Jon & Kathy

I haven’t grouted it yet, but you get the idea.

I thought I would save some money by putting in granite tile countertops from easygranitetile.com… I saved money all right, but the prep work about killed me! I had to weld up 3 different types of supports and make a million cuts on the concrete backer board, and that stuff is super dusty. The tiles are just setting in place, and are not level yet. Once they’re level it is difficult to see that its tile. I also have to grout it (grout lines are 1/8″). As you can see from the pics, we’ve also added a bar sink. Once the tiles are set, I’ll drill the hole for the faucet. There is also a small apron to cover the exposed wood along the edge of the counter. I’ve probably got another 6 hrs or so of labor left, but it should look really good. We’ll be doing backsplash after that, and then I BELIEVE the kitchen is done… no one really knows though.

Yup, 31 light fixtures in the kitchen and we’ve got a few more to install. No, you don’t turn them all on at once… it’d be like looking at the sun. They’re for different settings. Anyway, here’s a grainy low light photo of the new in/under-cabinet lights… which btw, I had to tear down every wall-mount cabinet to put these in and cut 2 holes in the wall. What a hassle.

It should look a lot better against black countertops and our awesome backsplash. Those should be here in 2 weeks.

We’re finally wrapping up the house. We still have a few projects left, but mostly easy ones… that cost a lot. We’re getting countertops and backsplash soon, we have the under/in-cabinet lights (need to install this weekend), paint the house (exterior), pour a new driveway, and build 2 retaining walls… and get a glass shower door made for the guest bathroom… and finish the basement… but thats basically it . It actually is a lot less work than it sounds like. I’ll have everything except the basement finished by the end of May, as long as our re-finance goes well. Anyway, here’s the new hood!

Update 18 Jan 11

We leveled and trimmed out the upper cabinets on one wall. The keen eye will see some wiring hanging down behind the cabinet. That is part of the in-cabinet and under-cabinet lighting that I mentioned the other day.

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We’re moving right along with the kitchen. We leveled the base cabinets, installed toe kick and filler strips, and did some metal working to put in that nifty HVAC vent (yes, I’m going to paint it black). I’m starting on the upper cabinets tonight. They’re a little more involved than the base cabinets. We’re putting lights under each of them for the counter top, and inside each of the glass faced cabinets. Its a little silly, but we spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and really like it there. We will have 39 light fixtures in the one room though. 17 cans, above table fixture, above bar fixture, and the rest are a mix of the puck lights in and beneath the upper cabinets. It should look nice. Each set of lights is on a dimmer. Really, this is just us seeing what we like so that we can improve on the design in the next house. I will probably go with an automated lighting system to control the lights in the new home. Anyway, here is a quick peak at what its looking like. I’ll post more pics tonight after we do some of the upper cabinets.

Kathy and I put our new tile down this weekend. Yes, we have a lot of tile in our house. I’ll have more pics soon with the cabinets reinstalled, new sink, and hopefully new counter tops also. Olivia snuck into the video also.

Dad and I picked this up last week to assist in the many projects that we want to tackle. These are pics right after it was delivered, and it looks 100x better now after dad put some elbow grease into it. Once we get it all cleaned up I’ll put up some new pics of it.

For those of you that care… here are the features:
4wd
4 in 1 (clam) bucket
9000+ lbs of lift on front bucket
25mph forward/31mph reverse
Heat & AC

Hey everyone,

I’m showing off the new piece of furniture that Jon built for me! I love it!