Before
Nothing a little elbow grease and a crowbar can’t handle. Notice, one project at a time for me. I let the kitchen get to total disaster state while taking down the wall.
I learned that Sawzalls are empowering.
After, no more shadows from the wall. Let the sunshine in (tomorrow.)
“Hey Mom, Now that you’ve cleaned up the wall–and washed the dishes and scrubbed the floor, I think I’ll empty out the cabinet here.”
I’ve done several faux leather floors (aka paper bag floor) and some definitely worked better than others.
The paper floor on my dining room looked amazing when I first got it done, and was a huge improvement over the vinyl:
Unfortunately the floor didn’t hold up as well installed over the vinyl as it did installed over wood subfloor (particle board). I’ll elaborate on why in a minute.
Here’s a better picture of another floor I’ve done in a red Mahogany Stain:
For my previous post with detailed instructions on how to lay an inexpensive paper floor see here:
http://groceryshrink.com/2010/05/illustrated-guide-to-faux-leather-floors.html
The floor is moppable and holds up well when installed over a hard surface like subfloor plywood or particle board. (I haven’t tried it over concrete but have heard that others had good success with that.) For areas that will get wet, seal the edges with quarteround and caulk and be sure you have at least 5 coats of floor strength poly on the floor.
Back to why my dining floor was a fail:
The vinyl under the dining room was super cushy and not in good shape–with divets in the surface and air pockets underneath. The elmer’s glue didn’t stick to the floor after it dried creating a floating floor effect. The paper did stick to itself and once sealed with poly I had an awesome flooring sheet that was shaped perfectly to the room. But I could have gently rolled it up and carried it right out 
.
This wouldn’t have been a problem if I had sealed the doorways and edges with caulk, or trim or something. I was lazy and knew it would be temporary so I left it. When a breeze went through the room it would lift up the floor which would flap around then lay back down, lol. This can be hard on wear and tear especially when the back side of the floor is still just paper.
Also my chairs had metal feet on the bottom (under the wood legs.) I didn’t cover them with felt or anything and they tore holes in the floor pretty quickly. The furniture that was covered or didn’t move much (like the rubberized feet of my big round table) didn’t damage the floor at all.
Another mistake I made was to just end the floor across the entrances to the next rooms without threshold or anything to tie it down. I had planned on adding on within a few days to those areas and eradicating all traces of vinyl, but it never happened. The kids would catch the edges of the paper floor with their feet and tear up sections (you can see this really well in the after picture at the doorway to the kitchen.)
I still recommend the floor wholeheartedly for small areas that will go directly on wood subfloor. Larger areas take a lot longer to lay but can still be beautiful and work out well if you are sure to protect the floor from rough furniture, and have every edge covered and sealed.
Hope that helps anyone considering this inexpensive flooring option. We’ve recently been pricing tile and hardwood to make a more permanent floor for our remodel and can really appreciate how affordable a Faux Leather floor is!
I’m digging into our huge kitchen project! Monday, I carried all the camping gear out of the kitchen cabinets in the attic and moved them to a new spot in the basement (that Darren cleared off and cleaned for me.) Then I disinfected everything and sealed the grout on the attic kitchen countertops just to make sure everything is watertight. It’s move in ready .
Before: The wall paper is a creamy white with tiny mauve dots on it in flower clusters–very ’80′s. And not terrible on the eyes but not stylish either. The floor is the same vinyl that goes through most of the main floor. We plan to tile and keep the vanity but upgrade with new faucet and hardware.
Then, I finished removing the wallpaper in the guest bathroom and took off the popcorn ceiling in the same room. I decided to start there since the room is small and if I figured out the job was beyond my skill-set I could give up and hire help without a huge mess in the main living area.
So far so good, thanks to some youtube videos on how to remove popcorn ceiling that had been sealed on with paint (Easy tip–just add a few drops of dishsoap to plain water in a garden sprayer and soak the painted ceiling–wear eye protection and cover anything that could get destroyed by water.) This is a messy job! A wide metal bladed scraper goes a lot faster than small plastic scrapers. And no matter how careful you are, you will have places that will need spackling when you are done. It’s all good–don’t stress too much.
