover. For a while, we’ve been tolerating its appearance, rationalizing that it was functional and spacious compared to some of our previous kitchens.

But things we tolerate also sap us of our energy and vitality, like a slowly dripping faucet. This morning, I made notes on all the things that bothered me about the kitchen. Let’s take a tour:

This corner of the kitchen is pretty set, there’s not much we can change about it.

Continue reading “Kitchen Mini-Makeover” »

I needed a little inspiration for our kitchen mini-makeover, and found it in Country Home magazine’s May 2007 issue. Titled “How Swede It Is“, the article features a Minneapolis couple who completed a kitchen addition using a mixture of budget (IKEA) and high-end items (marble). The owners drew from the wife’s Swedish heritage to create this light-filled kitchen.

Continue reading “Kitchen Mini-Makeover Inspiration” »

After identifying what really bothered us about our kitchen and picking out a photo for inspiration, we’ve compiled a to-do list. The list is broken down into large tasks - tasks that would shut down the kitchen’s operations - and smaller items we can do over time while still enjoying the use of our kitchen.

Major Tasks

1. Skim coat, patch and paint walls with Devine Vanilla (essentially cream colored). Hopefully this one change will dramatically brighten up the kitchen. The only exception to the white is in the china cabinet of our butler’s pantry. I wanted to choose a light green color…wish me luck in finding the right one!
2. Remove the upper cabinets around the sink. Repair and patch the backsplash tiles affected by this change.
3. Reinstall the sink with a fresh batch of plumber’s putty and seal around with silicone caulk. No cost, just time.
4. Fix the faucet; we suspect the the faucet is clogged with calcium deposits. Also a no cost solution.

Continue reading “Mini-Makeover To-Do List” »

The mini kitchen makeover starts.

The upper cabinets got the heave-ho. That part was easy. First I removed the upper crown molding, chipped away the caulk surrounding the wood, then unscrewed the cabinet from the wall. If I had more foresight, I would have gotten a helper to stabilize the cabinet as I removed the last screw that was holding it in place (the cabinets are quite heavy). Unfortunately, I was alone when the cabinet quickly dropped to the counter. No harm done, though.

Continue reading “How To Sneak Electrical Work Into Any Project” »

The previous owners had tiled around the upper cabinets to form the backsplash. With those cabinets gone, I now need to even out the tiles. I’m going to remove the top row of tiles (where the cutouts are) and replace with a row of white bullnose tiles.

First, I laid out the necessary tools. From left to right, they are: a utility knife, a grout scraper, a putty knife, a five-in-one tool (found in paint stores) and a simple hammer.

Continue reading “Fixing the Tile Backsplash” »

Next step in the mini-make over is to patch and paint the walls. This corner wall and ceiling area will get my usual patch treatment. I like to use the 90 minute setting joint compound for the first 2 coats, followed by the typical pre-mixed “mud” joint compound for the final coat.

Continue reading “Patching and Painting the Kitchen Walls” »