Heidi’s Kitchen Reno — Budget Wise Home

February 14, 2012

A Peek

The cabinet doors are back on and the hardware is in place. Here is a peek.

The butcher block counters are cleared off and everything is piled onto the island. So far we’ve got 2 coats of Waterlox on the counters. Just 2 more coats to go, and then a few more days to let it cure. So I still have a week to go before I can actually regain my counter space and live fully in my kitchen.

After just oiling the counters for about 2 weeks, we realized that we needed a better finish. Oil keeps the wood from drying out, but it doesn’t protect the wood from water and spills. That is just not very functional for our family. I didn’t want to constantly worry about wiping the counters and have to upkeep with sanding water spots and applying the oil every week. The answer to this problem is “Waterlox.”

It’s very smelly and you need to apply 3 to 4 coats (once every 24 hours). You are also supposed to let it cure for a week after applying the last coat. It takes some time, but it’s very easy to apply. When all is said and done, the counters are sealed and have a varnish type finish that is resistant to liquids. This stuff has also brought out the rich color of the butcher block and it looks amazing.

Let’s check a few things off my to-do list:

~~Seal the counters~~
~~Paint the doors~~
Install the back splash
~~Attach window molding~~
~~Make the roman shade~~

The only thing left is the back splash! I’m actually really excited to do this. I’ve seen tiling done on TV a million times, and I’ve always wanted to try it out myself.

Posted at: 5:15 pm by Heidi |Filed Under: Heidi's Kitchen Reno | Leave a Comment

February 13, 2012

Kitchen Cabinets–DONE!

It was a whirlwind of a weekend for me. My awesome husband took all the boys camping and left me here alone to finish this kitchen. I did enjoy some nice quiet time, but I worked my tail off to get the cabinet doors painted. It turns out that the paint sprayer I bought was a total bust. I spent the whole day on Friday trying to make it work right, but the finish was horrible and the day ended up being a total waste (ugh!!). But you learn from everything, right?! I tried so hard to avoid painting each door by hand, but at this point, that was the only option I had. So I set up shop in my kitchen. I laid down a few drop cloths and propped the doors up on boxes.

I used a nice Purdy bristle brush to cut into the corners and edges, and then used a Whiz foam roller for the rest. I did two coats each on the back and the front. I sanded them lightly between each coat with a 100 grit sanding block. Sanding between coats is KEY for getting a smooth finish. I’m not gonna lie here. This was a huge project and took a LONG time. My paint is oil based, so drying time took at least 5-6 hours between coats.

Here are a few things I’ve learned from this experience:

Wait for a warmer, dryer season to paint kitchen cabinets.
Use oil-based paint for cabinets. The finish is so much more durable and you need that in a kitchen.
Wear gloves!! If you don’t, you’ll be scrubbing your hands for hours trying to get this stuff off.
Plan on setbacks, mistakes, and imperfections.
Plan on things taking a lot longer than you thought to complete.

Tomorrow I’ll give you a peek at how everything looks so far with the doors back on. It’s really starting to come together!

February 9, 2012

How to Make a Roman Shade-Part 2

Ok, I’m finally back with part 2! Let’s dive right in, shall we?

After the tube tape is sewn, the next step is to attach a board to the top. This doesn’t come with the kit. You don’t need anything big or fancy here. Just get a 1 x 2 board cut to the width of your shade at Home Depot. I already had this scrap piece in my garage and it worked just fine.

Wrap the top of your shade up and around the top of the board and use a staple gun to attach it.

Time to string the shade. Grab the roll of cording that comes with the kit and cut 3 pieces. The directions will give an estimate of how long each piece needs to be. It will just depend on the size of your shade.

Starting about 1 inch in from the side, pull the cord through the bottom pocket in the tube tape and secure with a double knot.

These pockets are pretty tiny, so using a needle will help you pull the cord through. I used a yarn darner needle for this because the opening was big enough for the cording to fit through. After you’ve secured the cord to the bottom, string it through the rest of the pockets working your way up to the top. Then repeat this step in the middle and other side of the shade.

Drill 3 pilot holes (in line with your cords) into the board and screw the hooks in. These hooks also come with the kit.

String each cord up through the eye hook and then through the next eye hook to the left until you have all three cords coming out the far hook.

Then secure the cords together with a knot.

