Kitchen Before & Afters

I've had a lot of requests for all the "Before & After" photos, so here I will begin with the first major DIY project: removing the kitchen carpet and painting the plywood floors. Which led to the decision to paint the ceilings and walls first, which led to the decision to add a bead-board backsplash.

Fun Things We Learned:
* Nail through formica backsplash rather than tear it up. It's sharp.
* Cheapo blue painters tape sticks to the paint and pulls it off. Get the good stuff.
* Caulking is fun and fast!
* Freshly painted floors are way more inconvenient than walls.

Before:

Project Steps:

1. Remove carpet, nails, staples, padding & tack-strip.

2. Unpregnant adult saturates stained plywood with mildew/mold inhibitor.

3. Unpregnant adult fixes warped plywood that bubbled when saturated.

4. Remove appliances to the dining room. Eat out.

5. Fix mouse holes, especially cleaning out the best under the dishwasher. 

5a. Install panelling over old backsplash.

6. Clean trim, walls, and ceiling, tape up edges.

7. Prime trim. Dry. Repeat. Paint trim. Dry. Repeat. (Learn lessons about painting with small children.)

8. Prime & Paint ceiling. Dry.

9. Paint walls. Dry. Repeat.

10. Clean floors, tape edges. 

11. Paint your way out of the kitchen floors. Don't forget to block all entrances for dogs and people. Try another local restaurant.

12. Rejoice in the fact that you cannot get to the laundry in the basement because the floor is wet and the exterior basement door is locked from the inside.

12a. Second coat of floor paint.

13. Reinstall appliances.

14. Level drain board with 1x2 shim.

14. Replace all outlets and switches.

15. Hunt for vintage knobs on internet. Find one for trash/milk chute.

16. Reinstall antique knobs & hinges.

17. Caulk backsplash.

18. Reinstall cool old can & bottle openers.

19. Repair (glue back together) butcher block cutting board, then sand it down and finish it with mineral oil.

206. Install battery powered LED under mount task lighting under cabinets. (Found at my favorite store: Costco!)

207. Find cool vintage curtains on eBay, tension rod from Walmart & install.

208. Finally unpack china and pretty serving ware, reorganizing the entire kitchen in the process.

220. Wait a week until the kitchen is cleaned up to take photos.

So cheery! Is anyone else having Sunnyside flashbacks?