Upside Down or Right Side Up

When it comes to homemaking and organization, everyone has their own ways of doing things.  What makes sense or works for some does not make sense or work for others.  There are even debates over which way the roll of toilet paper should be placed on the roller.  What I never really considered an issue was whether to put glasses, mugs and other drinking vessels upside down or right side up in the cupboards.  I used to think it was just a personal preference.

Our first three purchased homes were relatively problem free as far as home invaders.  The worst we dealt with was ants (rarely), house flies, fruit flies and in our third house, earwigs.  Even then, all of these pests were very minor outbreaks that were quickly controlled.  They were not ongoing.  Glassware and mugs were placed right side up in the cupboards.  Then we bought our fourth house that backed onto farmland.  When the crops came off, the mice came in.  Our fifth house was a beautiful house in a beautiful location but it had issues.  It was across the main road with a small road in between from farmland on water front property.  The house was surrounded by English ivy, a rodent mecca.  The mice would scurry across the patio, get into the outdoor grill and loved visiting us indoors.  Not only were mice a problem, the house was a magnet for centipedes (4 or more a week!), millipedes, pill bugs and carpenter ants.  We bought this house in 2011.  There is farmland directly behind it so even though it is a newer house, mice found their way indoors.  After catching four mice, we called in the professionals who quickly took care of the problem.

As part of our pest control, glassware and mugs have been placed upside down in the cupboards ever since our fourth house.  It's a way to ensure that rodents or other pests don't get into them, and it keeps any dust out.  Well, this does make perfect sense.  However, shortly after we discovered mice in this house I was getting platters from the shelf unit in the pantry, I was not pleased to discover the tell tale signs of mice on the top platter.  So, even if the glassware and mugs are turned upside down in the cupboards, other dinnerware or pots and pans in the cupboard can still be contaminated by rodents, other household pests or dust.

Essentially, upside down or right side up ends up being a personal choice.  While it will give peace of mind that nothing contaminated your clean glassware or mugs, it does nothing to eliminate the possible contamination of other items in your cupboard that come into contact with food.  Up or down, 'tis up to you :)

The Kitchen During the Move

One of my friends sets up a temporary kitchen including a specially packed box to get them started.  It takes her a week or two to get her kitchen up and running.  I cannot do that!  My kitchen is the last room packed up but the first one set up.  There are a couple of reasons for this.  First off during any move we have friends and family helping meaning I want a coffee station, cold beverages in the fridge and snacks.  I have good culinary skills so want that reflected in the moving day snacks so there is no way I'm going to offer bagged potato chips to those helping us move!  It is our way of thanking our family and friends for their very generous help.  I want to be able to make a proper hot breakfast the first morning in our new house.  This blesses the house bringing good karma and good fortune for your future in your new home.

I rely on the following to achieve this goal:

• slow cooker
• outdoor grill
• coolers
• a few pre-made dishes

Adding to the kitchen issues during this move is I have absolutely no choice but to process all of my tomato products between now and September 17.  I'm going to be tired from moving but have no choice.  That means I will be processing about 10 hampers (5/8 bushel) within that time frame otherwise we have not tomato products for the upcoming year.  My husband is brought home the first two hampers last Sunday making a long day even longer.  It doesn't help that I have an internal infection that is really sapping my energy. 

Here's my plans for dealing with canning tomato products while in the midst of the move:

• this kitchen - This kitchen will remain fully functional until the first week of September at which time the new kitchen will be fully functional.  We need to install a gas line for our new kitchen range.  All of my canning needs will be transferred over to the new house prior to that date.  I will spend the mornings canning here.  That allows me two to three runs of the pressure canner before lunch time.  I can then focus on packing and organizing for the afternoon then relaxing in the evening.  
• new kitchen - I anticipate canning in my new kitchen by September 10 if not sooner depending how fast we can get the gas line moved.  By that date my entire pantry including empty jars will have been moved to our new house by then and the new dishwasher will have be installed.  

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Unavoidable Plastic Food Packaging in the Kitchen

In an effort to reduce the amount of plastic used in the kitchen I have eliminated or reduced certain types of food storage containers.  This is a conscious decision one in which we can choose whether or not to use plastic.  The problem with plastic is that it is virtually impossible to avoid in the grocery store.  As manufactures strive to cut their cost of production and transporting the product they are turning to plastic.  The reasons for this include:

• plastic is cheaper than glass or cans
• plastic is more durable than glass, removes risk of breakage
• plastic is lighter weight than glass or cans

Plastic is continuously coming into our homes whether or not we like it usually though the foods we buy.  Reducing what comes in via this method is possible and some plastic food packaging can be recycled.  Some of the sources of plastic in food packaging is quite obvious while in other cases it is not quite so obvious.  The important thing to note is that in the following cases the plastic is in direct contact with the food:

• plastic wrap - Fresh meats, poultry, cured meats, lunch meats and cheeses are usually wrapped in some type of plastic packaging.  Compounding the problem is fresh meats often come on styrofoam trays wrapped in thin plastic wrap.   Ideally the plastic packaging has been vacuum sealed to keep the product fresh longer but that is not always the case.  Plastic wrap can be avoided in fresh meats and poultry by buying directly from the farmer or from a butcher shop.  It is possible to buy cheeses at a cheese factory that have not been wrapped in plastic but even there a large number of cheeses are wrapped in plastic.  Cured meats can be made at home or bought at a butcher shop to avoid plastic wrap.  Lunch meats can be eliminated entirely by slicing leftover roast, turkey breast, ham or meatloaf to use instead.  Another problem is buying at stores like Sam's Club quite often a food item is in a plastic container then 2 or more of these containers plastic wrapped together or things like canned tuna are shrink plastic wrapped together.  True you get the savings but you also get the plastic.
• plastic clam shell containers -  Berries, some fruits, bean sprouts and some vegetables are often packaged in plastic clam shell containers.  Avoiding these horrid containers is easy by buying from the loose produce section, shopping the U-picks or farm markets and sprouting your own beans.
• plastic tubs - Yogurt, sour cream, soft cream cheese, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, feta cheese, dips, deli foods (salads, etc.)  and ice cream all come packaged in plastic tubs.  Yogurt, sour cream and ricotta cheese are easily made at home and homemade is less expensive.  The only way to avoid the other products is to not use them.  For most people that is not an option.  Dried foods (eg. nuts, snacks, Parmesan cheese) in the bulk section of the grocery store are often packaged in plastic tubs.  However many of these products are also available in other containers like plastic pouches or cardboard containers so that is always an option.  If you shop at a bulk food store, foods like peanut butter, honey and pie filling are spooned into plastic tubs.  Here the only option is to not buy them but rather make your own pie filling and peanut butter.  Buy honey from a beekeeper where you can bring your own glass container.
• plastic food bags - Thin plastic bags are available for produce in the grocery stores.  It is advisable to use these to prevent cross contamination of other food products and to prevent further contamination from surfaces like the conveyor belt at the check-out.  Many bakery (eg. breads, rolls, etc.) products are packaged in plastic bags.  These can be avoided by making your own bakery products.  If you shop in bulk food stores for dry foods like herbs, spices, flours and etc the only choice is to use their plastic bags to get your food home.  You can't use your own containers as they presents a health and safety as well as liability issue for the store.
• plastic bottles - Most condiments come packaged in the popular plastic squeeze bottles.  However some are also available in glass jars so that is an option.   Another option is to make your own condiments at home.  Relish, ketchup and mustards are very easy to make at home and they are less expensive.   Juices and water also come in plastic bottles.  Buy a reusable water bottle and fill at home to eliminate buying pricey water in plastic bottles.  Eliminate the plastic bottle for juices by buying frozen juices and making them at home.  Frozen juices tend to be cheaper as well.
• plastic pouches - Spices, dried herbs, nuts, baking supplies like chocolate chips all come packaged in plastic pouches.  Buy from a bulk food store instead where you will still use thin plastic bags but those bags can be recycled whereas the pouches can't.  Some fast food restaurants and sidewalk carts have condiments packaged in individual serving sized plastic pouches.  Avoid these entirely.
• cans -  Many are under the mistaken impression that getting foods packaged in aluminum cans solves the plastic issue.  It doesn't and in many ways foods packaged in aluminum cans are worse because of the potential health risks.  Every food and beverage can used in North America has a plastic lining to prevent interaction with the food.  This is a FDA mandatory requirement.  The coating may be white so it is visible or it may be clear giving the impression there is no lining but it is there.  The problem with this plastic coating is it does cont Bis-phenol A (BPA) which means the food contains BPA due to the nature of the canning industry.  Heat and acidic conditions causes BPA to leach from the plastic.  Both of these conditions occur during the canning process.  Avoid buying any food or beverage packaged in a can and that includes carbonated beverages and beer.
• glass jars - The BPA issue cannot be avoided by buying in glass jars or home canning as all metal lids also have the plastic coating containing BPA.  However, buying in glass or home canning greatly reduces food exposure to BPA.  It is very important when home canning to not invert the jar allowing the hot food to come into contact with the lid.  Once the food is cooled for both commercially jarred or home canned food the risk of BPA leaching into the food is gone.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Plastic Food Container Dilemna

