Before and After

Just a little reminder of where we started.

Why cant I post the pictures? Ok here they go. If I was a little more consistent this blogging thing may be a little easier.

Hope you like my 5k kitchen!(the first 3pictures are the "before" in case it is not obvious). 

Well it has only been a year! Give me a break.

Okay ummm , so I never got around to showing pictures of the finished kitchen. That is mainly due to my damn camera giving up the ghost. So here are some pictures one year later!

Oh and we came in under (barely)our 5k budget.

Shelves = $25 Total so far = $4693

We had a space with no cabinet to fit between the microwave and refrigerator so we decided to put some open shelves up. We had to buy some brackets at THD for around $25. Of course we had scrap lumber from the cabinets and in the miscellaneous stash that we have in the garage. I can't remember if I included the cost of the stain in an earlier blog, but if I forgot, I'll add that later. We still need to put the cabinet above the fridge, but we are going to work on that tomorrow. We also still need to finish the backsplash tiles, but we need to borrow a wet-saw again this weekend. For some reason, we still have not ordered a replacement for the door that THD damaged. We were there yesterday, but we thought maybe we would order something different and so . . . here we are. We have been managing to stay busy though on a bunch of other stuff. This kitchen is going to be super functional for me. That is why I wanted to put the shelf up, to keep all my supplies close to the stove. I also decided that I liked the hanging cupboard for can goods, etc. Nothing gets lost in the deep back space of the closet style. I had to rearrange things (again). I am including a shot so you can see what I mean. I am also showing you, the little hanging place Matt made for my broom and mop (I say "my" broom and mop, because I am the only one who uses those two things). That was the best angle I could get a shot from. Matt also built me a little shelf under the window so I could put some plants on. Much more little stuff to do! Can't wait until the final before,after pics!! I am tired so I will have to proof-read this tomorrow. I am sure my grammar and math are off. OHHH and I love, love, love my new dishwasher. I never knew my dishes could be so sparkling clean. I guess the old one didn't really work as well as i gave it credit for.

Working on the backsplash. Scrap material = $0

Matt had started on the backsplash with some slate. Well, we had unused soapstone and he cut strips to go along the counter. Matt had to pop off the slate bricks taht were in place and fit the soapstone in. I think it turned out excellent and gives the counter a finished look. We still have a ways to go on that general area but we are making progress. Still holding at $4668.

Update: Punchlist list is long but Spring Break is just around the corner.

When we first started this project I had hoped to be finished by today. I had some girlfriends that were going to be up here from Denver for the Romp to Stomp (snowshoe 5k for breast cancer). Well that did not happen, but we did our snowshoe anyway. My friend, Lorraine, has a condo in Breckenridge, so we are going to hang out there. Matt, meanwhile, ordered a giant lighted sign for outside his office that came all the way from Austin, Texas so he is busy installing that this weekend. Spring break will be a mad house around here, so that sign is more important than my kitchen right now. Matt's website can be seen at www.gatewaytothesummit.com Oh and it is snowing! And the best news of all? I HAVE WATER AGAIN!!!

Sink and Faucet: $240. Total so far: $4668

I think we may actually stay in budget (barely).We purchased a sink on ebay ($105 including shipping) and a faucet ($135 with shipping). This was way less than half of what THD was trying to steal from me. Yesterday morning, Matt and Tim cut the holes and mounted the sink and faucet. Meanwhile, Murphy hates any vacuuming, so he was under the cabinet "getting" the shop vac the entire time it was running. Tim's dog, Kylie, was fascinated by Murph's attack mode and while Murph was doing his thing, Kylie kept nipping him on his little behind. It was really cute to watch. Other news: We are still waiting on that door, but THD is supposed to be giving us a discount because of the mishap with the other. Oh and we have to put up the backsplash and about a million other punchlist type things to do (including fixing the empty spaces on the upper cabinets).

My mom has pretty good insight.

