Dining Room Reveal!

After I totally destroyed my dining room, I quickly got to work fixing it back up... I explained why I had to tear down this ugly cabinet in my last post... But unfortunately, it didn't turn out as expected and I ended up changing it yet again.  I thought if I whacked the top half of the cabinet off I could turn the bottom half into a cool, functional storage area.  This is what I was left with....

But I still hated it.  Damn.  Now the cabinet jutted too far out into the living room.  It just looked like an oddly placed piece of furniture.  Like when you walk into a business and the front desk is blocking you from entering.  And if this wasn't attached to the wall I would never in a million years put it there.  Grrrrrr.  So, I decided to break some more stuff...and to shorten it from three cabinets to two.  Like this... 

This task proved harder than taking off the entire top.  And it nearly broke my nose.  Like, I seriously almost drove myself to the emergency room.  It's a long story.  Moving on.

Because the top and several other parts of the cabinet were made of long, solid pieces of wood I literally had to CHOP the third cabinet off.  I pried the quarter round trim off first to make sure that there was even hardwood underneath...which there was...so I got to work.

I was able to get the back, side and shelf pieces off no problem... But the top and bottom were connected to the rest of the cabinet, and I ended up using three types of saws to get it off.  It was a huge pain and took forever.  But, as always, I won!

I cut the quarter round trim to size and reused it... And I also reused the backing to recover the top and side since they were totally mangled during the demolition.  

What a mess...

Next, I trimmed around the top and down the sides to disguise the fact that it used to be a totally different cabinet.  Never mind the dumbbells.  What the heck did I use Elmer's glue for?  It's all a blur.... 

Then I primered, caulked and painted the crap out of it.  And I added contact paper to the shelves, because there was NO WAY I was gonna paint the inside of it too.  Real wood soaks up paint like the desert soaks up water.  It took two coats of primer and 2-3 coats of paint to cover this bad boy... 

Finally, I reused the tacky gold hinges by spray painting them oil-rubbed bronze and splurged for pretty, faux crystal, vintage-looking knobs. 

Before I could paint the dining room, I had to repair the bare sheetrock where the cabinet had been.... Which meant spackling, patching, texturing, etc.  And I also had to patch, primer and paint the ceiling...and sand, stain and poly the bare hardwood floor where the cabinet had been.  Compared to the rest of this project, these were the easiest tasks....

Now the best part....after pictures!!!  I painted the walls a dark grey and added shelves I had lying around above the cabinet.  

They vinyl chandelier and "Happy Halloween" sign are from Welcome Home Vinyl which is my mama's vinyl business!  I traded her a haircut for it (another one of my random talents) but you can purchase one (or many other super cute items) from her website!  

In total, I only spent about 80 bucks on the entire dining room because I reused a lot of materials and other stuff I had on hand.  Next up...the living room reveal. 

Demolition Looks Good On Me

This is my Dining Room Makeover Part One...and this entire post will be about breaking stuff.  As much as I like re-vamping stuff, I might like breaking it even more.  It must be the tomboy in me, but I get a little giddy whenever a sledge hammer is involved... 

This monstrosity has bugged me since we first toured the house.  And silly me thought it would be "one of the first projects I tackle."  But here I am, four months later, and it's still lurking in the corner.  Within the first couple of days of owning this fixer-upper, both the kitchen and bathroom were (accidentally) gutted.  Ooooops.  A functioning shower is more important than an eyesore...or so I'm told.  So, this beast got put on the back-burner. 

The cabinet is bulky and awkward and makes the room feel smaller than it is.  I knew it had to be torn down, but I was concerned about the condition of the floor underneath.  Since the floors are the original hardwoods, I was worried they'd be a different color since they've never seen wear or tear or sunlight.  And refinishing the floors isn't in our budget right now... What to do, what to do?  Light bulb!  I had the idea to whack the top shelving portion off and turn the lower cabinets into a bar/buffet/storage thingy.  That should open up the space without having to deal with the floors... 

