Please show me your backsplash...

[doberman]

@missy and @december-fire
Thank you. We are going to be moving before too long which has me feeling depressed. I love my house. I never wanted an extra home because we already have another building to deal with and two is enough. We put a bid on another house to retire to, near my parents, as they're getting up there. I probably bid on it because it had a kitchen that was close to my standards. I told my husband that the first thing to go would be the master kitchen backsplash because it's so boring. Of course I'll put in painted tiles. The basement and guest house kitchens will need some work, but I'm not sure I'm up to it these days. Sometimes it all feels like too much.

 

[december-fire]

The basement and guest house kitchens will need some work, but I'm not sure I'm up to it these days. Sometimes it all feels like too much.

I think we all feel like that, at times. Its a busy time of year, as well, so that might be a factor.
I hope that you'll start to feel excited about the new house, and that will probably help boost your energy and enthusiasm. Maybe you can hire professionals (if you usually do some stuff yourself), or pace the work, so that it doesn't feel so overwhelming or like a chore. I might be misinterpreting your post. If so, sorry.

 

[mrs-b]

I think we all feel like that, at times. Its a busy time of year, as well, so that might be a factor.
I hope that you'll start to feel excited about the new house, and that will probably help boost your energy and enthusiasm. Maybe you can hire professionals (if you usually do some stuff yourself), or pace the work, so that it doesn't feel so overwhelming or like a chore. I might be misinterpreting your post. If so, sorry.

My DH and I are in the process of lightening up the basement. Since we live in a single story home on a flat-ish lot, our basement is exactly the same size as our house - meaning that we have a 2100sq ft basement, with a full height ceiling and a number of rooms in it. The way the house is orientated, we could get a lot of light in the basement rooms, if we had sufficient windows - which we haven't...till now. Over the last few weeks we've put in a bunch more windows and extended existing windows, put in egress doors, and are planning on switching out our external basement door to glass and excavating a small courtyard, so we no longer have one of those horrible bulk-head arrangements. The transformation in the level of light is HUGE. Next step is to put in a full bathroom; the room where it will go is plumbed but nobody has ever gone the next step and put in a bathroom, so that joy falls to us. My office / cello / tv-watching-of-shows-I-like room will be down there, and it has a lovely large fireplace and a lot of art I've bought over the years - so all the new windows are having an impact on how we actually live, now that we're utilizing that whole space. We're also going to move our guest accommodation down there, as there is a large, airy room with a bedroom area, a kitchen area, a tv watching area, lots of built in wardrobes and, coming soon!, a bathroom. So we'll no longer need to have guests in the room across the hall from us, and we'll also be able to give people their own space, with their own entrance and exit to the side yard and out onto the street - which is where they would park their cars. So it will be very self contained and basically we won't have to see them. Which, at this stage of life, is largely how we feel about guests.

I have to say, tho, putting new windows into concrete house foundations is not for the faint of heart; the mess has been UN-REAL.

 

[december-fire]

@mrs-b , wow! That sounds amazing!
Well, not the part about the mess of putting windows into a concrete foundation! I was picturing that before I got to your comment!

What an incredible transformation. I hope you took lots of before and after photos.

 

[doberman]

I think we all feel like that, at times. Its a busy time of year, as well, so that might be a factor.
I hope that you'll start to feel excited about the new house, and that will probably help boost your energy and enthusiasm. Maybe you can hire professionals (if you usually do some stuff yourself), or pace the work, so that it doesn't feel so overwhelming or like a chore. I might be misinterpreting your post. If so, sorry.

We always get professionals for this sort of work. I'm pathetic and while my husband is great with fixing things, a finisher he is not. I have to remind myself that the new house has some pluses such as a beautiful view. But right now I am focusing on the negatives (no pool, will have to put one in. Did that at this house and it was a bit difficult. The thought of doing it again...ugh).

But we may not even get the house as it was a short sale bid.

 

[missy]

@missy and @december-fire
Thank you. We are going to be moving before too long which has me feeling depressed. I love my house. I never wanted an extra home because we already have another building to deal with and two is enough. We put a bid on another house to retire to, near my parents, as they're getting up there. I probably bid on it because it had a kitchen that was close to my standards. I told my husband that the first thing to go would be the master kitchen backsplash because it's so boring. Of course I'll put in painted tiles. The basement and guest house kitchens will need some work, but I'm not sure I'm up to it these days. Sometimes it all feels like too much.