Now it’s time to insert the wooden dowels. These don’t come with the kit, but they are very cheap. You can get them at craft stores or any hardware store. Have them cut slightly less that the width of your shade. Can you see how awesome this tube tape is?! It pretty much does all the hard work for you.

The directions on the kit say to sew your shade lining on at the point to cover the cords and the dowels, but I sewed it on at the very beginning. I didn’t really care about how it looks from the back.

I didn’t take pictures of the next step. You simply attach the L brackets that come with the kit to the board. Then attach the board to your window. Finally, attach the included cord cleat to wrap the cord around when shade is up.

This project was not hard, but it did take some time. I finished over the course of 3 days, working on it when my kids were at school and napping. I was nervous to make this by myself, but the kit made it pretty simple. If you can sew a semi-straight line, you can make your own roman shade.

I love how mine turned out!

Posted at: 4:56 pm by Heidi |Filed Under: Heidi's Kitchen Reno | Heidi's Projects | How to make a roman shade Leave a Comment

February 7, 2012

How to Make a Roman Shade-Part 1

Ok, this one is kind of long so I split it into two parts. It took some time to make, but it was fairly straight forward. I just followed the directions that came with the roman shade kit.

I measured my window and cut the fabric 6 inches longer and 1 inch wider than the window dimensions. I also added a lining fabric for the back. Then I pinned and hemmed the sides in a half inch. The key to easy hemming is pressing first. I pinned, then pressed, pinned in place again, and sewed.

I did the same thing for the bottom. I hemmed it up 2 inches. I probably should have folded the hem over a second time for a cleaner edge, but I was feeling lazy.

The next step is to attach the tube tape. Tube tape is the trick to making this a doable project for anyone. It comes with the kit. It has little pocket openings for the wooden dowels and for the cording. I’ll show you these steps in full tomorrow.

You need to measure your shade and mark lines where the tube tape will be sewn. The first line should be 4 inches up from the bottom and each line after should be spaced 6 inches apart.

I used a fabric marker and my ruler to draw a straight line. This step took the longest. There is a lot of measuring to make sure you get your lines perfectly straight.

Now it’s time to pin on the tube tape. Just follow the lines and pin, making sure the pockets of the tube tape are facing up.

Time for more sewing. Sew along the top edge of the tube tape, making sure not to sew over any of the tiny pockets.

Come back tomorrow for Part 2!

Posted at: 5:32 pm by Heidi |Filed Under: Heidi's Kitchen Reno | Heidi's Projects | How to make a roman shade Leave a Comment

February 6, 2012

Window Trim is Up

This past weekend was very productive in the kitchen. We got the window trim up and the roman shade completed and hung. The goal for this week is to finish everything else!

Installing window molding is such an easy diy project. You can do this to any window in your home and it will instantly look better. Here is a look at our kitchen window before.

Normally, I would place the molding on all 4 sides of the window, but in the kitchen, I want there to be more subway tile showing underneath the window. So I came up with another solution. I bought an MDF board to sit as the base of the window sill. We cut it down to fit snugly inside and cut a piece out so it wrapped around to the wall.

Then we cut measured and cut the trim molding at a 45 degree angle for the remaining 3 sides.

You can see how the bottom of the trim sits right on top of the MDF board. There are a few little gaps (our windows weren’t built perfectly straight–gotta love that, right!), but a little wood filler and caulk will fill those in just fine.

We installed everything with a nail gun. It was so fast and easy.

I still need to fill in the nail holes and the corners, but here is the almost finished window now.

The pictures don’t really do it justice. It looks so much better! The trim does go slightly higher than the cabinets, but if I would have gotten a smaller width, there would have been a small gap on both sides between the cabinets. So this was the better option, I think. Once the doors are back on, I don’t think it will be a big deal.

Come back tomorrow for a full tutorial on the roman shade.

Posted at: 5:37 pm by Heidi |Filed Under: Heidi's Kitchen Reno | Installing window trim Leave a Comment

February 2, 2012

White Subway Tile

Sorry about not posting yesterday. I have some sick kiddos and things were super crazy here. Anyway, I’m happy to report that I’ve ordered my kitchen back splash tile and it will be here on Monday. Yeah!! I’m going with classic white subway tile–but with dark grout. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this look and have been dreaming of having it in my home for years. The best part is that this tile is SO cheap! Here are a few inspiration images from my file.

