Home Design Cool

Whoohoo, it’s almost the weekend! It’s a gorgeous but chilly day here…Mother Nature continues to mess with us.

I promised you some more info our our butcher block island countertop a couple months ago and I’m back with that today. I wanted to wait and live with the new counter for a bit before I shared more since it’s different than the IKEA butcher block we had before.

I looooooved that old countertop and knew I’d be fine with butcher again. I shared how I maintained that countertop here – there’s very little upkeep in a butcher block counter, but keep in mind ours was on the island and not near the sink.

I loved the warmth of that natural wood. I went back and forth on what size to make the new island but my mind was made up for me when I realized IKEA doesn’t sell the island size anymore. I have no idea why they would discontinue it!

I kept the old butcher and it’s now on the craft table upstairs. I’ve painted and hot glued on it and it continues to hold up great. :)

The new butcher is a maple product from a lumber store called Northwest Lumber:

When I looked at it in the store it was unfinished and I planned to use Tung oil again like I did for our old counter.

But when I called to let them know the dimensions I needed it cut to, they mentioned a sealant. I went ahead with it because they recommended it and said if I wanted to, I could just sand it down and put my own finish over it instead.

At first I was a little disappointed – the sealant takes away from the natural look of it just a bit, at least the look that I was used to. If I had never had our old butcher I wouldn’t know the difference though. It’s hard to even tell in photos:

But I quickly got used to it and started to fall in love with the sealant they put on it! Not much bothered our old counter but a few things did leave marks – the bottom of paint cans were really bad at that. Nothing touches this butcher, as far as stains. Absolutely everything wipes right off:

There’s zero maintenance from what I can tell so far – I would sand down the old butcher once a year or so and reapply the Tung oil. But this I will leave for some time before I do anything with it.

We did have a bit of an issue within a week or so of me finishing the island makeover. I really almost cried. I don’t get upset when things get messed up in our house because it happens all the time (cats!) and I know I can fix almost anything.

But this one really got to me because I literally had just finished this thing up. The cat knocked over a vase of flowers and my husband cleaned it all up – but there was a plastic grocery sack on the island and some water got under there that he didn’t see. It sat overnight, trapping all that moisture in there and we woke up to a nice welt in the countertop.

Here’s the thing though – I didn’t freak too bad because I now know that wood is actually pretty fantastic when it comes to water issues. Years ago after a fridge leak caused tons of damage we went with finished on site hardwoods specifically because they can be dried out. Our contractor who handled all the clean up from the leak explained that the wood will cup and swell at first, but then when properly dried out it will usually go back down. If there is any damage left you can sand it down and restain. We’ve had a toilet overflow and spills sit and it does exactly what he said – and then goes back down like nothing ever happened.

SO. I calmed down, grabbed a fan and left it running right over the spot on the island for two days. This is all that’s left:

I took a major close up to show you that so it looks worse than it is. Now we can’t even find the spot unless we run our hand over the wood. Normally even the sitting water wouldn’t be an issue – but it happened to sit right at a seam and got in there good.

It’s not noticeable at all now, you have to really look for it and most of the time we can’t even spot it:

It was HUGE before – I wish I would have taken a picture.

So, yes, butcher block will not stay pristine forever. You have to know that going in. I was originally planning to do butcher around the kitchen and a solid surface on the island, but after some more research I decided against them near the sink. I am fine with the island getting some wear and tear, but I don’t want to have to worry about counters that I use around water.

Northwest Lumber is a retailer for Wood Welded, the company that produces the butcher block. They have locations listed on their site if you want to try to find one near you. They describe the finish as a “Durakryl 102 UV cured finish” that is supposed to be maintenance free. It is food safe and helps to prevent cracking or warping:

If we do decide to sand it down someday they recommend a product called Emmet’s Elixir mineral oil – again, food safe. They do mention that that will give you more of the traditional butcher block look but say to re-oil once a month.

