Another Cool Wall Mounted Faucet

I can't tell you how much I like the wall mounted faucets. Paired with an under-mount sink and a solid surface counter top, cleaning is a SNAP.

In case anyone is shopping for faucets right now, I wanted to share this faucet by Kohler:

photo credit: KOHLER: K-7319-3: Triton® utility sink faucet: Faucets, Flushometers & Fixtures: Bathroom

Kohler's website describes this faucet as being for a utility sink, but I am picturing this faucet at a kitchen sink. I think it looks a bit more modern than the American Standard Amarilis faucet we have, but I might keep my eye on this faucet, for future reference.

The Kitchen Details (This Post is Longer Than I Planned)

We are still riding high on the New Kitchen Express, and really enjoy cooking our own meals- even if we did promise to start eating [much] better with the completion of the project. I'm confident my waistline and our equity are already better for it.

Diving into the kitchen renovation was exciting and overwhelming. So much to do and no idea as to where to start? While we wandered blindly at first, things slowly started taking shape and we gained some momentum.

In mid-December, we demo'd the old kitchen, and refinished the floor. WHAT a RUSH! We moved the gas line and installed ventilation. New cabinets, new lighting, paint, counter top, appliances, backsplash and voila: in just under 3 months, we had a new kitchen!

All of the lighting came from Rejuvenation. We replaced the existing center light fixture with the Thurman fixture and 12" Schoolhouse shade. Over the sink we installed Dana fixtures withBell shades. There was a bit of a snag with the Dana fixtures, but the exchange was easy. We also had a scare with the ceiling fixture, but the cabinet above the refrigerator just barely missed making contact with the shade- phew!

If you read the kitchen reveal post, you might remember that I surrendered creative decision making over. It was while we were counter top shopping. I was the sticking point. We were not impressed by the selection of natural stone slabs- in fact, I would say we were quite disappointed. We settled on Corian. It was easy to order (I think...) , installed quickly and thecolor is perfect.

Oh, and that tile? It's discontinued, and I can't find it on the Internet. But it's exists. Browns, tans and creams in glass and a travertine-like material. I'm sorry I can't find more information!

We chose a 30" single bowl Kraus sink. It is 10" deep, made of 16-gauge stainless steel, and arrived with it's included grate (and random golf towel). The grate is nice- when you're using the sink, dishes do not sit in dirty water, and your sponge can fall in without getting saturated. Sometimes the grate needs to be moved to wash the sink or get all the scraps into the disposer. The sink can be found here.

Along with a new under mount sink, we chose a wall mounted faucet. That means we won't be cleaning that nasty seam where the fixtures meet, anytime soon. During the design phase of this project, ease of use, cleaning and maintenance has been a priority. The faucet is found here.

Before I forget, I'd like to introduce you to the Waste King 8000 TC! The disposer is BIG, and takes up a lot of room under the sink. It has received great reviews, and seems very well built. It does not need a switch- it can be wired directly to the power, because the on/off switch is triggered by the cap. When you feed scraps into the disposer, you insert the cap, with water running, and press down. By lining up the notches, the cap presses the button that turns on the disposer. Our Waste King still has a wall switch, so we have to turn it on (and off) twice. I like to think of it as a safety measure. We saved on this purchase here.

The next three appliances came from this store.

The new dishwasher also has a food grinder, and is *whisper* quiet. So far, this baby has made us very happy. It has a variety of settings, including "Sanitize," but, so far, we have only used the "Normal" setting.

Before the renovation, the kitchen depended entirely on the window for ventilation. Adding an exhaust hood was important. This micro-hood has already made us very happy. I haven't been able to find a link to this exact model, but Sears carries many Kenmore microhoods.

The range is almost identical to our old range. It has a broiler and 4 gas burners. It does not have the perma-grime stains, which is a bonus, and is 8 years younger.

The refrigerator is pretty slick, with 24 cubic feet of counter depth food storage space. Features include "theater lighting," Multiflow cooling and it is Energy Star compliant. This last appliance was purchased at this outlet. Shopping at the outlet saved us a bundle, but we learned a couple lessons for the next time.

Finally, the feature I am most pleased with: the bulkheads! I thought they would look fine. I think they actually look great, and give the appliance an integrated feel and appearance, making them part of the kitchen, rather just something stuck at the end of the row of cabinets.

Next to the refrigerator, you can see that grate we reworked for the modified vent. That grate represents my greatest DIY victory to date.

Dare I invite feedback? Of course, like all bloggers, I get really excited about comments and treasure each of them. So... What do you think? Are you in the middle of a reno/remodel/restoration? If so, please do share a story or comment with a link to your blog so we can enjoy yours story, too!

Almost Done

We are almost there!

The schedule indicated we would be done YESTERDAY, but there are still a few small things to wrap up- caulking, a few pieces of a trim and switch plates. THEN we will officially close this chapter of home improvement.

We are excited to show you the fruits of our labor [and the hard work of family and friends, incuding our contractors and vendors]. Please keep checking the blog this week for the final installment of the kitchen renovation.

Until then, have a look at what we did on Sunday:

How We Installed a Blind

For a window treatment in the kitchen, we knew we wanted a blind, and I definitely wanted to mount it inside the frame- but that window is shallow, with only enough room for a one-inch blind.

Luckily, we found two stores, online, that carried the one-inch wood blinds: Select Blinds and Just Blinds. The websites are nearly identical- and so are the color selections. We ordered the [free] samples, and chose "Almost White," which is a near perfect match to our trim and cabinet color.