A couple of days ago I posted about the new plastic food storage containers I bought.  Plastic in the kitchen presents a real dilemna.  Over the past couple of years I have been working to eliminate as much plastic as possible in the kitchen especially for food storage however this is actually a bit more challenging than it appears.  There is no doubt that food storage is a necessary aspect of any kitchen.  While a variety of wraps and bags are available these are not eco-friendly or frugal choices.  Food storage ranges from dry to refrigerator to freezer so containers used must be flexible.  Tupperware® was all the rage years ago when were newlyweds but it was something I never did get into.  I only have 4 pieces of this higher end plastic food storage/serving containers, two of which are the old harvest gold which gives their age away.  Several years ago I eliminated plastic wrap and food storage bags other than for freezer use in favour of inexpensive, disposable containers (eg. GladWare, Ziploc).  The problems with these containers is:

• they do break when frozen
• they create an incredible amount of clutter
• lids go missing
• they end up adding to landfills
• snap on lids can come loose and leak

However, they are inexpensive so are perfect for gift giving and I don't mind if they go missing.  When I decided to eliminate more plastic from the kitchen these were my first targets.  Years ago I bought glass baking dishes that came with plastic lids.  The lids have stood the test of time so I looked for storage ones that would go from freezer to oven.  Canadian Tire puts sets of Anchor Hocking glass bakeware on sale so I bought 3 sets to be used for food storage in the refrigerator and baking in the oven.  Still the lids are plastic which really is a trade-off but are better than plastic wrap or disposable containers.  At some point plastic food storage containers are necessary for freezer use especially since I don't like using glass in my freezers and for use in the boat, picnic, and dock/pool areas where glass breakage has the potential for personal injury.  I have revised my use of plastic in the kitchen from eliminating entirely to minimizing.  My requirements for kitchen plastics are:

• BPA free
• heavy duty, not disposable
• spill free plastic containers - screw-on or locking type lids
• lids on glassware are heavy duty, sealing securely

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Nami Coated Glass Bakeware

On our last grocery shopping trip my husband noticed non-stick glass bakeware in the sundry aisle.  We have been eliminating as much plastic as possible in the kitchen in favour of glass.  We have a fair amount of glass bakeware but another piece is always welcomed.  We decided to buy a piece of this new non-stick glass bakeware to try it out.  If we like it there are a couple of nice sizes that would be perfect when baking for two.

This glass 9" x 14" baking dish has Nami silicone non-stick coating giving the non-stick capabilities of silicone bakeware with the sturdiness and rigidity of glass bakeware.  It is made of borosilicate glass that provides excellent heat distribution, durability and resistance to extreme temperature changes.  Metal utensils should be avoided with this coating as affect the appearance of the dish but will not impact the performace of the Nami coating.  The coating may absorb colours from certain foods and some discolouration is likely to occur but will not affect performance or flavour.  The baking dish should be hand washed only with warm, soapy water.

I could not find a lot of information on the Nami silicone-based coating.  The coating is PTFE-free and PFOA-free.  It is an environmentally safe, anti-bacterial and eco- friendly alternative to Teflon® non-stick coating.  The coating is FDA approved.  The coating gives the glass a frosted appearance.   I think this will be the best of non-stick in that there is the convenience of silicone without having to use a second pan.  I will post an update on how I like the performance of this baking dish after using it a few time.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2012

Organizing the Spice Cabinets

Yesterday I needed curry powder for a recipe I wanted to try.  Like most foodies I have more than an abundance of various herbs and spices.  I'm always picking up new herbs, spices and blends to try.  I also dry herbs and various vegetables for vegetable powders.  The result of this constant influx of seasonings is my spice cabinets tend to get rather on the unruly.  Of course it is a bit of an annoyance to know that a certain seasoning in in the cupboard only to have to spend several minutes shifting things around to find it.  As things like this happen before I knew it the entire contents of the cabinet were piled on the counters.

Tearing apart the cabinet happened so automatically that I never even thought to get a before picture.  Once the cabinet was emptied shook my head at the mess then got busy.  I don't like keeping herbs, spices or blends in packets or worse yet plastic zip bags even though many come packaged that way.  Originally I had 2 plastic bins with lids on the top shelf to hold these types of packets until they could be transferred into glass containers.  The problem with the plastic bins is I would forget to check them so end up buying more of the same seasoning.  I decided to eliminate them.  I also had a few jars of dried onions and mushrooms on the top shelf that I moved into the main pantry. 

Pictured is the organized spice cabinet.  I use a fair number of mason jar for herb and spice storage.  This works well for herbs I dry as well as herbs and spices bought from the bulk food store.  While I do have smaller spice bottles most of them are recycled bottles.  There are a few packets on the top shelf destined for glass jars later today.  The final part of the organizing of this cabinet will be taping the inventory list to the door.

