Thursday, March 7, 2013
Faucet and sink
Our faucet is from Rona is the uberhaus model and the sink is by Kohler Vault model.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Installing IKEA cabinets and backsplash ideas
IKEA cabinets have adjustable legs to help leveling them. This sounds nice, but in practice we found at least two places where the legs were impossible to use. When we installed the big pantry in a tight space We broke a leg, but finally had to build our own frame to make the cabinet sit in a solid way. It is a 24 inch wide, 24 inch deep and 88 inch high pantry not including the legs. We had to slide it in the existing space between 2 walls. It was a pain to turn it up after assembling, and my husband and his father found it hard. With a fixed base it went much faster and the leveling was easier too.
I assembled all drawers and we installed the door together.
The other place we can't use the legs is the peninsula. Along the wall cabinets are attached to the wall, or as we did, to a wood piece attached to the wall to make it solid. However the peninsula is only attached to a wall a one end. We have to build a wooden base for a peninsula, then level the rest of cabinets to those of the peninsula which are fixed.
I ordered the counter and they will come in less than 2 weeks for measurements. In the mean time we can finish assembling cabinets and leveling them.
While my husband was building the base, passing cables for TV and Internet and finishing the drywall for backsplash, I went to a tile store for a ceramic for our backsplash.
I spent a few hours on Internet looking for backsplash ideas. And it is a difficult piece to select. I had in mind simple subway tile with darker grout. I then found modern flat elongated subway tiles installed in stacked way. I spent a couple hours at the tile store and found this type of tile, which is awesome in glossy finish. We however already have glossy cabinets and the quartz will be glossy. But the style of these tiles is so beautiful, I brought samples home.
I had selected two tiles from Soligo Ambiente: one in almond and the other in beige colors. Beige color is nice with the counter which has quartz pieces in that color, and almond is exactly matching the cabinets, so may be not that exciting, but we can play with grout colors to enhance design. Using 1/16 inch spacers would be a good idea too.
I also liked at the store two other ceramics: one in cream with tiny tears which made some shine reflection and another one in cream with beige and brown bamboo style tile. The latest could be nice installed with aluminum profile line as an accent.
Here is an example from Porcelanosa site:
All choices are sort of glossy, but some more than others. But really all together looks good because of the style.
We consulted with our friends who have families and all agreed the glossy materials are great to keep clean. At first I had in mind matte tiles, but couldn't find anything I liked. But all our family just loved Soligo Ambiente tiles and they look also nice with soft LEDs light.
Anyway I will be waiting for the counter to be installed, then I will bring back samples.
I had selected two tiles from Soligo Ambiente: one in almond and the other in beige colors. Beige color is nice with the counter which has quartz pieces in that color, and almond is exactly matching the cabinets, so may be not that exciting, but we can play with grout colors to enhance design. Using 1/16 inch spacers would be a good idea too.
I also liked at the store two other ceramics: one in cream with tiny tears which made some shine reflection and another one in cream with beige and brown bamboo style tile. The latest could be nice installed with aluminum profile line as an accent.
Here is an example from Porcelanosa site:
All choices are sort of glossy, but some more than others. But really all together looks good because of the style.
We consulted with our friends who have families and all agreed the glossy materials are great to keep clean. At first I had in mind matte tiles, but couldn't find anything I liked. But all our family just loved Soligo Ambiente tiles and they look also nice with soft LEDs light.
Anyway I will be waiting for the counter to be installed, then I will bring back samples.
Cabinet and pipes installation
Our original plan was to keep pipes and extend by a few inches, but when my husband removed the cabinets the return pipe just fell out. The bad news our pipes even return are copper. So he would need to solder right stuck to the drywall. The good news pipes are copper. Once you solder them, they will last for a very long time.
He managed to solder them and had to redo the dish washer machine pipes as well as they were quickly installed through the front of cabinets. This was ok as long as our base cabinets had frames, but frame-less cabinets would show these pipes.
Cabinets and lights
I always liked IKEA kitchens, however I didn't see so far a perfect style for me. When they brought new colors of Abstrakt model I was just delighted. Our choice is Cream high gloss kitchen with black Rubik glass doors for glass top cabinet.
We ran into some complications however. IKEA furniture can't be hanging from ceiling, and I didn't want to lose the hanging units over the peninsula. They provide a lot of storage and we need it. This type of unit would cost a fortune to rebuild. Also, since my kitchen is not in a living room, and we have enough room for a table and chairs there, we have no need for open concept fashionable style. I have to say I dislike very much this open concept fashion because I don't see how someone could do serious cooking in a living room. Greasy dust would be everywhere. I also like a bigger kitchen where we can sit and have our meal. There is enough room for a TV and entertainment.
We still have a dining room for special occasions and guests.