Ceiling’s all peeled. It looks worse than before but primer and paint will fix that. And the walls are stripped to reveal an ugly green paint with a thin layer of primer over all. The primer made stripping the wallpaper a lot easier. Still deciding on paint colors.
Be sure to use primer before painting. I skipped this step in another house and it looked great until the humidity came along and peeled all the paint off–heartbreaking!
By evening, I started emptying the dining room of furniture. In preparation of starting on the ceiling there first. I hope to carefully remove the crown molding and chair rail etc to use in future projects.
Goodbye beautiful dining room….I’ll write an update on the paper floor you see here in a few days.
Today, I’m tearing down the little half wall separating the kitchen from the living room–which is basically in the way of everything. It’s a bigger job than it looks like with al the wood trim around the two windows.
Meet my new Stove .
We finally made the last two decisions necessary to get this project rolling. I found a gas range on craigslist–which we pick up Tuesday. It’s everything I wanted! I have been drooling over double oven gas Viking ranges online and finally gave up the idea after seeing the price tags. Yikes! These babies are worth more than both our cars put together. (Yeah, we drive really old cars .) Even on sale or used it looked like a dream I was going to have to wake up from. Then I saw this craigslist ad for $2200. It’s still sounds crazy expensive, but I gave up on some other things in our remodel plan to make it happen. (Oh and that cutting board lifts off to reveal a stainless steel griddle. I know! Right?)
And we picked out our floor. We ended up with real hardwood in a new finish that we hadn’t considered before called Cambrdge Oak:
It’s lighter than either of our choices before with a nice wide plank hand scraped texture. I was worried that I wouldn’t love the red tones forever, but since it’s thick solid hardwood, I can sand it down and refinish if I want. (Though that’s a huge job that I hope will never have to happen .
We decided to slow down on the mater bathroom part of the project and focus our energy and budget on the kitchen. Our tiny budget just won’t accommodate both right now and it’s a relief to admit it and form a plan . Also I’m doing a lot of the demo personally so am starting in the dining room to leave our functioning kitchen in tact as long as possible It feels like a snails pace right now.
We just got back from our second trip out to Frontsight, Nevada for 4 day defensive handgun training. If you’re not a gun person, I totally understand. I was pretty opposed to guns before my first trip, but took my first course at the insistence of my Dad and my husband. I was shocked that I enjoyed learning to shoot and even more that I wanted to go back! Imagine a world where most citizens were trained with firearms and conceal carried. What a huge deterrent to criminals that would be!
What it is: 4 days of intensive training that is as friendly as possible while still being safe. It is not a boot camp. Almost anyone can come, even children aged 11-15 can go with a parent. It’s okay if you’ve never fired a weapon before Frontsight. It’s better to not have any habits, than to have bad habits to overcome. But if you have shot before they will show you how to take your existing skills and get even better. The classes are more than just how to shoot, but also when to shoot, how to stay within the law and what the likely consequences are even if your shots were completely justified. There is a background check required for all students. And because everyone is armed, it is one of the safest places on earth. No one would dream of committing a crime there unless they were suicidal.
One of my favorite students was Lori. She is 77 years young and not even 5 feet tall! She carries 4 magazines on her left side and with 15 rounds each. This was her second year at Frontsight. 4 years ago she decided to take martial arts classes and achieved her black belt in the second degree at age 75. She was throwing large men on the mat and doing it well. But threw out her back in the process. She decided to take up shooting instead. I asked her what her son and grandchildren thought about grandma shooting. She said they didn’t know about it! She also said she really didn’t need either martial arts or guns, because she had Jesus. I just adore her. Isn’t she the cutest thing?
