Nancy, I keep forgetting to ask you about the studs in your pony wall or half wall. Are they metal? If so, I'd like to know more about them.

Trance, I know I feel badly after I tell DH to STFU about things I cannot control in projects I am doing all the work in. After all, he waits on me hand and foot 90% of the time, LOL. He is really sweet and if he did not have such anxiety about change and inability to cope with disorder, he would not be the guy I love. So I guess I am going to have to cope with him after all!

Marti, yes the studs in the whole new wall are metal. It is one way of getting to make a drywall wall slimmer than it would be with wood studs. If you have specific questions about them, let me know and I can ask Jim the Only Man Who Will Build in My House Ever Again. Really, he is a fine craftsman and a fun guy to have around.

Thanks for the nice comments. I do like the green, it is different in different lights and I like it more than I thought I would. It is killing me to not get to see the DOORS on the cabinets, all lined up. But I guess that means I can sand and touch up their finish outside with my stinky oil-based stain on the weekend. My lungs do NOT like this project. I was up at 5:00 in the morning wheezing and coughing until I could wake up enough to use my inhaler. Have GOT to get to bed, it is 1:30 here! Ta ta, my friends.

WOW Nancy. Looking great. LOL about the milk carton ceiling. My green kitchen is very close to your green. Maybe a little lighter and I think our living room green ,one wall, is just a bit darker.

So happy to see your updates. Get some rest so you can work harder tomorrow. :^)))))

Chris

Nancy, You are my hero! you are doing such a fantastic job. That layout is super and you figured everything perfectly. How??????????? Obviously you have some serious skills.

Loretta, I appreciate the kudos, though I am not sure I earned them. All I did was measure my kitchen,take the measurements supplied by Green Demolitions, and fit the puzzle pieces together! And think, and draw, and think, and draw, and sleep on that design, and think, and draw,.......

By the time Jim was available to do the kitchen, I had redone the design three or four times. It pays to have a carpenter who runs behind. ;-)

Yesterday Jim did not show up. He said he hurt his back, which well could have happened, since he was heading "up north" to work on building a retaining wall for his father in law when he left here on Friday. I was home Friday because as I left the bedroom after showering and dressing for work, I found a pile of dog poop in the hall. Our halls are covered with quilted bed pads that one usually finds in a hospital or nursing home because we did have a nursing home here for three years, until DF-inL died in March. I used the bed protector pads in the hall because dog #2 (Casey) has a brain tumor and takes prednisone. Between the two, he cannot hold his urine for long. Dog #3, Bina, is afraid of the outside and will not ask to go out. Apparently, Jim arrived before I got a chance to get her outside after breakfast and I forgot all about taking the dogs out because I was talking with Jim. So the poop was on a pad, I just had to pick it up and change pads. BUT on the way back to the bathroom to flush the evidence, my toe caught the edge of one of the pads. Normally, it would just drag along behind me. But Dad's chair, from the Family Room, is sitting in the hall outside the bathroom and it was holding down the pad and I fell. It was not pretty. Poop all over the door frame and the wall outside the bathroom! And my other hand landed on the marble door sill, nearly splitting the skin on the base of my thumb with the force of catching myself. My left knee hit the floor hard and I have bruises for about 9 inches below my knee now. I yelled when I went down, and Jim came running. I asked for baby wipes, to get the mess cleaned up before I tried to get off the floor. I had gotten Hylagan shots in both knees 72 hours earlier, and was afraid I could have injured ligaments or a tendon, as these tissues are extra vulnerable after the shots. Luckily, I think I just bruised it. My legs are terribly swollen everyday, and incidents like this leave me black and blue and very tender. Fortunately, I have been taught to do lymphedema wrapping (which is done a lot more in Europe than here), in which gauze, foam, batting, and compression bandages are used to support and compress the swollen limb. Taking Lasix simply gets the water out, but it leaves behind protein that is in the lymph, which then can form fibrosis, which can be painful. Wrapping gets all of this back "uphill" where your body can take care of it. Wrapping is also very supportive and comfortable, so I will have to spend an hour doing this every morning (and another hour washing and re-rolling bandages at night), at least until the swelling and bruising is gone.

So I stayed at home on Friday with my legs and wrist on ice. I think it helped a lot.

Sunday, my friend, DH, and I stained all of the toekick molding and the crown molding and sanded those doors and drawer fronts. Then nothing happened on Monday, and I did not get to stay home this morning to see Jim and hear if he thought we did a good job on the staining.

