Little Tudor Kitchen remodel week 1
The much delayed remodel in our 1920's Tudor revival has finally started! We're going from a 10x11 kitchen to a 10x11 kitchen with one less doorway and one less wall and a bigger window and a more efficient use of space. I've got some great help on this forum helping sort out what I could and couldn't do with the space limitations.
Interesting note that the doorways were built with actual 2x4s as in 2" by 4" exactly and none of this modern 1.75 by 3.75 stuff. The plaster will sadly have to come down because we have to redo the window and electrical and plumbing but it'll give us an extra inch of wiggle room since it was on so thick.
Couple of pics to start (hard to take since it's a small space): Those cabinets are refaced on the outside but I think from the 50's on the inside. Lots of piecemeal remodels in this space by previous owners.
Before:
After day 2:
Excited and nervous but I trust in my GC (who's done lots of work for my parents and neighbors and is slow but meticulous and has told my husband yesterday that he would really like me to be home between 5 and 5:30 so can go over the days work and next days plan and any special details which I appreciate and he clearly learned from working with my mom ;) )
Comments (19)
bpath
8 years ago
Carrie B
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Progress Update 2 On Our $8500 Condo Kitchen Remodel 1 Week Left!
Comments (7)The floor is a semi hopscotch pattern. The 13 x 13 brown tiles vary in color and match perfectly with the granite. The lighter 6x6 tiles we really feel break up the darkness of the floor and look great. Whats great is the 6x6's will match perfectly with the tile back splash. We are using 2x2 witch are the same color as the 6x6's we are also doing a decorative pattern along the wall and something special I'm going to make you all wait for for the "wow" factor. The granite is called bay brook brown it has light and dark browns, black, cream, and golden flecks. the granite perfectly matches with the floor and you can find all the colors in it. those who say you cant do a total gut renovation on a budget must be crazy. All it takes is some shopping around. We spent many weekends in Lowes and Home Depot picking the perfect tile and ascents I think we are proof of what such little money can do and we are very proud of that!...See MoreMy progress- week 9 (week 1 of cabinets)
Comments (14)Wow, thanks for all the kind words! We tried to get some sort of reaction out of our kids and the workers but no one was saying much ;-) I should have known I could count on gardenweb! linb007, the floors are common 1 and 2 random width (3-5-7) american black walnut. I fell in love with some I saw at 32 dollars a sq foot (of course) and hunted them like prey until I found them for less than a quarter of that. We got them from Blackford & Sons out of Tennessee, unfinished with hand scrapped edges. My contact there is Luke Blackford. They are sweethearts there. I can send you his email if you want. kitchenkrazed, I am going to post this seperately (cabinet issue), I need the GW advice! The firm is a very reputable firm, HOWEVER, our designer left a week before we placed the order. So we are in a sort of odd situation and they never gave us a list of exact cabinets (I wasnt liking that but that is how they said it worked), they gave us 100 drawings and elevations and the cabinet type and finish, etc. but not a detailed BOM. So we are discussing it with them right now but I dont like that I dont have my original designer to clearly state that this is not what we discussed. honorbilkit, yes, we are surprised to find out that we are doing ok without the first floor. Esp since we always say the house is too small for us (we love our neighborhood though). My 6 year old said today he doesnt want to move back into the first floor. I thought he liked the closeness of all of us. Turns out he liked being able to watch TV while eating (basement set up, not allowed in real life upstairs). Rascal. Dinalo, yes that is stenciling, or as we like to say: entertainment for the onsite crew. Its one of my "Projects" where i experiment and stress out my husband. We had rich blue walls (faux sky) before so to cover it, I laid a TON of primer and ceiling white, and I COULD STILL SEE THE BLUE! So then I lugged 50 lbs of joint compound in (this is where the workers perked up wondering what the heck I was up to) and slathered it on. Then I color washed it with acrylics. Then I did a dimensional damask stencil with some of the bottom metallic paint mixed in. Since this photo I have added metallic highlighting to match under chair rail and then started distressed it with sandpaper (not done) b/c my highlighting was too "new" looking. Its like an 18 layer wall. I think I need to be committed if I make any starts towards 19. It's been sort of fun, Ive been cranking the ipod and putting movies on for the kids, but I think most people could skip 80% of my steps and get a similar effect! Lol....See MoreNovember Week 1, November 1 - 3 Tips and Helpful Hints Week
Comments (24)Here are my last tips for this first week of November. The tips y'all have shared are just great. Thanks for contributing. This tip for storing berries is wonderful. When get home from the grocery store, immediately rinse blueberries, strawberries and raspberries in hot water, drain and put in a glass jar when dry. Instead of a 24 hour life they can go almost a week with their flavor, texture and appearance intact. They'll keep as long as a week; it's amazing, but they last. Harold McGee To keep grapes juicy, plump, and tasty for at least twice as long do the following: As soon as you get them home from the store remove them all from the stems, wash thoroughly, and seal in a plastic container. The grapes will last for several weeks without any loss of taste or texture. Silpat Cooking Mat -use it for forming dough on, instead of a floured counter or a bread board. As long as you handle the dough with oiled hands, no bench flour is necessary and clean-up is q & e. -pour that holiday peanut brittle on it and it doesn't stick. Great for making small rounds of peanut brittle. -line a jelly roll pan with a Silpat and bake meatballs or sausage balls on