On the line next to us, a twelve year old boy was taking classes with his dad. The boy was likely the best shot on the property that day (at least among the students.) It was impressive to watch him! The instructor told his dad if they were ever in need of tactically clearing a house to send the boy in first. He was that good. But I think that would be a hard decision for any parent to make.
The climate is unique in Nevada. Hot and Dry during the day, cold at night. Dehydration is a real risk as is sunburn, heat exhaustion, or heat stroke. We found it is cooler to wear long lightweight layers than to have skin exposed to the sun. Here’s the outfit I recommend:
I’m showing my instructor that I understand about the proper grip on the gun. The white loose weave shirt was the best thing I wore to the range.
511 tactical gear pants in light khaki (the pockets in these are invaluable) (Try LApolicegear.com for the best price–around $29.00) Be sure to get the new fit or you will end up with mom pants–yuck. Also tuck the pocket flaps into the pockets on the left side of your pants while you are on the range. The rough velcro is rough enough to cut your hands as you reach in and out multiple times. Tucking in the pockets will protect you. Mine are way too long. They come in regular and long lengths. Regular is about 30 inches. Long are about 34 inches. I’ll hem mine later but for the class I just flipped up the cuffs. (Then I took home pieces of ammo casing and gravel every night. If you are flying right away at the end of the class be sure to check your cuffs .
tank top
white Long sleeved button front cotton shirt to wear over the tank and use for concealment on days 3 and 4
low cut socks and breathable mesh tennis shoes (you’ll want to wash the shoes in the washer once you are back home)
Hat with brim (not optional); and wrap around protective eyewear with a dark tint (also not optional)
A wide belt with a slide fastener instead of buckle and holes. This will help a lot when it’s time to use the restroom. (see below .)
A loose weave neck scarf is nice too. I’ve never had one, but my husband and dad love theirs. They are popular on the grounds.
Wear sunscreen under the long sleeved shirt. You will need to take it off at times, especially the first two days when conceal carry clothing isn’t used yet.
Also, be careful your tank isn’t cut too low. I caught a hot casing down the front of my shirt on the last day and it really had me dancing. Those things can burn you, so it’s best to protect for that.
My Ammo Box. Looks too messy to me, but I move so fast normally that I don’t take time to stay organized. My SIL snapped this picture because my sparkly lip gloss tickled her funny bone. I was the queen of sparkly lip gloss on the range. Just in case, I felt like I was losing my girly edge during a fast draw. And we were in the desert–can’t have too much sparkly lip gloss in the desert.
An ammo can is a plastic box with lid and latches for holding ammo, some people use a range duffle or tackle box instead. You will need 600 rounds of ammo for a 4 day course, but only keep 200 rounds at a time in your can. This will keep the can from getting too heavy and save room for the other essentials:
1. A fingernail file. Bring something heavy duty–your nails will break. In preparation for the class, trim them just slightly longer than your fingertips and file them with flat ends. Then reinforce your nails with 3 coats of clear polish or hardening top coat. Still bring the file. Guns are hard on fingernails.
2. Pocket tissues: the range is dusty
3. Beef jerky, nuts, and fruit or other snacks (that won’t melt.) Lunch is late 12:30 and if you have a time zone issue (we were delayed 2 hours) it can be really hard to make it to lunch or dinner.
4. Lip balm and lip gloss. If you have one with sunscreen in it, all the better. My lips got burned this time, ouch!
5. Sunscreen. The higher the SPF the better. And reapply often.
6. Electronic hearing protection–this is required. Just ear foamies won’t do.
7. Ponytail holders (if your hair is long enough) I like to wear a ponytail and pull it through the back of my hat.
8. Waterproof bandaids. Frontsight has first aid kits there with a plethora of bandaids but I had a hard time getting any of them to stick after I started sweating. I wished I had brought the sport ones that stick through anything.
