Back to the kitchen

It took Bart and I weeks to decided on a tile for the backsplash. Originally we were going to use the same tile from the floor but I just didn't like it. After we went through 50 different tile samples, we finally chose this little 3x6 subway tile from Daltile...but we ended up ordering it in from Home Depot for a better price.

I've always liked white subway tile but white just didn't compliment the granite and walnut cabinets, so I am glad that we found this tan/light brown/cream color. As always Bart is amazing. He started placing the back splash last night and he was able to get more than half way done.

Bart likes to work and he is driven by his own insanity! I tell him to stop working and sit with me...because laziness likes company but he never listens.

What do you think? Also should we tile up around the window above the sink?

Movie Review: Sarah's Key

I thought that you may be sick of our house projects, so I decided to would recommend a movie we rented from Redbox over the weekend.

Sarah's Key is about a Jewish Family living in France during the Holocaust.  Please, do not rent this movie if you are looking for a chick flick, a comedy, or something lighthearted....again this about the Holocaust.  Bart and I both love history and Bart especially likes learning about WWII, This movie portrayed a part of the war that I was not familiar with.

The actors did a wonderful job and the movie was filmed on site in France. This a brief synopsis of the movie. "Julia Jarmond (KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS), an American journalist married to a Frenchman, is commissioned to write an article about the notorious Vel d’Hiv round up, which took place in Paris, in 1942. She stumbles upon a family secret which will link her forever to the destiny of a young Jewish girl, Sarah."

The stocking were hung...

Well, the stocking aren't really hung yet because we have no place to hang them, but Bart is working on that.  Bart is determined to have Christmas decorations, a tree and stockings for Christmas.  Last year we didn't decorate at all because we were in the process of showing our house and getting it sold. We signed on Dec 22nd, right before Christmas, thus all our decorations have sat in boxes for 24 months.

In order to get a mantel to hang our stocking on we needed to first, demolish a yucky 2 foot cement bench that stuck out of the fireplace wall (2 feet off the ground).

Then we had to frame the wall in and get all the electrical in place.

Next we had to sand and stain the hardwood floors (which was as terrible and time consuming and as awful the first time we did it), paint the ceiling and get crown and base in.

What do you think of the dark walnut floors and revere pewter wall color?

Bart then had to build the mantel itself, and that required many trips to Home Depot and lots of spackle, primer and paint. (Don't mind the washers taped to the mantel...I thought I wanted to do nuts and bolts but decided against it)

The fun part was picking out a marble to go around the fireplace. We lucked out by loving the Grecian Marble that Home Depot carries.

One of the last things, was to spray paint and reuse the fireplace surround from the downstairs basement fireplace.  Some day we would like to get a gas insert but right now it's not on the priority list.



After all that time and work we are officially one step closer to getting our stockings hung by the chimney with care...

Goodbye 1960's

Do you remember this picture?

I want to draw your attention to the awful, geometric, 3 dimensional, 1960's, red and white trimmed window...found at the front of our house, right next to the front door.  Bart and I have hated that thing since we moved in.

We decided to pull the window out, brick around the old window and install a new window-since we liked the light that it let into the entryway.

Since Bart wasn't feeling adventurous, we decided to hire a mason-his name was Gary and I would recommend him if you ever have any masonry work that needs to be done.

This was actually a fairly easy project, meaning that it didn't have any snags or set backs and came in under budget.  Here again is a picture of the "before",

and now the AFTER!

One room is finished.

From the ceilings to the floors, the casing, base moulding, trim work, and the new electrical plugs as well as the closet and blinds for the window. We have completely remodeled this room.  The icing on the cake though, has to be the Antonina Vella Rimini wallpaper that my mom and I hung this last weekend. I love it! I think it completes that room and has added an extra bit of visual interest.

My mom brought down all of her wallpapering supplies...brushes, paste, glue, rollers-all sorts of things I didn't even know existed.

We measured and cut, pasted and pieced pieces together to try to get the best fit.  We did such a good job and didn't mess anything up, that I still have plenty of wallpaper left.

I had a great time learning how to wallpaper and I like it so much I might try my luck at more wallpapering...if Bart will let me. :) This was well worth the $156.

Visitors

We had visitors come see our house! By visitors, I mean that my parents, an aunt, uncle, cousin and Matt and Joanna were willing to drive 45 minutes from SLC to see our house.

