I started this post in the morning but worked through the day and decided to finish it with a few progress photos…
As you all know, I am in the midst of learning, studying, and making mistakes and learning lessons while renovating our kitchen. I have put down the floor and am now at the stage where I need to figure out what to do to make the breaker box and all those wires not be such of an eyesore…..
This is what that area looked like this morning:
Figuring out this corner has been on the bottom of my list of things to do, but I can’t ignore it any longer. I even put off finishing the demo on this corner because even the thought of coming up with a solution gave me anxiety. You see, this corner used to house the water heater. It was just a 3.5’ x 3.5’ closeted corner. The water heater was on the floor and all this electrical just above it. We decided to move the water heater to the laundry room after both the electrician and the plumbers said this was a horrible idea for placement and we were lucky nothing sparked since all the power was within just inches of our old water heater that leaked (which is the entire reason these home renovations even started). So now, it’s time. The floor is done, and I can either close in this corner once again and lose 12 square feet of space (the electric panel needs 3’ clearance per code), or I can try to come up with a plan to use a little of that space. When you have a small home and the opportunity becomes available to have a little bit more storage space, you try to take it.
I finished the demo, popping the last of the tiles off the wall, and then spackled the holes left behind. Still not sure of a plan, but ideas will come to me as I work.
I haven’t spackled in decades before these last few months, and I love this color changing spackle. It turns white when it’s dry and ready to be sanded!
The plan is to paint (I won’t be painting where the cabinets are going because paint = money and we are on a budget!), install the lower and upper cabinets, cut and install the countertop, figure out this corner, get the plumber out to hook up the sink plumbing, and then our (unplanned & very huge) home project will be complete!!!
This means I can decorate for Christmas. Finally!
So in my working around this corner today, I came up with a plan… To install a lower corner cabinet with a lazy Susan to make use of the area where the water heater sat. I went to Lowe’s gave them the item number, and when the guys were loading it onto the truck, they noticed it was busted on the backside. It wouldn’t be noticeable once installed, and it wouldn’t affect the integrity of the cabinet, but it was expensive for my budget and so I asked if the price could be adjusted. It took an extra 20 minutes of waiting and transferring registers, and manager overrides, but I got an AMAZING deal. I got this two-tiered-lazy-Susan corner cabinet for $120!!!
I still don’t know for certain what I’m going to do to hide the eyesore of electric panel and wiring, but again, ideas come to me as I’m working, so I’ll figure it out.
Popping the ceramic tiles off the walls gave me the same dislike for ceramic tiles as prying up four layers of hardwood flooring. I don’t ever want to see it/ work with it again (outside of the bathroom, that is).
My plan for a backsplash has to include also repairing/replacing the walls where the tile was. I’m thinking of killing two birds with one stone by using beadboard for the backsplash… wall repaired and textured backsplash all in one step.. gonna try to do that tomorrow.
I ended up painting the rest of the day in between dog walking gigs and trips to Lowe’s for various things.
I’ll update tomorrow and hopefully be able to share photos of our kitchen coming together!
Gratitude post for today is my ability to be thrifty and seek out really great deals. I burned out the motor in my Ryobi reciprocator saw last week, and I do truly love that brand, but it’s a Home Depot exclusive, so I can’t get it at Lowe’s. I went online to order that and also get a jigsaw for cutting the countertop hole for the sink and I got both saws, a couple of new extra large charge batteries, annnnd some new blades for the cost of just one saw. Merry Christmas to me! With the deal I got on the corner cabinet, I made out like a bandit today!
Anyway, I did get started on the painting - the walls in the kitchen will be a teal color (there is a hint of the color in the corner cabinet pic), I’ll hopefully finish that tomorrow and you’ll see it here!
I’m off to bed. I’m grumpy. The countertops are defective so I’ll have to return them tomorrow. I swear I made 5 trips to Lowe’s today. I think since I don’t really know what I’m doing, this will be the norm until this kitchen is done…
xo
-s
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