{"id":3812,"date":"2015-06-03T18:25:36","date_gmt":"2015-06-03T23:25:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/?p=3812"},"modified":"2015-06-07T11:05:36","modified_gmt":"2015-06-07T16:05:36","slug":"diy-kitchen-choices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2015\/06\/diy-kitchen-choices.html","title":{"rendered":"DIY Kitchen Transformation: Overwhelming Choices"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"IMG_1756\"<\/a>

So here we are again — time for the next installment of where we are with the kitchen transformation.<\/p><\/div>\n

As you can see, we have a *very* white kitchen now. I absolutely love my “new” cabinets, and am excited for the next stages of our project. Those stages aren’t DIY, though.<\/p>\n

Next up will be the floor refinishing. I’ll make sure to post before and after pictures when that project is done this weekend. The floor is in desperate need of sanding and refinishing, so we will take advantage of that work to darken the color some. I hope it turns out as well as I’m envisioning.<\/p>\n

This week, Dave and I want to order our countertop and backsplash, for installation in July. Part of why so much of our work has been DIY is so that we can invest in a nice-looking countertop and backsplash.<\/p>\n

Here’s a look at what we have now.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1757\"<\/a>

That tile countertop is the stupidest thing ever. I cleared this space so you can get a good look at the existing backsplash. We won’t be able to keep it with the new countertop. Usually there’s a fruit basket in front of that oven power cord.<\/p><\/div>\n

I’ve fussed and fussed and fussed about the countertop, so I’ll spare you that again.<\/p>\n

However, the backsplash wasn’t that bad. Not my first choice, but admittedly easy to clean and somewhat minimalist, so we could get away with going “loud” on the countertop if we wanted to. More on the backsplash momentarily.<\/p>\n

Dave and I visited a couple of countertop\/backsplash retailers this week and were incredibly overwhelmed. I was planning on a quartz countertop, but now we’re getting all kinds of conflicting data about which is more heatproof: granite or quartz. Or which withstands sealing treatments better: granite or quartz. One retailer says that quartz is heatproof and doesn’t need to be sealed, the other retailer says “Neither of those is true.”<\/p>\n

The nail in the coffin on the quartz is the way that it’s sold. Our kitchen needs 50-55 square feet of countertop, and the Silestone comes in slabs such that we’d need about 1 1\/8 slabs. Most retailers only sell the whole slabs, and you’re kind of stuck\u00a0with the leftovers. Yes, we could use the rest of it elsewhere in the house, but that isn’t in our plans.<\/p>\n

Dave and I agreed to pursue granite that can be purchased such that we only buy what we require. This is quite nice on the budget…but I do need to change my mindset.<\/p>\n

Granite can be a little tricky for various reasons. We really hope we can find a single slab to take care of everything, because even one pattern can vary drastically between slabs.<\/p>\n

I had the chance to walk through a warehouse this morning and noted some promising granite samples. You can view my favorites here<\/a>. There are 3-4 pictures of each pattern, with each new pattern starting with a photo of the placard with the title of the pattern. Let us know what your favorite is! We are fairly certain of which one we’re getting…<\/p>\n

About the backsplash. We asked several people about the possibility of keeping the backsplash. Everyone told us the same thing.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Most quartz and granite countertops are 3 cm tall. The tile countertop we’re removing is 6 cm, thus leaving this gap on the wall between the countertop and bottom edge of the backsplash. We’d have to deal with that.<\/li>\n
  2. The demolition of tile countertops is a rather substantial project. In fact, there’s often an upcharge when the countertop in question happens to be tile. No one could guarantee that our backsplash would be preserved.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Therefore, we are choosing a new backsplash. We hope to have some fun with it. We have it narrowed down pretty well, we’ll discuss it more when we have our official choices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    As you can see, we have a *very* white kitchen now. I absolutely love my “new” cabinets, and am excited for the next stages of our project. Those stages aren’t DIY, though. Next up will be the floor refinishing. I’ll make sure to post before and after pictures when that project is done this weekend. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[599,598,306,589,450],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ycQ0-Zu","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3860,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2015\/07\/diy-kitchen-reveal.html","url_meta":{"origin":3812,"position":0},"title":"DIY Kitchen Transformation: The Big Reveal!","date":"09 July 15","format":false,"excerpt":"We are done! Today the contractor finished grouting the backsplash tile, and with the exception of some very tiny touch ups and sealing the grout, our kitchen is officially REMODELED! Before: After: Before: After: Enjoy some other views of our most-awesome kitchen that I will work extra hard to keep\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"diy\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/IMG_2401-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3795,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2015\/05\/diy-kitchen-transformation-hardware.html","url_meta":{"origin":3812,"position":1},"title":"DIY Kitchen Transformation: Cabinet Hardware","date":"22 May 15","format":false,"excerpt":"Tonight we started putting the doors back up. I'm so incredibly happy with how much brighter\u00a0our kitchen looks now! We also added some hardware, which we picked up at Ikea. They\u00a0complement our appliance doors. Hopefully they help keep dirty hands off the new white cabinetry. The drawer handles will be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"cabinet hardware\"","img":{"alt_text":"I LOVE THEM!!!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/IMG_1610-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4841,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2016\/11\/half-bath-finished.html","url_meta":{"origin":3812,"position":2},"title":"Half-Bath Mostly DIY Transformation: Finished!","date":"17 November 16","format":false,"excerpt":"We are finished with our half-bath upgrades (and hopefully home improvements in general for a while)! Over the 3-and-some-change years we've lived here, we've done an assortment of little things to make our main floor half-bath look a little nicer. Painting the cabinet Replacing the towel rings Replacing the light\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"diy\"","img":{"alt_text":"img_8616","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/IMG_8616-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3823,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2015\/06\/diy-kitchen-new-floor.html","url_meta":{"origin":3812,"position":3},"title":"DIY Kitchen Transformation: The New Floor Revealed","date":"07 June 15","format":false,"excerpt":"On Thursday and Friday, we had a contractor come in to\u00a0sand and re-stain our hardwood floors. Jeff from \"A Cut Above Hardwood Flooring\" was recommended to us by our carpet cleaning guy. This piece of floor is continuous from the front door to the kitchen, and to access the front\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"diy\"","img":{"alt_text":"Can you see the difference? ","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/IMG_1815-1024x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3807,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2015\/05\/diy-kitchen-transformation-chairs.html","url_meta":{"origin":3812,"position":4},"title":"DIY Kitchen Transformation: Painting the Chairs (and my 1000th post!)","date":"31 May 15","format":false,"excerpt":"Our renovation continues, with just some little things. Unfortunately, our hardwood floor refinish was bumped from tomorrow to the end of this week, but that's okay. We have a flexible week and it'll work out.","rel":"","context":"In \"diy kitchen\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/11350407_10153008060953865_3769902195180061210_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3704,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2015\/04\/diy-kitchen-transformation-painted-kitchen-island.html","url_meta":{"origin":3812,"position":5},"title":"DIY Kitchen Transformation: Painted Kitchen Island","date":"26 April 15","format":false,"excerpt":"Tonight we were able to put the kitchen back together, at least for now. What do you think? This took two coats of primer and three coats of brown paint in many spots. The doors won't go back on for a few days: Here's a close up of the beadboard\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"diy\"","img":{"alt_text":"Every step we take towards the improved kitchen is making me hate the countertops more and more....","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/IMG_1321-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3812"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3812"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3841,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3812\/revisions\/3841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}