My project to-do list is still a mile long and several projects are way more important than tackling this one....buuuutttt....I accidentally tore it down last week.  Hear me out!  We bought a new, L-shaped couch and it's pretty big compared to our smaller living/dining room.  It looks fantastic and fits the room nicely, but it made the space feel even smaller with the two large pieces competing against each other.  

After spending two and a half hours assembling the massive couch by myself (kill me) I took one look at the cabinet and said, "Yup, it's time for you to go."  I have a problem with claustrophobia and I felt like the walls were closing in on me.  And then I proceeded to gather my sledge hammer, crow bar and hammer...and I went to town.

Now, let me say this... This thing isn't made of MDF or some other type of lightweight wannabe "wood."  It was made completely out of solid hardwood...and it was built really, REALLY well.  The saying, "They don't make things like they used to"...means that they used to build things as if a hurricane were coming.  Seriously, if a tornado hit my house this giant would be the only thing left standing.  Kudos, 1950's...kudos.  

After I got the backing off, I stood back and thought... "Hmm, maybe I can just turn it into open shelving.  That might not be as bad."  And then I reminded myself how much I HATE to dust and went back to smashing stuff....

Because of the way it was constructed it was easier for me to DE-construct it, so to speak.  Basically, I broke it down in reverse order.  So, I took the backing off first, and that made the shelves easier to knock out...and then the front trim and so on.  It was back-breaking work and I was sweating my FACE off for over an hour.  I applaud the craftsman who built that sucker... I'm a lot stronger than your average 28-year old girl, and it gave me a mega workout.  My back and shoulder muscles were actually sore the next day from swinging my sledge hammer around all evening....   

Finally, the shelves were gone and all that was left was the soffet at the top.  This is when I had to do a little head-scratching.  I tried swinging at it with the sledge hammer, but it was too high for me to get enough gusto behind it....I could barely reach it, let alone beat the crap out of it.  Then I tried to stand on a step ladder but the weight of the sledge hammer nearly flung me off of it...so, that wasn't going to work.  Hmmm...what else?  

For about a millisecond I considered calling my dad for help, but quickly dismissed the idea...because I am Superwoman (which translates to: crazy stubborn/determined and too proud to ask for help.)  I know!  I'll put the ax end of the sledge hammer (yes, it's double-sided...as if this wasn't dangerous enough) inside the hollow soffet and hang on it with all my body weight until it comes down.  

CAUTION:  DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!  I was pretty nervous about this part... I was worried about the soffet coming down on my head or my puppy or it damaging my nearby dining table...because it was one long, solid piece of wood, the only way it was coming down was as one piece too.  So I carefully inched it off the ceiling little by little and BAM!  It landed perfectly... PHEW.  

This was quite the undertaking all by myself and I easily could have been hurt or caused damage to my house.  Several times I thought, "Well, crap.  How am I gonna do that??"  But I kept wailing on it and got it done...and it felt GOOOOOD to get that thing outta my house!  I really wish I had someone here taking photos during the mayhem... 

Next up... The re-vamping!  I have to repair the sheetrock and ceiling first, but then I'll get to work on the cabinet.  I plan to paint what's left of the cabinet white to match my baseboards and trim and then do something funky on the top.  Maybe stencil it...or vinyl it...or hand-paint something.  I don't know yet.  But watch for an update soon!  

Faux Granite Counters - Kitchen

This is my second faux granite counter top tutorial so it's not going to be nearly as in-depth as the first one...this is mostly just gonna be photos.  But, if you're interested in the whole process, check out my bathroom counter post too!  It's my most popular post to date... 

I loved the whole process and outcome of my faux granite bathroom counter so much, so I was happy to do it again in the kitchen.  The counters were an ugly, boring cream-colored Formica...and since I have a LOT of counter space I was stoked I could redo them all for a measly 60 bucks.  

