diy backsplash

before i begin this post, i need to clear something up.... i measured the sink hole... its true... apparently i was not clear on that point so now you know... ; ) 

i have this new obsession with stainless steel tile, i love it as a backsplash... its easy to clean, temperature-safe, and not to mention beautiful:

le gasp... unfortunately they are also crazy expensive... but have no fear, better homes and gardens is here! i get their weekly email and looky what they sent me:

 yay yay yay!! super cheap stainless steel backsplash made with aluminum roof flashing!!! it is $15 a roll and that is about our price range... so we headed to our favorite blue-themed home improvement store (the orange one is from the devil) and got a roll:

then we got to work cutting out the window and plug holes

then we got some liquid nails and glued  that sucker right to the wall:

we wanted a more sleek and  modern look so we didn't distress it (the idea picture shows it distressed)... ok let me explain the paint situation for a minute... when we ripped the cabinets down the backs were totally disgusting so we ripped them off too... i assumed (foolishly) that we would be putting new backs on so i only painted the walls where i thought they would be seen... but then peter put up the cabinets and we had this situation going on:

which of course looks stupid... so then i had to paint the walls behind the cabinets white so they look like they have backs... there is also one more "oopsie" in this pic, can you see it?

we are dumb... i don't know why we thought the cabinet ended there, it clearly does not... oh well, we will figure some out some crazy solution... meanwhile here is the kitchen so far:

we are getting so close!!!!!!!!!!!!!

meltdown city

ok, you know how everyone has that one thing they've always dreamed of owning? it could be a front-loading washing machine, a crazy shower head, or a beautiful brass bed (if there are any men reading this, you may not have any idea what i am talking about, but i know for a fact all you ladies had something pop into your head)... for me, that one thing is butcher block countertops.... i love them... i love the way they look, the way they smell, the fact that they are warm and homey, yet still classic and a beautiful eclectic mix with modern fixtures... just look at them

obsessed.... so off we went to ikea to finally get my beloved countertops and i was flying high... we had 3 things on our list:

     1. countertops

     2. sink

     3. shelves to recoup storage from the cabinets we removed

 i  we decided to head out at around 6:00pm friday night... i we figured we would be going against traffic and we really didn't want to fight the weekend crowd... so into ikea i skipped, completely nasty from a long day of construction, hand in hand with my hubby (who did not skip)... we dashed straight upstairs to the kitchen section and dutifully waited for the lady to help us... but then disaster struck... she announced that ikea is sold out of ALL butcher block countertops WORLDWIDE.

yes you heard me, WORLDWIDE.

before i continue this story let me first say that i had already had an emotional day in regards to our kitchen cabinets... after sanding for DAYS and 2 coats of paint the cabinets looked like crap... i don't know how else to say it... they have these weird bubbles in them and drips and stupid specks of who-knows-what... so when that lady announced that there would be no beautiful rich wooden countertops i was crushed...

i cried.

big. fat. tears.

poor peter... who knows what the people in the store thought he had just done to me, but he stood stoically by my side while i lost it in the ikea showroom...

i finally pulled it together and we decided to go with cheap white countertops until the wood ones come in (in at least 10 weeks)... so while we were telling the lady what we needed, we mentioned we needed a sink too... guess what? they don't have it... yep you heard me... fine, whatever... i don't care about anything anymore... peter picked out another sink and we headed downstairs to get the shelves and the (stupid ugly horrible) countertops... we get to aisle 1 bin 49, and guess what? they are out of the shelves.... i hate my life. and ikea.

the next day peter installed the counterops and got the plumbing ready for the sink... first we had to measure for the hole and then we cut... ok peter cut:

but apparently our measurements were a little off:

for some reason, this sends peter over the edge... the sink-hole is too much for him... i don't want to tell tales but he may have even said a really bad word... and then gone outside for a while... so i stepped up and did some "pinch-cutting" (i am so lame) and voila:

we have a sink!! woop woop! next we drilled a hole for the faucet (putting painter's tape on vinyl before cutting it keeps it from chipping):

and in goes our sweet new faucet! (please note the sweet product placement, we are hoping for a sponsorship)

then peter did something to the pipes (who knows what) and we have water!

