Our Kitchen Remodel

2/6/10 - Good Headway

2010-02-06T18:31:00.000-08:00

By 2:30 this morning (Saturday), I nearly finished some of the little tasks that I had set for myself yesterday morning . . . and then some. It took a lot longer than anticipated, but I went to bed with satisfaction for the hard work exercised.

Lay the Last Floor Board
After my mom died three years ago, I busily set about fixing things in my house. One of the activities was to lay a new tongue and groove wood panel kitchen floor. Now I didn't know anything about laying a floor, but I did it anyway. Lo and behold, somehow I managed to forget to install one 38" x 2" partial floor board under the cabinet next to the stove! And that's how it sat years. When we did the kitchen demolition the second week of november 2009 and installed the IKEA cabinets, that missing floor board was really apparent, so that was the first task. I had a bunch of extra boards and it was relatively easy to cut one piece to the correct width. Thankfully, IKEA cabinets have a nifty method for adjusting the height of the cabinets, so even though the granite-looking countertop was attached to the wall, I was able to shorten the cabinet legs on the front sufficiently to slide the new board underneath the cabinet, then readjust the leg height. The lower right side of this picture is where the floor board was added. Done!

Finish the Niches
I had purposely left some spaces at the ends of the cabinet rows next to the outer walls to become useful niches for things like large cutting boards, folded paper bags, and/or serving trays (see the right side of the previous picture). But I never finished the empty spaces. They were just gaping holes between the cabinet and wall. I got out the finished 2.5" x 72" planks from IKEA that are faced with the same veneer as the cabinets, got my jig saw, yardstick and pencil. Sawdust had flown everywhere in my once-clean kitchen, but what resulted were two nice finished niches. There is a third niche, though, between the pantry and kitchen wall that must be finished. 67% finished.

Replace the Dining Room Light
Here's the old kitchen light fixture. There's not much flexibility with where the light shines an it's a boring white:

I had to wait for a dry day during the day to do this one so I could turn off the circuit. Friday was sunny most of the day. I told my son that I hoped this task would be easy. In my life, so many things are just not as easy as I think they should be, but I muscle thru the difficulty anyway because I want it done. Nobody's going to do it for me. I have installed several lights, fans, etc., in my life so I know it's theoretically pretty easy to change out a fixture. Wrap the white wire attached to the fixture can in the ceiling to the white wire from the new fixture. Wrap the black wire from the house to the black wire in the fixture. Wrap the copper wire from the house to the copper wire in the fixture. Thread each of those pairs inside a separate plastic cap. Keep the three sets of wires apart from each other and carefully stuff them into the can inset into the ceiling. Attach the outside cover of the light fixture.

This time, everything appeared to go simply . . . except that while I was on the ladder I dropped one of the fancy hex nuts that held on the outer cover . . . and I couldn't find it anywhere! It must have rolled under the refrigerator, but I had to finish the job and leave the house for the Sojourner Truth Multicultural Museum to help them set up for their big art show on Saturday. I found a standard hex nut lying around my toolbox and used that instead, but I've got to find the fancy nut one of these days! 99% finished.

Paint the Kitchen and Window Insets
I hate the pastel yellow paint that is on my kitchen walls. Originally, I wanted a light color to balance the black countertops and medium brown cabinets, so I bought a paint called "Light Beige." But it's really a simpering pastel yellow. I does not go with anything in my house. But I had to cover the unpainted areas that were left when the old 4' long florescent ballasts were removed to make way for the new halogen lights.

So I went into my tool shed and found one of my many partially-full paint cans which had a beautiful warm gold color and mixed some of that into a container with 2/3 the "light beige" paint. Perfect! I used an old piece of a utility sponge to lightly coat the outer part of the textured wall with the darker color both in the recessed part of the main kitchen and the window area.

My son looking up at the new warmer "tuscan look" color in the recess:

I hope it's a tuscan look - kind of aged warmth. But it was late at night (early this morning) when I was painting it. It gave a warm glow to the otherwise coldish light of the halogens. I had to leave early this morning for the Sojo Museum, and I haven't been back home yet, so I don't know if it looks decent during the daylight. Hopefully, it's 100% finished.

Paint the Tile Edges Black
As described in Day 71, I made some black clay strips to go above the edges of the tile pieces that fit underneath the cabinets. But the edges of the exposed tiles was yucky. I had originally planned to edge those tile edges with black tile strips too but my dear sister said she didn't think that was necessary. However, something needed to finish off the edges. So I got out my trusty paints and hand painted all of the edges. Next week, I shall seal the black edges with several coats of polyurethane so they cannot be easy washed off when the tiles are cleaned in the future. 90% complete.

