Well, I did have a crazy notion of getting the whole kitchen finished over the holidays. Didn't happen, but I'm close. My dear friend Rob spent New Year's eve and New Year's Day working with me to get the final big projects finished and we did just that, I'm very happy to report.
Here's a little reminder of where we started. Note the long wall entering the kitchen and the really odd looking pot rack tacked up on the wall. The pot rack was a homemade thing made from copper plumber's pipe, chain and S-hooks. It did the job, but it was not particularly attractive.
Okay, so Day 1 was finished with the installation of the moldings and it was time to celebrate New Year's Eve with a late dinner of pork loin with a mustard glaze, blue cheese and red bliss mashed potatoes, broccoli (I only eat it raw, not a big fan of cooked veggies) and apple sauce.
Day 2 began with a homemade bacon and broccoli quiche (won't bore you with photos) and "final" decisions on how to build the new counter. This has been a very budget project and I had decided to use an old narrow door that I had in the back of my garage. You can just make it out behind the white chair and striped beach chair below.
I'd spent the last several months debating what to do about the legs for the counter. While I do intend to put a skirt on it to conceal storage below, I did want decorative legs and was hoping to be able to do an exposed leg with the skirt running behind. However, budget is a concern and really beautiful wooden legs were not a possibility. I did have an old family table in the garage and thought we could use the legs, with something added to make them counter height. I also really liked the reuse, repurpose, recycle concept of this project.
Getting the pieces and parts altogether:
Okay, so this was an experiment. Using Liquid Nails, we glued 2x2x6" blocks to the tops of the table legs to make them 34.5" for the 36" height counter. We tried nailing them as well, but that wasn't too successful. Now, you have to give us props for this excellent use of my wine rack set on two chairs as "holders" for the legs so they could dry upright. Well, most of you are likely well ahead of me - this just was not going to work. The Liquid Nails did not seem like it would really provide enough hold and we finally accepted that this was not the way to go. So, back to Home Depot (trip #3 in less than 24 hours) for 2x2x34.5 cut wood. A little boring and plain, but cheaper than turned legs. And I can cover them up.
So, while I made my final trip of the day to Home Depot, Rob installed the pot rack, the right way. We still used the plumbers copper pipe (re-polished). Instead of bracing it against the wall, Rob hung it off of a ceiling stud. So, there is some swing in it, but I just love it and I finally got to hang up my Revereware copper bottom pans and collection of copper molds and pots. We used heavy duty steel chain and s-hooks, which work well with the stainless appliances.
The door knob hole is going to come in handy as I'm going to be able to run electrical plugs down through it to the outlet below. I plan to put a table lamp here to add some lighting. But this space is going to be great for laundry folding and entertaining. While it does make the kitchen feel smaller, it will provided much needed storage and flat surface space.
So, the final steps are to make the counter skirt and the relaxed roman shade for the window, both out of burlap. And then to accessorize and take final photos.
A big thanks to my Skirted Roundtable partner Joni Webb of Cote de Texas for featuring my kitchen makeover (even though it was not yet complete) in her roundup of the Top Ten Renovations of 2009. There are some pretty exceptionally talented people out there and I am honored to be included.
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