The large container seasoning cabinet is in the lower cabinets of the breakfast bar.  This area opens from both the kitchen and family room side.  I keep the larger containers on the kitchen side and my collection of hot sauces on the family room side.  As you can see there are a fair number of larger containers of seasonings.  The large containers of seasoning that I use a lot of work out to be considerably less expensive than smaller containers.  The seasonings are arranged alphabetically for easy finding.  They tend to get mixed up occasionally especially if the grandkids visit.  It took me a few minutes to reorganize ready for use.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Kitchen Knives

A vast majority of the meals we eat are home cooked from scratch.  It's funny when I first started out as a newlywed I did not appreciate the importance of descent kitchen knives.  I was quite content to use second hand, yard sale find knives.  The sad part about this is not only did I not know what to look for in a knife but I likely over the years had some very good knives without realizing it.  The end result was I got used to poor quality or improperly maintained knives.  As I learned more about cooking it became quite clear that the leading cause of injuries in the kitchen is a dull knife.

Over the years I have gradually improved the quality of my kitchen knives and learned how to maintain them.  I've learned what I like and what I don't like in a knife.  I definitely do not storing my knives in a wood block but rather prefer a magnetic strip.  I also learned that my knife needs continue to evolve which means my knife collection tends to change from time to time.

Various knife designs have different purposes and for that reason I don't like knife sets.  What I like is to find the knife that meets my need and most important has a good hand fee.  Pictured are my current knives in action.  The red handled knives are Paderno, the white are Tramotina while the rest are Cuisinart.  The Paderno and Tramotina are press blade knives while the Cuisinart are forged blades.  Forged blade knives have a bolster (blue arrow) to provide balance and control.  The bolster indicates how thick the steel was when it was forged.  Pressed blades do not have a bolster but rather an attached handle.  My pet peeve with pressed blades and the handles is germs can get into that joint leading to contamination.

The blades themselves are very important.  The Tramotina are German high carbon steel.  That means they will keep a sharper edge longer providing they are properly maintained.  If at all possible buy knives with German steeel blades.  The Paderno and Tramotina are NSF (National Santitation Foundation)  certified so they are commercial quality.  I have 2 Santoku knives that have little pockets (red arrow) known as kullens.  These are air pockets designed to prevent food sticking to the knife when cutting.

In additon to the knives on the magnetic strip I have a cleaver (Whiltshire), a couple of heavy duty steak knives and a small paring knife that sees a lot of use.  Not pictured are the various knives that find their way into the cutlery drawer.  I use a hone (steel) to keep the blades straight and and a manual knife sharpener to keep my knifes sharp.

The blade design determines the knife usage which is one reason why I don't recommend buying knife sets.  A 10 pc knife set is lovely but if it comes with a fillet knife that you won't use the knife just collects dust.  A good variety of of knives with different blades is necessary to ensure you have the right knife for the application.  Equally important is the hand feel with respect to handle size, handle fit and knife weight.   An improper handle fit for your hand can cause muscle fatigue.  Those with smaller hands may need smaller handles and even lighter for the knife to feel comfortable without causing fatigue during use.  If there is more than one cook in the kitchen you may gave to do as we do and have knives suited for each cook.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

My Handy Kitchen Helper

A few years ago when we moved from an urban to rural setting we discovered mice. That house was sandwiched between the water and farmland much the same as this house is. We embarked on an extensive rodent control program at the last house then continued it when we moved here since we knew we would be dealing with the same issues. Aside of sealing rodents out of the home I feel it is extremely important to remove any food supply so meet my handy kitchen helper.

The kitchen is by far the first place food crumbs occur. It's hard to keep the crumbs picked up all the time and rather a pain to get the big vacuum cleaner out every time just to pick up the crumbs. This cute little Dirt Devil® helps keep those dry kitchen spills under control. I can easily clean up dry spills as they happen. We bought it on sale a couple of years ago for $30. Surprisingly this hand held vacuum has become one of my most used tools in the kitchen even though it is not nor ever was billed as being a kitchen appliance.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

The Changing Faces of My Stove

I do a lot of cooking and canning so it comes as a surprise to some that I don't have professional style gas burner range. There's really a couple of reasons that boiled down to space limitations and wanting something different. In late 2005 we bought a new but almost stripped Jenn-Air JES9860AC downdraft slide-in range that needed several additional parts including grill cartridge, burner cartridges and the downdraft system. We did a bit of research after seeing it to find out what the parts would cost and went back the next day buy it. What I really like about this stove is parts are easily available for DIY repairs. Despite having to buy parts we ended up with an excellent customized kitchen stove considerably cheaper than if we had bought it fully ready-to-use. We bought most of the replacement parts online through RepairClinic. We ordered the cartridges and big burner element through a local appliance store. The stove was not fully installed until January 2006. A little over a year later we moved here and brought our range with us.

Energy efficiency is a high priority for us so one selling feature of this stove was the large capacity convection, self cleaning oven with 3 adjustable racks. The annual cost to run the self clean cycle is less expensive than oven cleaners. The self clean function does not use toxic chemicals or contribute to land fills so it is an eco-friendly choice. An optional half oven rack is available that I will add at some point. Another selling feature was the downdraft system (centre vent) that is capable of moving a lot of air allowing even smokeless indoor grilling. The downdraft system is attached to the floor and vented to the outside via flexible metal vent pipe. This means the range cannot simply be pulled out and makes installation a bit trickier because the stove has to be lifted up and over the downdraft system then attached to it. There is no storage drawer under the stove but the cover can be removed to empty the grease cup for the grill as well as accessing the downdraft system. If you decide to sell your house and want to bring your range with you, you will have to have that included as an exemption in the listing because it is attached.

Pictured to the left is the 1427 W grill cartridge with a custom made wood cutting board one of our kids made for me. The cutting board gives me a bit of extra horizontal space when needed. The two burner cartridge to the right has an optional specialty 2100 W big pot element (A145A) that is interchangeable with the regular 2100 W large coil element and a small 1250 W element. Already you can see how I can do a bit of plug and play.

The big pot element is used when I'm canning or using similarly large sized pots and pans (1). This element is reinforced to handle the extra weight and it is raised to prevent radiating heat build-up under the larger pots that could damage the surface area and cause premature failure of the cartridge. The grill cartridge is normally covered unless in use (2). If I am doing a larger dinner where all four elements may be needed I can put in the other coil cartridge (3). Just recently I decided to buy the glass-ceramic cooktop radiant cartridges (A122). They are rather expensive but I was able to find two for almost the price of one online at Appliance Zone. Compared to the coil cartridges, the radiant cartridges (4) are quite impressive looking! The ability to plug and play with the cartridges allows me to have a customizable cooking experience with very little effort.

I wanted the radiant cartridges for ulterior motives as smoothtop ranges always look so sleek and clean. The whole issue of dirty or stained drip trays is totally eliminated! We couldn't use a smoothtop because of the canning I do. The radiant cartridges are a way to get the look for those times I want it.

I love the look of the new radiant cartridges! Aren't they gorgeous? The large element is 1800 W while the smaller element is 1200 W so both less wattage than the coil elements. This means a bit of kW savings right there. I quickly found I had to change my cooking style using the radiant cartridges as they are instant heat and they take awhile to cool down. This means the burner can be turned off sooner while the food continues to cook on the residual element heat. Another energy saving feature is the elements cycle on and off on all but the high setting. So for normal daily cooking I will be using less kW!