I came home tonight to this!

I am so thrilled to see it all together. Well, almost all together. The pantry doors need repair (and sanding and staining) and are not installed. Neither are the doors on the desk cabinet. The plan for the next two and a half to three days was for Jim to stay home and build my new cabs and my counters. So I do not expect more visible progress until next Monday. But I can stain and sand all of those doors and drawers in the meanwhile!

Ouch! I wish I had had you around when I first hurt my elbow, maybe I'd be in better shape now. Since you stained the toe kicks (which look great btw), are you better now?

It's coming along nicely. I know you want to see more progress, but it sounds like it's being fitted together carefully.

What did you decide on countertops?

Hi Marti! I wrapped up my leg on Sunday to do the work, then went to my job (at a desk that day) on Monday and almost drove off the road with pain at every little bump in the pavement. I tell you, you can learn to drive with one hand while clutching a limb with the other!

The toe kick moldings are still in the garage. The ones you see here are the original ones. Jim is replacing (or going over the old?) them because they were not in good shape.

Countertops are Wilsonart Luna Crest - the brown one seen up above in my Sunday, July 11 pictures. I still plan to use your technique on the island moldings. Once I have the staining done, I will tackle that!

oh nancy - that's horrible! you get hurt and have a mess to clean up on top of it all! you poor thing!

the kitchen part is good tho. It's looking great! the flicker of light at the end of the tunnel.

you'd better try to stay off your feet as much as possible. I hope you let your doctor know what happened.

keep us posted on it.

Nancy, The kitchen is looking great. And its getting done quickly too. I'm looking forward to seeing how the tile and countertops come together.

I have been reading up on swelling and bruises (since my ankle is still swollen - but not painful). Just like you said, I read that after the fluid drains away, solid 'matter' is left that it takes time for the body to re-absorb. I read that the best treatment is R.I.C.E = Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation.
Fortunately, you seem to know just what to do. I hope the bruising and swelling goes down soon and you are back to your best health.

Nancy, you do great work, and apparently know how to pace yourself. What you've accomplished in your kitchen is an inspiration to me. I sure wish we had a Green Demolitions near us...or within driving distance.

But most of MY kitchen redo will not involve cabinets as much as it will countertops and layout.

Take care.

Hi ML, I would love to take credit, but I am only doing peripheral work. Jim Hartman, our contractor, is putting the kitchen in. I am sort of GC'ing, since I stay a step ahead of him and have the materials he needs on hand in time, show him the particulars of the next part (and very occasionally catch something that he had not thought of, like needing a spacer between the big pantry and the dishwasher for the door to open). My friend, Belinda, is here today to work on sanding and staining the doors and drawers with me again. This is my big job on this project, and I don't usually do that much. It is just because we are saving $$$ by buying used that I am doing that.

Yesterday I ordered support brackets for the island overhang. Jim and I decided to make the overhang 16" instead of the 21" it used to be with the old top. There will be more space between the desk and the island stools this way.

I also ordered the molding for the island edges. It is a panel molding (like for wainscoting) that has a rope molding at the top. That leads me to my next question for you, my forum friends - should I use the rope molding I have in the shot of the backsplash tiles? DH and Belinda say no. But I just ordered island trim to match it!

I found a store nearby that sells the paint that Marti recommended and I will go there next week.

The big news is that the counters are in!

The wall oven cab, fridge cab, and small pantry are in! There are a bunch of new photos at my link below. I have not had time to caption them yet, though.

Jim is still going to make a corner wall cab to go between the wall cab and the wall oven cab. He is also making bookshelves between the new pantry and the wall, above the "slant". Then the front part of the "slant" will have a bench, too.

Here is a link that might be useful: keep going forward

I started staining doors and drawers yesterday and it is not going well. Does anyone have advice on how to get the stain to stick to the rounded edges of the doors?

That is interesting, I would think the corners would be a problem taking in too much stain. Try some liquid sand paper on one corner (gently) where you can't see the corner well. It will roughen up just enough to take stain, but not like you stripped down to wood. Or are you talking about the front of the corner?