Again, our other butcher tops never cracked or warped and I only oiled those every six months or so (or sometimes once a year). But this version is less maintenance because you don’t have to do a thing:

Most wood will “warm” or darken over time and our original countertop certainly did this. I’m not sure the new ones will because of the finish.

I’m fine with that though – I think it is gorgeous as it is! I love having the natural wood in our kitchen:

I have always loved the look of dark wood countertop but both times in our home I prefer the natural look much more. It just helps to brighten up the space and I think the wood is so beautiful as it is.

I hope that helps to answer any questions you may have. If not, please let me know! You have to be OK with a few scratches and imperfections if you’re going to go with wood – if not you will cry often. ;) But they aren’t even noticeable to us so it’s not a big thing. It’s totally worth it to me for the warmth it brings into the kitchen:

Do you have butcher block in your home? I’ve used it many places (on our built ins and on the mud room bench) and they hold up incredibly well. Those were from IKEA – their prices are pretty amazing and I highly recommend them!

**To see how I transformed our builder grade kitchen island to this bigger, more functional one, check out this post.

Hello all! I’m busy working on other areas in the house lately, but I’ve also been planning out my next step in the kitchen renovation in my head for weeks. (Check out progress so far --the new window seat, the expanded kitchen island and the new built in fridge.) The backsplash won’t happen quite yet, but I can’t help but think about it. A lot. I think it’s going to be one of the most important aspects of the kitchen.

I’m pretty sure we’ll go with tile but I’m not positive yet. I installed a beadboard backsplash years five years ago and it has held up really well:

When I installed it few readers were concerned about moisture and stains but there’s nothing to worry about – if you paint it with a semi or high gloss everything wipes right off. Moisture can’t get in there because it’d have to be done from behind and it’s just not possible, at least in our kitchen. I’m super impressed with it and would highly recommend it to anyone considering an easy and inexpensive fix!

This cost me less than $50 and I applied it right on top of the old tile. :) The only hard part was painting all of it. That part stinks, not gonna lie.

I’m not keeping the beadboard because I plan to remove some cabinets and what I have there only goes up that far. I can’t patch it and I’m ready for a new look anyway. This has served us incredibly well for all these years!

But the beadboard has me thinking – a backsplash doesn't have to be tile! One of my favorite looks lately is a wood planked backsplash:

(Apartment Therapy)

Goodness, I think that is so pretty! It repeats the floor look and tone so it works beautifully.

People shy away from wood in the kitchen, understandably. But if you seal it with a polyurethane you’ll be good to go. If you are considering planks you’ll want to make sure they meet up (with no gap) and then seal them, or you can leave a gap and caulk between each one (clear if you’re going with a natural tone, white if you’re painting them). Then seal the entire thing after that.

Our backsplash is mdf – which is incredibly porous when left alone. But after paint, nothing bothers it!

Here’s another natural look that I loved:

(BHG)

Doesn’t that look lovely with white accents?

I’ve also seen the sticky vinyl floor planks that look like wood used on a wall so that would be a great one to consider too. More expensive but super easy to clean I’m sure.

I love this darker look as well:

(Design Sponge)

All of the wood tones look fabulous together! This is a more industrial look and I dig it. A wood backsplash would be fairly inexpensive too – definitely cheaper than some tile I’ve seen lately.

Of course, there’s the more classic and clean look of the white planks:

(Garden Web)

This home has it above the stovetop so you know it has to be able to handle messes. My only question is if it would be a fire hazard of any kind that close to the heat source? Ours hasn’t been an issue because our burners are further away from the wall.

I had to show you this one because it’s such a brilliant idea – this homeowner used beadboard like I did, but in a much different way:

(Farmhouse 38)

They figured out how to cut the beadboard panels at an angle to create a herringbone pattern. It is gorgeous! I’m sure it would be a lot of work to get the cuts right, but installation is easy! (They share how they did it in the link above.)