If I ever had to buy another stove which I hope I never do, this is exactly the way I would do it again. Simply being able to customize the stove as I choose according to what I am cooking at the time is a hugh plus. Knowing that parts are easily available for DIY repairs is nice too. This eliminates worrying about after warranty repairs. It also allows you to buy a few spare parts to keep on hand for emergency repairs.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Kitchen Renovation Restrictions

There are always restrictions imposed on any renovation project ranging from financial to physical space to bylaws and permits. I mentioned several times that we had a few restrictions for our kitchen renovation. After seeing the following pictures you will have a better idea of the restrictions we faced for this renovation. The major one was we really had to work within the space we had because there was no option for expansion without major and I do mean major renovations. The kitchen is on the lower level that is earth bermed so most of the kitchen is below grade. The window is at ground level and the patio doors are below grade. The patio doors lead to a covered patio below the upper level enclosed sunporch. The patio leads into the yard that ends at the water's edge. There is a lovely view of the water from both the kitchen window and patio doors as well as the large window in the family room. The second restriction was the wood ceiling, one of the selling features for this house. Honestly they are gorgeous! The third restriction was this house has a very cottage-like feel so we wanted to keep that feel meaning some materials simply wouldn't work well for the look. The property is waterfront and a good portion of our entertaining involves water activities. On weekends it is common for us to host one or more family and friend get togethers numbering 30 or more guests so the kitchen really has to perform but at the same time it has to have that cottage look and feel.

Family Room

We have a large family room with wood as the overpowering element. Not shown to the right is a large couch and to the left by the television is the dining table. On an angle and behind the love seat and chair shown is a empty space then my desk tucked beside the stairwell. From my desk going off the family room from right to left - under the stairwell is a large 10' x 10' walk-in pantry, our huge master bedroom, bathroom, laundry room. Off the laundry room is the furnace room. Off the master bedroom is the space under the front porch that we are going to insulate and finish for storage. The massive natural fireplace was converted to a gas fireplace by the previous owner. We are going to replace this fireplace with something not quite so fussy looking. The fireplace throws off enough heat to heat the house in the event the power is out.

Visually the room is very textural. Note especially the wood ceiling. It continues into the kitchen. Anything during the kitchen renovation that would affect the ceiling would have the potential of being quite costly. Since the ceiling was a selling feature, we were not prepared to change it.

View 1

This view is taken from the corner of the family room in front of the couch. It shows the only common wall between the family room and kitchen. This is an outside wall with patio doors and large picture window. Of note is the thickness of the lower level walls measuring about 18 - inches from inside to outside. This is the only wall on the lower level that is fully exposed although it is well protected to reduce any effects from direct winds. The other walls are earth bermed.

The kitchen is on the other side of the stairs leading to the entrance which technically is the only room on that level. Stairs from the entrance lead to the upper level consisting of a games room, a large room we aren't sure what we are doing with yet, an office, two bedrooms and a bathroom. Dividing the kitchen from the family room is the breakfast bar.

View 2

This view was taken from in front of the television. It shows how the ceiling from the family room continues into the kitchen. Removing or replacing the cabinets would have affected the ceiling. The expanse of wood in the family room and kitchen on ceiling, walls and cabinets does make the two rooms darker so lights are needed especially on cloudy days. Very little direct sunlight finds its way into the lower level. The wood continues up the stairwell and surrounds the entrance. The banister is heavy wood in keeping with the rest of the house. It forms a focal point for the entry and is quite visible from the two upper level main rooms.

The renovation really brightened up the kitchen while keeping that all important cottage look. There were so many choices and I actually fell in love with a beautiful shades of sea green glass tile that would have looked beautiful with the painted wall. The immediate problem was that tile would tie us into that colour for quite some time. I was flipping through a cottage design magazine when I spotted just the tile that would look great in our kitchen. Armed with the picture we went shopping. We are quite pleased with the results and our ability to work within the restrictions.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Kitchen Renovations - Finishing Touches

Finishing touches are very important when completing any renovation project. These are the little details that can make a huge difference! Not only do they make the project look finished some of them will keep your project looking good for years to come. So always pay particular attention to those finishing touches. Take your time even if it means the project will take a bit longer.

Grout Sealing

Two houses ago our then brother-in-law installed ceramic tile flooring in our kitchen. He said not to bother with sealing the grout and to only wash the floor with a vinegar solution. We took his advice but I still think that sealing the grout ads that extra level of protection. When we bought this house there was already ceramic tiles on the kitchen floor. It is a gorgeous floor although I don't care for the high gloss shine as it tends to be very slippery when wet. Since the kitchen opens onto the back patio getting wet is a real possibility. The first thing I did was wash the floor good then seal the grout with three coats of TileLab® SurfaceGard® Penetrating Sealer. This sealer provides maximum protection and has a 20 year guarantee. My primary concern was protecting the floor against any water damage. The grout is a deep beige so it hides dirt a bit. Protecting against staining was secondary but aesthetically important.

The countertop will see heavy use so protecting it from water damage is critical. Stain prevention is also very important. I used the same grout sealer for the countertop using a squeeze bottle brush applicator to apply three coats. Application is not difficult but with smaller tiles it is a fair amount of work. After filling the applicator bottle you twist the bottom part of the brush to open then remove the cap. Turn the bottle and hold similar to a pencil. Go over the grout lines then wipe away any excess from the tile after 10 minutes. Remove any haze after an hour with a rough cloth. Repeat if necessary after 2 - 3 hours dry time. I will be keeping a close eye on the grout lines. While they should not need any further sealing after three coats, if I think they need another coat I will apply it.

Caulking

I watch a fair amount of HGTV for renovation ideas and tips. One thing that Mike Holmes stresses whenever a tiling is the importance of caulking. He says that any time a joint is grout only it will eventually crack. Caulking is one more level to help prevent water damage.

The kitchen countertop presents several joints where water could eventually get through and cause damage. The joint shown is between the countertop and high cabinet (pictured below). Sealing this joint seals out the possibility of water seeping down between the countertop and cabinet. At the same time caulking provides a nice finished look. Once the caulking was dried any film on the cabinet was rubbed off.

I ran a bead of caulking on all joints whether tile to tile or tile to another surface. This simply ensures watertight joints. The stove is a slide-in model which leaves a very, very narrow gap between the lip of the stove and the countertop. Water really would not do much damage as the floor below is finished however food spills could get down this gap. A normal range or slide-in stove could easily be pulled out to clean any spills but ours has a down-draft system so it really doesn't just slide in. It has to be disconnected and lifted up and over the down-draft system. This would be a major pain just to clean up any spills. I ran a bead of caulking around this gap as well.

I used Weather Shield® 20 year durability acrylic caulk that stays flexible. This is a low odour, water clean-up, interior/exterior paintable caulk. It is easy to work with and performs nicely. This is my caulk of choice for most caulking projects. A caulk tool gives a nice finish to the bead while ensuring the caulk is pushed tightly into the joint.

