So the holidays came and went. We visited family and friends. We shopped for paint and tile. We rested a little (but really not much). We enjoyed our kids. January came and we got back to work. We finished installing and levelling the countertops. (The sink actually stayed until the week the counters arrived).
While we waited for the counters to be cut and delivered, the walls got painted a dark sandy-taupe colour by Behr called Stepping Stones. The trim and ceiling were painted in Behr’s Swiss Coffee.
As for the kitchen floors, we tiled with really durable stick-on 12″ x 12″ vinyl tiles (the same ones as in the bathroom). In the long run we’d either like to put down stone or ceramic or perhaps even continue the hardwood through the kitchen when we do the rest of the house. But since it was the middle of winter (running a wet-saw to cut tile was out of the question) and we have small children (our dishes might take a beating when dropped onto a harder surface like ceramic), vinyl was the best choice for right now. We were impressed at the selection too.
After about three weeks, the counter-tops arrived. I would have loved to have gone with granite, but it just wasn’t in the budget this time around. So we ordered a granite-look laminate. It’s funny how huge it seemed before we installed it.
Dean had to lay on the countertops to hold them down while Jeff fastened them to the cabinets from underneath.
Our next finishing touch was to put up the backsplash. This was so much fun to plan and shop for because in the end I found a great bargain. Originally I had picked a beautiful glass tile in taupe. It was gorgeous and of course special order. However it would have cost about $700 just for materials. Then I thought about using classic subway tile and just accenting with the glass tile. This brought the price down to about $250-300. I still couldn’t fathom spending that much on something that didn’t add much functionality to the kitchen. But when I was in Home Depot on Boxing Day, I thought I’d just take a quick peek at the sales. Well imagine my surprise when the subway tile I wanted was marked down 50% to only $16 per case! And I found a different accent tile that was glass and stone for much less than the special order tiles I’d originally found. I had to go to two different stores, but in the end our entire backsplash cost about $150 all in (including all the grout and tools)!
Here are a couple of shots before the grout went on:
With the kitchen reno almost complete, it was time for a little more work and, of course, the final ‘reveal’.
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