I bought another Giani Granite Kit, but this time in Bombay Black.  I had already repainted the drab oak cabinets a light gray-ish/taupe color, and the rest of the colors in the kitchen were pretty light too, so I wanted some contrast.  I was a little nervous about going so dark at first, but I'm totally glad I took the plunge.... The counters are so gorgeous in person and for about a week afterwards I just kept walking into the kitchen to stare at them.  That's normal, right?

Prepping... I used leftover contractor's paper from my paper bag floors to protect my freshly-painted cabinets.  And I used FrogTape to protect some of the walls, the sink and the window trim...but since I was planning to add a tile blacksplash like I did in the bathroom, I didn't have to be careful everywhere.  Thank goodness, because I'm a messy do-it-yourself-er... 

Before I could primer the counters, I had to fill a couple of holes in the Formica... Giani recommends using sandable/paintable wood patch.  All I had to do was smoosh (yes, it's a word) some wood patch in my hands to warm it up, spread it on the holes with a puddy knife and let it dry.  I think it took an hour or so...and then I just sanded it smooth and level with the rest of the counter.  Easy.  

Primered counters.... These photos feel very sneaky.  I cropped out other parts of my kitchen that you are not allowed to see yet!

During sponging.  I know it looks like a really bad kid's art project at this point, but just keep going!  You won't regret it.... 

Okay, okay... I guess you're getting a sneak peak of my top-secret kitchen shelving anyway....  Apparently I forgot to take a picture of the whole kitchen in all its faux granite glory (I suck at this), so I'll do that later (after I clean it!) and add a photo of all the counters on here...

Ahhhh.... I love how shiny they turned out.  They even FEEL real... 

I also used black caulk around the stove and along the walls to give it a really seamless look.  Notice the textured wallpaper...post coming soon!

I couldn't be happier with how the counters came out... They look stunning in person and no one can believe that they're painted.  They are super glossy and multi-dimensional and expensive looking and I LOVE them.  

Gotta go...another DIY project awaits me.

Paper Bag Floors?!

As you may have read in a previous post, I ripped up the ugly flooring in the bathroom only to find another layer of ugly flooring...and then I ripped up that layer to find yet ANOTHER layer of ugly flooring.  Kill me.  Lineloum glue has since been added to the things I will forever haaaaaate. 

During the demolition....

But it had to be done...and after many hours of scraping and picking and ripping and grunting and cursing and sweating, I won!  I had my heart set on Paper Bag Floors and I needed the bare, plywood subfloor to install it on.  If you haven't heard of paper bag floors yet, search Pinterest and you'll get dozens and dozens of pins.  It's super affordable (less than 100 bucks), looks fan-freaking-tastic and is incredibly durable.  Apparently, this blog post is one of the most popular references...and she goes into more depth than I'm going to, so check it out. 

I'm in LOOOVVVE with my floor.  I know I say that about everything, but it's true.  I love it.  It is so cool and so pretty and so durable...and if I can convince someone to rip up three layers of linoleum in the kitchen and laundry room, I'd install this flooring again in a heartbeat....

Okay, first step...prep, as always.  In my case, I probably spent more time prepping than I did installing the floor.  After I ripped up three layers of linoleum, I had to sand and sand and sand and sand the glue off the plywood so the floor was level and smooth-ish... I used heavy-duty 60-grit sandpaper with a palm sander.  It took forever and I complained a lot.  After I was completely done with sanding I vacuumed the entire bathroom really, really well to get rid of all the saw dust.  Saw dust and glue don't go well together! 

I ripped out the nasty rubber baseboard trim before I did this, but if you have baseboards you want to protect, make sure to tape them off well with FrogTape.  Or... You could just carefully remove them and replace them afterwards.  I'm sure that'd be a lot easier because this is kind of a messy job....