The left edge of the tile has been painted black. Notice the niche on the right side for a few cookbooks and a vase wrapped with African beads above the books:

The right edge has been painted black:

The left edge of the tile has been painted black:

What's Left for the Kitchen Remodel:
Sew the window treatments
Replace the corroded miniblinds
Finish the third niche
Staple the excess wires from the under-cabinet lights to the cabinet
Build out the soffit on top of the pantry by 2"
Recover the white dining room chair seats with African fabric

1/15/10 - Day 71 - Making Clay Strips

2010-01-15T21:04:00.000-08:00

All of the 2"x2" tiles were in place and I cut up some tiles to fit around the electrical sockets. But there were still 124" of blank 1/2" spaces at the edges of the colorful tiles and the adjacent cabinets and about 74" of 1" blank spaces under the cabinets and microwave oven.

This morning, I took two 5 pound pieces of clay off a 25-pound block of red 50/50 clay.

Then I rolled the pieces into 15"x10" pieces to fit into metal cookie sheets.

Now to carefully measure the length of the individual pieces I needed, plus about 10% to account for shrinkage. Since 1/2"x4" pieces were needed, I cut them at about 3/4"x4.5" strips.

Clay cut into 1/2"x4" strips in this cookie sheet, and 1/2"x2" strips in another sheet, and 1"x1" strips in another.

Cookie sheets were put into a 190-degree oven to dry out for 2 hours until they were mostly dry.

A damp sponge smooths out the edges of cut tile strips. Sharp edges will become like glass knives after firing if not smoothed out aforehand.

a damp sponge ensures that the tops of the clay strips are not sharp.

The partially-dried sheet of clay strips is ready for firing.

Here, the dried strips are moved from the cookie sheet onto a kiln shelf. The pieces are crowded together on the shelf so little space exists between the pieces.

Painting combination of black-colored glazes. Two layers of glaze. Yes! I did not fire the clay in the kiln before glazing! This can be dangerous, for if the first-time fired clay explodes in the kiln then glaze chunks will fuse to the sides of the kiln - and that's REAL BAD. Conventional wisdom and class teaching dictates that clay must be dried and fired in a kiln to at least 1860 degrees (cone 06) before painting a color glaze on the pieces and firing them a second time. But I didn't want to wait that long and decided to do all of the steps at one time. The danger in doing this is immense, for if one of the clay strips is not dry enough, or has an air pocket in it, it will explode in the kiln and the glaze (which essentially is glass) will adhere to the walls and shelves of the kiln. That would render the kiln unusable. So I took the chance anyway!

Glazed clay strips are ready for the kiln.

The glazing was done next to the new sink.

Filling the kiln with about 7 shelves full of handmade tiles.

I turned all three kiln heater controls to "low" and let them "cook" for a few hours while I went to the store. Coming back, I checked to make sure there had been no explosions - and there hadn't - so I turned the kiln controls up to "HIGH" and set the timer for 5 hours. A "cone" is a small piece of hardened clay that matches the type of clay used. The cone is fit inside the heater mechanism; when the cone gets hot enough, it bends, thus shutting off the heater to stop the "cooking." The kiln uses "cones" to determine when the load has "cooked" enough time, but having a timer is a backup in case the cone method doesn't work. So off I went with the kiln cooking, to enjoy my weekend with my main squeeze.

1/10/10 - Day 66 - All Tiles In Place!

2010-01-15T21:03:00.000-08:00

Now for the last wall! I laid out the pattern onto the countertop, then troweled on the thin-set morter in swirls on the wall.

Putting the tiles on, one by one.

Almost finished with the 2x2" tiles. I may cut some tiles diagonally to form a curved line from below the cabinet to the edge of the countertop.

Some tiles must be cut to fit around the electrical sockets.

Fitting tiles around the sockets.

Voila! Success around the sockets.

Now to finish up the 2x2" tiles between the sink and refrigerator.

FInished tiling around the side of the microwave up to the kitchen ceiling.

FInished tiling to the left of the sink.

1/2 to 1/8/09 - Days 55-62 - TILE BLING!!

2010-01-09T00:55:00.000-08:00

Jan 2:

I made 120 more tiles for the kitchen yesterday. Sadly, the colors were too bleached out or too lime green, so I had to redo most of them today. They are nestled in the warm kiln right now - like I'm supposed to be nestled in my warm bed right now! (LOL)

Time to load the kiln:

Many shelves filled with the glazed tiles. Ready for firing about 5 hours at 1860 degrees.

The colors change dramatically after the extreme heat of the kiln. A reddish color unfired might actually be emerald green after firing!