So last year I was at my sister's house and we were going through some old stuff that she had saved. One thing was a letter my mom sent to her when she was in college back in 1985. Well, it was classic Mary Kelley. Here is a little excerpt: Dear Sherry, It was really nice to have you home, even if it was for such a short time. . . I enjoy having you home to cook with . . . Lori has no interest in cooking or sewing. That is two things you do very well. Because she is five years younger than you, it seemed like she had depended on us for the cooking. But now that she is the oldest daughter at home, she still is not interested in it. . . I tell her what are you going to do when you have a family? She said we will eat bolony sandwiches on paper plates. I know she is just kidding! But still she is such a Baby! How funny is that? My sister let me have the letter and i framed it and put it in the kitchen. I can cook OK, but I am nothing like my sister in that department - - - and so a little reminder to the family is nice and . . . lo and behold we have been eating on paper plates and I think that is perfectly fine :) PS: I like that she capitalized "Baby" to get the point across.

Holy Smoke! Sink hole complete.

Our good friend Tim came up from Denver yesterday to lend a hand. Not only did he fix the brakes on Matt's truck, he helped with the messiest job ever-- cutting in the sink hole. I won't go into all the details, but let me just say it was a huge pain in the ass to cut! On top of that, we all ingested about a pound of dust!! And unbeknownst to me, Tim is helping us on his birthday- what a great guy (thanks Tim! and Happy Birthday).

Finally, Finally, Finally countertops: $1013. Total so far: $4428

The day I have been waiting for finally arrived. We put the countertops in! Well, once again, I use the term "we" very loosly. My brother (also named Mike) came over and he and Matt cut the counters and hauled them upstairs (our kitchen is on the second level of our house). Our neighbor, David, came over, unsuspectingly, at the perfect time. It was definitely a three man job getting those mammoth pieces of rock up those stairs. But, alas, they made it! Then the magic happened-- we rubbed in the mineral oil and there they were, a thing of beauty (thanks Mike and David!). You may be thinking to yourselves-- hey these dummies didnt put in a sink. Well dont you worry, the white piece of paper there on the counter is the template for the place to cut out our new sink. Can't wait-- but I am not going to bother dusting for the thousandth time until that is finished! On a sour note, The @#$% Home Depot broke a chunk out of our custom ordered door and now we have to wait another 2 weeks for a new one. One last thing, check out the amount we have spent. We are seriously cutting things close! Can we stay in budget???

Dishwasher: $500. Total so far $3415

WOO HOO! we are getting close. We picked up our dishwasher ($500) from THD last week and were able to configure the appliance into the cabinet space. Our wonderful neighbor Jeff came over Friday afternoon and Saturday morning to convert the power to the disposal into an on/off plug and he was able to work electrical magic of some sort to make the other part of that plug into a constant "on" for the dishwasher. That was a big deal to us--as we could have never figured that one out on our own (thanks Jeff!). Friday night my sister and her husband, Mike, came over. Mike owns a company called Punchlist Construction www.punlistsummit.com and, needless to say, he is a handy guy to know. We had one oddball space that we needed a bottom cabinet in. Well, he was able to deconstruct-reconstruct and wham bam we had a new bottom cabinet. Coincidentally, drawers from an unused double cabinet were able to fit exactly into that space and we configured a cool pull out trash thing (that was Chase's idea for that space). Dont you love it when stuff works out? Thanks Mike!

Update: Floor is almost finished. Backer board: $30 Total so far: $2915

Matt replaced all the drywall on the backsplash area and we will wait and finish that as our last project. Meanwhile, our countertops are here (on the front porch). Each slab weighs 300 lbs. Wow. How do we even lift that? We have to have all the bottom counters in before we can set them, obviously. That means we are a few days off from that. Matt will have to fabricate the countertops for the sink, etc. (which I ordered on ebay) so that should be pretty intense. But the floors must come first. Matt set the remaining tiles last night and we will grout tonight. I also hung our "doorbell" on the side wall. Seriously this giant dinner bell or whatever it is-- was hanging outside our front door when we moved in as, I think, a notification system. This thing is so loud it could wake the neighborhood. I am feeling a little nostalgic and decided to hang it in the kitchen as seen in that first picture to the left of the fridge. (I replaced the pull with some old cutain ornamental things that I had just lying around). Thats all there is to report.