• Brown paper - I bought this roll of contractor's paper at Home Depot for like 12 bucks and I have a TON left over.  I tried to find a smaller (wrapping paper-sized roll) at Fred Meyer in the mail/shipping section, but no such luck... But if I do this in the kitchen too, I'll have plenty of materials left.
• Elmer's glue - Every blog and Pinterest post I read called for a GALLON of Elmer's glue...and after searching high and low for a gallon of the stuff with no success, I bought four 8 ounces bottles of it at Fred Meyer in the office supply section hoping it would at least get me started.  And I only used 2 of the 4 bottles!  Apparently none of the other bloggers were only doing a 25 square foot bathroom floor.  I was SO glad I didn't end up with a gallon of Elmer's glue...
• Wood stain - this step is optional...you can leave the paper au natural or you can stain it with oil-based wood stain.  I stained my floor with Minwax Dark Walnut (about 7 bucks) and I love the way it turned out.  If/when I do the flooring in my kitchen I think I'll do a lighter color (because my faux granite kitchen counters are almost black) but this color looks fantastic in the bathroom.
• Polyurethane - this was the most expensive item at $40+ but considering the overall cost of the flooring, you're still getting a fantastic deal!  Don't skimp on the quality of the poly... I bought this water-based flooring grade poly in semi-gloss. It dries fast, has no odor and the end result feels smooth and durable.
• Lambskin block stain thingy... I don't know what this is really called, but it's basically a block of wood wrapped in lambskin and you attach it to a painter's extension pole.  It works just like a mop and it's used for staining large areas like decks.  I used it to mop on the wood stain and the poly.  You can also use something like this Shur-Line Deck Pad attached to a painter's pole.
• Chip brush (3 inch) - used to cut in the stain and poly around the toilet, corners, etc. where the lambskin mop can't get to. 
• A couple of paint tray liners for the wood stain.  That stuff will ruin your paint trays in a hurry!

Once you have all your materials, you're ready to get started!   

First step - mix up your glue/water mixture.  I used a 3:1 water to glue ratio and I think it worked perfectly on my plywood subfloor.  I mixed 6 cups of water with two 8-ounce bottles of glue in a bucket and stirred it until the glue was dissolved.  I assumed that I would have to make another batch, but it was just enough for my small bathroom.  I've read that half water and half glue works better for concrete floors, so do your research first depending on what type of floor you have!

Second step - start ripping and crumpling your paper.  You could make a whole pile of paper pieces ahead of time, but I liked ripping as I went... 

Next... Start dunking the crumpled up balls of paper into the glue mixture.  IMPORTANT! You only need to put them in the glue mixture for like, 2 seconds...just long enough to get them wet, and then take them out.  Otherwise they'll just turn to mush when you try to lay them out.  Also, you don't HAVE to crumple up the paper first, but it gives it a really cool, aged, leathery look to it because the stain seeps into the crinkles.  Love.

When you're ripping the paper, make sure it looks random.  The more shapes and sizes you have, the better it'll look.  The pieces with a flat edge worked perfectly along my bathtub and walls.  MAKE SURE that when you're laying down the pieces that they have a fair amount of overlap.  The more overlap, the more durable the floor will be in the long run.  Also, the paper is going to shrink a little when it dries, so overlap is important!

When I uncrumpled a piece of paper and smoothed it out onto the floor, I used a flat brush (in the picture above) to help smooth out the wrinkles and spread the glue mixture around.  The paper-laying part of this project was my favorite... It reminded me of paper mache or hodge podge projects I did as a kid. 

You'll notice that some of the pieces are darker than others in this photo... I didn't know that would happen and it's impossible to predict which pieces will be darker or lighter.  Each side of the contractor's paper had a different sheen to it, so it all depended on which side was facing up.  I love the way it turned out though...I think it made it more interesting.

After my floor was completely covered in brown paper, it was time for my least favorite task ever.  WAIT for it to dry.  I'm so incredibly impatient and this project required a lot of waiting.  Luckily, I had half a dozen other projects going on at the same time to distract me. 

A lot of blogs said the floor would be dry overnight, but that wasn't the case for me.  I think I waited about 24 (agonizing) hours for the floor to be bone dry... Next step: wood stain!  As I mentioned earlier, this step is optional.  You could poly right over the paper as-is, but I wanted a dark, rich color. 