And of course, there’s creating the look of tile where there isn’t any. Love this idea! This was done with a stencil:

(Cutting Edge Stencils, home of The Diana House)

I did something similar in our basement. I didn’t do it to mimic tile but I love the look:

My friend Myra did a similar treatment, but without the stencil:

(My Blessed Life)

She used painters tape and some careful measuring and it looks like tile to me!

Here’s one more because I love the contrast of the dark gray and white: 

(This Old House)

I think any of these ideas look fantastic and most of them are an inexpensive way to give your backsplash a custom look. Of course the nicer the wood the more your costs go up, but there are plenty of cheaper options to pick from.

Have any of you done a non-traditional backsplash with something other than tile? Feel free to leave links in the comments if you want to share. :)

OK, whew!! Lots of photos to share today to show you how I completed the next step in the kitchen renovation. Well, almost completed…close enough for now. :)

Building in our fridge is something I’ve wanted to do for years and years – I applied beadboard to the the wall next to the fridge a long time ago in a failed attempt to give it a “built in” feel. I also applied it to the side of our old fridge but when we got this one I left it off:

I was trying! :) But now that the whole room is getting a major redo it was finally time to make this happen. I had a plan in place that didn't work out, but more about that in a second.

I started by taking off the beadboard on the wall to the right, removing the baseboards from that wall and then taking off the crown molding on this bank of cabinets:

You can see the difference in the two wall colors here – the one on the left is the old color, called Sisal. The one on the right (at the top) is Analytical Gray. I’m not painting the back wall above the cabinets since it will be covered (hopefully soon!).

I took this photo to show you the difference just that little crown makes – if you have cabinets without it, it’s an easy fix and really makes them look more finished! I was surprised at the difference:

OK, so on to the build. My original plan was to just take the upper cabinet down and bring it forward. I was going to use two side panels and just attach it to those. But I could NOT get the cabinet down! It was crazy. The screws were stripping and barely moving at all, it was nuts.

I was totally bummed out – I considered calling in expert help to get it down, but I knew that would cost money (although the guys we use probably would have done it for next to nothing). More importantly, I would have had to wait till they were available and I was already in this thing. When I finally decide to tackle something it has to happen right. then.

So I sat down and started figuring out a new plan. I decided to keep the current cabinet where it was and build straight out from it. I knew I could reuse the cabinet doors and it would provide even more storage.

I gathered all my trim and wood and got started – the first step was to fill in the spaces next to the cabinets by the fridge so that wood on the side of the built in would be flush against the cabinets and countertops:

I had half an inch to fill at the front of the cabinets and 3/4 inch everywhere else (the trim on the front comes out a little bit). I found trim that worked and secured it to the sides of the upper and lower cabinets. This also was important because it gave me something to screw into when I installed the side of the built in.

I ended up placing one more in the middle on the bottom section when all was said and done. I tend to go overboard with nails and screws and making sure things are sturdy. 

I had a piece of high grade wood cut down into two pieces. The right side on the wall wasn’t as deep as the left side because there was no need for it to go under the current cabinets, since it wouldn’t be seen. The piece on the left needed to be a little deeper (as deep as the upper cabinet already hanging) so that it would go under the cabinet and cover that whole side. I hope that makes sense – it should in a minute.

I cut down a notch the size of the upper cabinet with my fancy sawhorse:

Our garage is a complete disaster so this was easier than finding the sawhorses. :)

I attached the right side directly to the wall, making sure to hit the studs. Then the left side was attached to the filler pieces I showed you earlier. You can see here why I cut out the spot for the cabinet – the front part goes as high as the cabinets and the back part is under the cabinet:

This is when I realized it was a good thing I couldn't get that dang cabinet out of the wall – it would have been too wide. If you don’t have a wall next to your fridge that would still be an excellent option and would cost even less. But I used up 1 1/2 inches with the side supports so it wouldn’t have fit.

