Countertop Do Over

This past September, we redid our countertops.  I love my counters!  While it wasn`t labor-instensive, it was a long process when factoring in drying times (24 hours between each coat). We did it after the boys went to bed, which allowed me minimal counter use during the day when I needed it.

The product we used was Rustoleum`s Stoneaffects. We used the Galaxy color (black with white specks). It is a 3 step process, and is very easy to do!

Here are my counters before. Love the fake marbly white & green. And check out that border! Nice huh?

This is Step 1, the primer. It is gritty, so the stone coat sticks to it.

Step 2 (and 3, we did 2 coats to fill in a couple spots) was the stone. It looks gray when wet but dries to the right color.

And the last coats (we did 2 of the epoxies)! It makes your counter shiny & smooth. It is also heatproof. I love the look of it!

This was one of our quickest, easiest renos! And I just adore the final look! You can`t even tell there are tiles underneath. So here we are, 1 step closer to my finished kitchen!

Kitchen Revamping

When we bought our house almost 5 years ago (we bought it Feb 13/07 & moved in Apr 26/07), we knew it needed a LOT of work. It is a 1920 character home, & I absolutely adore it! While we have done a few things (painted throughout, new bathroom, worked in the kitchen, added a fence), we still have so much to do! We are hoping to rebuild our veranda this summer, build an addition, finish the floors, & finish our current bedroom.

So far, my favorite room is the kitchen. Which makes sense, since I spend most of my time in there! We painted, added a couple cupboard doors where needed (who doesn`t want doors on their cupboards?!?), & redid our countertops. I am currently scraping glue off the original 1920 hardwoods. Yes, glue. Someone, in a haze of craziness, glued the ugliest, roughest, blue-gray carpet to the floor (granted, our kitchen used to be a bedroom). Anyway. I am almost done scraping the glue (just the dining & living areas left!), then we will be doing a light sand to be sure all the glue is gone, & restaining. The floors were originally dark, & I plan on keeping them dark. Our cabinets (custom built in Dec 2006) are a warm fruitwood, & well, I can`t change those, LOL.

Anyway. All this to say, I wanted to share progress pictures with you! Here are the befores, from May of 2007. Ignore the mess, & the silly baby (I can`t get over that Ryden used to be that little, sniff sniff!), but here they are :)

This was taken while standing in the living room, looking west.  Love the southwestern teal bluey-green!  Ick :(  Check out that fabulous carpet too!  Who says kitchen carpet is a bad idea??

Standind with my back against the window.  My sink!  I love my double sink.  The right side is so super deep, perfect for defrosting 20 pound turkeys!  Also note the silly baby!  He was mad I was taking pictures that weren`t of him ;)

The built in hutch.  I was so excited when I saw this!  I thought the bottom was all storage.  It`s not :(  I also love the no doors, & eating off dusty dishes.

And so, that was my kitchen, almost 5 years ago.  Stay tuned, my next post will include up to date photos!