Drab to Fab Part Deux: Kitchen Remodel

Looking in During, pardon the clutter, we just moved!

Have you ever sanded and repainted your kitchen cabinet doors?  Don't...just buy new ones.  When you move into a 70's apartment I promise you that the hinges on the cabinets have been painted over with each new tenant since then.

Now you have to break out crowbars, screw drivers, hammers, paint remover and an occasional kitchen knife to get the things off, then you have to sand the cabinet itself, then sand the doors on every surface when this is all done you have to paint them and make sure you get a nice even coating on all surfaces. Then you have to put new hinges on everything, you think your almost done right? Wrong!


Since sanding the cabinet doors back to some sort of an original state they no longer stay shut!  Now, I have to put some sort of little magnetic closure on them so they stay shut...next is the door nobs and drawer pulls. They make a handy dandy little stencil for these little costly bobbles it's all going along great your drilling the holes and you go to put on your first door nob and what happens?  The screw is too short, I see that they come with a second screw...PERFECT!!!...this screw ends up being to long, Homo Depot is across town...now I know why people buy new construction!

Part of our deal with this apartment, which is rent controlled might I add, so we basically bought it...was that instead of a deposit we would put in new appliances...let me tell you about the old fridge, it had one shelf in it and it was filthy, the old stove, which was quote, unquote, a new stove had the rusted electric coils and couldn't regulate heat to save your life, and the old dish washer, although still working and dried dishes very well also made an occasional screeching noise, they are now replaced with stainless steal energy efficient appliances...I feel like my new fridge has a funny smell though, maybe it's just the new plastic smell, it's probably me though.

After the new appliances we tiled the back splash...this was so much fun, my mother came out and  helped The Husband and I do it.  Now she can do almost anything, as can I, but I had never tiled anything before, and I am sure with enough YouTube videos and Google searches I could have figured it out, how do you think I learned how to make butter!?

I will tell you though, it's very easy to tile and grout, what is hard to getting the grout off of your tile...I don't think I've ever rinsed a sponge that much in my life...end result, pure fabulousness!

If I can pass on a bit of advice though, don't paint your walls if you are going to be putting in a tiled back splash, why?  If you paint before you are going to be doing a ton of touch ups after words, because the trowel scratches the paint...lesson learned!

Watch Your Drink,

The Stepford Husband