Next up was building a new cabinet. I was going to build it and then install, but I realized it would be easier just to do it right there (obviously I was pulling the fridge out to do most of this). I added sides directly to the supports and then starting building the box with the top and bottom:

I had these pieces cut down at Lowe’s (they did an awesome job). I am FINALLY going to get a table saw soon, but I still have to have the bigger pieces cut down anyway so I can get them home. :)

Next up was trimming it all out. This part doesn't look great now but I still need to shore things up, fill and then sand. When I’m done you won’t even notice imperfections. I say that to encourage you – it does NOT have to be perfect! Get the job done and fix the little things later! That’s my thought anyway, I am not a perfectionist when it comes to this stuff.

Anyway, since I was using trim in different thicknesses I didn’t do mitered cuts:

The side trim had to be wider so I could attach the cabinet doors there: 

Once I got those up I figured out the size of support I needed for the middle of of the cabinet and got that installed. The cabinet doors are a little closer together than they were before – maybe about an inch? That’s the only difference between the old cabinet and the new one!:

Other than looking much better (well, eventually!) and more custom and having more storage. ;)

I kept the back of the new cabinet open on purpose so I could take advantage of the old cabinet storage. I’ll use that for stuff we rarely use. The new cabinet is much deeper and I’m so stoked about the storage possibilities!:

At first I was going to make vertical dividers but now think I’m going to go with shelves that I’ll build and slide in instead. That way I can still access the back if needed. I’ll be able to fit SO much more up there!

The best part is we can actually reach these doors! You’ll see I flipped the doors over and put the knobs on the bottom. Not sure why I installed those at the top anyway. It’s awesome to be able to just open these up and reach inside! Seriously, it just makes more sense.

Someone is already enjoying the new cabinet:

I could have built the sides forward a bit more but didn’t want to interfere with the doors opening. Also, I want this to work for any size fridge and this one is one of the biggest you can buy. When we replace it (unfortunately it may be within a year or two because it has had a ton of issues), I won’t worry about a slightly less deep fridge working.

I still need to caulk inside the cabinet and on the wall next to it, fill holes, sand, add some base…and then eventually it will all get painted out after the new uppers are built:

But I’m pretty dang proud of how it turned out. We’re still walking by and feeling like something is falling off the fridge – it’s hard to get used to having something up there. ;)

I’m glad I figured this out and made it happen! The cost for the wood to make the whole thing was $100 – but if you use cheaper wood it will be half of that easy. I wanted a nicer finish so it paints up well.

I LOVE IT!:

Here’s a before and after:

Eventually I’ll be moving our appliance garage to the side of the fridge as well. It will be a lot easier to install now that this is all trimmed out!

Have you ever tried building out your fridge for a more custom look? I love the look of it but what I love even more is that we can actually access the storage!

I hope my explanation made sense – let me know if you have any questions!

Hey there! Hope your weekend was wonderful! My sister’s shower was just lovely and I’m pretty sure they are all set with the most adorable baby girl clothes I’ve ever seen.

I don’t know if it’s because it’s finally spring or that the sun is out again or that the temps are finally warming up (for good this time), but I’m getting really excited to start working on more kitchen projects. I’m tackling building in the fridge next but what I’m really dreaming about is taking down the microwave and cabinets above the oven:

My plan is to put a microwave in the island, add a hood where that was and then replace the cabinets with open shelving. I know this idea isn’t for everyone but I am SO excited to see it come together. I think it will really lighten that side of the room and will add to the functionality of our kitchen.

I’ve done my research though – if you are thinking of open shelves I suggest you consider some of these aspects (good and bad, depending on what you like) that I have. I’m covering the biggies here, with some pretty pictures for eye candy. :)

First up, yes, the shelves will be near the stovetop:

Veranda Interiors

I’ve been warned about greasy messes from cooking, but really the only cooking that would be an issue is pan frying. I don’t fry much – at least nothing intense that causes a big mess. Well, I take that back – about twice a year I make prime rib and I do fry that to get it started, but I’ve figured out how to cover it to minimize the mess.