I was watching a TV show on people purchasing property and one girl disliked very much a kitchen in the living room. Then the seller wanted to pressure her saying this was fashion, but like me she just said it was a way to sell you a smaller place for a bigger price. Yes, it is fashion, but fashions do pass. My priorities are functionality (being practical) and needs first, then nice, and in very last concern to please others with my choices. I understand however others could have different needs, and so, their choices could be different.
I am not following fashions, but rather like timeless things, since I keep them for a long time. This Abstrakt model is easy to keep clean, as it doesn't have ridges nor relief on it as our old wooden kitchen had. I really didn't hate our old kitchen, but after more than 40 years, and several painting attempts it was still very hard to keep clean.
Anyway we had to keep our top units. Also we have soffits in our house, but they are used for central heating and can't be eliminated. So, I couldn't build the upper cabinets to the ceiling. Oh well. So it is basically a combination of preferences and constraints.
But I didn't really particularly liked IKEA corner units on top cabinets, and since we couldn't go higher, we kept the old cabinets, which we refaced with IKEA doors. Now, this is not that easy, and we needed to buy Bloom brackets, which by the way fit IKEA doors with little adjustments, as they also make IKEA brackets.
I also purchased a very nice self stick white vinyl liners to cover the shelves, and we painted existing cabinets same color as the IKEA furniture. So the result is nice.
My husband suffered quite a bit with adapting brackets since each cabinet is non standard and has frames, and we wanted a frame less look. The result was nice, but everything got spoiled by the wooden finish to the soffit. He was really discouraged when I asked him to remove the strip. Since the existing material wouldn't have fitted there or would have given a heavy look (we tried), I started imagining something with unconventional finishing materials. I chose to use the aluminum profile used for ceramics borders. When we tried it, it was very nice and actually matched the handles. Then my husband arrived with a very nice idea of mounting LEDs lights under that aluminum strip, and finally is looks awesome. We chose soft light LEDs sold in rolls from electronic store. It is even possible to add a LED light dimmer if you want to get really nice results.
The bottom cabinets and the pantries are from IKEA. I chose all bottom cabinets except under sink to have drawers. One of the pantries is in a corner and is deep, however it doesn't have enough room on the side for a door, so we had to go with a pull out model to the ceiling, as there is no soffit. My husband also extended LEDs to inside the pantry.
The second pantry will be shallow 12inch.
We also created a unit on top of the refrigerator and up to the ceiling with a 24 inch deep cabinet we built ourselves with wood and using a IKEA door that we cut on a side and a set of pull up Blum brackets. These brackets cost more than the cabinet itself, but made that unused space very usable. I added inside a slide out Glidez deep shelf that can completely slide out.
We ran into some complications however. IKEA furniture can't be hanging from ceiling, and I didn't want to lose the hanging units over the peninsula. They provide a lot of storage and we need it. This type of unit would cost a fortune to rebuild. Also, since my kitchen is not in a living room, and we have enough room for a table and chairs there, we have no need for open concept fashionable style. I have to say I dislike very much this open concept fashion because I don't see how someone could do serious cooking in a living room. Greasy dust would be everywhere. I also like a bigger kitchen where we can sit and have our meal. There is enough room for a TV and entertainment.
We still have a dining room for special occasions and guests.
I was watching a TV show on people purchasing property and one girl disliked very much a kitchen in the living room. Then the seller wanted to pressure her saying this was fashion, but like me she just said it was a way to sell you a smaller place for a bigger price. Yes, it is fashion, but fashions do pass. My priorities are functionality (being practical) and needs first, then nice, and in very last concern to please others with my choices. I understand however others could have different needs, and so, their choices could be different.
I am not following fashions, but rather like timeless things, since I keep them for a long time. This Abstrakt model is easy to keep clean, as it doesn't have ridges nor relief on it as our old wooden kitchen had. I really didn't hate our old kitchen, but after more than 40 years, and several painting attempts it was still very hard to keep clean.
Anyway we had to keep our top units. Also we have soffits in our house, but they are used for central heating and can't be eliminated. So, I couldn't build the upper cabinets to the ceiling. Oh well. So it is basically a combination of preferences and constraints.
But I didn't really particularly liked IKEA corner units on top cabinets, and since we couldn't go higher, we kept the old cabinets, which we refaced with IKEA doors. Now, this is not that easy, and we needed to buy Bloom brackets, which by the way fit IKEA doors with little adjustments, as they also make IKEA brackets.
I also purchased a very nice self stick white vinyl liners to cover the shelves, and we painted existing cabinets same color as the IKEA furniture. So the result is nice.
My husband suffered quite a bit with adapting brackets since each cabinet is non standard and has frames, and we wanted a frame less look. The result was nice, but everything got spoiled by the wooden finish to the soffit. He was really discouraged when I asked him to remove the strip. Since the existing material wouldn't have fitted there or would have given a heavy look (we tried), I started imagining something with unconventional finishing materials. I chose to use the aluminum profile used for ceramics borders. When we tried it, it was very nice and actually matched the handles. Then my husband arrived with a very nice idea of mounting LEDs lights under that aluminum strip, and finally is looks awesome. We chose soft light LEDs sold in rolls from electronic store. It is even possible to add a LED light dimmer if you want to get really nice results.