These tiles required two or three different aplications of glaze to get these textures/

Jan 4:

So about 75 of yesterday's 120 tiles had to be reglazed and are in the kiln right now. I had forgotten that you cannot put red glazes in the kiln with copper-containing glazes because it has a chemical reaction that obliterates the reds. So back to the drawing board. Hopefully this kiln-full will be the last!

Jan 6:

Down to business. Most of the last batch of tiles looked great, so tonight I'm starting to lay out a couple of hundred 2x2" tiles on the new black countertops. They will become sparkling new back splashes for the remodeled kitchen. DRAMA!

Jan 7:

Real busy tweaking the tiles, making sure the colors and textures are just right on each wall.

Jan 8:

Dug out my notched trowel from the tool shed. I wanted to at least get a couple of rows of tiles on tonight. I'm going to have to cut several tiles around the sockets and light switches, so getting some rows done tonight will be great. Unfortunately it's already after 10 PM and I want to get some sleep. Work, work, work! Here we go . . . Two hours later, here's the progress:

Using thin-set mortar, I started with the bottom rows of the smallest wall. I used 1/8" spacers between the tiles to (hopefully) keep the rows and columns straight.

I'll have to cut the tiles closest to the sockets . . . tomorrow!

Here's the wall closest to the refrigerator.

Here are the first two walls almost done. I like it! Just a little TILE BLING in an otherwise sparse kitchen.

12/30/09 - Day 54 - NEW LIGHTS!

2009-12-31T19:44:00.000-08:00

I am truly blessed to be part of a talented family. Dad was an Ob/Gyn who brought thousands of babies into the world. Mom was a top principal and talented artist. My sister is an award-winning educator. My grandfather was a pullman porter. My Aunt Reba is almost 103 years old and is sharp as a tack. And my baby brother, Greg, is McGiver - a man who can do anything with anything. From the time Greg was 5 years of age, he was building things. Before he was 11, he built a 4x8' platform for his train set and constructed a pully system so it was housed just under the ceiling. By 15, he ad built a 5' concrete safe in the garage. By 18 he had installed a security system in mom's home. He was a hazardous materials expert for the Fire Department. And then he started a handyman business which turned into a general contracting business. He can do it all: plumbing, electrical, tile, framing. Everything.

So when my mom died in January 2007 and he fixed up her house so beautifully that it sold in just a few weeks, I decided to have him fix up my house too. The latest of my manias is completing this kitchen remodel. At our pre-Christmas party on December 11th for my son's family, I asked for his advice on beefing up the electrical service in my kitchen to accommodate new lighting fixtures. As Always, he came through like a champ!

Greg added another set of sockets and hooked my under-cabinet lights to a new switch that also controlled the new pendant lights over the peninsula.

What a romantic glow. This setting will be perfect or watching TV. Just enough light to get water from the refrigerator.

He replaced the dated 4' flourescent lights in the 4x6' recess overhead with a quirky set of unusual track lights. The eight heads provide quite a bit of light and are turned on by the main kitchen switch from the front room into the kitchen.

The old recessed light was replaced by a 4-headed light in the same style as the overhead track. The heads may be positioned to that they light under the side cabinets. They are on a separate switch from the other two zones. This picture shows this zone only on.

This is what all three zones on look like.

This warm lighting is a huge difference from the sterile, cold flourescent lighting that was there!!!

Love it, love it, love it!!!

12/23/2009 - Day 47 - Customized Tile Backsplash

2009-12-31T19:11:00.000-08:00

Within five weeks of beginning the demolition of the old kitchen, we had the first official party. Everything was done in the kitchen remodel except the lighting and spicing it up with some Kanika color.

I purposely painted the walls a light color, initially thinking that the black countertops would absorb too much of the overhead lighting. But the "light beige" color is actually a light yellow. A pastel yellow. I don't "do" pastels, so I knew that Kanika would eventually make a customized backsplash with vivid, tribal-colored tiles.

On December 23rd, rising from my sick bed like the bad girl that I am, I laid out 12 12x12" squares of 2" tiles on my work surface. Using a large paint brush, I slathered on turquoise, copper, and red glaze over the tiles, overlaying and mixing them like I like to do (as I was told not to do in clay class!). Over the next few days, I reglazed and refired, adding layers of color to make them more vivid and interesting.

12/11/09 - Day 35 - First Party in the New Kitchen

2009-12-14T06:25:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas . . . a couple of weeks early. I try out my new kitchen on my son, Isaac, his wife, Jameillah, and their daughter, Jazmine, who are visiting from North Carolina. Jae's mom, Margaret, my brother Greg, sister Carrie, and boyfriend Michael, were also part of the fun.