Shelf Edging

There were built-in appliances in the kitchen when we moved in. In their time they were high-end appliances but through age and neglect they were unusable. We would have removed them anyway as we had new, energy efficient appliances with the exception of the dishwasher that we bought to replace the one here.

Pictured is the cabinet we removed the built-in oven from. We put shelves in and planned on having doors made to match the rest of the cabinet doors. However, we have had so many compliments over the open storage we decided to leave it open. What was missing was the wood trim to finish off the shelf edges. We bought a length of 1" x 2" popular, cut to fit then finished the pieces to match the cabinet. The bottom trim had to be cut down to ½" x ½". The shelves will see heavy use so each piece of trim was glued and nailed with the exception of the bottom trim that was only glued.

Window Trim

Natural light in the kitchen is not an issue however I don't think a kitchen can ever be too bright. The large, deep set kitchen window is at ground level. We have an amazing view of the water making the placement of the sink under the window even more desirable. Adjacent to the wall with the window is the common wall to the kitchen and family room but patio doors with an expanded view of the water take up much of that wall in the kitchen portion. We have wonderful critters like raccoons and skunks. There is absolutely no way to get to either the window or patio door to close them in the event of a roaming skunk so we are careful to keep foods off the counter when the screens are open.

Almost immediately upon laying the tile around the window frame we came to the conclusion the trim was the wrong colour. It was initially painted the middle shade of the paint chip to match the patio door frame and common wall of the family room. The pale sea green created a visual divider forcing the eyes to stop there before looking through the window. After the tile was grouted we painted this trim with the same melamine paint used on the tile edge. It had been tinted to match the tile. The end result was the window now flows nicely into the outdoor view. It also has a cleaner look so I'm glad we decided to paint this trim.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Kitchen Renovation Update - Tiling Edge Problem

I mentioned the tiling edge problem in my last update. Unfortunately the big box store didn't tell us there was an edging for the tile. The general consensus from the home improvement store was to use the trim that meant we would be lifting all the edging tiles, applying the edging, thin-set then re-grouting. I was seriously sickened at this thought. My husband picked up the trim, left it in the car for the day to find it had more curves than a slinky! We decided to do a small test stretch on the breaksfast island.

The problem was there were no matching bull nose trim for this tile. We had decided this was the tile we wanted so planned on doing a wood edging. However, the fridge put a kibosh to that plan. We simply did not have the play for an additional ½ inch on the fridge size if we wanted to get into the freezer compartment. If anything we wanted to gain a little space on that side of the breakfast island. The fridge is about 18 months old so the prospect of replacing it was not over appealing. So we went onto plan B that did not come about without presenting its problems resulting in raising the height of the finished counter top by ⅞ inch so the tile edge would fit over the dishwasher and the unfinished edge of the tiles showing. My husband thought the grout would cover the tile edges and it did for some but still most of the edges were dark, interfering with the visual continuity and simply just didn't look right. I immediately thought of painting them.

My husband checked at the hardware store and the lumber store. Both said the tile edges could not be painted because paint would not stick to the tile. By now we were both frustrated and irritated. He bought a heavy duty ripper and set about making a groove under the top edging tiles on the breakfast bar along the short end consisting of 6 tiles. He cut the edging so only about ⅛ inch of the bottom would go into the groove then ran a bead of silicone along the cut portion of the plastic edging and pressed it into the groove. This was plan A suggested by the lumber store. The next morning the silicone was still not set up! At the same time my husband hated the look. The trim interfered with the continuity and according to him looked cheap. He was also concerned that the edging would not standup to the wear and tear of daily use.

By the time he got home that night the silicone still had not set up so clearly that idea was not going to work. We resigned ourselves to the fact the tiles would have to be removed in order to use the trim but we still were not satisfied with the look of the trim. After dinner he set about starting to remove the edging tiles on the breakfast bar. He had the short end removed along with almost 3 feet of one long end raised when our neighbour stopped by to see our progress. He immediately said why not just paint them? We explained the problem but he said it could be done. My husband stopped raising the tiles and after a nice visit with our neighbour I went online to search. I found several references that said ceramic tile can be painted using a special primer and enamel. I printed off one so my husband could take it to the paint store the next day.

This is a long established business with about as much paint knowledge as you can get! This was duh moment number one as in why didn't we think of this first? He took a piece of the tile with him to explain the problem along with the printed recommendations. Without even reading the recommendations they immediately said, you need melamine paint. This was duh moment number two! I've worked with melamine paint before so why didn't I think of it? The nice thing is this is a very durable, scrubable enamel paint that results in a gorgeous finish. It is oil based so is not water clean-up. They tinted it to match the tile which is slightly off white.

I used this paint for the cabinets and countertops in our third house. We were visiting friends just after they had decorated their kitchen. Their countertop was a gorgeous shade of deep teal, a perfect match for their wall colour and border. I commented on it to find that they had painted the countertop! I got all the details then painted the countertop in our third home to reflect the country blue tones in the newly installed ceramic tile floor. [I'll be posting an entry on painting laminate countertops when we get to the laundry room as that is what I'm planning to do.]

The solution was not for the faint of heart. We had to re-attach the tiles then grout before proceeding. Using a small (¼ inch) sable, angle artist brush the edge of each exposed tile was tediously painted. I was careful to not get paint on the grout. Then the paint was allowed to dry for 24 hours. The results were amazing after the first coat of paint so that was quite encouraging! The process was repeated then allowed to dry for another 24 hours before putting a third and final coat of the paint on the edges. The whole process was time consuming and tedious but not overly difficult.

If you recall from the previous update, we had decided to paint the trim around the window. Even though it was the middle colour in the paint chip used for family room that shares a common wall in the kitchen, the pale sea green trim just didn't look right against tile around the window. I used the same melamine paint for this trim as well. It took three coats but I'm quite pleased with the results. This simple change makes the window trim flow into the tiles keeping the visual continuity but it also has slightly better reflective properties.

The kitchen is starting to look more like a kitchen and less like a work zone. The edging looked quite nice after one coat of paint. A small bowl of pure vanilla kept the paint odour in check. I lost the drawer under the sink and the panel where the old sink was is not quite usable because it would hit the stove. We still have to put a handle on that to keep the look of the kitchen. We had to cut the drawer (bottom right) to fit the pipes but surprisingly did not lose a lot in terms of storage. The corner cabinet is going to be maximized for storage so I will write about that when completed.

An end is in sight as far as the tiling goes. However, there is still a lot of finishing touches. I'm really a detail person so tend to be very nit picky about the finishing touches. At the same time I'm the one who tends to do these extras. My husband will say something to the effect of "How should we finish this?" I come up with the how to and unless it involves lifting or heavy work, I make it happen myself. So there are still things like caulking, painting, grout sealing and cabinet trim, all in progress at various stages. Once all that is completed, I will do a final cleaning of all surfaces, put the cartridges back into the stove, put things away and the kitchen will be finally finished.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

The Kitchen Continued

We have finally made a lot of progress in the kitchen but it has not been without a lot of headaches and frustration. It was 2 weeks without a fully functional kitchen. Even though I had a temporary kitchen set up and alternate means of cooking it was still stressful. The kitchen technically will not be fully functional until the final clean-up is completed after the grout lines have been sealed. Until then it is still a work in progress.

