Day 12: Nook cushions done!

One of the first things we did when we bought our house was to give the kitchen a facelift. That included the breakfast nook. With some paint, new upholstery and a new pendant light, it looked like new.

And then construction happened. And when we uncovered it the cushions were moldy and dirty and beyond repair. So I could have just reupholstered them.

Or we could just have the whole thing rebuilt. Which is what we did. Because at the end of the day, we eat 8 out of 10 meals here and the benches were just not very comfortable. And food and dust collected underneath. We made some "simple" changes and ended up rebuilding the whole damn thing. And this is how it looked for weeks.

And the reason it looked like this is because I got a proposal for $2500 to create the new cushions and that basically stopped me in my tracks. I would have to go the DIY route.

It took several trips to the Foam Factory in Berkeley but after some testing and cutting and testing somewhere, we picked 2" foam plus batting. I took them the plywood templates and then created these pink fluffy cushions you see here.

With a bit of in-trepidation, I put the puzzle pieces together and breathed a sigh of relief that it all seemed to fit. Total cost: $625.00. Savings of: $1875. So far, pretty good savings. (I should include the toll costs, gas and time for getting Berkeley but I am trying to prove that I saved some money with the DIY version, so I will leave that out for now.)

And then on Saturday night, after all were asleep, I started with the upholstering. And about an hour into it, I started to curse this DIY project and saving money and the nook and the whole damn project. It's a slippery slope when that happens.

I finished the 3 base pillows and one back pillow and went to bed unhappy with the results.

And for all of Sunday, it just sat there, unfinished. And I was unhappy and dissatisfied and utterly frustrated. My husband chimed in with the advice that saved the day: " Here's the thing. Just finish it. It looks pretty good. Let's live with it for a month and then if you still really really hate it then we can figure out if we need to fix it or have it done professionally."

Ok, I could live with that.

So on Monday, after boys were dropped off at school, I turned off my phone and got back to work. And a few hours later, well, here it is....

Just need a new table top now and the nook will be ready to go!

Finally, the kitchen

Do you have drafts of emails sitting in your draft folder that have been there for, oh I don't know, weeks? No, you say. Well, I do and they hang in the back of my mind like a laundry forgotten on a clothes line. And what is worse, I have drafts of blog posts hanging out in my iPhone, just waiting for the moment when I can snap that one photo or write those few words and these have done little things make me absolutely mad. Like in crazy and insane.

This post was one of those. So, finally, I present to you the finished kitchen.

I have shared bits and pieces of corners and appliances but never really the full view. We have been living in for months, so the novelty is a bit less shiny as it was when first it was complete, but now that I see the dreariness and datedness of the old oak cabinets and sad appliances, I have to smile. 

Budget is a big deal for us and a significant part of this project haus is to stay within a very tight budget for each project we choose to complete. That means splurging on what is most important (to us) and be savvy consumers on the rest. We planned on $10K for this kitchen reno and ended up spending about $11K, which included:

- Repainting all the cabinets

- Replacing all hardware

- Adding crown molding

- Removing dated details and repaired granite countertop

- Adding new Miele dishwasher

- Adding new microwave

- Adding new stainless French door refrigerator

- Adding new restaurant grade double faucet

- Adding new CB2 lamp in breakfast nook

- Reupholstering nook seat cushions

- Sewing new pillows for nook

- Building new table for nook

- Transforming pantry into large storage closet

Lessons learned:

- No one will ever paint as meticulously as you paint (if you happen to like painting) so find someone who gets really close and then just inspect their work over and over again

- Have everything in writing, especially when it comes to expectations and money

- IKEA hardware can make a huge difference for a fraction of the price (just make sure to pick the right style)

- CB2 has fantastic light fixtures at fantastically reasonable prices

- Appliance shopping is terribly overwhelming but at the end of the day, Sears came through with the best deal

- Splurge on your priorities, you will appreciate it them everyday

- Oil based paint is so crazy smelly, but totally worth it for covering oak and other wood finishes

- Bottle sprayed painting leaves a gentle spray of color in all kinds of places, that you slowly discover months after the work is done

- You get what you pay for, most of the time

Pantry mentality

I think this ginormous closet in our kitchen must have been a pantry. A "shop at Costco or make everything from scratch and canning and jamming" kind of pantry.