Here I am using the chip brush around the edges.  Pardon the towel on my head... Oh, also... I removed the toilet (by myself, because I am Super Woman!!!) because I wanted the flooring to go underneath the toilet. 

Using my lambskin mop to apply the rest of the stain... One coat was plenty but make sure you spread it out reeeeeeally well.  Do not let any "pooling" happen.  A little goes a long way! 

It's important to use oil-based stain (based on everything I read, water-based stain doesn't work as well) and to let it dry COMPLETELY before you start applying the layers of poly.  I installed my floor three months ago (I'm way behind on my posts!), so it's hard for me to remember how long the stain took to dry, but I think it was about 24-36 hours.

Finally!  It's time to poly...  This is the most important step since the poly is what is protecting the longevity of your floor.  You will need to apply AT LEAST ten coats of poly, if not more.  This isn't as hard as you would think though.  The poly I bought was fast-drying, so I only had to wait about an hour in between each coat.  It still took me a couple of days to finish only because I had a million other things going on... I lost count of how many layers I did, but I think it was about a dozen.

I washed the lambskin block out really well after staining and reused it for the poly and I used the chip brush around the corners again... I found that just wearing socks to apply it worked best.

One random word of advice... Put your hair up while you're doing this!  I have long, dark hair and after the floor was totally done I found several hairs permanently embedded in the layers of poly.  I'm sure I'm the only one who will ever notice, but they still make me crazy...

After I was done with the floor, I figured out how to install new wood baseboards and quarter round trim (again, by myself, because I am awesome) and I think it looks GORGEOUS against the dark floor.  Along the bathtub and toilet I used bright white caulk to match the trim. 

The finished product....

Wow, that was a long post.  My brain hurts.  Next up...the big kitchen reveal.  Stay tuned!

I'm Back!

I haven’t posted anything on here in almost three months, because I’ve just been too ridiculously busy… If you follow my other blogs, then you know I just quit my day job to go back to school to study health and fitness.  I had to take a mega-hard writing class over the summer as a prerequisite before school starts in the fall, and it sucked up a huge chunk of my spare time… So, that combined with working full-time and remodeling the kitchen meant that I haven’t had any time to bore you with my do-it-yourself posts...

But, my writing class ended a week ago and my last day of work was on Friday…and I have FOUR whole weeks off before fall term starts.  I haven't had that much time off work since I was 14.  So I’ll be blasting through my never-ending to-do lists...including catching up on blog posts.

You can expect the following posts in the upcoming weeks:

• My super awesome bathroom floor (done for less than 100 bucks)
• My gorgeous kitchen counters (I did faux granite again and I love it even more than the bathroom)
• My super top-secret kitchen shelving (only a handful of people have seen my kitchen so far and I won’t let them take any photos because I don’t want anyone to ruin the “big reveal”…. That’s normal, right?)
• My pantry makeover
• Another super easy tile blacksplash project

Notice the veins bulging out of my neck... It's been a stressful (but productive) summer!

I’m nearly done with my bathroom floor post…so, watch for it tonight or in the morning.  But first, time for a quick jog with my newest Health Monster client!!

Tile Backsplash

I knew I wanted to add a tile backsplash to the bathroom to help the faux granite counter look a little more "high-end"...but I had no idea how I was going to accomplish it.  I know HOW to set tile, but I didn't have access to any of the tools I needed...most importantly, a tile saw.  I picked out a really pretty glass tile at Home Depot anyway... "I'll figure out how I'm gonna install it later."

Traditionally, tile is set using mud... You stir the dry mud mix with water in a bucket and then spread it on the wall using a trowel then set the tile in it.  It sounds simple, but the mixture has to be the perfect consistency and the whole process is just a goopy mess.  No thanks.  Plus, I didn't wanna spend money on a bunch of tools and stuff I would only use once with a lot of leftovers.  If only there was a simpler method.  Oh, wait...there is.

I Googled "tile backsplashes for dummies" (not joking) and I came across this brilliant invention called a tile setting mat.  It's basically like super sticky double-sided tape for tile.  You peel off the plastic backing, stick it to the wall and then stick your tile to it.  It doesn't get any easier than that!