Hi Emagneer,
The cabinet doors and drawers are rounded, like this:

and the corners are where the stain tended to wear off in use over the past 23 years. See the little brown mark on the upper right edge of the door in the picture? That is worn through to the wood. When I sanded the doors to get off the finish that was left so that I could re-stain them, these rounded edges became more denuded of stain. They look like the oak underneath, not the whitewashed wood. So I need to re-stain the whole door, but the denuded rounded edges need the most stain. However, the stain just does not want to stick to these rounded edges. I finally tried just blotting the stain onto these areas and leaving it to dry. I am hoping that when I do the entire door with a second coat, the stain will "stay put" on the edges because the base coat is dry, and I also hope that the second coat will even out the brush strokes. The first, "blotted on" coat was not applied following the grain. If I apply it that way, the stain comes off. I am learning that it takes a very light touch.

The doors I did on Sunday are finally dry. Maybe tomorrow I can do some more. Tonight I have to put polyurethane on the toe kick and crown moldings.

Thanks for the interest. I am hoping that you helpful folks out there will give me some advice.

The kitchen is looking great. I'm sorry to hear about your accident, Nancy, and impressed with the way that you keep on going!

I love both pieces of rope trim, but I have to remind myself not to try to match too much. I grew up with neighbors being impressed if one could have matching suites of furniture, and drapes or curtains ALWAYS matched the bedspread! I could go on for hours about the matching kitchen themes--apples, cows, mushrooms...

Mama, matching is not a lost art form even today. But I do like the rope look, even though I am more concerned about the problem of cleaning down in all the grooves.

I think Nancy has the porcelain tiles for the backsplash that look like tumbled marble. That is the look we have going on in the new bathroom tiles, the 2x2 mosaics which will go under the tub. I'm not thinking they would look great in the kitchen backsplash. They look great in Nancy's pictures.

Hi Smaller Friends! I have lots of good news. i did not wrap my leg today, and it did not throb or have flashes of pain. I am over the "hump."

Today, Jim arrived with a bookcase and lots of drawers. He made the oven cabinet with three drawers and he put one on the bottom of the bookshelf. You will see why when we finally get it done. When I came home, he had the fridge in its place, the wall oven in its place, the counter for the microwave installed, and the bookcase installed. The island is even in the house. Jim's helper had to move on to start the next job, so Jim brought everything that needed two people into the kitchen today. I do love the island, but I am thinking that we are going to have to make the overhang shorter than we planned. It feels great now, with no top on it, but the place will get really crowded with a top and swivel counter stools.

The big news is that Jim decided to recreate my door/drawer fronts himself. He brought three today. I don't think anyone will be able to tell the difference, and he made them for far less than the $165 each that the replacement company for Quakermaid wanted.

I got the final two coats on the toe kicks tonight after work, and I will work on crown moldings tomorrow.

I don't have pictures to share, but I am so thrilled that we are moving along that I just had to tell you. Pics on the weekend, when things start to look better - I have all the door fronts and drawers removed to stain them! I may take off a couple of afternoons with good weather to get more done. Only thing is, no work, no PAY, and I am going to need lots of the later to pay this all off!

it's all coming along so quickly nancy, I wish you could bottle Jim and send him my way lol - he sounds like a gem.

when you get a chance can I see a pic of your stained toekicks? I'm dying to see what colour this will all end up!

Nancy, your guy sounds like he could really help on the corner stain issue. Maybe the corners were sealed more to get an even overall coverage.

Looks great.

Yes, Trance, we are making good progress, but I am falling behind! I need to get going on staining the door and drawer fronts so I can catch up with Jim. He really is a joy to work with, creative and honest in his assessments when I am going off the deep end, without stifling my "creative" side. I am not really changing the color of the cabs at all, it will be re-stained the same color it is now. So I am "refreshing " them.

Emagineer, yes, you would think that Jim would be help on the issue of applying the stain, but he HATES doing staining and has no advice for getting it to stick. He thinks the problems is related to the wood having been finished already, and the end grain wood soaked up the old finish and it is now preventing the new stain from sticking. I think I will just use my "blot it on and let it dry, then do a second, nicer coat" technique.

Nancy, the progress sounds so exciting!! And so nice that you can get better quality (Jim's work) for a better price. Can't wait to see the update pics.

More progress today!

I got the toekicks poly'd three coats. Here is a pic for TranceGeminiWA:

Trance, go to the next image after the picture in the clicky below for a close-up. Anyone who wants to read the long captions I just wrote can go to the link below and see all of the pictures of our most recent progress, along with my long descriptions.

And for everybody who might still be following our kitchen's transformation, here is what happened this week...
First, appliances in place and a bookshelf!

Then the corner cab!