For a city dweller and non-cook, I had no idea what to do with all this kitchen storage. I had visions of a laundry closet or a craft table or an office nook. I am still hooked on the idea of an office nook but as I began to realize, storage in the kitchen is actually quite important. I know, I am a slow learner.

So, now it's full. And now that I see the images, I much like the empty closet space better but it is functional and spacious and well lit. Everything has its place.

Our first set of French Doors

Before

Really, I wish you could have seen this. This stunning, duct taped attempt at a refrigerator. I wondered how one can put a house on the market with appliances in this state - but then I look at the rest of the house and smile. Oh yeah, that's how.

However, aside from the duct tape, it worked. And our motto for these first few months, "if it ain't broke don't fix it" applied. Until we had all the cabinets painted and the hardware installed. Because then, well, it just looked really bad.

So off to Sears and the fancy appliance store we went.

From $8000 Miele's to $10,000 SubZero's to $1000 seconds at the Sears outlet, we saw them all. Side by side, French door, freezer on the bottom, ice machine in the door. And well, at the end of the day, a super sale at Sears gave us this Kenmore Elite winner.

Now if only I could figure out how to not run out of apple juice.

A cabinet in the corner

Before

After

Just a piece of the October 2011 kitchen remodel

Stay tuned for more to come!!!

A toddler sized kitchen

BEFORE

AFTER

DURING

Sometimes things just fit perfectly. I knew when I saw the built in wine rack that it would have to go as having glass wine bottles at toddler grasping height would be no good. So out went the built in and then there was just empty space. 

You can imagine my glee, when the play kitchen fit right in.

A faucet facelift

Usually we have the mentality "if it's not broken, don't fix it" but once everything was painted and the new appliances were in, the kitchen sink and its existing faucet looked a little meek. We passed on replacing the sink, not for lack of wanting too, but for saving a bit of time and money at this point in the process. But we figured a little bit of a faucet facelift would do the trick.

And well, it did. 

BEFORE

AFTER

I splurged and had our plumber install the new faucet for us which is not your typical DIY mentality but being 8+ months pregnant and having a husband who owns his own business, I figured the splurge was worth it.

And again, it was.

His words "It's so great to work with quality products, makes my life so much easier. What'd you pay for this $600-700?" To that I smiled and proudly reported, "No, less than $275.00" and you should have seen the expression on his face.

Kraus Commercial Faucet available on Overstock.com

The king of dishwashers

We knew the moment we heard "your offer was accepted" that we would be painting the kitchen cabinets and getting a Miele dishwasher.

Before

It makes appliance shopping outrageously easy if you know the brand you want and the brand you want only makes 3 dishwashers and the brand you want is only sold in a select number of high-end appliance stores and the brand you want is a set price, everywhere.

All we had to do was choose the handle. That is my kind of decision making.

Then we simply waited for the Miele Concierge service to do their thing.

And now that it's been a few months, we can report that yes in fact the king of dishwashers is indeed the king.

In fact, I might have to change my opinion about unloading the dishwasher and take it off my "dislikes" list for good.

It had to go...

Before

Cabinets, painted. Hardware, attached. Moulding, up. Dishwasher, in. Refrigerator, in.

When all was said and done, the microwave in its black 70's glory and mismatched trim now stood out like a bad haircut. It just had to go.

A bit of Internet browsing and consumer reporting later (thanks all to the patience of my husband) we had ourselves a stainless update. A wrongly ordered trim kit because we took a salespersons assumption instead of actually measuring, delayed completion by a week, but when it did all come together...

...it was the perfect finishing touch.

Before & after: The Breakfast Nook

before..

during...

after...

There it is. One finished breakfast, lunch and dinner nook.

The stuff

Textiles

Pillows - Dwell Studio Gate Charcoal {found on Amazon for 1/2 price)

Pillows - Clearance Anthropolgie curtain panel repurposed, found at Liquid Marin

Bench - Subrella Indoor/Outdoor Upholstery in Green, found at Discount Fabrics

Table

Base - Simon X Table Base, found at Pier 1

Top - Plywood from local hardware store

Covering - Plexi vinyl in soft white, found at Joanne's

Light fixture

Pulley Pendant Lamp at CB2