kitchen revamp part 1

WARNING: This post is not for the faint of heart.  I know the thought of totally tearing up a brand new kitchen probably gives some of you heart palpitations.  Proceed with caution. Also, please note that while we certainly do use our kitchen to cook and entertain, we are not big foodies and don’t spend hours preparing fabulous meals like some. This kitchen will totally work for us because generally we can knock dinner out from prep to eating to cleanup in about 30 minutes. So, maybe not be a groovy kitchen for some, it fits our lifestyle perfectly :)   

(Our lovely builder stock kitchen)

So…you mean not everyone remodels a brand new kitchen in a brand new house? Just us? Oh. Well that’s kind of weird. Or maybe we are? The latter is probably true, but let me plead my case. It all began back in 2007, yes, nearly 5 years ago that this magazine came to our little house on Spruce Tree Lane. We oooohhhhed and awwwwwed over every last detail in this kitchen. From the white cabinets to the super dark countertops we knew this kitchen (or parts of it) would someday be ours. There may have even been a small Wayne’s World quote said (You will be mine..oh yes..you will be mine.) We’ve hung on to that magazine and still look at it frequently.

(http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/bonus/0,,1592336,00.html)

Fast forward to several years later and we finally have a kitchen worthy of this kind of greatness. You may recall that back when we were picking out some details for our newly built house, we kept our choices very basic knowing that a remodel would be in store. I figured we would live with the builder’s stock kitchen for a few years and then start working on making it our own Marshall vintage/modern, colorful, playful, whatever type thing we have going on in the rest of our house. Apparently my hubs had a different idea. I wake up one lovely Sunday morning to find this. Joey with an iron in one hand, a putty knife in the other. He has half of laminate peeled up in one section of the countertop. So...okay...guess we are getting started? That’s the good thing about my hubby. If you’ve never met him, he’s a quiet lad, unless prompted to talk about the UK Wildcats, his Derby glass collection, beer making or bourbon. Since countertops don’t top this list, it’s no wonder he didn’t tell me he was starting. But, it’s okay. I like change. So, let’s do this!

Because I wasn’t participating in this mess, I don’t have super technical steps on how to do this. If you have questions, email me and I’ll get an answer from the household carpenter.

Step 1 in the process was to completely remove the laminate from the countertops. A hot iron, the putty knife and some elbow grease seemed to do the trick. Then your countertop is this ugly redish scary mess. The rounded parts of our countertops were trimmed off with a router.

That led us to step 2 where hubs ripped down strips of plywood. Yes, you read that right. Just straight up ol’ plywood. Comes in a sheet for like $10.

He then used cement contact glue to glue the strips of plywood to the countertop.

Then came lots and lots of wood filler to seal up some gaps between the strips of plywood.

He also trimmed pieces of wood to wrap around the edges of the countertop to make it look finished.

After its all dry, sanded and smooth came several rigorous rounds of staining. Dark walnut, mahogany, dark walnut, mahogany, then ebony around the edges to give it that "smokey" look.

He then used a satin polyurethane to seal the countertops. 6 coats. Steel wool in between each coat to smooth it out. The finish is a smooth as glass.

The backsplash is a compilation of mostly vintage yardsticks we’ve been collected for a few years. We needed a few more, so Ace, Home Depot and Lowes got in there too, but we sanded them down and stained them as well so they fit in with the oldies.

The countertops should hold up beautifully and the only maintenance we should have to perform is a yearly coat of poly. We will have to be cautious about hot items on the countertop, but we’ve got trivets galore.

Are you exhausted? I am. This is only the beginning. Next post...over 30 cabinet doors and drawers to be painted. Oh and working full time, being a mom to a toddler, keeping up with other general household tasks..exhausting I tell you. So tired. Did I already say that?