Under Construction

Life has been busy lately. And I was doing so well with the blogging... Our house, well our kitchen, has been under some major renovations. After living in the house for 2 years now, and the recent addition to our family this tax season was nothing to fear... we FINALLY got a tax return! Thank you Brynn Marie :) Mr. H and I have been talking, since the day we moved in, about redoing the kitchen. The counters and back splash were so outdated and have been there since the house was built in 1997. After meeting with our tax accountant and finding out that for the first time since we've been married we would be receiving money instead of owing!!!! We both jumped for joy! We knew exactly what we were going to do with the money....

Hello granite, new back splash and cabinets...

Here is the before. This was taken by the previous owners. (Not our decorations.)

See the oldschool white and hunter green accents on the backsplash? No thank you...

Here in lies my absence... 

The kitchen is in shambles. Between a baby, both working parents on opposite schedules this project may be the death of me. But so worth it. The granite was the first step. An old friend of ours installed the granite. It was quite overwhelming walking through the warehouse with slabs and slabs of granite. But we both knew what we were looking for. 

Hello Gold Venician granite. Mr. H picked out the subway tile and I LOVE it!

In order to save a few $ I may have volunteered my sweet, handyman husband to remove, install and perfect the art of backsplash underneath the instruction of my dad. He may have cursed my name a few times... but he now is a tile cutting master! And it looks amazing. All that is left is the grout. Working off a vampire's schedule is no easy task.

Last but certainly not least. We decided to redo our cabinets. The hideous white washed cabinets disappear in the neutral colors of the kitchen and definitely did not compliment our beautiful counters.We looked at a few options; sanding and staining, sanding and repainting.... then landed on a kit from Lowe's. The Rustoleum Counter Restoration Kit. 

 

For everything the kit comes with the price is AMAZING! And the results are even better. The process though; awful. 

AWFUL!!!!!!

 

1) De glossing: Which includes scrubbing the cabinets until your hands bleed. 

2) Wait for cabinets to dry. (1 hour)

3) 1st coat of bond coat/paint 

4) Wait for bond coat to dry (1+ hour) 

5) 2nd bond coat 

6) Wait for bond coat to dry (1+ hour) 

7) Decorative glaze: This adds detail to the cabinets allowing the grain to show through. 

8) Wait for the glaze to dry (8 hours.... what the what?!?)

9) Seal the cabinets

10) Wait for the sealant to dry (12 hours) GOOD GRIEF!

Where am I in the process? Well it depends which side of the kitchen you're asking about... I am anywhere between step 1 and step 9. But don't get me wrong. It looks AMAZING! I can't wait until it is finished. There is an end in sight. I am working a little bit at a time between snuggling and kissing Miss B's sweet cheeks. Most of my worktime is from 9pm-2am. Crazy I know. Not on school nights of course. Iced coffee has been my constant companion.

I can't wait to show you the end product! Okay, back to the grind.