Nicole's Kitchen Remodel…Part 6

The New Backsplash

Nicole chose a new tile:

After we got back from FL I went to town with her to pick up the tile.

Mike starts off by spreading the mortar on the wall:

Making it thick to cover the grooves from the previous mess:

Nicole starts adding her new tile:

Looking a little more neutral:)

Nicole working in the corner:

Almost done with this side of the kitchen:

The new tile is on the wall:

Nicole finished the other side on her own and sent me a picture:

Nicole has a few steps before anything can be caulked.  This is a tumbled marble tile.  Nicole said the tile needs to be sealed, then do the grouting to fill in the holes on the tile, and then it needs to be resealed.  She got all of that done before Mike and I went back.


Mike did the caulking for her:

Yay…the kitchen is finished and Nicole is happy again:)



Nicole's kitchen went from:

to:

to:

And from:

to:

to:

I hope you enjoyed this update.  Now it's time to order my new counter:)


Have a great week.

Nicole's Kitchen Remodel…Part 5

I am sorry for the delay.  We have all been up north visiting family and we are now just getting back on track.

So….Nicole's backsplash….the thing she agonized over.

The cabinets are all installed and the counter is on.  Now it's time for the finishing work.  Nicole is doing the backsplash herself.  Here is what she started with:

One of the first pictures she sent me of her backsplash.  I think it matches really well with her cabinets but I didn't like it with the counter.  I only told her I thought it matched her cabinets:

Behind the stove area:

From the pictures it looks like she did a great job:

The first side is finished:

At this point Nicole was not sure she liked it but decided to finish the other side of her kitchen:

She got this side done and she is still not sure about it.  At the time, Mike and I were in Florida and we never did see it in person.  Poor Nicole was so unhappy with the backsplash that Mike told her to tear it out.  I know…sounds crazy…but before she did the backsplash she was so excited about her new kitchen and this just burst her bubble.  It was wavy, too busy, and it took away from the counters that she loves so much.

So…..


Nicole took it all down.  Heartbreaking but better than living with something you hate:

And she is ready to start over.  Now she just has to find a tile she likes.  Before we got back from Florida, she was looking at this Travertine tile.  She is much happier that a tile like this won't take away from her counter:

We all make mistakes but thankfully she was able to change it instead of having to live with something she hated for a  long time.  I think we all learned a valuable lesson about tile backsplashes.  Go safe and neutral or stick to paint.  If you go too "taste" specific it is no fun to change it.


Up next….the new tile that she picked, which is different than the one shown above, and the finished kitchen:)


Just a short and sweet update.  Monday I will post the final kitchen.

Have a great week.

Nicole's Kitchen Remodel…Part 4

Hello everyone.  This is the final day for Mike and I to help Nicole on her kitchen.  We went with her during the week to pick up her countertops.  These are not screwed down yet but here is her new counter and her choice of backsplash which Nicole will be doing:

Nicole also made some wooden drawer dividers for her silverware drawer.  She did a good job…I may have to ask her to make one for me although it would be better for me in my bedroom dresser drawer, lol.

Oh the fun part.  Nicole had to wait for her father for this part.  Mike needs to unhook the plumbing so we can get the sink out and the old countertop off.  First we turn off the water to the house.  We don't want any additional problems:

Undoing the plumbing.  We want to save as many parts as we can.  Nicole got a new sink but we should be able to use most of the pipes:

Taking the old sink out:

Now it's time to get the old countertop off:

Mike pulls up the part he has loosened:

And I help with the next section:

The handy cut off wheel to cut out some screws in the walls:

Down to the old floor:

Nicole and I work on the last of the tile:

Mike and I putting in the base blind cabinet:

Ah…the holes in the floor.  Nicole is finally getting a chance to fill the holes.  She hates mice:

Mike cutting out the bottom of the sink base cabinet to make room for the plumbing:

Base cabinets are in:

No template came with Nicole's sink so Mike has to figure out where to make the cut out.  One mistake and the whole countertop is worthless.  No pressure though, lol:

Using tape along the cut out line so the blade doesn't chip the laminate:

Once that is out, I help Mike with the new sink.  

Nicole holds the sink in place while Mike works on the clamps:

Mike working on the plumbing:

We were doing OK until we found out we were missing some drain parts:

Nicole ran to town to pick up the parts while Mike and I go back to the wall cabinet that we couldn't get up last week.  Mike drills holes for the anchor bolts:

Screwing the anchor bolt into the back of the cabinet.  They will go into the wall straight and then the bolts will open up inside the wall so they can't come back out:

The uppers are finished.  And you can see Nicole's nice job on covering the vent pipe from the stove:

Nicole is back.  Her and Mike work on more plumbing:

Nicole holds the countertop down while Mike gets ready to screw it to the cabinet:

Nicole screws in the countertop:

Mike cutting off the excess metal plate that is not needed on the dishwasher:

We did run into another snag with the plumbing.  The small sink was on the opposite side of the new sink.  We were still missing another part.  After being there all day, Mike and I told Nicole we would be back in the morning if she got the part.  Nicole and her family had one night with no kitchen sink but that was their biggest inconvenience.

The next morning, Mike worked on the plumbing and I helped Nicole with the other countertop.

The cabinets and counters are done.  Nicole loves it:)

She is now not happy with her butcher block and she may order a piece to match the rest.

And the other side:

And a glimpse of the backsplash she chose.  Next week we will see how Nicole does with her new backsplash:

Have a great week and I will post again this week with a recipe and again next week for the completion of Nicole's kitchen:)