Kitchen: 100% done.... finally

I've been a bit of a procrastinator. Maybe burnt out was more like it... after tackling the kitchen reno last year. It was a long road and when the final cabinet replacement items (mainly trim and side panels) were installed mid december, over 6 months since we began the process, I was not jumping for joy at the prospect of whipping out a wet tile saw in the dead of Winter. So I didn't whip it out. 

But that left me with this embarrassing scene.

 

I had a burst of DIY energy two weeks ago and decided I'd put it towards getting this sorted out (and lord knows I could have used it in pretty much any room of this house. But that is another story for another day).

{ a sigh of relief it's done }

 

But back to the start! I was at a party a couple weeks ago and so many of my Mom's friend's were telling me they love my blog but couldn't imagine tackling these things. I have to agree with them that it can feel overwhelming, which is why so many of us tend to have ever growing To Do lists, but it really isn't hard. Or scary, once you give it a go. For me saws have always been scary. I'd do a project but always stop and have Sean do the cuts for me. Until one day I didn't feel like waiting till he got home from work so I did it myself and now I am a breeze on most saws! You just have to try is the moral of my story. 

I wanted to continue the subway tile from the other end of the kitchen and still had enough left so that was easy, and because I knew my burst of DIY energy might be a short lived thing I was sure to buy a small tub of both pre-mixed thinset (mortar) and grout. This saves SOOO much time and trouble. 

{ what tended to be the dumping ground }

 

I spent about 3 hours getting it all tiled up and it looked good! But I knew that I wanted to do open shelves as well. I have always loved open shelving in kitchens and before we reno'd the last one it made a big temporary improvement to take down the upper cabinets and do shelves. 

These brackets from Ikea ($2.50 each) and the wood shelf (also from Ikea, $16.99) are also going into Lexington's kitchen and I liked the look so I bought an extra 4 brackets for here and one long shelf to cut in half to get 2 shelves in total. 

I actually toyed with the idea of going with the black brackets to tie into our few black items (lighting and stools) but holding them up in place just felt too dark.  So I painted them with matching cabinet paint (Martha Stewart, Picket Fence) to give them a custom feel. 

Once the brackets were ready it was time to determine where we wanted them to line up. I was SCARED to death when I realized I'd have to drill into my new tile job. What if the tiles cracked or shattered? With the help of a diamond coated tile bit I went through really easily and smoothly (all while holding my breath!).

{ could have been a disaster }

 

All up on the wall, I gave my screws a coat of matching paint as well. I was lucky that it lined up with studs on both sides so I don't have to worry about how much weight we throw on them. 

 

All done with the exception of one electrical outlet, my one remaining fear! I may learn how to do them in the future but for now I am steering clear of any electrical. I'll let the handy hubby handle that.

Those of you on my instagram feed probably recognize a few things!

 

{ no longer an eye sore }

 

I really like the weight of these shelves and they give just the right amount of interest without distracting from the items displayed on them. Plus they were half the cost of anything else I even remotely liked and a fraction of the price of some Anthro ones I was coveting. Well played Ikea!

 

We are getting close to the finish line at Lexington (I promise to update you early next week, or check my Instagram feed for daily updates) and I am starting to focus on the staging. While I made a quick stop at Goodwill to hunt down drapery options on the CHEAP I saw this funky antler. I loaded up my cart with 4 awesome panels of linen-like drapes (for only $13!!!) and left... but ended up thinking about this silly thing for the rest of the day.

So I caved and went back to get it.

{ $20 later... I'm still in love }

all in all, a crazy, hectic, busy, awesome week!

{Happy weekend}

Put a Hex on me

One remnant from our old kitchen was really a thorn in my side for the last few months; this dirty old lamp. The problem was that I really didn't see anything I thought a) suited the kitchen, and b) matched or somewhat coordinated with our hanging pendant over the peninsula.

I had thought about the hexagonal pendants from Restoration Hardware because they were the same aged bronze (nearly black) finish while most others that appealed to me had chrome finishes, and I liked their neat lines, but I just couldn't pull the trigger on the price.

But a few weeks ago I was out shopping with a girl friend when we found this box in a corner at HomeSense. It was a perfect replica, and the price was insanely good at $79 so I thought I would bring it home to see how I liked it in person.

