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Here we go! First update of the new Dueling DIY: Kitchens battle. If you missed the announcement last week, Carrie from Brick City Love and I are squaring off, and we’re posting each Wednesday to show you how we’re progressing on our projects (and also talk a little smack, because who wouldn’t like two bloggers giving each other the stink-eye and threatening to use a nail gun as a weapon?).
So, let’s get down to bid-ness on my kitchen. And its complete lack of visual progress. But I promise you, there is progress:
Your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you and I’m not trying to phone it in. But that would be the same pic you pretty much saw two weeks ago of the kitchen.
I came down with a nasty cough in the last week (I had a cold which I got over quickly, but the cough has stuck around like a bad perm). And work, while I’m pretty darn happy about its success, is keeping me very busy. So it seems all I made time for house-wise was caulking, filling holes with putty, and sanding around the kitchen cabinets. Which pretty much makes the room look identical as not having done anything at all.
I know that progress, however small and seemingly insignificant, is still progress, so I’m trying to look at things from the positive side. Which requires a little squinting. And tonight, hopefully paint.
I also managed to check off two big items on the to-do list: final decisions regarding the backsplash tile and the wall paint color (whenever the wallpaper is finally off). I sent measurements over for the tile order, and I’m hoping to have that shipped in soon. I’ll wait to reveal my final choice until they get here, but in the meantime, I can use it as motivation to get the walls ready for install.
So… booyah. Kinda.
And now, it’s your turn to share your own kitchen’s progress. I don’t really do link parties, so I’m not used to moderating them, but I’m going to try. I’ve added a code below that should allow anyone who wants to take part in the challenge to link their own posts. Let me know if it doesn’t work (and if it doesn’t, just put your link in a comment).*
*Of course, don’t be that guy who shares posts from several months ago or posts unrelated to your kitchen makeover. You know who I’m talking about… that guy who also builds burritos like this and sends nonsensical group texts. All the same guy. And I’d like to flick that guy in the ear.
I couldn’t get the linky party to work so:
Here is the latest installments of my never ending kitchen redo….
top cabinets painted:
http://thesunsetlane.blogspot.com/2013/10/white-top-cabinets-and-color-choice-for.html
the floor and bottom cabinets painted
http://thesunsetlane.blogspot.com/2013/12/home-tour-christmas-tree-table.html
Good Lord, I’m dragging this out….maybe I’ll go work on it now! :)
Well, I got the thing to work, but the links look like crap. Guess that shows me for trying to do a link party! Ha! I’m sure I’ll eventually get these figured out.
Caulking holes is definitely progress. You have to celebrate each little step in this business! Kitchens weren’t built in a day! I tried to create a link, but I received this error message “This widget supports only thumbnail collections.” So, I am adding my link down here.
http://www.capeofdreams.com/removing-the-countertops/
I totally get the “it doesn’t look like much” thing – we moved one of those giant 5 foot long bathroom mirrors up a few inches (so we could put a tile backsplash underneath) and it took like 2 1/2 hours because our faucets were in the way and man that sucka was heavy. After 2 1/2 hours of work, it looked 100% the same to anyone who wasn’t me. Ah well- sometimes these things have to be done =)
OK. Thanks for the huge laugh which I am only halfway through because the burrito story is really long and I have to pick up my daughter! (great run on sentence–I was never great with grammar. ;) ) Little time here. In a way lucky for me I have a kitchen that was almost “this close” to my “dream kitchen” (well kinda close) so no links from me. Hope you feel a TON better REAL soon!!
Glad ya liked it!
This seems like an excellent series! I’ll be interested in following you and Carrie with your progress :D Good luck to you both!
Excited to find out what you used for backsplash titles. We just did a project for a client with a kitchen renovation, and one of the hardest decisions (believe it or not) was picking which backsplash title to use! Crazy lol!!
BTW, what faucet is that? I love the curve of it!
I’ll have a whole post about the faucet soon (I hope) – it’s from Pfister and it’s their new Slate finish. I love it!
Did you post about this and I missed it… talk to me about your butcher block counter and, specifically, the STAIN? (Or maybe that’s not a stain…) We just put one on a temporary island we built in the kitchen and I want to darken it up but… it’s Ikea (i.e. not super high quality) and I’m worried that it will look like shit when I stain it. Tips? Ideas? Pull the rip cord and abort? Thanks!!
My whole thing over the counters was back in October (here is the first post all about them). It’s actually just treated with a mineral oil/beeswax mixture, not stained.
Gotcha! Thanks!!! And for what it’s worth, the Ikea Varde that we got for the same reasons you mentioned (not particle board… budget friendly) has already split in a couple of places. Granted we should have left it indoors for a while pre install to acclimate but I’d be pissed if this were our real deal kitchen reno and not just a temporary 2-3 year solution!
I love the disclaimer!
I’m sensing a Kitchen shark here… Oh no, I haven’t really got anything done… And then Boom!
Of course, Carrie could be doing the same thing by saying she is away on “business”. You two are going to be fun to watch.
Hey, progress is progress!
Also my link was from like two weeks ago…hope that’s ok! And seriously – nothing worse when in eating a burrito than getting a bit one ONLY sour cream.
Definitely fine :) And each new post, just link up in the following week (I think I might change up the link party tool I’m using and see what I like best).