We always get professionals for this sort of work. I'm pathetic and while my husband is great with fixing things, a finisher he is not. I have to remind myself that the new house has some pluses such as a beautiful view. But right now I am focusing on the negatives (no pool, will have to put one in. Did that at this house and it was a bit difficult. The thought of doing it again...ugh).

But we may not even get the house as it was a short sale bid.

I totally get this doberman. Sending you good thoughts and I hope you get the house of your dreams and one day at a time if you do. Just breaking it up into small manageable projects and just taking it one day at a time and deep breaths. I am telling myself that very much too believe me. I am not looking forward to the kitchen reno but will be so happy and relieved when it is over. This is our third kitchen and we also have 2 gut renos on different homes under our belts and they are never any fun. The planning beforehand isn't so bad but the during process is often HELL. But I am always quite happy with the results when it is said and done you hoping this time is no different re the results. For you and for me and for anyone undertaking a home renovation. Good luck to us all!

 

[doberman]

@missy
You're absolutely right, I just have to remember to take it one day at a time. I've done 3 kitchen renovations and actually enjoyed the last one, at least the planning portion of it. Here's hoping yours goes smoothly and that the end result makes you smile.

 

[missy]

I couldn't find the reno thread so adding our update as of now in this thread. Backsplash going in starting today. I am a bit nervous because I really hope it pulls it all together. But for all you lovely ladies who are interested here is the kitchen reno so far. Project started January 2nd and we still have at least a few plus more weeks left. As of now here is my update...New windows installed,Oak floors installed, custom cabinets installed, and as of yesterday Thassos Quartz island and countertops installed. Trim work, appliance installation, door work and backsplash still on the to do list. And miscellaneous stuff.















Hope everyone's reno projects are going well. Please chime in and share your photos and your thoughts.

 

[Loves Vintage]

Missy - That looks really phenomenal!! Do you have a designer? A GC?

Uggh, we decided we will get new countertops, but haven't looked at anything yet, and I found a contractor on facebook, lol. Not sure if this is the best idea. Also, we want to have our cabinets repainted. I think they are original?? They were painted before we moved in 9 years ago, and need to be re-done. I wonder if we should just get new, but this seems like an undertaking that I can't really handle any time soon. Re-painting seems so much simpler.

 

[missy]

Missy - That looks really phenomenal!! Do you have a designer? A GC?

Uggh, we decided we will get new countertops, but haven't looked at anything yet, and I found a contractor on facebook, lol. Not sure if this is the best idea. Also, we want to have our cabinets repainted. I think they are original?? They were painted before we moved in 9 years ago, and need to be re-done. I wonder if we should just get new, but this seems like an undertaking that I can't really handle any time soon. Re-painting seems so much simpler.

Thanks so much LV! No we designed it ourselves but we did have an architect come in a few times to evaluate what we could do and what we shouldnt do. I fought with the GC (general contractor) who felt we needed to remove the brick wall but luckily our architect was on my side and thought leaving it was a good idea. So while we didn't get our big open space for the kitchen and we made the compromise to leave the brick wall I love that it was original to the house (1920s brick beach bungalow) and I love the contrast to the all white.

As for painting your cabinets it would be a good stop gap measure but research about peeling and how to do it best. I don't know anything helpful about painting them yourself but maybe if you do it right it will last a good amount of time and it sure will freshen up your kitchen.

As for hiring a contractor please ask friends and family for recs and do your due diligence and speak to customers of the contractor before you go with him/her.

Good luck!

 

[Loves Vintage]

The brick is definitely a keeper! I love it!

Thanks for your advice. Makes sense to talk to their other customers.

 

[Austina]

When we moved into this house, we had a lot going on so decided to get the kitchen units repainted until we made a decision as to whether we were going to get a new kitchen. It worked out really well @Loves Vintage and made the kitchen look like new again. Ultimately, we did replace the kitchen, but repainting tided us over for a few years and made the kitchen liveable with in the time being.

Our contractor had to scrub them all with sugar soap to clean off years of grease and gunge, but the end result looked really good. We also replaced all the handles for more modern brushed steel.

 

[Loves Vintage]

Thanks, Austina. They are going to sand and spray the doors, and then hand paint the cabinets inside. They will be white, and I haven't looked at a thing yet. We do want to replace counters too, but haven't looked at stone yet. I like the super-white quartzite, but my husband vetoed it, but I don't think he has really thought about it much.

