Kitchen Update

We chose our granite for the counter! 

This piece is called Fantasy Brown Leathered.  The photo does not do it justice. It is full of waves and other gorgeousness. It is on the lighter side which will be a perfect contrast to the dark cabinets.

We got extremely lucky and did not even have to go to the granite warehouse (which I was worried about since the choices are overwhelming and I seem to like everything stone). The fabricators had this slab on site and we immediately fell in love with it!

Leathered is a newer finish on granite that we were unaware of. It has some leather like texture rather than the polished smooth. It is beyond stunning. What I love even more about this finish is that it is matte, not shiny. I always thought granite would be shiny which I am not too keen on. This will be perfect in our 1900 house!

The big day for installation is April 19! The plumbing will be updated too.

Yes the staining is done.

We will put the bottom doors back on after installation. I finished touching up the brick in that back corner too so it looks much better than the photo. 

The sink will be an under mount one that is huge but actually has a smaller footprint than the current one giving us a little more counter space.

The dishwasher will be replaced with a black one.

We may have to remove some of the brick but we will find out Monday when someone comes out to draw up the template. There will be a 4 inch granite back splash.

After this we can start looking at flooring to complement the rest! We decided against a build out at this time. A future owner of the house may prefer to put a large kitchen table in here instead like the prior owner did. An island can be easily added. 

Thank you for stopping by. I hope your spring is starting off beautifully. Our season seems to be right on point with tons of April rain so far. ~Val

House Update

Here is an update on the kitchen cabinet staining project!

I am working on those last 2 upper doors, then will move onto the lower cabinets.

I thought I would share a couple of tips I have learned through the process in case anyone out there is looking to do the same.

We are using Minwax PolyShades which is the stain and polyurethane in one. It can go over poly surfaces, however only if going darker. If one was to go lighter, the cabinets would need to be stripped.

First I clean the door with mineral spirits. Then I sand it with 220 grit sandpaper which helps smooth out any areas needing it but also aids in better adhesion.

Between coats I am using 330 grit for a very light sanding to remove any dust, lint etc. 

Airborne particles are the enemy here since they do settle on wet stain. The only way to not have it be an issue would be to work in a sanitary room that has nothing in it and work naked...not going to happen.  So this is a constant battle.


Another great thing about this stain job is the inside of the doors really doesn't need to be done so we kept them as is. That way any future owner can see the wood grain. Since wood is forever, I am sure someone will decide to strip them years from now!

When staining the door, a bit will find its way on the back side.  However I found that simply running a paper towel underneath along the edges when a side is done will do the trick!

Being winter, I have been waiting 48 hours between coats just in case. The coats need to be fully cured before adding another. So a tip I learned online to save the messy work of cleaning the brush everyday - put it in the freezer!

So I wrap it well in foil, then in a freezer bag. This must be air tight! 

It does not freeze although there is some ice build up when opening it. I use that piece of foil to wipe it off so I don't need to worry about dust particles getting on the brush. Then I use a new piece of foil at the end of that session.

I give the brush a good cleaning though once a week to prevent too much build up.

In addressing the handles which we chose to keep and paint, they needed a scouring first. They were full of gunk! I realized that the buildup must have been the initial coats of paint and poly from years ago since it was way more than dirt.

Well mineral spirits were not cutting it for me! So then I started washing with with dish soap to dissolve any grease and dirt. Then found sanding with 220 grit paper was the way to go! This took all the nastiness off so I could reach the brass base.

To the painting station they go with a trusty can of Rustoleum. We also spray the hinges and screws that show. The handle gets 2 coats and the other components only 1 since they barely show up and do not get handled.

Once I am done staining, I will move onto that dated ceiling fan. Since it works great, it is worth trying to salvage. We can purchase a light kit for $40 that will change out that old glass piece and compliment our other light fixtures.

I will attempt to paint the metal components oil rubbed bronze and the paddles espresso to compliment the cabinets. I think it will work!

Thank you for stopping by! If you are attempting such a project and have any questions, please let me know. ~Val

Some Kitchen Details

One thing I have done in our kitchen is paint the ugly old wood panel walls. Now if these were floor to ceiling, we would have removed them.

Luckily they were installed in a wainscotting (aka beadboard) fashion with a strip of molding on top.

First I sanded it all. Then filled in any holes.

Then applied 2 coats of Kilz and 2 coats of paint. We are so happy with the results! 

If we chose to remove it, it could have created so much more work. There is probably old wallpaper behind it and who knows how messy the wall itself would be!

I should have taken a before photo of the old radiator there. It was a blah matte brown but now it is shiny silver making it an attractive original fixture.

All the outlets and switches will have these plates I came across when shopping. 

So far only 1 was done when we had the power off to install 2 of these $10 light fixtures to replace the hideous ones that were there.

The ones we were looking at were around $60 each so when we saw these, we snagged them. Yes they are really glass and metal! Total score. The glass is corrugated for a touch of elegance, yet still making for a casual kitchen fixture.

I really like the cabinet handles for some reason and want to keep the after the cabinets are refinished. So I searched for the right paint to rejuvenate them.

The original is on the left. It is hard to tell from the photo but the handles are very dirty from decades of use.

The middle one is Rustoleum's "Dark Bronze" with a hammered finish. It comes out like a dark pewter rather than bronze. It is a bit too shiny for my taste too.

So then I tried Rustoleum's "Oil Rubbed Bronze" that has a smooth finish on the last one. That is the paint we need! I tried 1 light coat on 2 of the hinges as well to make sure that will work. That was successful too. 

We are slow to start the cabinet doors. After playing with a couple of stains we have decided to go a completely different route and paint them an antiqued white. With that color, we will really be able to install any counter, backsplash and flooring. 

Thank you for stopping by! Enjoy your week ahead. ~Val

The Kitchen

We are starting to discuss our kitchen remodel. This is our dated little kitchen.

It is actually not little but that back corner is the only counter space in the entire kitchen! 

When we are ready we will have a designer come in to finalize our ideas. We need more counters which I also want to work as eat at space. 

Most likely there will either be a large eat at island in the center of the room or an L shaped eat at counter that would start near the fridge and run along side the stove.


The current configuration of the stove, dishwasher and fridge works well but we will have the bottom counters there rebuilt as well since they are yucky.

The upper counters are beautiful and solid wood. Not like the materials used today! The dark stain feels really dated and does not show off the wood's beauty.

So the cabinets below the sink are our experimental ones since we aren't keeping them. This little door was stripped bare. I can't believe how much lighter it is! 

Next we will try staining it. I want the cabinets to be light and bright while showing off their grain!

So the cabinets will be step one and we will address the rest at a later date. This may take us forever because it is slightly too cold in our basement for the stripper and stain so we are not sure what we will accomplish over the winter.

Cabinet space is plentiful. This cabinet below is floor to ceiling and holds all our cookware and more.

I forgot to take a before photo of it before removing the doors that match the rest of the cabinets. I have given it a fresh coat of paint inside. 

The right side was apparently a coat closet at one time. Jim had the brilliant idea of hanging our pots from the bar! I just need to put a free standing shelf unit in there to utilize the middle part of the space.


I hope you enjoyed this glimpse of our before kitchen. The remodeling will include just about everything. 

• refinishing the cabinets 
• having new cabinets built 
• installing granite or the like counter tops 
• new appliances 
• tiling the floor
• and the little stuff like the back splash, ceiling fan, etc.

The half bath is right next to that cabinet above which we plan on updating at the same time, but that is an easy fix in comparison!

Thank you for stopping by! ~Val