Breakfast with mommy.

An untraditional Christmas meal of chips and salsa, mixed beans, meatballs, rice, spaghetti squash, colorful salad, strawberry jello, hot apple cider, sparkling cider, pumpkin bread, dark chocolate and orange cake, petit fours, and, of course, Hot Tamale candies on the table.

Jameillah and Michael.

Little Jazmine is dressed in her finery in the clean new kitchen and diningroom space.

Opening presents with daddy.

"One" time Grandma will give into the princess thing:

Isaac and my sister Carrie.

The little sweetie.

Jazmine's grandmothers cherish her visit.

My brother, Greg, son Matthew, and son Isaac.

A special moment with my granddaughter.

My new kitchen was integral to making this family moment a very special one.

12/10/09 - Day 34 - Preparing for the First Party

2009-12-14T06:03:00.000-08:00

My son, Isaac, and his wife, Jameillah, and their daughter, Jazmine, were visiting from north Carolina. Since I would not be able to visit them this Christmas, I decided to have a "Christmas Lunch" on December 11, 2009, with all the trimmings of Christmas. Well, not exactly a traditional Christmas lunch, but the house was decorated and table set the night before they came.

My family spent the night on Thursday and we all decorated the Christmas trees like we used to. But this time my granddaughter participated in the fun.

Waiting for Santa Claus: Stockings for each of us.

Almost one-year old Jazzy gets warm carrots and apples for dinner.

12/8/09 - Day 32 - New DIningroom Table

2009-12-14T05:51:00.000-08:00

My ex-husband and I had purchased all oak furniture in the early 1980s. Sturdy, functional, brown. With a new bold, kitchen it was time for a bold change. IKEA to the rescue again with a sleek black table and simple and comfortable black chairs. As all IKEA products, it was relatively simple to build, clean, and (comparatively) inexpensive.

The white padding will be gone in a future project, to be replaced by beautifully-textured African fabric. Spice!

12/7/09 - Day 31 - First Load of Dishes!

2009-12-14T05:42:00.000-08:00

After one month and one day after the old kitchen was demolished, we have our dishwasher back and begin washing all dishes, pots and pans. They are definitely cleaner than before!

12/5/09 - Day 29 - Clean Dishes!

2009-12-06T08:42:00.000-08:00

Success! Michael worked until 12:30 AM to hook up everything in the sink cabinet. He got up early to make some adjustments to the toe-kick so the dishwasher door could fully open.

He was anxious to wake me up (earlier than I wanted!) to happily pronounce that he was finished. So, somewhat begrudgingly, I got out of bed at 8:20 and traipsed into the new kitchen. WOW! It looked great!

I wanted to test out the dishwasher, so we read the instructions for loading the dishes, adding the rinse additive (which I've never done before), and reading the safety precautions. Then, I took out the entire silverware drawer and began putting in the dinner knifes, alternating the handles up and down as suggested in the user manual, then the forks and small spoons.

Michael, an expert on loading dishwashers, showed me how to properly put in the plates and cups and glasses. I had always had older model dishwashers which were loaded differently than the fancier ones of today.

So . . . press the Start button and close the door. 3, 2, 1. . . the mechanism began. The dishwasher was working. Huzzah!

But 10 minutes later, the water started draining out of the air gap on top of the sink, and spewing over the lip of the sink and onto the countertop . . . toward my new wood cover next to the refrigerator. STOP THE DISHWASHER! I quickly grabbed a towel and mopped up the water before it reached its wooden destination. Michael was not happy.

Now readers, it is important at this moment to reveal that, in my experience, dishwashers have ALWAYS drained out of the top of the air gap - at every house I've ever lived in. But Michael says it should not if the hoses are clear of debris. And certainly our brand new hoses and parts should let the water drain through the disposal. I had told him a couple of times that when I installed my latest disposal a few years ago that the instructions did say there were two ways to install it - one with and one without a dishwasher - but I decided to install like the old one. The water spewing out the air gap was nothing new to me and I had checked with my sister, who had always had the same experience too. And Michael called Home Depot to get some advice on how to fix the problem and the first person in the kitchen department he spoke with also seemed to indicate that some water does normally come out of the air gap.

At that point, 9:45 AM, I had to take a shower and get dressed for an 11:00 memorial service in Davis, so I bid him adieu and good luck on solving the problem.