So here are two questions:

1. Would you still be in favor of painting if you were going to invest in new counters?

2. Could I do super-white granite in the same kitchen with other counters similar to the photo Missy posted earlier in this thread? So wood counters in the same kitchen as super-white? There are three separate counters (one is the work area, with stove top in peninsula), two others are just additional cabinet areas, and then there is a bay window, that currently has tile that I intend to replace with wood (was going to have painted white.) This is where I think I need a designer because I really question my abilities.

 

[Rubybrick]

Looking great! A bit late to share, here’s my tile back splash in the kitchen, we moved to our Northern California beach town last July.

 

[Austina]

I think if you really want your kitchen to look like it’s all new @Loves Vintage
then I’d change all the worktops, otherwise it’ll look a bit of a hotch potch.

 

[missy]

Looking great! A bit late to share, here’s my tile back splash in the kitchen, we moved to our Northern California beach town last July.

Love this backsplash. Adds pizzazz and style. I also like your cabinets and handles. Thank you for sharing rubybrick!

Thanks, Austina. They are going to sand and spray the doors, and then hand paint the cabinets inside. They will be white, and I haven't looked at a thing yet. We do want to replace counters too, but haven't looked at stone yet. I like the super-white quartzite, but my husband vetoed it, but I don't think he has really thought about it much.

So here are two questions:

1. Would you still be in favor of painting if you were going to invest in new counters?

2. Could I do super-white granite in the same kitchen with other counters similar to the photo Missy posted earlier in this thread? So wood counters in the same kitchen as super-white? There are three separate counters (one is the work area, with stove top in peninsula), two others are just additional cabinet areas, and then there is a bay window, that currently has tile that I intend to replace with wood (was going to have painted white.) This is where I think I need a designer because I really question my abilities.

I think if you really want your kitchen to look like it’s all new @Loves Vintage
then I’d change all the worktops, otherwise it’ll look a bit of a hotch potch.

I agree with Austina. If it's possible within your budget.

@Loves Vintage. If you are doing white you want to match the colors as closely as possible. We had custom cabinets built and the color was an exact match to the Thassos countertops and island. Otherwise the different white competing might have annoyed me. Having said that we opted for a white grey Carrara marble backsplash that has off white in it as well as gray to add visual interest and break up all the white. I didn't feel that had to be matching whites. Let's hope I am right and we will find out soon enough...fingers crossed.

As for needing a designer I would see if you could save that money and put it to the materials in the kitchen instead though having a designer could be very valuable if you have lots of questions as to what you can and want to do in the kitchen. I knew exactly what I wanted in the kitchen re color scheme and materials (well at least once we got the countertop materials decided) and we had our architect and contractor to let us know what we could and couldn't do so I didn't feel we needed a designer. But they can be worth it for sure depending on your level of uncrertainty as to what would work well and what wouldn't work well. I also found Houzz to be helpful when I had questions or wanted to see examples. Good luck and we are here for you too if you want to bounce ideas off of us.

 

[Arcadian]

I'll be starting on my island soon. I have a large kitchen but no island. since the original cabinets came from Ikea, I'll go back there for the island. The only issue I'm going to have is the granite top. I have to admit, I was thinking of going with another surface entirely. (not wood, my house is too modern for that)

 

[missy]

I'll be starting on my island soon. I have a large kitchen but no island. since the original cabinets came from Ikea, I'll go back there for the island. The only issue I'm going to have is the granite top. I have to admit, I was thinking of going with another surface entirely. (not wood, my house is too modern for that)

Good luck Arcadian! I am excited for you and cannot wait to see what your new kitchen looks like!

 

[Loves Vintage]

I'll be starting on my island soon. I have a large kitchen but no island. since the original cabinets came from Ikea, I'll go back there for the island. The only issue I'm going to have is the granite top. I have to admit, I was thinking of going with another surface entirely. (not wood, my house is too modern for that)

I'm looking at concrete on line today. Might be the look you are going for??

http://www.concreteencounter.com/countertops.html

Missy and Austina - Thanks so much for the advice. As you can see, I am all over the place. Will need to spend some time out there looking at actual materials.

Rubybrick - Love your kitchen!! That's a perfect backsplash for a beachtown home! What is the material that your counters are made of? And, that's an island with what type of wood?

 

[Arcadian]

I'm looking at concrete on line today. Might be the look you are going for??

http://www.concreteencounter.com/countertops.html

Missy and Austina - Thanks so much for the advice. As you can see, I am all over the place. Will need to spend some time out there looking at actual materials.