it. The grease wipes off and the meatballs don't stick. Take an ear of corn and stick it into the hole of a Bundt pan, then slice the corn off into the pan. Never put tomatoes in the same drawer with your other produce. It gives off a gas that makes produce ripen too fast. If you use non-stick frying pans, never use Pam type sprays on them. The propellent eats into the coatings and ruins them. Instead, add a drop of oil and use a brush to spread it around. Microwave sliced fresh mushrooms on paper towels just until they give up their water then squeeze them just a little. Then fry them in butter and they brown nicely and quickly without that moisture you always get in the frying pan. Whenever you need oat flour, you can make your own by blending oatmeal into a fine powder in your blender or food processor. It takes approximately 1-1/2 c. of oatmeal to make about 1-cup oat flour. After buttering the bread for grilled cheese sandwiches, press the buttered side into some grated parmigiano or pecorino before grilling. It totally adds to the texture and flavor. Crispy cheesy salty bread. If you want the yolks of your deviled eggs to be perfectly centered, stir the pot a few times in the first moments they are beginning to simmer. Purchase a whole bone-in rib roast when it goes on sale the day after Thanksgiving for an obscenely cheap price. Then it can be butchered into a Christmas rib roast, several steaks, have bones for beef stock, and scraps for grinding meat. Greens - The grit problem was brilliantly solved by the Mississippi Delta Chinese families. Put greens of any kind into a net bag like stockings are washed in and put it in the washing machine for a quick rinse in cold water and a spin. Works great....See MoreLittle Tudor Kitchen remodel update week 4
Comments (17)Mini update: Everything was going along swimmingly and then the counter people truck broke down. I didn't get my counter installed on Tuesday (moved to saturday) and not getting my appliances today (moved to next tuesday). At least the handles came and they are lovely, DH didn't like the two handles on the 33" drawer cabinets so I returned the 5" ones and got more of the 6" ones for those cabinets. Ameroc Kane in ORB. The hood company received the damaged hood and working on a replacement. I hate this part of the remodel, just waiting for the last big stuff. GC is doing little things here and there like finishing up the closet and molding - he rescued the original crown, put up original molding from the door opening around the window and cut down some recovered molding to put around the door (we needed an extra 2") so it looks like it belongs. But he can't do the backsplash or painting since I have no counters to pick stuff out. GRR!! House is so dusty and I just want to be done already so I can move on to finish other things before this baby comes and have the house cleaned from top to bottom. Oh well, it can always be worse....See More
eam44
8 years ago
mama goose_gw zn6OH
8 years agolenzai
8 years ago
Lavender Lass
8 years agolenzai
8 years ago
funkycamper
8 years agolenzai
8 years ago
lisa_a
8 years ago
Amber
8 years agolenzai
8 years agoUpdate this week. 16 days post start.
The good: Drywall is up, spakled and being sanded today. New window is up and beautiful inside and out. (I forgot to take a pic of the outside brick work but it's lovely too). 17 our of 19 Barker Cabinets are assembled with minimal lippage issues (took the two men less than a day to do all of them).
New subfloor and cement board on top of it ready for tile and the tile is delivered.
The bad: Code in our county has changed so we can't do flexi duct for kitchen venting so that will have to be redone (verified after the ceiling drywall was put up of course) GC is unhappy since he hates redoing things but pretty calm about it.
Pictures:
Back wall with the offending duct but with the view of the pretty new window and nicely spaced horizontal outlets :)
This is where the old wall used to be. GC managed to line up the new drywall with the old plaster at the transition. The door is cheap and ugly and won't match anything, I just don't have it in me to replace it right now but it'll be an eye sore once the kitchen is done. At least it's a standard size and I can redo it whenever. Compared to the old picture, the new window is way taller.Had to leave the heating vent where it is in the floor due to joist placement, otherwise I would have shifted it over closer to the dining room and put it inside the island.
Pile of the old crown and trim molding that was salvaged and will go around the window to match the dining room.
Carrie B
8 years agofunkycamper
8 years agolenzai
8 years agolenzai
8 years agoUpdate this week.
Things are progressing super quick! Floor is tiled (missed taking a full pic before they covered it up). Vent is redone with rigid venting and the ceiling re-patched and painted (where they didn't repatch)
Cabinets are starting to go in as we have a hard deadline for counter measuring on Thursday. I passed my first test as a self designed/ordered kitchen planner, and the wall of cabinets fit as planned to within a 1/8 of an inch extra (which i attribute to going from plaster walls to drywall).
My GC is not thrilled with the more complicated than usual set up (varying depth cabinets, and some needing to be pulled away from the wall (since I was saving money and not getting 30" deep cabinets). However, he is being calm and just going with it, amazing what the sight of an anxious pregnant woman does to a man.
Pictures:
Outside brick work as requested. See if you can tell the difference between original 1920, bad remodel about 15 years ago and now.
Cabinets are going up! Top will be flat and crown molding, I wasn't sure how much ceiling space we would have so went a little conservative on the cabinet sizes (34 bottom and 15 top). Note that it'll all be off center but that is very much on purpose.
Tiny sliver of the floor showing, butting to the original hardwood. It's already grouted, GC mixed 3 colors of grout to get it the perfect dirt color. I love the floor (Stax Tortola) it's a great combo of grey, brown and tiny bit of white and will pull the brown from the counter.
Carrie B
8 years agolenzai
8 years ago
lenzaiOriginal Author