Being the sweet guy he is, Sean held it up while I debated on how I felt. But without any other contenders on the horizon we decided to go ahead and give it a chance. After living with it a few weeks I can honestly say that it is the perfect fit for our fun/industrial vibe. I still need to track down a cool filament bulb, but I just had to share!

It is a perfect match in color to the light fixture only feet away, which was my biggest concern.

It is strange that I hadn't even thought about it before, but it actually makes so much sense visually because the room is hexagonal, so the light fixture (and antique table) really play up the odd shape really well.

Now I just need to finish these darn slipcovers!!

What do you think, crazy, cool or undecided?

Let's chat stools~

I have been wanting to share our new stools (thanks for the reminder in the last post Dawn!!), but I've been waiting for the partner for our stool. I think I mentioned that we were eyeing the Restoration Hardware stools but found the $315 price tag (plus shipping) a tad high (I now see they are on sale for $255). So while these look nearly identical, they aren't from restoration hardware.

I debated on whether to post about our experience with the stools because I hate being a debbie downer, but at the end of the day I really REALLY want to save someone else the same trouble we had. A few months ago I saw these stools at a local boutique called Urbane. They were priced at $250 each so I decided that after the holidays we would order them and save ourselves about $200.

We went in on January 2 and asked if we could order the stools but the sales associate told me that they were now $500 each. YIKES!! And to top if off they looked completely different to me. She was positive that there were no stools at $250 and even after I pointed out all the differences in the photos they emailed me she hesitated on pulling up any sort of pricing. Eventually she admitted they were different and that I could order the original ones I liked for $250 each. We paid and she told me she would call me a week later with details on when they would arrive.

3 weeks later I finally call them asking for an update and learn that there was one waiting for me at the warehouse the entire time. Thanks for letting me know! They had no idea when the next one would arrive...

2 weeks later I get a call asking if I was told what happened to my other stool. Ummm, no you were supposed to tell me what was going on, remember? Well it turns out that it arrived but was somehow crushed by a fork lift. But don't worry, they would rush order a new one. One week later I still hadn't heard when the new one would arrive so I called back and was told that this manufacturer doesn't ship until the truck is completely full so I would have to wait until more customers placed orders. Hello, that doesn't sound like a rush order to me?! I pointed out that it didn't seem too rushed based on that info and I kind of wanted to know when I could expect the other stool. I debated on just cancelling the order and returning the first stool to instead get the RH ones when somehow later that day a stool magically turns up and they brought it over... hmmmm.

Anyways, I have both the stools now and while I love them I probably would have just paid the extra money and ordered the RH version since I have had nothing but amazing service there. Lesson learned!

I think I will order another just because I feel like 2 isn't quite enough but 4 would be overwhelming for that ledge.

Sean loves that he can lower his seat while Wren and I like our stools higher!

Finally all the little touches of dark/black metal are making sense as everything comes together.

It's funny because this whole kitchen process seemed to be just one big fight from the cabinets to efaucets.com not shipping our tap and now these stools. The only companies I've worked with that I've had nothing but rave reviews for are Urban Granite who did our marble counters, Restoration Hardware who helped with the light and Tile Town who we ordered our subway tile with.

Biggest lesson I've learned? You have to be really vocal to get what you want! Patiently waiting doesn't get you much, and sadly the thorn in the sides are usually the ones who get the fastest/best response.

Martha Stewart Cabinet Review

It has been a LOOOOONG 8 months since our Kitchen reno began. The first 5 or so being the worst. Sean and I still have a few loose ends that we can finally tie up now that the kitchen installers finished last Monday, so these are not our *final* shots of the finished kitchen, but they are pretty close.

I know a lot of you have been asking for reviews on what we think about the cabinets now that we've had them for a little bit so I thought I would sit down and share my thoughts.

My first thought:
1. The price is unbeatable if you are after the look we wanted. We did about a year of research and price comparisons so we feel like budget wise they are really superb.




2. You MUST MUST MUST know exactly what you want! I cannot stress this enough. I am sure Home Depot has their share of talented kitchen designers but simply going in and asking one to design your new kitchen is not a good idea. In fact, even when I would share photos and ideas from Martha's own cabinet catalog our designer had no idea how to make it happen. Every single inch of cabinets were picked by Sean and myself. So if you are up for lots of pre-reno work and saving some money it is definitely a good route, but if you have a challenging space or want input I would go to a specialty kitchen store.



