From drab
To fab!
I am in love with our Fantasy Brown leathered granite. It has a matte finish with texture that is perfect for our 1900 house.
The old sink had 2 small bowls that were extremely difficult to work with!
Now we have 1 huge sink that is amazing!
The faucet is fantastic. I am loving the 1 piece that switches from single to spray stream and has the pull down sprayer. We have more counter space now too!
The granite back splash was applied right against the brick facade. I was a little concerned with how this may look and 100% satisfied with it!
We still have details to address like the outlet that Jim will change to a GFCI as it should be. We will be buying decorative oil rubbed bronze covers for this and the switch.
Another detail to address is the space right underneath the granite.
The old counter curled over the cabinets so I was not able to stain all the way to the top. For whatever reason I did not foresee an issue!
Jim had the brilliant idea of applying a decorative corner molding over that portion. That will make everything even richer.
When we browsed the home improvement store we found many options so now we have to decide. Surprisingly there is even vinyl corner molding that is already the espresso color of the cabinets. No one would know that it is not even wood!
However I am thinking of a really decorative one that can be spray painted with the same paint used on the hardware. Since it is metallic, there would be a pop of prettiness under the counter. We'll see.
The new dishwasher is not hooked up yet either. We need 1 more tube and a longer electrical cord.
We also decided to purchase a new ceiling fan instead of upcycling the one we have. Another thing to add to the shopping list.
Time to start shopping for tile too!
Thank you for stopping by! ~Val
So we were all over the place with what we wanted to do with the kitchen cabinets. We settled on dark espresso stain. Basically the total opposite of my initial intentions of painting them white.
A main reason for this choice is the time involved. Going with a darker stain, there are products on the market now that simply go over the current finish. So no stripping required! I knew espresso would be very elegant and classy so it was a no-brainer when it came down to it.
Progress is slow. Since I am the one who is home, I get the honors of staining! This was the before of our pantry (or whatever it should be called) cabinet space.
I started with the casing.
Then worked on 1 door at a time. Since it is winter, it takes quite some time for a coat to become solid for the next coat so I juggled 2 doors at a time rotating each day. As you can see I am doing so right in the kitchen. The odor dissipates quickly so it was not an issue.
3 coats a door. The poly is included in the stain so that final step is not needed. When a door was ready, Jim would hang it when he got home from work.
We used the same hardware but cleaned them up and painted them oil rubbed bronze. I LOVE the dark on dark look of it! Our $10 light fixture really pops now too.
What a difference as you can see the old finish next to the new finish.
Woohoo! That part is done! As you can see, I have started priming the brick facade.
We decided to work with it since it is in mint condition. We could remove it, repair the wall and install a new back splash but that would be a waste of time and money.
The brick will be a creamy color to match the upper part of our kitchen walls. This will have much more character than the products on the market today too. I also think the creamy is going to be stunning against the espresso cabinets.
So once the brick is done, then I will be moving onto the rest of the cabinets. My goal is to complete all that by April 1!
Then it will be time to call the contractors and move forward with the floor and granite counters. So exciting and rewarding doing a chunk of the work ourselves!
Thank you for stopping by! Have a great week. ~Val
