My House Monday: Letting My Little Light Shine

I made it...just barely...in time for #MyHouseMonday, a totally self-imposed deadline for at least one weekly project.  I am ashamed to say, I have pushed the deadline with only 2 hours to spare (we started at 8ish)!  This week's (and a bit of the last few weeks') dilemma has been deciding which light fixture to hang above the kitchen table.  Okay, that sounds ReALly shallow and in truth, that hasn't been the only dilemma at the house.  We have had a rough couple of weeks around here, but working on the house has proved to be a nice escape.  In fact, I got up extra early this Monday morning before reporting to work at 7:30am just so I could swing by Home Depot.  (I can't seem to help myself!  I love that store.)  Back to the lighting...

I thought I wanted rustic.  Definitely cottage.  Hinting at coastal.  I looked high and low.  And I actually purchased three different lights.  Then...I went with something totally different.  

Shiny? Yes!  Sparkly?  Of course!  I feel a bit like Dori in Finding Nemo.  It is so freshly hung that it doesn't even have all of its bulbs yet.  But I love it!

It is coming together.  Slowly, but surely, I am making progress.

Somewhere along the way I have moved a bit away from the inspiration picture and started just filling it with stuff that inspires me. (Lots of dishes!)

I am mixing it all together to create a room I want to be in and since I am hanging out in the kitchen more, I find myself cooking more...much to Mike's delight:)

Okay, I now realize I could center the rosemary and pick up my keys before snapping a picture next time, 

but other than that, I think I am almost done with this end of the kitchen!

The Backsplash is Grouted!!!

This has been a busy week!  We decided on a tile, installed the backsplash and now, grouted the space. Grouting was actually harder than I thought it would be and it took more time (about 4 hours).  We started by mixing PolyBlend's non-sanded, bright white grout from Home Depot.

We used a clean bucket to mix the powdery mix with water.  

The first batch was too thick, which made it challenging to apply.  

After adding a bit more water and the grout spread more easily.

 The grout began to firm up after 10 - 15 minutes.  

(I literally sat there watching the grout dry.   I was so excited to start wiping the walls down:)

We used the wrong sponge at first.  The big sponge was pulling a lot of the grout out.  Mike made a quick run back to Home Depot and picked up a  couple of sponges with a smoother finish.  Having two sponges was  actually a big help.  Mike was able to wipe the walls with one, while I rinsed the other.  It made for a quicker finish time for this part of the process. 

After wiping the tile with the sponge, a slight haze was left on the tile.  The directions for the grout recommended waiting a couple of hours before buffing the haze away.  We waited overnight and had no problem scrubbing the residue off this morning.  And, here's the finished result: 

I love the way it turned out.

Which Backsplash...aaaggghhh???

    I think I have spent more time in my kitchen these past few weeks than ever before.  I have painted cabinets (well the lower section, at least...I still have the upper ones to tackle), ripped out laminate and installed granite, and now, picked the backsplash.  Selecting the backsplash was trickier than expected.  I struggled in choosing between the inspiration room's subway mosaic and a beautiful natural stone found at Lowes.  

Image from FastFloors

     The designer of the inspiration room had installed Crossville Tile's 1x2 Savoy series glossy white.  The closest Crossville distributor was actually 3 hours away.  I made a quick call to the rep and he generously sent a sample which arrived within 3 days.  I was beyond thrilled when the UPS man delivered my sample.  Unfortunately, when we held it on the wall, we didn't loooovvvve it (and after waiting 13 years to "do the kitchen", I thought we should).  The tile was beautiful and it looked fabulous in the pics, but on our long run of cabinets (12 1/2 feet) and the 1x2 pattern looked waaaaaayyyyy too busy.  

Image from Lowes

     I headed to Home Depot and Lowes to find an alternative.  Lowes had a soft white natural stone with gray striations which was beautiful! I brought home two boxes and we all agreed - it was the one.  It wasn't the bright white of the room, but it was gorgeous.  After agonizing over the choice for days ( I polled friends, family, and even my students), we chose the natural stone.  Unfortunately, it was gorgeous only in small batches! When we laid it out prior to installation, we realized it didn't work.  Some stones featured gray, but most were white with brown spots!  I hate brown spots!!! Aaaaggghhh!  I had bought 28 boxes from 2 different locations (2 different lots/runs + natural stone = major variations!!!)  I couldn't put the brown spotted tiles back in their boxes fast enough.  

     Mike and I loaded up the stone and headed back to the store.  Now, what?  I had liked everything about the inspiration room.

Image from A Postcard from Paris

I wanted to recreate the feel without  using the tiny mosaic. 

Image from A Postcard from Paris

I looked through other kitchen pics I had collected on my iPad and phone over the past few months. They all had a high contrast between the backsplash and countertops.  They tended to be bright and white.  Many had a subway tile backsplash.  I like traditional subway tile, but I liked the smaller tiles from the inspiration house too.  I went back to the tile section of my big box stores and found this:

a 2x4 glossy white mosaic, my new backsplash!

So much effort...and we still have to install it :)

Bright, White Kitchens

"The past two decades of designing kitchens there has been one constant; the timelessness of a white kitchen."~ Marin Kitchen Company Good thing, because 10 years ago when we built that is exactly what we picked. I still love walking into the bright, cheery space. While we are now considering updating a few surfaces, we are keeping the white!

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