Heidi’s Kitchen Reno — Budget Wise Home

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.

So far, we LOVE them! I’m just so happy that the old ones are gone. I’ll show you more pics when the kitchen is done.

January 23, 2012

This Week: My Kitchen Reno

Hi everyone! Sorry I’ve been missing for a few days. But I’m back and ready to show you what has been keeping my very busy. I decided to start a mini kitchen renovation and I always seem to underestimate how much time these things will take. Things are a mess around here, but they are going well nonetheless. I’m still in the middle of it, but I thought I’d let you all in on the journey. My kitchen is the LAST room in my house to add my personal stamp to and I’m SO excited. When this is done, you’ll get the full house tour.

Here’s a look at what I did last week.

We’re not replacing any cabinets, but I’m giving them a full paint job.

Everything is going white! Yay!!

I took all the doors off and primed with my favorite Kilz spray primer. Since then, the weather has been horrible, so I’m waiting for the next sunny day to finish painting.

We also removed our counter tops. I didn’t shed one tear upon seeing these babies leave (Ok maybe just tears of joy)!