9. Frozen gatorade. I don’t generally drink gatorade but make an exception in this case. It can be hard to see the signs of dehydration or heat exhaustion in yourself, but others will see it–especially if you start doing stupid stuff or missing easy targets. It’s dangerous, so stay hydrated. They have deli trucks that come around with gatorade for $2 a bottle, but you can get it for 1/4th the cost if you plan ahead and bring your own. Pop it in the freezer the night before. Then as it thaws you can give it a good shake and it’s like a slushie. Yum!
10. Your photo ID. You will need this to check in on the first day, and if any of your equipment breaks you will need to leave it as a deposit when you rent equipment to replace it from Frontsight.
11. Caribiners. The best price on these are from Wal-mart. A huge one for $3 is handy to hang your electronic ear muffs from when you are doing dry practice. And the small ones are good for clipping things like your loader to your belt loop. I wish I had taped a small one to each of the front courners of my conceal carry shirt too. The wind was making it hard to clear and draw for the exam and I know I lost points from wind delays that the weight of the beaners would have fixed.
If you live close enough to Pahrump, NV to drive, I’m jealous. If you need to fly, watch airline prices carefully. They will dip between $100 and $140 one way; book your flight on the low end. We found the best prices on Southwest. Sunday is the most expensive day to fly and Wednesday is generally the cheapest. We like to fly out Wednesday night for our classes that start Friday morning. This gives us a day to rest, grocery shop, and get used to the time change before the crazy schedule begins.
Plan extra time when flying with guns. You can check them in your bags but will have to fill out a declaration card at the counter. Also you’ll need to pack ammo in a separate container from your gun (still inside the same suitcase though) and it must be in original packaging, not floating around loose. You will be limited to 11 lbs of ammo. Our friend’s ammo was weighed at the counter, ours was not–so you never know when they are going to check. Your gun case will need to be securely locked for flying and a TSA lock for the outside of your suitcase is a good idea too. Once everything is cleared at the counter you will be asked to wait 10-15 minutes for your bag to clear the 2nd level of security before finding your gate.
When flying home, book your flight for the day after your class ends. You will be too exhausted to travel and if your flight is too early, you will miss the closing class activities (and the test.) You definitely don’t want to miss those things. When you do fly home, check your pockets carefully for stray ammo. During the class you’ll be shoving loose rounds into every available pocket so you can load on the line. TSA doesn’t find it funny if you forget and leave a round in your pocket.
Also, TSA doesn’t allow coconut oil, peanut butter, mayo or other spreadable items in your carry on bag. I lost a big jar of coconut oil that way. I thought it was just liquids that were restricted, but it’s not. You can find the most recent TSA rules on their website: http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/prohibited-items
If you are going alone or with just one other person, the cheapest hotel is SaddleWest in Pahrump. It doesn’t have a great reputation, but we liked it okay. Our room smelled of smoke, which I didn’t like, but we weren’t there much. Most rooms do not have a fridge, so plan to buy a styrofoam cooler when you arrive to fill with ice and lunch fixing stuff. Boxed lunches from the hotel are $10 each! but are $12 at Frontsight! You’ll definitely be ahead to pack your own lunch.
If you are going with a group of 6, the cheapest option is to rent a vacation home. We did that this time and loved it. Plus the full kitchen made it super easy to make simple breakfasts and pack lunches. I don’t recommend trying to cook supper even if you have a full kitchen. You will be exhausted and most often won’t leave Frontsight until 6pm–with a half hour drive back to civilization and then starting meal prep–you’ll be hungry and frustrated before dinner is ready. If you are set on saving money by cooking, it is easier to cook the 3rd and 4th nights. We used a slow cooker for one night and grilled burgers the next. It worked out ok. Vacationrentals.com is a good place to look for accommodations.
There is a Walmart in Pahrump with a full grocery store and an Albertsons too. I took a few specialty items from home, like Trim Healthy Mama chocolate waffle mix, chia seeds, ground flax, and glucomannan powder. But we bought most things when we arrived.