Adios 1970s.

It is official. All the orginal cabinets are gone. Before we tore out the kitchen sink, good old roll-around-joe gave his final performance as my dishwasher. He actually does a great job, but he will not be missed. Just for fun, I am including a picture of my best friend, Murphy (the absolute greatest tundra-dwelling chihuahua in the universe). When we tiled the kitchen he refused to walk across the floor (he was the only one that liked the linoleum). Matt is going to tile the rest of the floor this evening and I am on hiatus from cooking for a few days as we have no sink.

Update: Slate wall after grout

Here are some pictures with the grout in place. Matt did that last night while I watched the Academy Awards. Ignore all the trim stuff and decor. I am working on that.

"Brick" Wall = $125. Total so far: $2885

Well we got down to business on the wall this weekend. We bought some 12x12 slate tiles at THD for for $1.67/sq.ft and cut them down to brick size. We were originally going to cut the slate into smaller sizes, but the wet saw kicked the bucket half way through. We decided to go for it as-is, because on our tight schedule, we could not afford to wait another day. After the cuts were made, I washed the tiles and Matt started putting them on the wall. My sister came over with a bottle of wine and we had ourselves a little show watching Matt in action. This morning I wiped the wall down with a silly sounding product, something called "impregnator." I just take orders and am not sure of the product's purpose. I think of a few funny lines about the "impregnator"-- but think its not appropriate to say with the kid in the room. A note about the slate. THD had pre-cut tiles that were $6/sq. ft. We figured that we could cut our cost down to one third just by spending some time making the cuts ourselves. I think it turned out pretty well. In the end, we had to borrow a wet saw from our friend Tommy to finish the job. (thanks Tommy!). The slate still needs grout . . . but right now Matt and my brother, Mike, are at Janet's getting the rest of the cabinets. On a side note, Janet and I are becoming friends-- bonding over our mutual remodeling projects. She is going to come over for dinner and to visit her (my) cabinets when we are all finished.

Doorknobs, Paint and the Home Depot. Cost = $46. Total so far: $2760

We were in Ft. Collins yesterday and picked up our door handle. Matt found a brand new, in- the- box handle/deadbolt for $89 on craigslist. It is beautiful! Anyway, it was located a few miles from Matt's parents' home. The day we saw it on the net, Don ran right over went and got it for us, commenting that it was "way nicer than our door" (he did not know we had a new one on order). This handle would easily retail for $300. Of course Don and Judy would not let us pay them back, so I am not including the cost in my calcs. (Thanks Don and Judy! Love you guys. ) (Matt tried to tell his dad that he found an Orange and Black Mustang on craigslist and was wondering if he would mind picking that up too :) )

I painted my little wall column with chalkboard paint ($12 plus special roller $6) but I can't put chalk on that for a few more days. Matt is going to build little narrow pocket shelves out of extra cabinet materials for cookbooks, etc. I think my 1950s replica phone looks pretty cute there right now. I also put some stain on the hanging pantry thing. I think it looks good with the cabinets. I may change my mind later. Who knows? Also note that Matt put up the backer for the stone ($28) on the old pantry wall.

One final thing. Matt has a tendency to make fun of my "Oklahoma-speak" (such as "feel of this" instead of "feel this"). Well he thought it was funny the way I referred to Home Depot as "the Home Depot." Well people --we were at Home Depot last night and guess what? The name of the store is "THE HOME DEPOT." I took a picture. Stay tuned for what we got at THD-- to be blogged about at a later date.