My uncle Reid, aunt Cathy and cousin Christy were down in SLC for a couple day (they are from Kennewick, WA) and were willing to come see the house progress with my parents.  The kitchen is coming along.  Bart tiled the kitchen floor, put up the walnut veneer on the sides of the cabinets and got the laundry closet painted-which hopefully means that we won' need to move the washer and dryer again!!!! My uncle Reid is a plumber, so he a Bart looked over the plumbing and the new tub in the downstairs bathroom and then I went to the BYU bookstore and got a free dinner with my parents :) Thanks again M &D.

18x18 ceramic tile from Contempo called White Sail

Walnut veneer from Macbeard in SLC, sprayed with 4 coats of semigloss lacquer

The Laundry closet painted in Revere Pewter

We decided to hire out the drywall and mudding for the downstairs apartment. Bart truly hates mudding and neither of our back's can handle drywalling the ceiling, so this really has been the best money we have spent. It's great to see the basement being transformed.

The day after my family came down, Matt and Joanna (Bart's sister) stopped by. They were nice enough to let me show them the entire house-room by room. Matt and Joanna are in the process of remodeling their house in Sandy, so they know how we feel-the pain and the admiration.  When Joanna was looking at the kitchen she turned and said, "Wow your kitchen looks even better than the pictures on your blog and the kitchen before looked even worse than the pictures showed". That was the nicest thing that she could have said!

Cutting granite

Just call us garage fabricators!

Ever since we bought our kitchen, the granite cutting and installation has left us wondering what to do and IF we could do this. We got all of the granite from the kitchen but it came out in pieces and the granite for the cook top broke when they disassembled the kitchen.

We didn't really pay any extra for the granite-which made us feel better. But if Bart couldn't get the granite to work with the new layout and cutting it himself, then we would have to pay for new counter tops (and they wouldn't have been granite).

So, last Saturday Bart decided to tackle the granite cutting once and for all.

Incase you are wondering how to fabricate your own granite (the cheaper, non profesional way)
1. Get 3-4 strong men to move the granite pieces onto a platform of 2x4's and plywood.
2. Make a guide for cutting-we used a straight 2x4 and clamps.
3. Buy a DRY DIAMOND blade from Home Depot and get your circular saw ready.
4. Wear eye protection, gloves, a face mask and make sure you have good ventilation-aka a fan to blow out the dust.
5. Cut the granite slowly and with a steady hand. Note: there will be lots of sparking.
6. When you have made your cut, transfer the granite slab to your kitchen, and then cut the other granite pieces to fit.
7. Use liquid nails to attach the granite to the cabinets. Use fiberglass bondo to seam the granite together and make sure you level and then clamp everything in place.
8. Use clear knife grade epoxy to fill your seams.
9. Try to get your professional finished edges on the front where people will see them. Use clear finernail polish over the rough unfinished edges-I promise it works and looks better than I thought (see picture #5 above).

TADA!!!!!! We are one step closer to getting running water and having a kitchen again.

Top 2

I am so glad that you guys like Revere Pewter because it is my favorite. It is warm and light, with the right amount of gray and brown. Our floors are going to be the dark walnut, with a white ceiling and bright white trim.

I also like Ozark Shadows because I wanted to try something bold and daring, totally out of my comfort zone.  We have 12 feet of windows which let in plenty of light, so that's why I'm even debating the top two colors.

As you can see in the photos there is definitely a difference between the 2 paint options. I am planning on painting the entryway, office, living room and possible even the kitchen all in one of these colors.

More choices

We have a few too many projects going on right now, but Bart is insistent that I choose a paint color for the upstairs so that he/we can start painting next week. Bart decided to use 5 days of his vacation time to stay home and work on the house. Even though I know he is superman, I still wonder how much he can really accomplish...

These are my top 6 colors. I painted samples all over the rooms, so I could see the paint in different light.

1. Wood Smoke-Glidden

2. Ozark shadow - Benjamin Moore

3. Harbor Gray- Benjamin Moore

4. Revere Pewter-Benjamin Moore

5. Dolphin Fin- Behr

6. Collingwood- Benjamin Moore

  1.  Wood Smoke-Glidden            4. Revere Pewter- Benjamin Moore
2. Ozark shadow - Benjamin Moore              5. Dolphin Fin- Behr

3. Harbor Gray- Benjamin Moore     6. Collingwood- Benjamin Moore

What do you think? Do you have a favorite gray that I should know about?

Fall drive

We took a drive up the canyon to enjoy the fall scenery and it was a really lovely time.

Too bad autumn has to mean that it's going to get cold. I'm not opposed to snow-it's just the freezing temperatures that come with it.