And here is the planned backsplash design:

We removed the rest of the cabinet doors tonight, taped off for staining, sanded down the cab boxes, and sealed off the air conditioning vents and cold air return. Tomorrow we will stain all of the cabinets in the kitchen, then go out to the garage and get going on the 20 drawer fronts (4 made by Jim) and the uncounted doors.

I just counted, there are 28 doors that are not part of the ones I did before they were installed. Those cabs are still in the back bedroom and will go in last. Jim and I are talking about maybe not using them. He thinks they might make it feel crowded in the kitchen. We may move them in tomorrow and live with them for the weekend to see. They would be against the wall that you see in the first picture in this post, the one with the toe kicks on the island. The 5 ft of cabs would be centered between the doorway you see in the picture and the ramp which is to the far right. There would be 5 ft of wall cabs sitting on the floor (actually on a platform to make a toe kick) between the doorway to the hall and the ramp to the far right, with more wall cabs above. They are all 14 inches deep, with the countertop included.

Suggestion on your backsplash. Carefully use a thin coat of sealer on the front of tile. This type of tile absorbs the grout and is very difficult to clean off. From one who experienced the event...backsplash is same type of tile.

Hi, Nancy, couldn't find the clicky, so I scrolled up until I found a post with one. Great pictures--the bookshelf will be so nice. I love the two rows of rope trim! With the other tile bordering it, it looks smaller--everything looks great together. I'm looking forward to seeing pics of the island.

thanks nancy, they look great! and how sexy does it all look with the new lighting! The wall colour looks gorgeous under the lighting too. Those doors are going to keep you busy over the next few weeks arent they, but it will be so worth all the work you're putting in. great work

Wow, it looks great! You have really been working. I feel like such a sloth, lol. I still love that pullout/spinout, whatever, pantry.

Sometime, would you take a picture of your sink?

Thanks Emagineer, I did know that, but I bet that I might have forgotten to do it in the anxiety of doing my first tile job by myself. Good catch, I really, really appreciate the reminder!

Mama Goose, You are right, by the time I did that post, I was falling asleep! I remember trying to re-read the last paragraph to see if it made sense and falling asleep between sentences. I completely forgot the clicky! Here it is, in this post.

Now that I am awake, I see that the last paragraph is confusing. Let me clear it up. There are 28 doors in the parts of the kitchen seen in these pictures. There are four cabs and two shelves that are not yet installed, and the staining touch-up and first two coats of poly are done on those. They are still in the back bedroom. If we do use them, they will go on the wall that you can see in the toe kick pic, between the doorway to the hall, and the ramp to the family room, which is off to the right of the wall plug seen in the toe kick pic. Those cabs would be five feet long, but the bottom cabs are only 14" deep, including the counter top because they are actually wall cabs that I would be using as base cabs. The those two cabs are the 30" wall cabs seen on either side of the kitchen window in the pic from the house the kitchen came from:

The other cabs that would be above them as wall cabs are in this picture:

The shelf, 16" wall cab, and the microwave cab, plus a matching shelf that Jim would make for the right side would make up the cabs above the two 30" cabs used as base cabs.

There are captions under the pics at the pbase site if you want to read them, and you can get there with the clikcky below, just keep hitting the "next" button.

Here is a link that might be useful:

I just noticed something else. In this picture, there is a vent for the refrigerator. Is it connected to a fan?

I clicked on the toe kick supposed to start, and it was only the wood strips laid out, and it would not go to any other places. I do not know what is going on. But GWeb is acting funny today.

Is that last picture above with the red tile floor in YOUR kitchen, or is it the old kitchen you bought? Anyway, I like the island bar with the corbel braces below the counter. I wish I could get a countertop bar like that. sigh.....

ML, no, you are right, I did not have the clicky go to the Pbase site. I am so used to copying the picture location into the HTML code for putting pics in the text that I forgot to switch over to doing the good ole' webpage link!

Marti, no, the grill was in the cabinet from the previous owner of the cabs. I just left it there. There is another in the old microwave cab that I may make into a charging station. It just lets air circulate around the fridge, I guess.

Marti, I went and got the Modern Masters metallic paints that you recommended for the molding around the island top. It turns out that the color to match my backsplash liners is a gold mixed with a black, then the black glaze afterward. My molding is not here yet, so I probably won't get to that until next weekend.

We just spent several hours staining the cab boxes in the kitchen. I am on a break, then I will go stain the oak box covering the slant, and we will be done for the night. Tomorrow - three coats of polyurethane (maybe).