too bad he forgot he had loosened the drain pipe, oops

but that was an easy fix and after many trials, we are almost cookin' with gas.

it is happening!!!!!!!!

i know i am late on my post... sorry! but i (along with pretty much everyone i live with) have been working my little tail off, and the house is actually showing signs of livability....

my great-grandmother, Mommy Ike, liked to eat her dessert before dinner... so in honor of her i will tell you about the best part first.... friday i had to work until about 1, so peter rounded up my brother chris and his BFF's benjo (my niece calls him "banjo".. adorbs) and richie and they started without me... by the time i got there something magical had happened: THE RED CARPET WAS GONE!!!!!!!

oh man, so exciting.... look at these angels from heaven:

                                                                

its amazing what teenage boys will do for free food....

 unfortunately, we then had to load it up and take it to the dump... we did that saturday and once again boys showed up to help... this time my brother nick and richie (the one with NO SHOES on... *sigh*) came to help:

red carpet, i banish you!!!!! be gone!!!!!! that felt good. (for me probably not for them)

while ripping up the carpet we discovered some interesting artifacts... first, we have the original vinyl flooring in the kitchen:

i kind of like it... next, we found bits of the original carpet:

can you imagine???? i thought it couldn't get any worse than the red, but as we dig deeper into this old ugly house i am realizing it can always get worse..

you may have noticed on the pictures above that i have painted painted painted.... i went with a light gray ("misty moonstone" dreamy) and a glossy white trim for the main areas.... i am following my dreams in the kitchen and going green ("spearmint green" to be exact) here are some before and afters:

oh boy, oh boy!!! it is killing me not to put the trim up in the kitchen but apparently i'm "not allowed to" because "trim is hard"... fine, whatever....

ok i have a whole other post's worth of stuff to tell you, but i have to go to the house and meet the AIR CONDITIONER MAN!!!!!! WAHOOO!!!! i will post the rest this evening, stay tuned tough because there is an amazing ikea meltdown coming (oh yes, crying and everything) and you don't want to miss it...

kitchen renovation part deux

my brain is fried... also, i couldn't pick up the computer with one hand this morning because my thumb is so tired from painting.... but much progress was made this weekend so it is all worth it...

first, we had to finish the demo... because of the nightmare of grossness we found behind the cabinets we decided to rip out and replace all of the drywall:

please note my amazing little brother, Nick, who had just gotten back from a mission trip in Haiti the day before, working like a beast... also note peter supervising from the living room lol... during this final bit of kitchen demo we found this little gem:

i think it is a final message from speedy gonzales. 

remember this ridiculous wall paper situation:

well i lost that battle, but i won the war!!!! that's right wallpaper, don't mess me because i am not above just ripping down all of the drywall:

 BAM! wallpaper problem solved... kind of... "peter would you mind fixing this wall now please?" "of course my love, no problem!" .... that's exactly how that conversation went... poor guy... but now we have this amazing new wall and a primed chair rail (it will be white next week!):

wahoo!!

ok, next we had to deal with "the beast" (i named the nasty old dishwasher)... we had not been able to remove it because it was hardwired into the wall (apparently they all are, i did not know this and couldn't understand why they didn't just plug it in) and peter needed to find the main power shut-off in order to undo it (and not die in the process)...

but surprise! we don't have a main shut off for the power so we finally just shut off all of the breakers (none of which are labeled, go figure) and released the beast!

hurray... next we waved our wand, said "REPAIRO!" and this happened:

 what an awesome husband i have... while he was doing that i was painting painting painting... because the previous owners decided that varnish was the new black, i had to use an oil-based primer on EVERYTHING:

hence the pooped out hand... but there is nothing that makes you feel accomplished like paint, its instant gratification.... our original plan was to remove the wall between the two living rooms, but peter is feeling a bit overwhelmed to we are going to temporarily put that on the shelf and focus on things like places to eat, bathe, and sleep... priorities and all that...

i may have gotten a bit excited during the painting process and did this:

yup thats paint on the wood beams.. oops...  

so this week while peter is working my jobs are: cleaning, painting the cabinets, sanding and painting the kitchen walls, and ripping out the carpet in the foyer (that last one is purely for my own gratification)... so get ready ugly old house, we are gaining momentum...