3. The good part about working with Home Depot is that when there is a problem or mistake they cover all the costs and send replacements, the bad part is that it takes about 8 weeks to ship anything. In the end our store gave us all the cabinet baseboards and decorative side panels free of charge to make up for all the delays, but I didn't expect anything and I am not sure all stores do this. But waiting for 3 different replacements at different times meant that it was 3.5 months of going back and forth from the day our cabinet installers began. If everything arrived correctly and was perfect it would be a totally different story and I would have had a finished kitchen back in August, so just be prepared to be patient.



4. Have all your appliances, faucet, sink picked out before you even arrange the kitchen measure. You probably heard me complain before that they nearly didn't agree to make the sink cutout because they didn't approve of the Ikea sink dimensions. That was probably the single most stressful day of our reno because they tell me this 2 days before our counters were to be installed so obviously the marble had already been cut. I had to get mad for the first time in the whole process and if it weren't for the fact that I had documented proof that our Home Depot measurer saw the sink, measured it and that our designer also knew I don't even want to know what disaster might have resulted (like having to get a whole new slab of marble for that section!). Document everything in email with your designer and have it all on hand for the measurer before you ever even meet with the designer!!!

5. As for the cabinets themselves, we are in LOVE. Totally worth the pain! All the cabinets have soft shut doors and drawers, nice styleing and some cabinets come standard with extra sweet features like sliding shelves. We thought our pantry cabinet would just be shelving, but were pleasantly surprised to have pull out shelves which is nice so things don't accumulate at the back!

3 seperate cabinets also surprised us by being pull out organizers! Can't argue with standard features like that.

6. Spending just a little more on decorative panels for the side or back of cabinets make a huge difference. One of the things I liked most about Martha's cabinets was the decorative elements. Things like build out baseboards, plinths and corbels can't be found at places like Ikea that have comparable prices. The single most expensive items in the kitchen are the corbles (they run about $500 each) but the panelling on the peninsula was not all that much money and gives a really custom look.


7. You can save $$ by doing store bought trim. I believe the Martha Stewart crown was about $150/8ft. While HomeDepot gave us the baseboards free of charge I still wanted to save a little money and get a custom look so I bought in stock crown at Home Depot for $1.30/ft and just had the installers put it up for me. Since Marth also makes paint, all the cabinet colors are available in paint and I brushed on some matching paint after they put it up! I probably saved about $250 in trim this way.



My biggest and final piece of advice is that even though you are going to a big box store that doesn't mean you can't have a custom kitchen. Have high expectations, be willing to think outside the box and express your ideas clearly and there is no reason why a budget friendly kitchen can't look like a specially design space.



So my final verdict? Despite some of the snags (you have to expect a few hiccups) the overall product is great. Our total bill for the cabinets, including the installation was $11,500. If you are a hands on person who is able to dedicate some time to planning then you will be really happy with them as well.


Now I just need to finish a few baseboards going into the dining room and tile by our phone counter to get it done~

The Kitchen Chronicles: almost at the finish line

A BIG congratulations to our donation giveaway winners!! Tara Jamieson, you are our first winner so please drop me a line at inthefunlane@gmail.com so I know which prize to send you! And Carmen Judge, you are our second lucky winner. In the event I don't hear from Tara within a week I will allow Carmen to choose the prize she prefers so she doesn't have to wait an eternity to get it in the mail~

THANKS again to every who supported us! As promised, here we were freezing our tails off pre-run at about 8 am.

But between moving around and all the body heat generated in this crowd we were warmed up and happy campers in no time at all!

It was so much fun (we walked with about 20 other people we knew) and we will definitely be back next year!

But besides doing a run 2 weeks ago you are probably wondering what the heck has happened to us? I promise, the kitchen renovation that never ends is very close to actually ending!!!

The week after the run we had cabinet installers here all week replacing busted and defective cabinets... then we came to a bit of a stand still with our sink. It seems that our cabinet installers didn't approve of putting it in the appointed cabinet... and our counter top measuring guy hated the thing because it required special notching in the marble to be made. After a full day of phone calls, pleading, begging and demanding, everyone eventually decided to play nice and get the sink in for me. But if you plan on using this thing to save some money over other apron sinks (this one is from Ikea, $400) I will tell you right now it isn't worth the trouble unless you are installing an Ikea kitchen. It was a nightmare all around, but in the end it is in and I love it.