The bottom cabinets and the pantries are from IKEA. I chose all bottom cabinets except under sink to have drawers. One of the pantries is in a corner and is deep, however it doesn't have enough room on the side for a door, so we had to go with a pull out model to the ceiling, as there is no soffit. My husband also extended LEDs to inside the pantry.
The second pantry will be shallow 12inch.
We also created a unit on top of the refrigerator and up to the ceiling with a 24 inch deep cabinet we built ourselves with wood and using a IKEA door that we cut on a side and a set of pull up Blum brackets. These brackets cost more than the cabinet itself, but made that unused space very usable. I added inside a slide out Glidez deep shelf that can completely slide out.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Cabinet and countertop choices
For the cabinets it was easy when I saw the new IKEA collection. Abstrakt creme glossy one with glass upper cabinet in black Rubrik.
The countertop was a bit more complicated, but our family decided on Hanstone Bavaria to remain in warm colors. I also liked Silestone in Sienna Ridge, but it was a special order and was 1.5k more expensive.
My husband loved English Toffee very much, but it was a more uniform color and we didn't want to see the joints.
It was difficult to get a really nice picture of the quartz, but here they are:
I then brought samples home and all including our son selected Bavaria by Hanstone.
I then brought samples home and all including our son selected Bavaria by Hanstone.
Floor
I went to specialized stores, but finally, we found the perfect for us floor at HomeDepot. Our choice was Trafficmaster Ceramica in Pearl Grey which looked fantastic installed with grout.
These are peel and stick groutable LVT luxury vinyl Tiles. As a grout I used SimpleGrout from HD in sandstone color.
We had a sheet linoleum floor with particle board underlayment. So we decided to rip it off. Since we were doing the renovations during winter months, we sprayed with water as much as possible to prevent any dust in the air.
Finally it wasn't bad at all and we didn't have much dust. Under the linoleum there were a thin plywood and under that the particle board and under under several layers of linoleum. But it broke when we removed so we could see many generations of linoleum floor in horrible colors. My husband has taken a week off to remove all an lay down the new plywood.
The new plywood was repaired with plastic wood patch and we used Armstrong primer product to prepare the floor for the tile. This is a recommended underlayment for these tiles.
As for the tile laying, the longest was to place tiles to create a pattern, although tiles were placed in a certain order. After that I sat on the floor and using 1/8" spacers peeled and stuck tiles one by one. We kept them inside of our house for some time where they were stored. The glue was good and gripped to the prepared plywood.
After 24 hours, I grouted the tiles with SimpleGrout premixed in sandstone color. This grout dries very quickly, so I did a few tiles at the time and ensured to wash with a sponge, then a cloth and then the tiles themselves with scotttowell paper, so the tiles remained clean. I finished the half of out kitchen on same morning.
Here are some pictures of my work progress:
The final result looks gorgeous. In fact everyone thinks it is a ceramic tile. At the store they thought it was really heavy and were cautious not to break it before I told them it was lvt.
I also used Aquamix grout sealer to protect the grout and it takes very little sealer to protect this grout. I used a small bottle with brush purchased for about 3$ with Aquamix sealer. It was easy to apply and sealed well the grout after 1 application.
Finally it wasn't bad at all and we didn't have much dust. Under the linoleum there were a thin plywood and under that the particle board and under under several layers of linoleum. But it broke when we removed so we could see many generations of linoleum floor in horrible colors. My husband has taken a week off to remove all an lay down the new plywood.
The new plywood was repaired with plastic wood patch and we used Armstrong primer product to prepare the floor for the tile. This is a recommended underlayment for these tiles.
As for the tile laying, the longest was to place tiles to create a pattern, although tiles were placed in a certain order. After that I sat on the floor and using 1/8" spacers peeled and stuck tiles one by one. We kept them inside of our house for some time where they were stored. The glue was good and gripped to the prepared plywood.
After 24 hours, I grouted the tiles with SimpleGrout premixed in sandstone color. This grout dries very quickly, so I did a few tiles at the time and ensured to wash with a sponge, then a cloth and then the tiles themselves with scotttowell paper, so the tiles remained clean. I finished the half of out kitchen on same morning.
Here are some pictures of my work progress:
The final result looks gorgeous. In fact everyone thinks it is a ceramic tile. At the store they thought it was really heavy and were cautious not to break it before I told them it was lvt.
I also used Aquamix grout sealer to protect the grout and it takes very little sealer to protect this grout. I used a small bottle with brush purchased for about 3$ with Aquamix sealer. It was easy to apply and sealed well the grout after 1 application.
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