Guns are expensive, and the last thing you want to do is drop one in a toilet. While most have safeties that prevent them from firing when dropped (and you won’t be allowed to be loaded in the John) it’s still a bad idea to drop your gun. If you have a belt holster and loosen the belt and drop your pants, the weight of the gun will pull your belt out and drop everything on the floor. (Ask me how I know!) To prevent this, use a slide buckle and loosen the belt almost to the end to give you plenty of room to move your pants up and down. Then lock the slide so the belt can’t come off.
Also, when using the porta-potties at the back ranges, don’t lift the lid to the toilet until your pants are down past where your gun could fall in, and close it immediately before lifting your pants back up again. This is TMI only if you don’t need the info!
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The goal was 5 shots, one hole. It’s harder than you might think! Ignore those two stray shots in the middle…..
I’m not sure how to transition from that last topic, lol. So I’m just going to move on . My goal is to pass the Defensive Handgun Course with 90% or better. And even after 2 times through, I couldn’t even graduate. It’s the speed pressure that gets me every time. The key to graduating is dry practicing at home. The hardest part for me is just getting out of the holster in time to take my shots. I’m going to take a year to practice and save my pennies so next time I can take my 2 oldest kids with me. Once I graduate at 90% I can take the advanced course and then the tactical course. I really want to do that!
So do any of you shoot? I’m always pleasantly surprised to find out how many women do and don’t talk about it much.
3/4 c seasoned salt
3/4 cup oregano
3/4 cup cumin
1/2 c garlic powder
1/2 c chili powder
1/4 cup paprika
Yield: 3 1/2 c
To use mix 2 Tbs oil; 2 Tbs fresh lime juice with zest; and 2 Tbs fajita mix to marinade 4 chicken breasts overnight.
1 1/4 cup onion powder
1/2 cup garlic powder
3 Tbs dry mustard
2/3 cup brown sugar or stevia
10 Tbs salt
3 Tbs celery seed
1 cup bay leaves, crushed (or leave these out and add 4 bay leaves to each batch)
2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 cup basil, dried
1/4 cup oregano, dried
To Make: Simmer together 2 lbs browned ground beef; 8 ounces chopped mushrooms; 12 oz tomato paste; 2 pounds (canned) chopped tomatoes; 2 tsp of Worcestershire sauce and 2 1/2 Tbs of mix. (This is an untraditional spaghetti sauce that is delicious!) See below for a more traditional one.
2 1/4 cups stevia in the raw
3/4 cup parsley flakes
6 Tbs celery seed
3/4 cup salt
6 Tbs garlic powder
6 Tbs onion powder
6 Tbs oregano
6 Tbs basil
12 crushed bay leaves (or leave out and add 1 bay leaf to each batch)
To Make: Combine 5 1/3 Tbs to 18 oz of tomato sauce; 1 lb browned ground beef or Italian sausage and 6 cups of water. Simmer for 45 minutes or until thick.
I’ve been out of town and there’s so much to catch up about. But first I’d like to give you a post that’s actually useful .
Our large family uses a lot of spice mixes especially ranch dressing mix; taco seasoning; and onion soup mix. I’ve never purchased a packet of seasoning from the store–it’s too expensive for my sensitivities . But I have gotten tired of running out of seasoning and having to make it on the fly. Life is much easier since I’ve put together a whole quart of stuff at a time.
While the spices make beautiful layered art in the jars, I give them a good long shake before using to make sure everything is mixed well.
Also, these jars look really cute with chalkboard labels cut out of chalkboard contact paper. I’ll do that one day. For now, just imagine how cute it would be .
To save money, I use the $1 jars of spices found at Dollar Tree; Walmart; and Aldi.
1 cup chili powder
1 cup dried onion flakes
¾ cup ground cumin
¾ cup garlic salt
1/3 cup truvia (or sugar)
3 Tbs Paprika
Add 2 Tbs to season 1 lb of browned ground meat. (Add a little water if you like to help it mix in better.)
