The Counter Attack

It has finally happened! My counter tops are fully installed! I am going to do a few touch-ups and redos before I post a new "Kitchen Tour" picture page but for now... Let me just show you the final before and afters! 

The initial look of the kitchen in 2008: 

And after my second remodel of the cabinets back in 2010/2011:

My absolute favorite part!! How it looks now:

Bahhhh I can't even get over how holy-crap pretty these are! I seriously sped home as fast as possible from work so I could hang out with my counter tops! (Though ignore the over flow on the bar area. It was a catch-all during this process.) Remember last week when I pointed out that funky spot under the end of the bar? It was a big ole gap but now! It is fully filled in and I even added tile wallpaper on the right side of the counters instead of getting an end chunk of countertop, I think it looks better.

Even the cat liked em! Actually she got caulking on her fur. Which she wasn't a fan of. Therefore she had to lay on the counter until I served her properly and cleaned it up. 

Here's a run down of the things I kept from 2008 and the things that are new. I have to say so far this is one of the biggest impact projects I've done so far!

New vs. Old:

• old hardware, just spray painted with oil-rubbed bronze.
• old cabinets, painted with crisp white paint. (Does require maintenance of paint but worth it)
• old sink. Just a couple repairs and it was solid again.
• old stove. It works, it works for me.
• new counters!
• new back splash. I used tile looking paintable wallpaper by Allen Roth from Lowe's. The old stuff was twenty cent bathroom tile.
• new fridge and dishwasher
• new wall color
• new switch plate and outlet covers
• new light fixture (might update it again though, that one was $3.00 on clearance but it is rather modern for this space now.)
• new window covering

Now I just have to figure out something for the "L" shaped bar area. I thought it'd be fine with the new counters. But now... that looks trashy compared to all the other remodel work I've done recently.

Here's really the only picture of it I have: 

The problem is the strange shape of the counter. To buy a piece of laminate that matches and then chop it up just seems ridiculous. It would cost a lot of money. I'm sort of thinking to take some wood and build a surface. It has to be relatively light since the cabinets aren't the most solid things ever.

Here's a couple images for the overall look I'm thinking:

Eclectic Kitchen by Minneapolis Design-Build Firms the gudhouse company

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Obviously those are a little fancier than what I would probably go with. But I think the contrast is nice and would keep the cottage feel of the house and add some desperately needed character to my house. "Do all things with character!" 

For instance I found an example of someone doing their entire counters with wood and then staining and sealing, I think that could look awesome!

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I am excited to update that portion but one big project at a time is probably for the best. Not having countertops and microwaving dinner in my dining room wasn't my favorite experience. 

Kitchen Botox

Have you ever done one of those DIY remodeling things and had to cut something out of the budget, even though you knew eventually you were going to end up replacing it anyway? Well. That is the case in my kitchen. Back in December of 2011 when I first started remodeling the kitchen I had a very small budget. Like $300.00 dollars budget. For a college kid not bad and for the most part it has held up rather well.

For instance the cabinets used to all look like this: 

They were so dated. Being the English nerd I am I always feel compelled to hum a little Poe; "Once upon a midnight dreary while I wandered weak and weary." I just feel it describes the mood in the kitchen so well. Several gallons of white paint and elbow grease I was able to paint them white and pretty which made them look wayyyyy better. Not to mention painting the existing hardware a few years ago.

I have always hated the pink counter tops that were original to the house, which was built in the late '80s. They're older than me. So I used some counter top paint product, which has actually lasted pretty well since then. This was my scared face....

Here's what it looked like after all the paint was dried and applied:

The counters have held up pretty well in terms of the paint, I mean it has some wear and tear from hard use by roommates and just time. The problem with these counters is that they are rotting and sagging. So much that in one point from the wall to the end of the counter top there is a 3/4" slope by the sink and everywhere else a 1/4" slope. I was finally able to put some money away and save up for new counters.

Here's a demonstration with just my mini baby level.

So with the image of my present kitchen in mind and the overall theme and colors in my house... I headed off to the home improvement stores to start my journey...

I was super excited! It was painful and I spent probably 2 hours in home improvement stores on a glorious Saturday deliberating between whether or not to actually buy them. I had to call my sister into the store to help push me to do it. I decided to go with a pre-fab laminate product because it's a small galley kitchen which means I only needed to buy a 6' piece and a 4' piece to cover all the counter top space. Plus if I have a manufactured home it wouldn't be smart/practical/logical to pay for real stone, just to be honest on that score.

I was between two different counters, dark granite-y looking stuff, or light granite-y looking.

I went with the lighter. The reason being that with the dark counters I already have it felt to dark for such a small space, I am hoping with the light color it will make the space look larger and fit better with the classy, chic cottage thing I've got going on.

The nice fellers at Lowe's helped us get them loaded into the truck that my Dad's friend, Tony, brought to help me out. It was super nice of him! He's even going to help me install them! They look clean and fresh in the sun!

Total cost break down for the counter tops:

• 6 foot section: $120.00
• 4 foot section: $92.00

Discount: $22.00

Total Cost of Counters: 205.00

Not too bad really, when you think about it. I also bought a new thing of oil-rubbed bronze spray paint for the cabinet hardware, since I'm giving the whole thing a new face, I may as well touch those up as well. Plus a new faucet that is a bit taller is going in, even though I'm just going to refit the existing stainless steel sink. There's no point buying a new one since the cabinet is so small it's not like I can fit a deeper one.

I'm pretty excited! They should be installed within the next couple weeks!