About mid January, we started brainstorming kitchen upgrade ideas. Our house isn't that large, so even small changes have a big impact on the feel of our 1,400 sq. foot home. One thing we've always loved about our cozy home is it's cottage-feel. Surrounded by towering oak trees, a couple backyard hens, a rambling brook just a couple meters from our back door... we love the energy, and warmth of our home. We wanted the heart of our home, the kitchen, to give off that same warm, cottage-type feel.
One thing we both wanted were granite countertops. So we visited a designer in Cary who helped lead us in the right direction as far as granite goes. She was very knowledgeable in color and design, which really helped us narrow down our granite choices (thanks for the recommendation, Alice!) Then about a month goes by, and we set an appointment to visited the granite fabricator. We see all the slabs of granite and pick out the color and style we feel would best fit (both our style and budget).
About two weeks later, on a Friday afternoon, the installation began! I took the day off so the granite people could stop by in the afternoon. I sat on the couch as I heard banging, and drilling in the kitchen. Then I saw the two construction workers walk in front of me, and out the front door with the entire, sterile, white countertop in their hands and I about shrieked with glee! The one thing I hated most in this house, was finally leaving. No more yucky, leaky sink, no more ugly white counters... bigger and better things were on their way (can you tell how I loathed my kitchen countertops?)
The new countertops immediately made a huge impact on the look and feel of the room. That evening Kyle and I went straight to LOWES and bought our supplies for the next day. We already purchased our backsplash tiles... and our neighbor leant us his tile cutting saw... so we were set to go.
Bright and early Saturday morning we started laying the backsplash. After countless YouTube.com videos... I had it under my belt. We were ready to go. Our neighbors stopped in to see how we were doing. They gave us some tips and suggestions. Luckily we have a Contractor, and an Electrician who live two houses down :) Like snails, we inched along laying tiles, cutting tiles... then cutting more tiles... finally by 1:00am that next morning we finished with laying the tiles. After a warm shower, we hit the bed.
The next day, Sunday, we had one thing on our mind, and that was "grout." We went out for breakfast to get the day started off right. Once home (after a brief trip to LOWES for extra supplies) we put our nose the the tile-stone and got back to work. Grout is gross. It's dirty, sticky and grimy. I don't know if it will ever come off my nails. Kyle did most of the grout work, and I came behind him with a wet spunge and cleaned the tiles off. We went through buckets and buckets of water cleaning off the grout. Talk about a workout!
It sounds easy... but it took the entire weekend. We entered the work week more exhausted then we when we left it! But all in all, it was well worth it. Especially if we up'ed re-sale value... CHA CHING! Kyle and I make a pretty darn good team, but I don't think we're going to start "flipping" houses anytime soon :)