2 ½ cups dried minced onion
1 cup onion powder
1 cup MSG free beef bullion
1 tsp stevia
1 tsp celery seed
4 Tablespoons equals 1 packet of purchased mix
2/3 c onion powder
2/3 c garlic powder
½ c salt
2 Tbs pepper
2/3 cup dried parsley
2/3 cup dried chives
¼ cup dill (opt)
¼ cup stevia (opt)
2 Tbs = 1 mix packet. Use in recipes or to make dressing add to 1 cup mayo and 1 cup buttermilk, plain yogurt, or sour cream. You can thin to desired consistency with milk or water. Shake well before using. This tastes better after chilling for several hours.
There are a few other recipes I’m considering adapting to quart size: Like our Fajita mix; veggie dip mix; beef stew mix, spaghetti sauce mix, and chili mix.
What is your favorite spice mix? If you can, share the recipe in the comments below. We’ll all love you
While we are waiting for bids back from the contractors for our massive kitchen/bath remodel, we have a huge decision left to make. What flooring to put in this 700 square foot space? (Just typing that is crazy….my kitchen and dining room are 700 square feet. My first house wasn’t much bigger than that.
We were going to do porcelain wood look tile and found a great option, but tile is sooo expensive! The store offered us a sale price of $3.50 a square foot and on the surface it sounded doable. Then we realized that didn’t include backing, adhesive, grout and a professional to make sure we didn’t mess up.
So I suggested we consider real hard wood in prefinished planks. Darren’s done that before and it looked amazing.
We took a field trip out to lumber liquidators and looked at all the options. I was personally partial to the strand bamboo idea, but in person none of the options were right for our space.
We found 2 wide plank handscraped floors that were still fairly smooth (grooves and texture look cool, but grab and collect dirt–yuck.). Darren votes for the dark floor above.
Darren is right. In a perfect world the dark floor looks awesome. But in our world of 6 kids and a wife who would rather make stuff than clean, a dark floor would look dirty all the time. So I vote for the same floor in a more mid tone.
We walked on the sample boards with our dusty shoes just to see if I was right, and I was. But I could tell Darren still wanted the dark floor.
The lower cabinets are the cherry wood color the upper cabinets are white. How do you vote? Dark or Light? I think it will be on sale tomorrow and I need to decide ASAP.
(an old photo of the green carpet)
Also, I want to tear out our green carpet in the living room and put the same floor into that space (they are connected.) Darren thinks it’s too much to think about at once, but I think it would be smart to buy it all at once, on sale, even if the living room floor installation has to wait until the kitchen project is finished.
I’m feeling overwhelmed at the big decision and would love your input. (Oh and I’m pretending it hasn’t been ages since I blogged last. )
This is my current laundry room. I do 3-4 loads of laundry every day. (Actually Darren and the kids do most of the laundry.) It is always a mess. The ugly floor, dark walls, poor lighting and tight work space make it kind of miserable.
To make the room better, we decided to remove the left bank of cabinets, then paint the room a pale gray with bright white trim. (Look how the window is no longer partially covered!) I bought this rug for the space when it was 60% off:
Damask Trellis Navy Blue Runner from RugsUSA.com
Then I bought these:
To make the wall across from the washer and dryer look like this:
Household Essentials Hanging Cotton Canvas Laundry Hamper Bag
And then I bought some rusty metal shelf brackets half off at Hobby Lobby, similar to these:
To go above the washer for an open shelf for my laundry powders which I keep in glass candy jars.
Instead of all these plans, we are bumping that left wall out 2 feet–the window will look almost centered! The new doorway will be right across from the washer where Caleb is standing in the first picture. I need to make the laundry side of things pretty since the door way won’t have a physical door to close on it. I want it open since I’m in and out of there all the time.