After the memorial service, and on the way to my granddaughter's 1st birthday party, I checked my e-mails and saw one from him labeled "Success!" Indeed, it seems that after talking with someone in the plumbing department they said that there is a covered hole in the disposal that he should punch out to let the water drain from the dishwasher through the disposal so it does not back up into the air gap. Michael reran the dishwasher after the punch out and VOILA! SUCCESS! He was a happy camper and so am I! I am lucky Michael had the knowledge and stick-to-it-tiveness to see the issue through to completion!

Word to the wise: if your dishwasher used water spews out of your air gap, you should have someone punch out the hole in your disposal so it drains properly.

12/4/09 - Day 28 - Countertops Here

2009-12-04T20:21:00.000-08:00

I've always wanted black countertops and a black sink. Even though we were ready to have the countertops installed a couple of weeks ago, the installation company got waylaid a bit by the Thanksgiving holiday.

But TODAY'S THE DAY! Unavoidably, I had a medical appointment that fell on the same day as the installation appt. Michael came to the rescue (again) and volunteered to let the installers in at 9 AM while I was gone. And Matthew graciously volunteered to drive me to and from my appt.

When we returned to the house at 10:30 AM the counters were in! Michael had taken lots of pictures for us all, as follows:

This covers a 9" bump out in the 48" wide kitchen window

A big piece covers the peninsula unit and pony wall

The stone has a protective wrapping over it

Without the plastic wrapping, the surface is so shiny!

Now for the counter over the sink. I asked for the sink cut out (since I paid for it) and all other remnants that may end up as one of my sculptures.

The sink counter is in place

One backsplash is in

A second backsplash is in place

They lifted the 125-pound sink for us. It fit perfectly.

Doesn't it look beautiful?

I am so happy!

The last counter is in place

Now that the workmen have gone, Michael will go under the sink and install the long-neck faucet.

Once he hooked up the hot and cold water, he tried it out in a plastic bucket. That was an easy project; however, hooking up the disposal and sink posed many logistical fit problems. I made him an apple pie to keep up his resolve to conquer these challenges.

He's going back to Home Depot for the third (fourth?) time today to find plumbing pieces that will fit properly. Thank goodness it's only 3 miles away!

12/3/09 - Day 27 - The Trim

2009-12-04T07:03:00.000-08:00

Now it's time to get some of the finishing steps done. Here's what the undercabinet lighting looks like, the wires hidden behind the trim strip installed under the cabinet doors. These three lights put out quite a bit of luminosity.

Another trim strip

I finished the microwave venting and was able to use the microwave for the first time. Woo hoo! I don't use an oven much, but that microwave is critically important in my household!

We're ready for the countertops to be delivered in Dec 4th - I can hardly wait!

We're ready for the countertops

12/1/09 - Day 25 - Under-Lighting

2009-12-04T06:52:00.000-08:00

I install the undercabinet lights. Too much extra wire. Where's the wire cutter/stripper? I'll have to figure out how to hide the wires and position the on/off switch. Maybe I can ask my brother to help hard-wiring the lights behind the wall, and/or replace the twofer socket with a 4-socket unit, so I don't have to waste one of the two sockets for the lights.

11/24/09 - Day 19 - Dishwasher

2009-12-04T06:45:00.000-08:00

Michael hooks up the dishwasher. That includes changing water valves, adding the hot water and return hoses, connecting the Romex electrical wire to the dishwasher clamp, replacing the original metal door with the brown cover panel, adding a handle, and admiring his awesome work.

Hmmm . . . the door is not going to open with a toe kick underneath. We'll probably have to cut the toe kick down a bit later on.

Great job!

As soon as the sink and faucet are installed, We're going to run all of the dishes, glassware, and silverware through the new dishwasher. Matthew (our ace dishwasher) can hardly wait!

11/22/09 - Day 17 - Handles On

2009-12-04T06:40:00.000-08:00

I finished

stocking all of the cabinets and cleaned up the floor in the front room and TV room.

The garage is a disaster with 5' of empty boxes and the garbage cans are full, full, full. Thankfully, IKEA has a recycling program where I can take all of the boxes to them. The house looks livable again even though we can only park one car in the garage right now (mine, of course!). I'm crossing my fingers that the black countertops will arrive before Thanksgiving (even though I won't be cooking . . .).

I think it is very important that kids learn how to do things. Periodically, I'll get Matthew to help out. This project was to have him measure for correct placement of the door and drawer handles.

He drills the holes, inserts the screws, and tightens the handle.

Same thing on the base cabinets.

Looks great!

11/16/09 - Day 11 - Microwave In

2009-12-04T06:08:00.000-08:00

It has been such a pleasure for me that Michael has taken the lead on the remodel up to this date. Normally, I have to do everything myself, but he has been a phenomenal helpmate with this large project.