We opened our skylight to vent the stain fumes today. It is the first time I have used it. :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: This clicky should work!

Oops! Did not finish reading ML's note. Yes, the two kitchen pictures that show my cabs in a room with no soffits, but with a terra cotta floor are the home that first had the cabs, before they sent them to the "old cabinet 'pound" and I found them on "cabfinder" and adopted them from out of state - tee hee!

Oh I see. It fits your refrigerator perfectly too. Wonder where I could get a grill like that? I want to bring my upper cabinets down and forward to the top of my fridge like that.

Marti, we just brought the cab out like that without a grill on our last new kitchen. It was the perfect place to put brown grocery bags holding the newspapers for recycling.
Jim hung the cab from the back, ceiling, and side. He jumped up grabbed the cab, and swung from it to show me how solid it was connected.

Here is a link that might be useful: My old new kitchen

You have done so much since I have been able to catch up. Looks Wonderful!!! Fun to see the kitchen in it's first home and now in yours. I like your kitchen better. TOTALLY loving your back splash. good call emagineer on the sealing the tiles first.

Chris

Is this thread getting too long to load? Should I start a new one? I have no problems, but I know that if it takes a minute to load on my cable internet,any of you on dial up will find it not worth the wait.

On the other hand, it is nice to have it all in one place.

What do you think?

Nancy, in your last new kitchen, did you just pull the old cabinet forward or did you build a new, deeper one and use the old doors - over the fridge? I'm thinking build a new one so I can use the full depth.

Marti, we used the full depth. All of the cabinets were new there. Everything was new there, from the walls out.

I have not forgotten the sink pic request. It needs a good scrub with Bon Ami,and that won't happen until we put away the polyurethane and fans.

the island is in and has a top. Tomorrow the top gets attached and we tile it. I got the trim for the perimeter of the island today and I am priming it with spray paint. IF DH ever gets home from Lowes and Target, I will paint it. I also have to stain a toe kick today.

The flooring guy was out yesterday and he wants $4700 to pull up the carpet in the family room, screw down the squeaky floor, put quarter inch plywood down over the subfloor, and lay Marmoleum in the kitchen and family room. seems high to me... Pictures tomorrow or the next day!

how much would the Marmoleum be by itself? just the product... then you might call someone else and ask what they'd charge to rip up carpet and put plywood down.

Hi steph, how is it to look out the window and see your HOUSE? so cool, I am happy for you.

Marmoleum is a different product. It is made the same way it was 100 years ago, on big racks in the drying rooms. This way of drying makes the linoleum have humps in it. It takes a specially trained technician to install it properly. So even if you do buy it without the install price included , you still have to pay the install guy. There only one certified installer in the metro area, I guess.

My vote: Start a new thread with the new island. :)

And include a link to the original.

Nancy, if you have a can of Bon Ami there, could you read on it and tell me the manufacturer or distributor, and if there is a website or phone number listed on the can?

I can't find it in stores here anymore but the local hardware store told me they can order it if I can find out where.

nancy - it's great! the first morning tho I forgot about it being there and was confused not to see the sky out my window! I was half asleep still (still in bed) - my curtain in the bedroom is always partially pulled back.

if you know the cost of the product - and the price of it being put down then you'll know what you are being charged for the carpet pull up and plywood. maybe someone could do it for a better price (the carpet and plywood).

I'm sure you'll love it with the carpet out - that's what I'm hoping to do. depends on the prices tho.

Marti, I misspoke. I had Barkeeper's friend, not Bon Ami. But I do have a site for you, they have a dealer locator.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bon Ami site

Thanks Nancy! I did a search one time and never found that.

Okay, I am moving to a new thread, "Kitchen remodel almost done' and I have photos of the new island!

Here is a link that might be useful: New Island, going forward. Watch deconstruction going backward!

I suppose a spammer bumped this up since the post above this one is dated 2010. What's spooky is that I was just thinking about nancy's island last night. I want to do something similar with our rear entry cabinet and I was wondering how you attached the edge trim. *insert Twilight Zone music here*

Oooh, that is weird! No bump was there, Marti, you brought it up just with your thoughts!

Jim attached the rope trim with a combination of Liquid Nails construction adhesive and trim nails inserted with his pneumatic nailer.

Do da do do ......

there was another one bumped up too. I wondered how they get bumped without a new post.

I think a moderator probably removed a spam post but by then the thread had been bumped.