To the left of the new doorway my carpenter is building me laundry basket drawers, 3 baskets wide and 3 deep with folding space on top. Similar to these but one stack shorter:
From anawhite.com
I <3 Ana’s blog
Then the other half of the room will be my pantry. I’m dreaming of the perfect pantry and am not sure what that will look like. But here are some pantries that are similar in shape and space:
From periodextensions.com.au
I like the idea of counter space in my pantry
I’m not sure of the original source: Pinterest just said Flickr. If you own this let me know and I’ll give you credit
I love the baskets and antique feel in this one, but think I would like shelves on all 3 sides.
This pantry just used google as it’s source on pinterest, so I’m not sure who to give credit to. It uses the space the best of all 3 pantries, but not as cute as the wooden shelf brackets in the image right above.
I think I’ll still use the rug and the gray wall color idea. And am excited for new light fixtures too. Thankfully the old ones aren’t working properly so I can justify buying new ones .
I’ve been stressing out lately–all broken out in hives just thinking about the massive remodel that we are planning for late spring. We will be rearranging all the plumbing in our master bathroom; replacing the fixtures; tiling the floor; removing 3 walls in the kitchen; dining; and family room areas; moving a 4th wall over 2 feet and moving the doorway; switching the kitchen with the dining area; gutting the space to the studs and starting over! I’ll be without a kitchen and main floor bathrooms for quite awhile.
Kitchen Before (Current) The little wall with the 2 windows is leaving. It’s only job was to hide the sink (now in the island) from the living room. This space will be the new dining room.
Current view from the living room. Old kitchen; new dining room.
We will remove the island, the cabinets and walls between the dining room and the kitchen making this one huge space. The wooden door you see here leads to a walk in pantry. This is all leaving too.
View from the doorway beside the current refrigerator. Old dining room, will be the new kitchen.
The plan–After removing the center wall separating the kitchen from the dining room and making it all one big room. For reference the new refrigerator will sit approximately the same place the old freezer is (the one right next to the doorway.
We actually have a budget this time from the sale of our other house, but it is about 1/3 of what a normal person would plan to spend on such a project. That means we will have to do a lot of it ourselves; shop used; and decide which parts we can cut back on.
http://camilleroskelley.typepad.com/simplify/2012/04/the-house-house.html
Wood-look porcelain tile–trying to make this fit into our budget to floor the whole space
We started by having Lowe’s bid the kitchen with their lowest cost cabinets. They were still plenty nice and the bid came back $29,000 including their discounts and uninstalled!!!! Um, that’s almost our ENTIRE budget for the bathroom and kitchen. Not going to work. Next week went to Cabinet Giant and had them build in their TOP QUALITY cabinets. That bid came out $12,000 with their discounts. Still a little high, but much better. By switching the dark wood to a slightly lower grade cabinets, we were able to lower the bid to $7100, that’s more like it!
Our upper cabinets
Our lower cabinets
It turns out the color is even better for what we had in mind. We are planning a two toned kitchen with light upper cabinets (to keep the kitchen bright) with dark lower cabinets (for sturdiness and to add richness to the space. We used these pins for our inspiration:
from: http://theenchantedhome.blogspot.com/2011/05/ultimate-kitchens-round-ii-and-better.html
Two-toned kitchen inspiration from Pinterest
Another two toned kitchen found on pinterest
I’ve lived without a kitchen during our remodel at our previous home for about 6 months. I washed dishes in the bathtub, cooked in the living room on a folding table with an electric griddle; microwave; and crock pot. And blew a fuse (in the house, lol) almost every day. Our current eating out budget is $35 a month, which doesn’t go far for the 8 of us. I’ll have to figure out how to continue to make all our meals at home. I did it before and was pregnant for part of that time. I know it’s possible, but it was horrible. Just the memory is enough to give me hives, lol. I would have made a terrible pioneer.
Here’s a current view of our dining room window wall. (The only part of this remodel that makes me sad is I just painted this room and added molding. This was before we knew that tearing down walls was possible. The white balance is all off in this picture–the upper is light turquoise and the bottom is gray.
Here’s a drawing of what it will look like after the remodel.