Today, I am on my own. I want to finish the microwave wall today.

I put up the IKEA railing that the wall cabinets hang from. That pesky electrical socket is in the way, tho, so I burn off the hardboard around the socket using my angle grinder. Perhaps it's not the most kosher way to handle the situation, but it worked!

The first cabinet was easy to hang by myself.

The cabinet that will house the microwave venting-to-the-roof will be difficult in that I have to ensure that the measurements are perfect before I prepare the cutouts for the stove pipe, etc.

Measure thrice, cut once.

So far, so good.

It fits perfectly. Now I have to cut out a rectangle in the bottom for the microwave vent, and install the metal support bars for the microwave.

With Matthew's help, we were able to place the microwave oven into the prepared space.

I did not finish the venting hookup, but it was great to get the cabinets in.

Peeking into the box at my slick black double sink.

I love it!

Love it!

LOVE IT!

The door fronts really make it look complete.

WOW - after only 11 days it looks pretty darn good!

Day 12: Day of rest.

11/15/09 - Day 10 - Cabinets 2

2009-12-04T05:29:00.000-08:00

More building . . .

We finally figured out how to mount the cabinets even when there was no stud. First of all, that pantry ain't going nowhere, since it's right up under the soffet, so we used molly/toggle-bolts with the IKEA railing system. Michael is clamping the colored siding to the pantry.

Then he screws the outer cover panel from the inside of the pantry.

The 15" cabinet is mounted and face frame screwed on. Starting to look like the picture in the IKEA catalog!

Now it's time to make the sink cabinet. Holes must be cut in the back for the plumbing, water supply lines, etc.

Stop playing Michael!

Cute butt! Oh, sorry. This is all about business. Once the sink cabinet was positioned correctly, we were able to position the cabinets that would be next to the refrigerator.

The cover panels are on.

I spend much of my time installing the drawer fronts onto the drawer innerds.

The rail is applied to the drawer front to help keep the drawer contents from overflowing.

Looking good!

The front room is a disaster! I won't be having Kanika customers come over any time soon!!!

We finished putting together ALL of the wall and base cabinets. I looked thru ALL of the 117 boxes that were delivered yesterday to ensure that there were no scratches, etc. Then went to a retirement lunch and 60th birthday celebration of my dear friend, Cynthia, at Frasinetti's Winery. Back to IKEA to return six damaged door/drawer fronts. To Second Saturday now.

11/14/09 - Day 9 - Cabinets!

2009-12-04T05:28:00.000-08:00

Today, I went to the retirement and 60th birthday party for my dear friend, Cynthia, from noon to 3:30. That means we got a rather late start on the remodel work.

We watched the installation DVD several times to ensure we were doing everything right. IKEA has picture-based instructions and the DVD did not exactly correspond to what we needed, but we were able to put together most of the cabinets that night.

Putting the legs on. Such a simple concept!

IKEA has a super easy method of leveling the cabinets. Just turn the legs a bit to raise or lower the entire cabinet.

Tiny little brads must be hammered to keep the backing on securely.

Two base cabinets are in place. The clamps make it easier to screw the cabinets together.

I had planned to do Second Saturday art walk at the Blue Moon Gallery, but after getting dressed for the event, I laid my head down for a few minutes and didn't wake up until 10 PM!

11/13/09 - Day 8 - They're Here!

2009-12-04T05:18:00.000-08:00

Friday the 13th. We get our tools together and tarps down on the frontroom and TV room floors, in preparation for the product delivery. We tape the IKEA instructions up on the TV entertainment unit so we may refer to them often.

The cabinets (etc.) arrived at 1 PM.

We put the big boxes for the pantry and long toe kick boards in the TV room, since the pantry should be put together first. 117 boxes altogether!

"What have we gotten ourselves into?"

We start checking off the delivered boxes against the long inventory sheet to ensure that everything was delivered. Michael noticed that six of the 117 boxes (WHEW!) were the wrong color, and IKEA only had a few left of the right color. I had to drive 17 miles to IKEA to replace them pronto. After some twists and turns in getting this done quickly, I was back home by 2:40 PM.

Thankfully, Michael had already started putting together the smallest wall cabinet to find out how the IKEA instructions worked.

Pretty darn simple construction!

Next, we put together the 88" pantry unit. Since it starts the leftmost run of cabinets in the kitchen, it was to be installed first.

Putting on the hinges

Checking the level. Since I wanted maximum utility from the pantry, I chose the 88" model which barely fit underneath the soffet.

The 15" cabinet next to the pantry went next. But we felt we couldn't install either cabinet because there are no studs near where IKEA wants them to be for their metal rail system to work properly.