If you are constantly cleaning grease off of your stove or the wall behind it, the open shelves may not be for you (at lease in that spot).

Also, I’m not adding these throughout the whole kitchen. I think it can be done beautifully but we have too much stuff that isn’t pretty that I need to hide away. I’m just doing the one area as an accent.

I love the idea of having shelves above a sink like this!:

Houzz

If you don’t have a window above your sink this is a lovely option:

 BHG 
(This is a blogger’s kitchen, I can’t remember the name! Let me know if you know.)

My favorite use of open shelving is when they are combined with upper cabinets as well.

Another thing to think about – do you like your dishes? Do you keep them fairly organized?:

Montana Prairie Tales

If the answer is no and you don’t want to buy new dishes, then I’d say stick with cabinets. I don’t want a perfect look though – our dishes will not be all white, although it’s beautiful:

Our Vintage Home Love

I need contrast so ours will be a mix of colors that work with the space. (AKA, the dishes we already have.)

Some question how dirty the shelves and plates will get – I don’t think that’s an issue if you’re actually using the items on the shelves, which we plan to do. I hope to keep glasses, bowls and plates on ours. Our kitchen isn’t a big dust magnet in our home anyway, so that doesn’t concern me at all.

If they were just for looks, maybe. But ours will be functional for sure.

One more consideration – do you have enough cabinet space elsewhere? Some say you lose space when you take away cabinets but I don’t think that’s always the case. I’ve planned ours out in my head and we’ll have the same amount of surface area if not more. Right now our cabinets on that wall are different widths and when I’m done it will be more symmetrical (therefore adding a bit more storage).

I’m not sure of the size just yet (it will depend on the hood that we get), but even if they’re smaller I’ll still have plenty of room for stuff: 

Joanna Gaines Farmhouse

Overall I think they are going to go a long way to brightening and opening up our kitchen even more. I cannot WAIT to get started on that part!!

There are so many options when it comes to open shelves – floating or brackets, industrial or farmhouse, white or stain. I haven’t figured out all the details just yet. I think I’ve found brackets that I want to use but I love this idea as well!:

 Southern Living

Isn’t that cool? I love this look!

There’s a lot to consider when adding even a few open shelves to a kitchen. I don’t do anything in our house without thinking on it for eternity…it’s a curse and a blessing. But I’m pretty sure I’m going to love them. I can see the finished product in my head and it looks really great. ;)

Do you have any open shelving in your kitchen? Are you considering them for your home?

Hey hey all! Hope you have a fun weekend planned! I have a quick post for you today because I’m off to prepare for my sister’s baby shower tomorrow – can’t wait!

I shared this on Instagram the other day because I was just so excited to get this done. I picked out the fabrics for the window seat pillows a couple of weeks ago:

I definitely wanted something colorful against all the white in the bay window and I LOVE how these all work together!

When it comes to mixing fabrics I usually go for a large print, a stripe or a solid and a smaller print. I find those work well together best – it can be hard to find a good combo!

All three are from Joann’s – the one on the left is an outdoor fabric, the one in the middle is a stripe and they had a few different versions of that. The one on the right is an HGTV fabric, love it!

I used old inserts I had laying around (hence the lumbar pillows) and I like how the different sizes work together: I LOVE IT! Love love love. I know the dark blue especially will fade in the sun, but I’m going to do my best to rotate them often. Lately we rarely see the sun at all anyway. This was taken this morning and the sun is already gone. Boo.

Anyway, if haven’t mentioned it, I love them. I haven’t even sewn them up all the way yet, but they still look good. Who knows if I’ll get to that before the shower but I’m sure no one will notice. (If they do they get a cookie.):

It makes it so much more comfy! I’m still deciding on the window seat cushion fabric – I think I’ll go with a lighter solid so I don’t have to worry about the sun.

