State of the Kitchens

So this is what I have been doing instead of blogging:    Renovating apartments.   After we moved down here from Seattle we bought a couple of older apartment buildings and have been updating them.   So now instead of one kitchen, I have fourteen....   I may never get around to doing the cabinets in my house.

Lately I have been working on my cute vintage fourplex.     The last couple weeks I have been obsessing on this unit because it was almost done, I wanted to see it.   I had such anxiety when I started it, thought I would never finish.
We replaced almost all the fixtures and scraped and painted everything.
This kitchen turned out really well.  The cabinet is an odd size, so I refurbished it.   I took off all the hinges and handles and soaked them in a crock pot to get fifty years of paint off them.   

I don't have internet over there, so I usually just breathe paint or cleaning fumes and just think.   About strep.  and insanity.   and stuff.

 

 

Palate Cleanser

Totally Off Topic:

But it is something useful and practically miraculous. 
I used this technique on a water stain on my antique card catalog and it worked perfectly.

Made me so happy.   Little victories make life worth living.

How to Remove Dark Stains from Wood Furniture

Wish I would have known this decades ago.   Thanks Internet.

Home Improvement

Sorry I have been slacking off here lately.  Been working on my kitchen.
I don't know why, but I keep ending up with pink houses.   The last one had 1600 sq ft of pink carpet and a pink fireplace- this one has pink countertops.

I don't feel like ripping out this kitchen right now though.   Been there, done that.
After much research into tiling over the counter, I decided I don't like these cabinets enough to put that much time and money into the counter either.
So I did a bunch more research into coating it.  There are some products for that, but I don't like the look they produce.
But I did find this related product for wall tile that I did like...
So I decided to color outside the lines a bit and experimented with that in my coffee zone.

It was pretty simple, didn't make a huge mess, but did take a few days to wait for all the coats to dry and me to obsess on every speck.  But it turned out so great I can hardly stand it.   It's pretty and seems durable.  It makes me so happy to think there's an easy and affordable solution to my pink dilemma.  
I'm posting the pictures immediately without even finishing the rest... (gotta paint those sad cabinets!)
I love a product that does exactly what it says it will.

update:

The Spreadstone product is kind of expensive considering how little you get.  I think that if you're crafty, the same thing can be done on your own for half the price.   After many years of wearing paint on my clothes and skin- I'm pretty sure it's just acrylic paint with something white in it for texture.   It doesn't set up like concrete or plaster though.   After some research, I think it's lightweight joint compound.  It wasn't much thicker than paint though, so there wasn't very much in it.  Had I known, I could have used a bunch of my extra brown and tan paint instead...  If you're curious, do some experiments on a piece of wood or something. 

The technique was one base coat using a smooth fabric roller.
Then two highlight colors very gently applied using a sponge roller.  if you don't like it, you can sand it or sponge over with another color.   I also sponged by hand and used small art brushes to nitpick.

I still have to figure out what that first waterproof bond coat is.   It must be available.   Ooh, here.  Topcoat Sealers are available everywhere.

The key really was the prep.   Making sure everything was taped off, repaired, sanded and clean.

State of the New Kitchen

There is much pile management in my future.

Home Improvement

After taking a year off-
I am thisclose to installing baseboards.
I have been working on my house for 12 years.   I have redone almost all the rooms but have never replaced the trim.
It's a new era.

Glorious Pile Management

This is the type of thing that gives me a geeky thrill:

Ikea's Wicked Cool Automated Warehouse

The apex of both furniture and organization. My two favorite things...

What I've been up to

When I last checked in I thought I was done working on the house-
but alas, there was a slight alteration in plans.

My husband came and sat across the table from me and said very seriously, "Honey, I'm having a mid-life crisis."
So, using my new improved vagus response, I said calmly, "Is it a sportscar or a cheerleader?"
And he said "Neither. I want a swimming pool."

So here it is:


















It's an endless pool. In my garage.
Not only did we spend a week putting it together, and a weekend putting on the wooden rails... but I had to totally clean and paint and pile manage the whole garage and basement before that could even happen.

It's pretty cool though. He's been using it a lot. Wants to do a mini-triathalon or something. (It's kind of freaking me out. If I wanted to live with a jock I would have married one!)

So, one of his friends asked him what I was getting for MY mid-life crisis... also guessing something in the automobile category... Ha. I'm way too weird for that. (Besides, we now officially have "more stuff than anyone needs".)

I'm getting medical tests.
Big ones.
A couple polysomnograms.
A couple glucose tolerance tests.
A couple antibody titers.

Matching ones. Before and after gluten.

I know this is real.
It's predictable, reliable and repeatable. And measurable.
I'm going to document it.
And my doctor has agreed to help me.
After he read YOUR testimonials.

Thank you all so much for your support.

Now we're getting somewhere

Kitchen Update 3

Glorious Pile Management

Kitchen Update Here

State of the Kitchen

I really like the house better when it's all torn up like this.

A Ton of Pile Management

Here's an update on my kitchen remodel.

The plaster actually did weigh about a ton.

Way better than cooking

I wasn't kidding when I said I was going to remodel my kitchen now.

Here's some pics.

Home Improvement

I put up a page about my latest project.
You can see it here: The new Awning