Stove Re-installed

The stove (1) is a JennAir® downdraft system. To protect the cartridges, we removed them for the renovation. The centre slot is the downdraft vent that with the help of a powerful fan located under the stove and hidden by the front panel vents the stove when cooking or indoor grilling. The front panel also provides access to the grease cup. A smaller fan keeps the stove vented when baking or cleaning the oven. The stove cannot be simply slid into place. The large fan unit sits up about 10 inches meaning the stove has to be lifted up and over this unit for installation. Let me tell you, re-installing the stove was not quite as easy as you would think. It proved to be very frustrating. We had to make height adjustments because we had raised the counter by a total of ⅞ inch. The stove had to sit just perfectly in the opening and there was no room for adjustments.

Any DIY project should look like it was done by a professional. Although watching HGTV some professionals don't always do a professional job. There was no bull nose tile or finishing tile for the tile we wanted so we decided to do simple edging. The problem was the edge of the tiles were not finished and that showed (2). We planned to carefully paint the edges only to find out that paint would not adhere well and there is a special edging for this type of tile. This is why you should get your advice and supplies from a knowledgeable home improvement store instead of the big box stores. We saved a lot of money on the tile but they neglected to tell us about the edging that is ideally installed along with the tile. Anyway we have two solutions both that set us back. The first recommendation is to remove the grout along the seams, clean out the seams then cut the edging to fit and affix with silicone. We have done a test strip on the breakfast island. It looks great but we want to make sure the silicone holds. The second alternative is to remove all the edging pieces, tack the edging strips into place then glue the pieces in place and re-grout. By now I'm about to pull my hair out! Oh and my husband found an awesome deal on ceramic tiles for the entrance when he was picking up the edging strips. That will be our next project so do check for posts on that. Hopefully it goes smoother than the kitchen!

Sink

We bought a Moen® single bowl sink (3), the largest that would fit the space. It is deeper than my old one and a half bowl sink. The first thing we had to do to install the sink was tidy up the edges of the opening. This wasn't difficult and it is better to have pare down a little than find you are shy of support underneath. The sink was set in place to ensure a good fit then removed while the necessary plumbing was done.

What is surprising is that sinks are really not supported by a lot of material in terms of width given how much a filled sink can hold. The width of the sink rim resting on the countertop is only about ⅜ inch all around. That means you need strong countertop that is protected from water damage.

Drain & Water Lines

If you recall our house is older and somethings were not done quite right. We were forced into working within the space we had for this renovation because we cannot add on in any direction and removing the cabinets would have affected the adjoining family room wood ceiling that flows through to the kitchen. We decided to leave the existing drain in the adjoining cabinet then attach to it (4,5). There was two reasons why we did this. First moving the drain by less than 2 feet would mean removing the cabinet floors and going though cement as we are below ground level. It would also mean moving the water lines for sink, dishwasher and refrigerator. Second it would eliminate all three drawers in that cabinet rather than eliminating one. Instead we drilled through the cabinet wall to make the connections. We included a nice slope as well as the mandatory P trap to ensure no future plumbing problems.

We gained space in the original cabinet with the plumbing as well. Removal of the drain lines for the two sinks as well as cleaning up the lines moving them towards the back of the cabinet left plenty of room to install removable shelves for access to plumbing if need be. I will make a separate post on this solution later as well as a post on all the problems we ran into during this renovation.

Caulking

A little water is capable of doing a horrendous amount of damage. It can cause the press board used in laminate countertops to swell. It can cause molding and rot as well. Any time there is the potential of water damage during the normal use of a room and that basically means all rooms because even condensation can cause water damage, all possible measures to prevent water damage should be taken.

It is critical to seal the area around the sink and the space between the sink and countertop. We used a heavy bead of latex caulk (20 yr durability, weather shield) to fill the underside of the sink lip (6). This is my caulk of choice when possible. The sink was then put in the opening and pushed down tight to form a good seal. The sink was then secured with the included anchors and connected to the drain.

Testing

The faucet (7) was connected using flex hose. This is a little more expensive but it is ready to go so all you have to do is twist to connect. There's no soldering or cutting pipes so it really is worth the extra expense. The sink was ready to test.We used 1.5" ABS piping for the drain. This included using ABS solvent cement that take 1 minute to set up. It is rather smelly but it does work nicely. Application is by dry fitting the ABS joints then applying a generous amount of the cement to one piece of ABS then use a twisting action to fit the piece into the joint and allow to set up.

Once the cement has set up the drain can be tested. We let it set up for a good hour before running water through. Clean-up for the caulk was left to the following day simply to allow the caulk to set up firmly. This caulk come off of ceramic tile and stainless steal nicely using a bit of light abrasion. A heavy textured tea towel works nicely for this purpose.

At Day's End

Sunday was a very, very long and frustrating day. We didn't get as much accomplished as we wanted and we discovered a couple of fundamental flaws aka let's do a bit of backtracking. The new drain system (9) worked well so we are pleased. We have to camouflage the wood to raise the stove (10) likely with dark brown paint. There is a lot of I'm being picky for the grout seams, the tile edging and caulking around the window to do. Wherever two different surfaces meet we will be caulking because that is what Mike Holmes says to do. We are also painting the final small remainder of the window frame white. We are looking at another good week of the kitchen not being fully functional.

Ok, we are so close yet so far. An average DIYer would likely leave the project as is out of sheer frustration but we aren't going to do that. That edging has to go on even if it means removing the edging row of tiles and re-installing. So that is where we are as of today. We've tried a couple of solutions but so far things are leaning towards removing and re-installing the edging tiles.

Will this kitchen renovation ever end? I'm so looking forward to our next project, the entrance hall but first I would like the kitchen completed!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Onto Grouting

Unless you are a DIYer you can't possibly relate to home renovations where life gets in the way. In fairness if I have to choose between family or getting a project finished, family will win hands down every time! On the flip side that means living with chaos for some renovations. It also means some frazzled nerves!

Supplies

We bought the tiling supplies the first week of March. They have been sitting in that same spot harbouring spiders and the occasional centipede since then. This is the common wall that goes from family room into the kitchen opposite of the breakfast bar. Now I really didn't mind the supplies sitting there because that's where they were going to be used within a week or two. Alrighty then life got in the way so we didn't get to the tiling until August. It seriously wasn't a problem with the exception of stubbing toes on the boxes if you went around the breakfast bar at the wrong angle. The stack became a conversation piece (very upscale so I'm told) and then a dreaded hot zone. Things got stacked on top of the stack! It really wasn't a good situation!