I was planning to do the install by myself (I’m feeling very confident) because my husband doesn’t love these projects like I do. But he actually said he wants to help me (instead of me roping him into it). He’s such a trooper and happily puts up with all the “surprise” projects I bring home.

Today I’m finishing up the roman shade, so I’ll hopefully have an update on that tomorrow.

Posted at: 11:00 am by Heidi |Filed Under: Heidi's Kitchen Reno | Leave a Comment

January 31, 2012

My Latest Gadget

I had big plans to rent a paint sprayer from Sherwin Williams to spray my kitchen cabinet doors. But they don’t allow you to use oil based paint because it’s too hard to clean. So after doing a little researching, I finally purchased my own little paint sprayer that is compatible with oil based paint.

It was so inexpensive, but all the reviews were great. You hook it up to an air compressor which gives you a high volume, low pressure paint application. It’s supposed to reduce over spray as well. I am so excited to bust this baby out in the next couple days.

I finally started my roman shade yesterday and got about half way done. I’m hoping to finish it up today and get it installed. So far so good! Things are rolling right along.

Posted at: 11:00 am by Heidi |Filed Under: Heidi's Kitchen Reno | Leave a Comment

January 30, 2012

Some Kitchen Progress

I had a very successful weekend with my kitchen. I made some good progress and although things still look a mess, I’m really close to being done. I primed and painted all the cabinets (not the doors), so that is a huge task that I checked off my list. Here is the current state of my kitchen.

The counters are in, the cabinets are painted, and the doors are primed. Here is the rest of my kitchen to-do list:

Seal the counters
Spray the doors
Install the back splash
Attach window molding
Make the roman shade

The window molding is going up today, so I’ll have an update on that project tomorrow.

Posted at: 4:51 pm by Heidi |Filed Under: Heidi's Kitchen Reno | Leave a Comment

January 25, 2012

What am I doing today?…

…well, I’m attempting to make my first roman shade. I’m a little nervous, but mostly excited. I picked up this roman shade kit from JoAnns (using a a 40% off coupon, of course).

I’m using this lovely robin egg blue fabric. The color is amazing!

The roman shade will replace the blinds that we currently have in the kitchen. I’m working on framing out the window and then I’ll mount the shade on the inside.

I’ll share a full tutorial on the shade once I’m done. Wish me luck!

Posted at: 11:00 am by Heidi |Filed Under: Heidi's Kitchen Reno | Leave a Comment

January 24, 2012

Installing Butcher Block Countertops

Installing butcher block is a DIY project that anyone can do if you’ve got the right tools. This project took my husband and I one day to complete and this was the first time we’ve done anything like this before. We used two 8 foot pieces of butcher block from Ikea. They are the cheapest around and this stuff is quality. It’s SO heavy!

Removing our old counters was a snap. They were just screwed in, so once we removed the screws on the underside, they lifted right off. My husband was a little scared about removing the sink, but it went very well. You don’t need to take the disposal apart. There were only 3 places he had to unhook and we lifted the sink right out.

Then we measured and measured again (always measure at least twice!) and made our cuts with a circular saw. You can easily rent a table saw to do this as well, or just ask around and see if you can borrow one from a neighbor. The butcher block is already standard counter depth, so you only need to cut the length.

After cutting, we gave the edges a quick sanding and then put them on. This stuff sands really well and it’s not hard to get a smooth finish.

Here is where the two pieces come together. We used the manufactured edge here and put the cut edge up against the stove where it’s not as easily seen.

Then it was time to cut out the spot for the sink. We used the old counter top as a template. We placed it right on top and traced around the opening.

Sorry I don’t have a picture of the next step. We used a jigsaw (borrowed from a nice neighbor) to cut out the sink hole. We sanded lightly around the edges, dropped the sink back in, and hooked everything up again.

The counters are also easy to secure. They come with these brackets that screw into your cabinets so you don’t need to mess with any kind of glue.

The final step is to sand and oil. We gave the whole thing a light sanding with a fine sanding block. Then we oiled it with the stuff they sell at Ikea. The maintenance is a little high at first because you are supposed to oil it every other day for first 2 weeks. But after that you just need to oil it 3-5 times a year.