Dining wall before
Dining Wall After
We are moving this wall forward 2 feet from where it stands now. My laundry room is behind this wall and is 17 feet long but only 6 feet wide. (Another post on what it looks like will come later.) By moving forward the wall, I can divide the room into a laundry room and pantry. The new door will be across from my washing machine and will leave the pantry side completely available for shelving. I’d love the move the wall even more, but the dining room window is in the way. I’m hoping to make the doorway arched like this:
Arched Doorway (almost the same floor plan as ours, but a different style–and our ceilings are only 8 foot.)
Picture from Southern Living
This one has the doorway on the opposite side, but the colors and style are more like what I’m hoping for our space.
From Traditional Home: http://www.traditionalhome.com/design_decorating/kitchens/kitchen-update-pay-back_ss16.html
Garage Side Wall Current
Garage Wall After
Since I will have a huge pantry on the other side of the wall, the cabinet pantry will become my new command center. People like me should not have a desk in the kitchen–it will always be covered with an unsightly pile. I’m imagining cork boards and chalkboards on the back of the cabinet doors, with mail sorters, pencil cups; and file boxes inside. I’ll keep track of our schedules, important papers; appliance instruction books; and items to return to others in there.
Chalkboards inside cabinets from 11magnolialane.com
Cork Boards Inside Cabinets From Younghouselove.com
There’s more to tell, but I’ll save it for another post .
Simple Green vs Mean Green
I first used Simple Green in Nevada at the house we rented during our Frontsight Training. The homeowners installed a brand new stainless steel glass top range the first day we were there. I was the first human to ever cook on it.
I arrogantly stuck two whole sweet potatoes in the oven for an hour. No foil, no cookie sheet. You can guess what happened. Yep, black sticky baked on, burned on, through both oven racks and all over the oven floor goo.
I thought since it was still hot and fresh that I’d just wipe it up—nope. Not gonna happen. That stuff was seriously stuck on. And surprisingly hard and brittle.
Thankfully the homeowner had a bottle of Simple Green in the laundry pantry. It took several spray and scrub attempts but the oven was restored to like new condition within the hour.
Present Day: We are selling our kitchen appliances to make room for the new design and I decided they would be worth more clean
. I shopped all over for a bottle of Simple Green and finally found one at Ace hardware. This stuff is special–not many places carry it.
On my next stop at Dollar Tree I found a bottle of similar looking stuff called Mean Green. It was only $1 so I thought it would be fun to compare the two. In the following pictures, I sprayed Simple Green on the right side of the oven and Mean Green on the left.
They are not the same product–and they did mix somewhere in the middle of the oven–not a smart thing to do. But I’m still alive to tell the tale.
Here’s how they compared:
Amount: Simple Green 24 oz Mean Green 20 oz
Cost: Simple Green $5 Mean Green $1
Dilution: Simple Green Concentrated up to 30 times Mean Green didn’t specify
Toxicity: Simple Green claimed non toxic but keep out of reach of children, avoid contact with eyes and fumes
Mean Green: Contact poison control immediately if ingested, avoid contact with eyes, skin or fumes
Odor: Both had a mild cleaning agent scent Simple Green had a touch of pine to it which was stronger smelling than Mean Green
Cleaning Powder: I couldn’t tell a difference between the two.
Tips: Let the cleaner sit at least 3 minutes before wiping, but not long enough to dry. Wipe up the first layer (paper towels are very effective for this, but expensive.) Then spray, rest, and wipe again. The stuff will come off in layers until the cleaner can penetrate all the way to the oven. Wear rubber gloves for either cleaner. Use a plastic scraper (like what comes with baking stoneware) for big chunks. You’ll need to follow up with a glass cleaner on the doors since both cleaners left a streaky residue.
Final verdict: The cleaners didn’t work as well on 1 year old baked on junk as they did on fresh stuff. For some spots my old baking soda and dishsoap with a scrub pad is still better. But if toxicity isn’t an issue for you the Mean Green seemed to have just as much cleaning powder as the Simple Green for a lot less money.