I didn't read the instructions or warnings on the package about how and where to use this stuff (shocking, I know) but I would never use it in a shower or anywhere the weight of the tile was unsupported.  Meaning, I wouldn't let this sticky stuff be the ONLY thing defying gravity and holding the tile to the wall.  But that's just paranoid me.  It's probably capable of a lot more than I give it credit for, but I'll only know that for sure if I ever get around to reading the instructions...so, don't hold your breath.  The weight of my backsplash was being supported by the counter top itself, so I felt confident that this would work well...

I bought small, rectangular glass tiles in 12" x 12" sheets and then cut the mesh backing to create strips of tile in the height I wanted.  I totally screwed up the drywall when I ripped off the existing Formica "backsplash" so, I made it tall enough to cover up the mess... 

Note the tile setting mat on the right...it's clear, so it's kinda hard to see.  The tile I chose wasn't exactly light in weight, so it's definitely sticky...

Attaching the tile to the wall was the easy part...but now came my biggest problem.  I had no idea how I was gonna cut the tile to fit into the corners and around the edges.  I assumed I would have to fork over 40 bucks to rent a tile saw at Home Depot to make a half a dozen cuts, but not before I tried every other (totally unsafe) method of cutting the tile myself first.  I tried scoring the back of the tile with a razor knife and then breaking it with a chisel and hammer, but it totally shattered, as expected.  Hmmm...what else could I try?  Bingo!  I'll see if my dad has an angle grinder!  Which he did, of course...

If you don't know what an angle grinder is, it's a hand-held tile saw almost.  It has lots of non-tile uses, but it's a tool owned and heavily used by every tile setter in the country, if not the world.  It works well for making small tile cuts, which is exactly what I needed...

Beware though, glass tile chips off and shoots at your face when you cut it!  Here I am sporting sunglasses while cutting it to protect my peepers...

Cutting the tile was super easy and I was able to fill in the corners and gaps with no problem... Next up, grout. 

I did buy a grout float when I bought my tile, so I was actually prepared for this step.  A float is a tool used to press grout in between tiles.  You can buy dry grout and mix it with water yourself (a lot like the goopy, tile-setting mud) or you can buy it pre-mixed and ready to spread in a tub like this...

Since I have a million house-remodeling projects in the works right now, I happily opted for pre-mixed grout.  One less step for me.  I chose the color "Linen" which is a beige-y, neutral color.  It goes with almost everything.  (Don't ever buy white grout, you will regret it eventually.) I also bought tile caulk in the same color for around the edges, in the corners and along the counter.  Grout naturally shrinks, cracks and crumbles over time...the caulk keeps the grout looking like it did on day one. 

Spread and slather and push and mush the grout in EVERY single nook and cranny.  The tile will be mostly covered in grout and if it's really, really messy...that means you're doing it right.

Wahoo!!!  I actually remembered to take some "during" pictures!  Maybe I'm getting better at this...

After the tile is totally covered in grout, use a really big sponge and a bucket of clean water to wash it off.  The grout will stay in the grout lines, but it'll wash off the tile itself.  This part is gonna take some time and lots of washings.  Just keep wiping it down until the tile isn't cloudy anymore.  And then wipe it down one more time for good measure.  Make sure to get the grout off the walls as soon as possible, because grout is very gritty and it WILL remove the paint if you try to wash it off after it's dry.  I promise.

The grout will be totally dry in about 24 hours, but you'll need to wait at least 48 hours for the grout to cure before sealing it with grout sealer.  Sealer protects grout against stains and discoloration.  Don't skip this step!

The whole backsplash took me a total of 2 hours at the very most... It was super easy and I love the outcome.  It gives the bathroom a "richer" feel even though it only cost about 85 bucks... It would have cost less if I wasn't seduced by a sparkly, pretty glass tile that cost 14 dollars per square foot.  Oh well...money well spent, in my opinion.

Okay, break's over... Time to go mow the front lawn!