Rubybrick - Love your kitchen!! That's a perfect backsplash for a beachtown home! What is the material that your counters are made of? And, that's an island with what type of wood?

I can't get an entire kitchen picture because its really kinda big... so I took 2! kitchen is roughly 18 feet x 10 feet. It used to be a carport. On the end by the refrigerator there's a laundry room which I'm not including in measurements.

if it helps, this is the kitchen and a closeup of the countertops (Its a little dirty but hey, working kitchen...lol)



Its really a very open house, all the main rooms flow into each other. I left the laundry/utility room door open but its a plain regular door (want to replace with with a folding frosted glass door here)

Having an island would give me some separation between living and dining, which I would really want, PLUS give me some additional counterspace and cabinets (I don't NEED more cabinets as these aren't even full, but it adds value to the house!) And quite honestly when Im cooking, I have to really get EVERYTHING from the fridge and drag it over to the opposite side of the room...lol thats painful. I need a stopping place in between.


I have multicolored under cabinet lights, this month they're blue. Next month will be green because St Patty's day (I did red and green for christmas...I try to be festive...)

The countertop is granite. I actually really LIKE this as its not a single color. But it would be hard to match it since it wasn't done all in one go...maybe.

Cement is on the heavy side. It may appear to be a bit too rough, you know? it would have to be a polished cement.

The tiles are in every part of the house. 24x24

 

[Loves Vintage]

Wow, it's gorgeous, Arcadian! Everyone here has such stunning kitchens!!

Are the lights in your ceiling LEDs? My husband keeps mentioning more updated lights to me, but not really sure if the new lights he's talking about are LEDs or something else . . .

 

[Arcadian]

Wow, it's gorgeous, Arcadian! Everyone here has such stunning kitchens!!


Are the lights in your ceiling LEDs? My husband keeps mentioning more updated lights to me, but not really sure if the new lights he's talking about are LEDs or something else . . .

Thanks!

I have to admit that I do love the kitchen as its WAY bigger than the one we had in Massachusetts. Such a tiny little kitchen, but it was also a tiny little house (888sqft)

Yes, all LED's. I've got 35 cans in the house and regular incancescent will cook you...lol
this is what I got https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WNSE4NG/

I tried 4000K..I wasn't a fan, so I went with 3000K. They won't work on dimmer switches though (they will buzz!!) I have one dimmer switch, so in for those lights went with Philips from Home depot (same color family, you can't see any difference)

IMO its a worthwhile upgrade. I changed them all 2 years ago and haven't had any go out.

BTW I looked at that link. Very nice! I would need to think about how to make it work. My mom was saying I should get a rolling cart/table. Again, also a thought but the ones I've seen are really expensive....

 

[Austina]

We upgraded all our halogens to LEDs when we moved here @Loves Vintage. In 7 years we’ve replaced 1!

I had a solid oak butchers block before we redid our kitchen @Arcadian and it was really useful. I’ve still got it, all covered up in the garage as I’m loathe to part with it.

Similar to this :

 

[Arcadian]

@Austina I looked at one in stainless. And of course my husband said it looked like a morgue gurney It could still be an option.

 

[Arcadian]

BTW, can I just say I'm horribly jealous that you all have gas. I miss cooking with gas so much!

 

[missy]

@Arcadian, beautiful kitchen and I think an island will make it perfect! LOVE all your space.

OK so more backsplash has been added today. We have an issue...not enough tile. Don't know how this happened because we had more than enough so I just don't know. Greg is taking care of it. So stressful.

Here are the progress pics. Adhesive is drying and that accounts for some of the darker areas. Should all dry to the same shade.

 

[Austina]

It looks great @missy, just enough to provide a contrast to all the white.

I always had a gas hob @Arcadian but when I had my kitchen redone, I opted for an induction hob, and I can honestly say it’s every bit as controllable as gas, and so easy to clean. I love that it’s just a sleek piece of glass in my island.

 

[Arcadian]

@missy that tile is gorgeous!

 

[missy]

It looks great @missy, just enough to provide a contrast to all the white.

I always had a gas hob @Arcadian but when I had my kitchen redone, I opted for an induction hob, and I can honestly say it’s every bit as controllable as gas, and so easy to clean. I love that it’s just a sleek piece of glass in my island.

LOVE your kitchen Austina!

@missy that tile is gorgeous!

Thank you Arcadian!

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

Looking great Missy!!!
And :roll to the missing tile. I had to order some more as well, when we also bought 25% more than the surface we needed to cover. .. this time AND last time. I don't know what those tile people do.