Tiled

I was very excited to see the tile going onto the walls and countertop. It was a lot and I do mean a lot of work. Just out of range to the left of this picture my husband made a tiling error using length of part tiles where they should have been full tiles. The problem was and still is we do not work well together on DIY projects. It's because I have the ideas and do the research while he does the manual things I can't. That means he doesn't listen to me and I get frustrated because he isn't listening meaning I don't listen to him. The funny thing is despite the bickering and frustration we do good work together although neither of us see it until the project is nearing completion. Anyway, this little error meant me doing a ribbit (knitting term for ripping out) the next morning from under one cabinet to behind the fridge and the counter between the fridge and stove. I was not a happy camper! We did have a not so quite family discussion regarding this issue. Unfortunately my mood worsened when it took 2 days to get the thin set off the tiles but being frugal I persisted. Anyway, this is what the tile looked like Wednesday night. Despite the setback thinks still looked pretty good. Oh, the window trim (1) is a bit debatable right now.

Grouted

Thursday was grout day and you would think it would go smoothly. We figured it would take an hour to grout then let it sit the 2 hours before wiping down. Wrong! We mixed half the grout and that was a chore itself because that stuff doesn't mix nicely and I wasn't about to use my stick blender. So after much stirring it was ready to use. The premise is you put the grout on at a 90º angle then remove at a 45º angle while pushing the grout into the seams. Fine and dandy except no one told the grout this is what was supposed to happen! It was just a bit more work than anticipated and took longer than the hour. We definitely are going to be painting the window trim (4) white to match the tiles. Despite careful clean-up of the grout after 2 hours there were still spots (3) to deal with the following day including spots on the wood cabinets (2). The grout really changed the look!

Stove

This is a picture of the tiling behind the slide-in stove. This is a JennAir® down draft stove so we are doing a bit of modifications to make life easier in the future. Any DIY project should do this. Anyway, the back of the kitchen goes into the stairwell off the walk-in pantry. The pantry is about 8 foot by 10 foot and so far is not over spilling into the stairwell. We want to seal the stove lip to prevent anything from spilling down the sides of the stove but we still need access to the back for the downdraft and electrical. What we did was bump a large test hole out of that wall. We liked what we saw so what we are going to do is install a door almost the width and height of the stove (more on this later). That will allow us to get to the back of the stove without disturbing the downdraft system or pulling the stove out.

Ok, tomorrow I will be blogging about the kitchen sink install mixed with a healthy dose of humour aka we haven't killed each other yet!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Tiling Started

We have moved closer to the final phase of our kitchen renovation. Here's an update of what has been going on - the good, the bad and the ugly! I should mention that neither of us has tiling experience of this magnitude. I did the tiling for under our wood stove in our second house and my husband observed with helping a little when our brother-in-law installed the ceramic tile floor in the kitchen. So we are flying by the seat of our pants. This means the tiling process is going slow.

The fun part of any DIY project is seeing it come together. The not so fun part is the multitudes of delays (aka life) of which we have had many during our kitchen remodel. We purposely kept the tiling to the end because we knew it would be the most disruptive of all. Unlike refinishing the cabinets, the tiling means no sink until it is installed but that has to wait until the grout has cured. It means no stove because ours is a slide-in down draft stove meaning it cannot be put back into place until the grout has cured. The cure time for the grout is three days. Essentially this means no sink or stove until the tiling is complete which rather knocks out a lot of kitchen function. The dishwasher and refrigerator are still operational. I have lots of counter space and a large sink in my laundry room so have set up a make-shift kitchen. Cooking is continuing pretty much as normal with the help of gas grill/side burner, rice maker, slow cooker, countertop roaster and I have the option of cooking over an open fire.

The first step for this phase was to lift the stove out. This is no easy feat because the stove had to be disconnected from the down draft system then lifted up and over the down draft system (1) without damaging it. The second step was to remove the old sink (2) that never should have been placed that close to an electric stove. If you have followed this blog you will know we removed a built-in range top and removed the cabinet so our stove would fit. Next after careful measuring we cut a piece of exterior grade plywood (3) to go over the existing laminate countertop. Originally we were going to tile over the laminate since Home Depot said we could but after seeing the amount of repairs we decided to lay new plywood. This effectively raises the countertop ⅞ inch (5)once the tile is on. The increased height will result in less back strain when working at the counter so that will be a real plus. However, raising the height was a practical modification for the counter edge where the dishwasher is. Even with the additional height when the edging tile is in place the dishwasher door just barely clears the tile. The drains to the old sink (4) will be removed when the new sink is plumbed. The inside of the corner cabinet will see a new shelf added to give additional storage.

We used the new sink as a template for the hole (6). We decided to go with the deepest single sink we could find that would fit the spot. The old sink had the same size large sink and a smaller half sink that we wanted to put a garbage disposal in however, we cannot have one of those here so we compromised. It's been several years since I've had a single sink in the kitchen, since the turn of the century house we extensively remodeled. We ended up burning out the circular saw cutting the hole for the sink. The saw was the same one we used for all the renovations in every house we've owned. It was sad to see it go! A new shiny red Skilsaw (8) replaced it less than an hour and half later as well as a new jig saw to replace the one borrowed by one of our kids. It delayed our progress but we puttered on. The sink is going to look nice in the new location (7).

We plan on doing a fair amount of tiling in this house in addition to the kitchen so decided we really needed a wet saw. The nice thing about DIY is you can postpone things while waiting for a sale. Accumulating your materials over time by shopping the sales is one of the best ways of saving money on DIY projects. We had been checking the sales waiting for a good price when this Mastercraft wet saw (9) went on sale for $49.99. My husband picked it up the following day.

We are using SimpleSet pre-mixed thin-set mortar (10). The mixture is not as thin as it sounds so it took a little used to how to apply. A thin layer is spread using the flat part of the trowel then another layer is spread using the notched edge of the trowel. It looked too thick and sure enough the thin-set came up through the seams in several areas but we cleaned the seams out enough for the grout. We started at the window well leaving the top portion to last. Then we put down a couple of heavy towels on the bottom of the window well and put the tiles up on the top. We were going to wait to brace these tiles but an online search said they would be fine. The towels were in case they fell which they didn't!

We have five visible plugs (split receptacles) that will be tiled around. In order to work around the plugs the breaker to that plug needs to be turned off and left off until the thin-set dries. It can then be turned on until you are ready to apply the grout at which time it should be turned off again. The grout takes three days to cure and misting of the grout is required for proper curing so the power should be turned off while misting and left off until the mist dries. Use a circuit tester to be sure the power on each plug is off before doing any work around electric receptacles or switches.

It didn't take long for my husband to be cutting tile like a pro! I think he did a wonderful job of cutting the opening for the first receptacle (13). We kept the power off while working around the receptacle and for 24 hours while the thin-set was drying.

We are using 2" x 2" matte finished ceramic tiles that come in a 1 - foot sheet. We are using ⅛ - inch spacers (14) to keep the lines straight. The spacers are really easy to use even though I thought they would be a bit tedious. Spacers are "X" shaped pieces of plastic made to help you keep the grout lines straight. After placing the first tile, stand spaces up along the edge then butt the next tile to it. Keep the spacers in place for about 30 minutes or until the thin-set starts setting up.