While both stores have great reviews, SB had a slightly lower bottom line. We also ordered the blinds we will use in the office and media room.

If you have ever removed blinds, you know how easy it is. Hanging them is just as easy- it is the same process, in reverse.

Here is a photo of the hardware. Installation is very straight forward and only requires a few tools- a drill, level, pencil and screw driver. For a window with a third bracket, I would have need a measuring tape, as well.

Position the brackets (double check your placement!)...

... and mark the wholes with a pencil. Make sure to hang the brackets on level, so your blind won't warp or strain. (Oops- I marked the wrong spot! You'll see in the next picture, I corrected this before I hung the blind, to get it closer to the window.)

Pre-drill, the drive the screws through the bracket:

Slide the blind into the brackets, making sure the pulley/tilt rod are on the outside.

Snap the brackets closed, to secure the blind in place:

Attach the white, plastic R-clips to the header, and clip the header onto the blind:

Double check function, and level. You are ready to enjoy light-filtering privacy!

What are the cons?

The string is a little long. When the blind is open, it lays on the counter and could fall in the sink. Fortunately, the blind will likely be closed most of the time, for privacy, so it won't be an issue.

Also, the blind makes contact with the window. This is not a big problem, but I would like it to hang freely.

What do you think? Do you have blinds? Any hilarious got-myself-stuck-in-the-blind-cord stories? Do tell!

Reworking a Register Grate for the Kitchen

We are so close! We just have a couple small things left, then the kitchen project will officially be completed.

Through the course of this project, we were faced with moving the floor vent, or modifying it, in order to put the refrigerator in. We (rather, Lee, our contractor) put a couple plates over the 10x8 inch floor vent opening, making it 6x8 inches. This meant cutting the register grate down to size- loosing the functioning louvers and stability.

The original:

Defintely not going to fit:

I've been to the The ReBuilding Center a few times, and have seen the same register grates that we have in the house, already. I headed over there Monday, to pick up one of these matching grates (hoping to reuse the original when we finish the basement). I was surprised that I couldn't find a single grate that was the same style, let alone the right size.

And there it was:

The perfect 6x8 inch grate. Sure, not exactly the same design, but it was the right size! With functioning louvers! At the counter, the woman sold it to me for $3 off. I figured it was a fairly small gamble, and brought that baby home.

Just the right size:

At home, I ran it through the dishwasher and sanded as much rust and paint as I could. Inspired by DIY projects of others, I prepared to rework this new grate.

Using a Dremel tool, I trimmed just over 1/4" off the long side. A few coats of spray paint later, it was finished. I'm very pleased with the result. A small step for DIY, but a leap towards polishing off the kitchen.

The reworked grate, in place:

Cabinet installation, Phase I

We now have about two thirds of our kitchen cabinets installed. Last week, the base cabinets went in. The counter top folks asked that we not install the rest of the cabinets, so they would have plenty of room to work. When they finished the template, we were free to install more cabinets, though we were asked to hold off on the wall cabinets, until the counter top is installed. That should be this week.

The base cabinets:

Today, the bulk head next to the range (seen above) and the cabinets around the refrigerator went in. The refrigerator is counter depth- our thought there is to open up as much floor space as possible. The cabinets around the refrigerator are the same depth. We have some serious cabinet space there.

The refrigerator cabinets:

I try to keep tabs on what I call our "lessons learned" in home improvement. Do you have any great lessons learned from your kitchen remodel or things you wish you had known/considered earlier?

More dented appliances

We'd been told to open appliances when they arrive, and look for damage. Sure enough, we found a big dent on the range.

Exhibits A and B:

First, we called the store (which connected us to a call center) and were offered a couple measily options (10% off our next purchase... what "next" purchase?). Next, we headed to the store, ready to haggle and show photo-evidence of the damage.

The store employee started talking about replacing the appliance, but I said I'd be happy with a partial refund. He seemed relieved and refunded us about 18% of the purchase price (which was already on a post-holiday sale)! WIN!

The stage is set

This week, the walls were painted, the fridge made its way home, and new cabinets have completely taken over.

Bring on the beige:

The very discounted (and barely dented) refrigerator:

The living room looks like a storage unit:

Next week, the cabinets will be installed and the countertop template can be made. So, roughly, two more weeks of living without a kitchen. Pretty exciting!

Kitchen Floor Finishing

This is where we left off:

With the old floor removed, our good friend and contractor Lee sanded the original fir floor.

Sanding alone was an improvement:

And finally:

This last picture doesn't show much, but the floor looks great. Lee calls it "rustic." It could also be called "way better than what we had before."

Kitchen Demolition

This week, we moved into full cabinet demolition. Sledge hammer, claw hammer, scrapers, heat guns, paint remover, crow bar, pry bar and circular saw all helped us handle this task. Let's just get straight to the pictures.

Last week, we started with paint stripping.

This week, we removed the cabinets. The cabinets were constructed in place, and made of timber- not plywood. The cheap laminate refacing material stripped off easily, as did the plastic trim.

Before:

After:

Did you notice the larder in the picture above? You can see the vents in the wall still.

We did find one piece of an older flooring with what may have been a really nice pattern at some point.

The existing vinyl flooring pulled up without too much effort, the paper backing remained stuck on the floor. To remove that, we had to scrap by hand. Took all day, but we did it.

When we were done, we saw this:

Then, we went to dinner.

Special thanks to Norm (for the haul-off), Jes (for the loaner tools and radio), Ginny (for sharing great adhesive-scraping skills).

Another lesson learned: When you remove a garbage disposer, get ready for a very stinky mess.