thoughts?: kitchen adventures

Showing posts with label kitchen adventures. Show all posts

Monday, January 12, 2015

Ten on Ten - January 2015

still decorated for Christmas....

thankful for heated seats on a cold day

too many choices!

picking out gas logs for my fireplace.....

on the way to lunch

enjoyed a long afternoon tea party with friends

quick grocery run

ready for this giant red oak to finally drop all the leaves

laundry

keeping my toes toasty in handmade slippers from Nepal (memories of our fun Christmas trip to NYC a few years ago)

Linking up with other Ten on Ten bloggers here

Sunday, March 04, 2012

When I bought my house, one of the things that sold me on it was the kitchen. Beautiful black granite countertops, high end stainless appliances and great cabinet space. However, the backsplash was always just .... meh. Not awful, but not great. And the one thing that made it even worse, the prior owners grouted in the switchplates when they installed the backsplash. Not the right way to do it, but not enough reason to rip out the tile.....UNTIL one of the switchplates fell off and I had no way to put it back up.

before.....basic 4x4 tile.

before

the infamous grouted switchplate

and the one that fell off....which started the whole project

I finally decided it was time to remedy the situation and contacted my friend David who has done quite a bit of other work for me in the past. He was pretty busy, but willing to squeeze me in on weekends and evenings if I was willing to be his helper. So, I took him up on the opportunity to learn a bit about tiling and to save myself a little money.

Spent hours and hours online looking at photos of kitchens and finally settled on mini subway tile. (did you know Home Depot will check out a tile board and let you bring it home to see the tile at home?)

So, one Saturday a few weeks ago, David came over bright and early and we got down to the business of demolition.

Ended up having to take it down to the studs.....the tile just didn't want to let go of the existing sheetrock. While the studs were open, I took the opportunity to write scripture in the walls as I also did when we remodeled the master bathroom.

After a full day of demolition, we ended with fresh sheetrock and plans to tile later in the week.

Over the next two weeks, one night at a time, we tiled one wall, then the other, then grouted. Here are a few shots of our progress.....

first tiles going up!

sink wall completed - waiting on grout

stove wall completed - waiting on grout

stove wall grouted!

sink wall grouted!

And finally, new outlets, switches and switchplates installed and everything put back on the counters!

the finished product!

So happy to have it all done! Living in chaos for 3+ weeks was about to drive me nuts. But it was definitely worth it.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Post-party crash

I fully intended to get a party recap up yesterday, but it was all I could do to put away dishes and get the photos off my camera before I crashed after work. But, knowing you are all waiting on pins and needles (ha!), here is the annual party debrief.

the table....decorated and ready for food!

hot drink station - too bad it was in the 60s on party day!

the heavy laden table

three sweet friends - Holly, Bonnie and Jamie

more party guests

Martha and Deen

singing friends! Linda, Randy and John

cousin Karen made it for the first time!
so fun to show off my house and catch up with her!

the aftermath - almost doesn't look like we made a dent!

and the dishes....clean and waiting to be put away

Slightly smaller than usual turnout - only 33 this year. But it was still a very fun party. And I've got lots of leftovers to enjoy, as usual!

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Ten on Ten - December 2011

I've made it through a whole year of 10 on 10!! Such a fun way to document my life......today happened to be a Saturday which is inherently more interesting than a typical work day. PLUS, today was a busy, busy day getting ready for my annual Christmas party.

8ish - handblown glass snowman bought at an outdoor market in Canmore,AB on our summer vacation! his orange hat blends quite well with my bedroom decor