Then last week we finally got countertops!!! Just to see them in place made my heart skip a beat, I am so in love. So we were able to bring in our appliances and finally get back to normal life.

So for the last week we have been busting our tails to get party ready! We are pretty close, at least close enough to not be too embarrassed at the state of things.

I took these photos at about 7am this morning before the sun was up so excuse the slightly greenish tinge.

I did all the window casings and tile this past weekend and I am hoping that the cabinet boys will be back to install our cabinet baseboards and crown and the few decorative side cabinet panels being replaced. It will be officially done once I paint the window casings, finish the trim on the ceiling and grout the tiles.

I am waiting on some stools from Restoration Hardware that mimic the factory/industrial feel of the light. I think the few touches of black like the light, stools and some accessories I haven't put out yet will give it some punch.

I am kicking myself for buying this light early because it is on sale right now at Restoration Hardware, but I love it so much that it was worth it!

The windows casings are probably my most complex project, using 4 different types of trim to get the look I wanted. But they make such a difference to the feel of the room now. Now I only have 20 more windows in this house to slowly replace LOL. I think I will do an easy tutorial on these soon because I found so little info on window casing looks that I feel like I need to put something out these for any future google searches!

So there ya have it, an early morning tour of our *almost* finished kitchen! After our party goes down on Friday I think life will finally be normal again and I can show you all the whiteberry stuff I've been playing with.

The Kitchen Chronicles: As it stands now...

I am hoping it will only look like this for another week and a half at the most, but like everything else I am sure it will be delayed in some way.

The installers have left the 2 offending cabinets that needed to be reordered in place and the longer I am living like this the more I hear myself saying "it's not that bad, we should just leave them". But I know in the long run I will be happy I waited a few extra weeks for new cabinets that aren't slightly warped (which makes them impossible to level correctly apparently).


Looking in from the dining room now!! Before I only saw ugly pantry doors. Now it is bright and open.


As you probably noticed, the sink is not centered in the window. This was our BIG point of contention. Do you center the sink in your window or in your cabinets? We obviously wanted as much countertop space and storage as possible so centering both cabinets and sink wasn't going to happen. We decided to center it with the cabinets and then run our lighting off that new center point as well. And once the counters are in the corner can be filled with cannisters and such that visually balance it.

We are soooooo happy we splurged with the windows. It was a little extra but we also brought our windows lower by 3.5 inches. You don't really take into account how close to the house you can't see when you were standing there before. With a 2 year old I want to be able to see every inch of yard if she is out there by herself while I'm in the kitchen and from 24 inches away (the depth of the cabinets) I could only see about 20 feet from the house and farther until now. It does make it difficult to decide on new trim though, so we are waiting until the counters are in to do moulding.

(and no! we aren't keeping that hideous light in the nook. We are just waiting to put in our hanging fixtures.)


The pantry cabinet on the left is the other offending warped cabinet. We LOVE that instead of simple shelves there are big wood drawers that pull out so we won't lose stuff in the back!


In fact, besides a couple warped cabinets we have been blown away with the quality of Martha's cabinets. We thought we ordered the most basic of basic cabinets, splurging on finishing touches instead, but it seems even her basic cabinets are really nice.

This cabinet beside the stove surprised us by also having pull out wood shelving.


And the insides are nice, solid wood.

(if any of the cabinets look funny in the photos it is the cellophane wrap we've left on them for now. It freaked me out when I first saw it because I thought the doors were all funky LOL)



(one of) The last frontiers: painting the walls. I've settled on the color on the far far right. Barley Beige by CIL. We wanted to go with something other than white to off set all the white cabinets and the board and batten in the family room. So I don't think it will darken up the room too much, just give us some contrast.


Our dirtiest, most time consuming project in this whole reno (besides removing floor tiles) has been the pine ceiling, but we are the most thrilled by this feature. We like how it sits quietly up there, making the room feel a little more homey and adding texture. I will do a fully detailed post on the whole process after everything is done (and the ceiling trim is done) for anyone interested.