I was getting so much done I worked on some new pillows for the family room too, including this blue ikat from Calico Corners:

That one has a whole side that isn’t even sew up yet, gotta get that one done. I had some left over so I railroaded the fabric and did a lumbar pillow for my favorite chair – love!

I have sewn FIFTEEN pillows this week! That’s crazy. Fabric is such an easy way to update a space! There are always great sales at Joann’s and they let you use numerous coupons with each transaction. That is always awesome.

I’m off to clean and pick up supplies for the shower – hoping the sun comes out for that tomorrow! Anything fun planned this weekend? Have a great one and I’ll talk to you next week. :)

Hello there! Hope you had a wonderful weekend! We celebrated my husband at a big event on Saturday – he got a huge award for his many years (and still going, he’s as busy as ever in “retirement”) as a teacher and composer and we are SO proud of him!

Yesterday was a lovely low-key day and it was absolutely gorgeous outside. It’s supposed to be 73 today! Whoot!! That is abnormally warm for us but I’ll take one day of it.

It was such a beautiful day yesterday so I decided to take some updated photos of the kitchen as it is so far. A few of you have asked for wider shots of the space so I did some cleaning:

Adding the new French doors during our family room reno last year was seriously one of our best moves ever in this house. It has transformed the whole main level.

The window seat is also a BIG statement and I’m totally, crazy, stupid in love with it:

I found fabric for the pillows and cushion this weekend and I’m so excited to get sewing! These have just been standing in for the past couple of months while I’ve figured out what I want to do there:

Here’s a wider shot of this area:

The only thing I’ve not been happy about through the whole reno process is the patching of the ceilings. They don’t match the rest of our ceilings so I think it’s going to be messy to fix that. Not looking forward to it but in the scheme of everything we’ve done, it’s minor and I’m pretty thrilled that’s the only thing I’m not pleased with.

Here’s a look at everything with the new extended island – my pride and joy:

This is still one of my favorite DIYs I’ve ever done in this house. I am thoroughly enjoying the bigger surface space:

On a side note, since I finished the island our kitchen has stayed relatively clutter-free – it’s been wonderful. I used to pile everything on the island and the table and I’ve made a concentrated effort not to do that over the past few weeks. It takes more work on the front end but it is the best feeling to have a clean kitchen. (Well, not always clean – but mostly picked up at least!)

Here’s the whole kitchen from the family room:

You’ll notice here the difference between the old paint color, Sisal (above the cabinets) and the new, Analytical Gray (everywhere else). I haven’t painted up there because most of it will be covered by cabinets, but you can really see the more gray tint in the analytical gray. I love that color!

This view will look completely different by the end of the summer – that microwave wall will undergo a big update. This wall of cabinets will be built up to the ceiling and will get a makeover as well:

I am seriously SO excited to get moving on that part – my next project is building in the fridge for a more custom look. I’m about ready to start that, just need to figure out a few more details.

Here’s one of my favorite views as I sit on my chaise, chaise window seat:

Knocking down one wall in the family room doubled the size of our kitchen. We didn’t realize how much it would transform that space as well. Happy accident for sure!

A microwave will move to this spot in the island sometime soon:

I’m SO excited about that! I think we’ll love it.

Here’s the view from the other corner of the kitchen:

I love looking at that view cause it’s all done, other than the fabrics on the window seat. :)

And this is from that same spot into the expanded family room:

We knew taking down a wall would make a big difference, we just had no idea how big! Someday I will dig up older pics and do a before and after post because you can really appreciate the difference when you look at those! Crazy.

I hope this helps those of you who wanted to see how things have come together! We are just so thrilled with this whole space and so grateful we got to do all of this. Now I’m heading outside to enjoy this gorgeous weather and work on some clean up in the flower beds. I’ve never started this early and I’m hoping to get a good head start on the season.

Isn’t it amazing how the the nicer weather energizes you? I love this time of year!