The counter edge (15) is also going to be tiled using the same tiles as they don't have a rounded edge tile to match our tiles. Originally we were going to put wood trim but both the refrigerator and dishwasher presented problems. I had thought that edging in copper would look really nice as well but then thought that might not lend itself well to the cottage feel the house has. Finally we decided on tiling it making modifications for the dishwasher. Oh and originally I thought I wanted navy blue grout to tie into the family room. After much deliberation I decided on white grout instead because at some point we will want to change the colours and/or furniture in the family room to which the only thing dividing the family room from the kitchen is the breakfast bar. Using white grout will keep the kitchen neutral enough that any colours can be used.

Pictured is how the kitchen looked Monday night after a long and sometimes frustrating day of working on it. We did not get as much done as we had hoped but what we did get done was encouraging. We are hoping to have the tiling done at the latest by Saturday. Yes that is slow but we are taking our time so it looks nice and we are working around life. If we get finished by then we will be able to get the grouting done on Sunday. Three days later we will be able apply two coats of grout sealer. The next day we will be able to mount the sink and put the stove (right foreground) into position. So I have a little over a week of a mostly non-functional kitchen.

Over top of the downdraft you can see where we broke through the wall. Behind is under the stairs, an unused space off the walk-in pantry. We are going to make a removable access panel in case we need to get to the back of the stove. We can get to the down draft through the access panel in the front of the stove where regular stoves have a drawer as well.

So that's where we are at on the kitchen renovations so far. I hope to be writing about finished results sometime next week depending on how life treats us.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Kitchen Update

We are now on our sixth week of kitchen renovations. I would love to be able to report more progress but I can't. In all honesty we likely should have gutted the kitchen but that would have affected the adjoining family room ceiling. We are now doing the work ourselves but that part you already knew if you have been following this blog.

Appliances Installed

Background: The kitchen is mainly below ground with a large window opening onto the ground and a patio door opening into the backyard facing the water. While this means good energy savings because of the extra thick walls it also means we are somewhat limited for adding on in either direction. Indoors the kitchen joins the family room so there is no room for expansion there either. Essentially that means we are working with what we have in terms of space and layout. Unfortunately the previous owners put the sink in an awkward position with the corner being only a couple of inches where the countertop range was. Some of the cabinets were damaged through neglect or using too harsh of cleaners. I decided to refinish them because they are good heavy doors and recycling what we had was the right thing to do if at all possible. So during this renovation we are reusing the cabinets, cabinet doors, cabinet handles, HVAC vent and portions of the existing countertops. We haven't decided about lighting replacement but may upgrade the existing ceiling fan. The pot light over the window works fine so doesn't need replacement.

Cabinet Doors

Pictured is how the kitchen looks right this minute. Most of the cabinet doors have been rehung. The backsplash has been removed that will give about an extra inch of counter space. We were going to leave the laminate on the walls but after finding one small area where it was lifting decided to remove it. The laminate was covering an electrical receptacle (red arrow) that we didn't know about. It was reconnected by our electrician this morning! Which leads to to make a few comments on DIY.

Any DIY project is likely going to take twice the time and cost twice the amount of money you figured it would. A fundamental mistake some DIYers make is to not ask for help or hire out when they are out of the area of ability. Not only does this end up costing both time and money but so mistakes can put their families at risk. Now both my husband and I are quite comfortable doing electrical repairs however, the wiring in this box wasn't quite familiar and the box had been covered for at least as long as the previous owner did the kitchen. We discovered the box was dead but looked to be inline with other receptacles so could easily be reconnected. In this case it was easier and safer to have our electrician stop by to check it out before we did anything.

For the most part I'm happy with how the cabinet doors and handles came out. They are cleaner and brighter looking and they match the wood ceiling better. We ordered the hinges online from MyKnobs at a cost of $1.93 per set compared to $4.39 per set here. That is quite a savings! Each set came with two hinges, the necessary screws and cabinet pads. The only problem we encountered was having to drill new holes on the door backs for the hinges as the new ones were slightly smaller than the old ones.

Breakfast Island

The breakfast island has been the source of much discussion. It along with the change from carpet to ceramic tile flooring are the only things that mark the change from the family room to the kitchen. We would like to get a bit more light into the family room so the first consideration was to put frosted glass panels on both sides of the two end cupboards. Removing all the doors for refinishing showed up that this wouldn't give the effect we wanted. We knew for sure we wanted to square off the counter on the island (1) and it has now been removed. Then and we are now still discussing removing (2). Both of us agree the overall look with (2) removed would be a plus. However, my husband came up with the idea of narrowing the island by removing (3). The reasoning is the island is not used as an eating surface and in fact no one uses the island for eating even when we are entertaining. My concern is that this would be removing too much counter space something we always can use more of. I'm thinking we shouldn't narrow it because at some point we may want to use it as an eating surface and it does make a lovely serving surface as well. So I think (3) will be staying.

Tiles

Pictured is a close-up of the breakfast bar to give you a bit better idea of what we are doing. The edge (4) has already been removed. This will allow us to run the wood needed for the tile installation. Instead of doing a wood trim edging as initially planned we are now doing a ceramic tile one to match the counter. The portion in orange (5) is the portion we are debating removing. As you can see that is a substantial amount of countertop in a kitchen with little counter space so we will likely be leaving it that wide (26"). Another thing we will be fixing before tiling the wall is the switches. For some reason there's a space between the switch and plugs so we will put them together properly.

What is really exciting is seeing the tile being laid out. Now that the kitchen is in even more disarray than before and it will get worse before it's over, the tile gives a glimmer of this is going to happen. That's another side to DIY. It goes slow because life does get in the way. We don't have a week of full, non-stop time to dedicate to the project. We work when we can so the house has been in varying degrees of chaos for the past six weeks while we work time in for the kitchen around everything else.

Sink & Taps

We bought the Moen faucet (model 87444) quite some time ago. The hardware store was running a sale on Moen products. The faucet was marked down to $60 from $119.99 so imagine my surprise when I saw it was $206 on the Moen website! What appealed to us was the overall design and that Moen has a good reputation.

We ordered a Moen sink Camelot (model 22231) from HomeCenter. The regular price was $215.75 but the discounted price was $131.61! Shipping brought the total to $161.56 but considering the time and money we saved finding a sink that would exactly fit the spot the shipping costs were worth it. Notice we went with a single bowl sink. We currently have a bowl and a half sink but it won't fit the new location. The new bowl is deeper than the old larger bowl. Not only do we not have room for a double sink, we cannot have a garburator here so we decided to go with a single sink. I'm sure I will adjust.

Online shopping has become the new and environmentally friendly way to shop. You can comparison shop online saving time and money all from the comforts of home. Not only that but most shipping charges are considerably lower than what you would spend driving from store to store so not only are you saving precious gas dollars, you are also reducing your carbon footprint. One down side to online shopping is of course the shipping time. That just means you have to do a little more planning and realize that a DIY project may have to be delayed while waiting for a purchase to arrive.

The next few days should see a lot of changes so please check back for the next update.

Garden Gnome
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