So . .. instead of continuing to hem and haw about how to alter the instructions for the lack of studs in the right place, we decided to put together the rest of the cabinets first then and set them in place (like IKEA advises). The rest of the day we opened boxes, laid out the wood pieces and hardware, then screwed everything in place. Over and over and over and over again. Michael did more to put the drawer rails inside the base cabinets and I put together the drawer innerds and face panels.

We got a LOT done that day.

11/12/09 - Day 7 - Ready for IKEA

2009-12-04T04:47:00.000-08:00

Tonight I'm touching up some paint and cleaning out some of the mess in preparation to receive the IKEA cabinets, dishwasher and microwave tomorrow. Hurrah! Gotta find a black sink to go with the black countertop.

I paid IKEA extra for an undermount sink, but may not be able to get one soon enough for the countertop installation.

11/9/09 - Day 4 Tile & Primer

2009-12-03T23:03:00.000-08:00

Tile, tile everywhere!

After I mangled some of the walls, I start the first coat of primer to cover my beautiful, rich, earthy walls. I will sure miss those colors.

11/11/09 - Day 6 - STRESS DEMO!

2009-12-03T22:47:00.000-08:00

Veteran's Day: It's time to get serious! STRESS DEMOLITION! We've done as much as we can without getting nasty, but now it's time to do a "Tim the Tool Man Taylor" and get out the power tools! VROOOM! VROOM! All pieces of the old kitchen must be gone today! I've given up the idea of being to reuse the rest of the cabinets, so off they go, piece by piece. "Just get 'er done!"

Trying to get out that last screw, but it's tilted upward and the screwdriver cannot reach it. Gotta take off the tile top first.. Arrgghhhhh!!
Can we cut thru the tile and half of the cabinet so we can remove one half of the unit at once? We absolutely do NOT want to remove all of this tile! Too dusty and messy!

The tile came off easily around the edges, but there's one inch of mastic under the tile (think mortar). Slowly, we learn to chip away at the edges to release the wood foundation under the tile/mastic. Then we could lift a whole sheet of tile off at once. Matt, Michael and I carried the incredibly heavy sheet of tile on the peninsula unit through the front door and into the garage. Then Michael could see that last disagreeable screw once the top was off and we were able to carry the base unit out thru the front door too.

Looking clean!

Now to take out a dishwasher, then dismantle the disposal, faucet and sink. Just git her done!

Wow - this sink does not weigh much. Definitely not a cast iron sink! (the new cast iron sink weighs over 125 pounds and needs at least two people to lift it - or one very strong person).

The sink cabinet comes out fairly easily.

The sink unit is gone!

We got all the cabinets out by noon. Now time to prime all of the walls, texture and paint the whole kitchen.

After dinner, we prime the walls then start the painting. A "light beige" paint which looks like yellow buttercream to me. Pastel is NOT my normal style. Since I am planning to add my Kanika tiles above the new black backsplash, it will tone down that flaccid yellowy wall color (I hope!).

I decided to leave the old flourescent tubes in the ceiling until after the countertops are installed so i can see how dark the black countertop might make the overall lighting in the kitchen.

Michael and I had a great strategy for painting. He cut it the paint and I went behind him with the paint roller. The whole room was painted pretty quickly that way.

I had to be careful painting the ceiling in the diningroom. I wanted to keep the original rust-colored paint and had to make sure none of that lovely buttercream got on the darker paint (I later found several areas of buttercream that must be removed somehow).

We were finished by 9:30 that night. LOONNNGGGG Day! But got to be ready for the cabinet delivery on the 13th.

11/10/09 Day 5 - Tackling the Tile

2009-12-03T21:49:00.000-08:00

We have to remove the tile. Again, everything was so well built that it is difficult to remove without damaging the walls behind the tile. I have my trusty pry bar and no matter carefully I tried to separate the tile from the wall, it stuck like glue to the wall. After a while, I just set my mind to the fact that I would have to repair a lot of walls! Thankfully, my brother taught me how to do it so it will be ok (I hope).

11/8/09 - Day 3 - Soft Demo

2009-12-03T21:31:00.000-08:00

I tried to get out the cabinet that houses the microwave over the stove. Too tough! It looks like it was custom built around the stovepipe - all one piece again. And the electrical socket box was attached on the "inside" of the hardboard backing of the cabinet; this means that I would need to dismantle the electrical box before removing the cabinet. I don't like working with electrical stuff! I might have to find another way to deal with this! Later!

Let's take out the pantry unit now that Matthew has loosened the screws holding it to the wall. As big as that unit is, it was surprisingly easy for me to remove it myself. Just scoot it out, side to side, inching it out from under the soffet, until finally it was free!

Then laid the pantry unit on its side and scoot it along the carpet, along the hall, and leave it for Matthew to take outside to the garage stockpile.

It is amazing how small the footprint was beside the dishwasher! All of that utility on a 24x18" wood frame.

How groady/dirty/gross this looks! This is the spacer between the old pantry and the dishwasher.

After spending the day cleaning out cabinets at my house, visiting my dad, then putting down weed fabric and 6 yards of bark in my boyfriend's backyard, I dream of eating See's Candies. And eating a steak. And drinking some red wine. And snuggling with . . . an icepack! (LOL)

11/7/09 - Day 2 Demolition

2009-12-03T20:53:00.000-08:00

Feeling frisky, I started taking apart the cabinets over the refrigerator. You never know how well things are made until you try to take them apart!

Boy! Those cabinets are heavy! They built the suckers as one piece, so even taking the doors off is HEAVY work.

I had to prop parts of the whole on various things just to get it off the frig.

I removed the wall cabinet next to the pantry then got my son's help to remove the screws holding up the pantry. I still think the demolition is going to take a while, even though I'm making a lot of progress.

Time for ibuprofen, a hot shower, and bedtime. I guess I'd better buy the new cabinets tomorrow!!!

11/6/09 - Day 1 - We Begin

2009-12-03T20:39:00.000-08:00

So on November 6, 2009, I am starting. Finally. A new kitchen. No more multi-colored cabinets and sagging cabinet doors from one of my kids hanging on 'em. No more white tile countertops and nasty grout that is impossible to keep sanitary. No more flourescent lighting overhead. No more cracks in the sink. No more surprise cans in the far back reaches of my pantry that have exploded unseen. IKEA's 20% off sale ends on Wednesday. Gotta "put up or shut up" soon and buy the kitchen parts!

That night after my day job, I emptied a couple of wall cabinets into plastic bins and put them under, and alongside, the diningroom table.

The toaster oven and microwave oven on the diningroom table will be our source of cooking until the kitchen is finished.

It is an organized mess!

I took all of the molding off in the kitchen and diningroom.

Then I used spray TSP to clean all of the walls and spackled all the holes in the kitchen.

My Kitchen Remodel Inspired by Mom

2009-11-22T08:17:00.000-08:00

After my mother died from breast cancer complications on January 27, 2007, my sister, brother and I (mainly my brother) worked for several months to upgrade mom's house in an active adult community in South Sacramento so that it could be sold. It was a tough real estate market, but the house sold in only a few weeks because it was remodeled so beautifully.

Greg - a general contractor - repainted the entire house, ripped out the thick fabric and replaced it with light brown wood laminate floors, replaced the molding, upgraded the bathrooms with safety rails, and did lots of additional touch ups, etc. My sister, Carrie, and the real estate agent "staged" the final look so that everything was warm and inviting.

The updated house was very beautiful, but I was sad because mom was unable to experience these great changes while she was alive.

I vowed then and there to fix up my house while I am still alive to enjoy it. Over the next six months or so, I hired my brother and others to repair my roof, paint the outside of the house, renovate both bathrooms, replace the worn, cheap fabric, move some of mom's furniture into my TV room and art studio, among other improvements. But I got tired of construction and never got to the kitchen.

One day in November 2007, I had a "fix-it" bee in my bonnet and impulsively got some of my many paint cans and started painting the kitchen cabinets. There was no plan except to try different colors, live with them for a while, then choose one color, clean and prime the cabinets, then repaint them. But I never finished the work. For two years I had mismatched cabinets! One lemon yellow, one peachy, one burgundy/rust. Bohemian-esque, to be sure!

(My "before" kitchen)

Then IKEA had their annual 20% off sale on kitchens. It was time to get busy! For a couple of weeks, I searched the IKEA brochures and made many trips to IKEA, did some cost comparisons with Home Depot and Lowe's, then made my cabinet and color choices. I used IKEA's online kitchen planner to design my kitchen, then worked with several IKEA kitchen experts to make sure I had done everything correctly. But, once again, impulsive me, (the me that wanted to get the job done FAST), did not do things in the proper order. On November 6th, a Friday, I started the kitchen demolition process before actually buying the cabinets on Sunday. So if the cabinets had been out of stock, I would have been without a kitchen at all! But my Guardian Angels - my mom and my mother-in-law - were rooting for me to be successful, so I was able to buy everything on Sunday for a Friday delivery.

What follows is my daily diary of the kitchen remodel and some pictures that tell the tale in graphic detail.