Kitchen Renovation

Long post, but if you're using it for reference, I did my best to be descriptive!  Look for the TLDR and glance at the pictures if you're just curious :)

My first house I bought turned into my rental house once my now-husband and I bought and moved into our house together, thus fulfilling a life goal of becoming a landlord (to each their own, right?).  In the five years I lived in my house, I renovated and updated aspects of the house as time went on.  The house was move-in-ready, yet dated, when I purchased it.  I updated light fixtures, changed out faucets and doorknobs, and installed privacy doors.  Additionally, I updated the kitchen to bring it forward to the current decade.  This house was built in 1981 and the kitchen was original. 

It's not that it wasn't functional, but I wanted to increase the value of the home and given the kitchen just needed a bit of TLC to brighten it up, I knew I could do it myself.

TLDR: Label everything, tape it off, put the prep work in, paint multiple coats with the last one being the front, paint hardware to save some money, changing out a sink faucet will make a world of difference :)

Here is what it looked like before the renovation.  I did not think to take photos without all the stuff on the counters, so please forgive the mess :)

Basic cabinets and laminate faux wood countertops. 

Basic shallow stainless sink and a low faucet.

The first step was to remove all the cabinet doors and pull out (and empty) the drawers. As I removed the doors, I labeled them by writing on painters' tape to ensure I would reinstall them in the right location. I used a numbering system for the upper cabinets and an alphabetical system for the lowers. At the same time, I removed the hardware (hinges) and put them into cups marked with their location. 

My labeling system.

I set up my garage as my cabinet painting area.  I laid down plastic sheeting, and set up as much area as needed for laying out all the cabinet doors. I used sawhorses with 1x2's covered in painters' tape to extend my work surface as well as a few tables I had lying around. 

This is where the magic happened.

Technically, my next step was ripping up the countertops because I was replacing those with granite and before I installed the granite counters, I had to build up and level the cabinets (old house and they weren't installed level). Doing so was easier prior to painting. If you're only working on transforming your cabinets, you simply will need to cover and tape off the counters to protect them.

Next, I taped everything off both in the kitchen and for the drawers since I was only painting the drawer fronts and cabinet frames. 

Spoiler alert: I installed my new faucet as soon as I got it because I was so excited!

Now for the hard work! I used Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations (I got it from Home Depot) so I wouldn't have to do as much refinishing work, but the early steps for this product are the most crucial.  How well you execute the prep tasks will affect the difficulty and success of all the following steps. I knew I wanted really white cabinets to brighten it up, so I didn't even tint the white base which came in the kit. If you want any other color besides stark white, you can "tint" the base to whatever color you want (HD will do that for you).

I applied the Deglosser from the kit using the included scrub pad and went to town!  This took a few days to get every nook and cranny within every door and drawer, but, again, this step is critical to success if you aren't going to go through the trouble of stripping varnish and sanding down everything. 

Next, I painted on the Bond Coat.  I used a paintbrush every step of this, but if you have a paint sprayer, as long as you dilute the paint a little, you could use that.  I imagine it would save you a good amount of time.  Also, in using a paintbrush, you can see the strokes if you're looking close enough (so you have to be deliberate when using).  The Bond Coat starts off looking a bit patchy, but it builds and builds on itself.  I ended up doing three coats of this (used up all of it from the kit).

I did all the coats on one side of the doors before I started on the other side.  There are many ways of doing this, but I knew I wanted all my last coats on the door fronts.

I let coats dry overnight, so you can see how the days added up.  One day for coat #1 on the back, one day for coat #2 on the back, one day for coat #3 on the back, one day for coat #1 on the front, etc.  

My final step for the cabinets and drawers was the Top Coat. I did two coats of this on the backs then fronts which gave it a lovely satin finish.

The last item which I did in between coats one evening was paint all the hardware to bring it up to this century too.  Spray paint has come a long way and I used Satin Nickel spray paint on all the hinges and screws.  I stabbed the screws in cardboard so they'd stand up and stay put.

Before: Original dirty bronze

After: They look entirely different!

The final step was reinstalling everything and having my granite counters delivered!  I also took the opportunity to get a deeper, larger sink as well. 

By doing it myself, I accomplished this kitchen renovation for under $2700, which is a fraction of the cost of paying for a professional kitchen overhaul.  I should note, I was working on the kitchen evenings after work and on weekends. Other than Saturdays and Sundays, I didn't work on it more than about two hours any other day, so the whole project from kick off to re-installing the last cabinet drawer took about a month. 

I hope this gives you confidence to tackle a DIY in your home!

Good luck!

Hannah

A New Direction

Hi there!  In this current climate and in seeking an outlet for my creativity and boredom (outside of work from home hours), I wanted to share my knowledge as I have always desired and decided to redirect my blog.  I started this blog to provide an easy location to share my travels and the stories and facts I acquired along the way with family and friends. I still plan on doing that, and so much more.  

Given my varied interests and what I find myself drawn to, I am excited to jump off from here to share my knowledge and lessons I've learned in my many trivial pursuits. 

Going forward, I am excited to share very real experiences and projects I have pursued, solved, learned from, and accomplished.  This includes home projects, food experiments, travel stories, and fitness excursions, among others. I am a lifelong learner with an insatiable appetite to continue seeking knowledge, and because of that, I am constantly casting a net to find new things to try.

Away we go!

Catching Up

Well, seven years later let's see where I am...

• Engaged
• A landlord
• Killing it at OrangeTheory
• Have a rascal of a cat named Ollie
• Traveled to a few more countries
• Learned many more lessons
• Have a wealth of good friends
• Happy with life!

It's about time, I know...

After a very very long break, I have decided to revisit the blog and catch it up.  I'll try to be swift.

Vegas Baby!
Two weeks after I returned from Europe, for her birthday, Jordan and I went to Vegas with her dad and stepmom and Mimi and her boyfriend (now husband).  Our flight departed at 6:00am(!) and we landed in Vegas a few hours later.  We went to Las Vegas Motor Speedway to watch the drag races that day.  It was exhilarating! We stood next to the starting line right where the noise is deafening (we did wear earplugs), you feel the revving engines take your breath away, and the tar/asphalt from the track sticks to your skin.  Also, I became very sunburned because I'm really white (it's a fact of life I've come to terms with).  At the end of the day we returned to the hotel, pulled on a few slots, and went to dinner.  Other outings we managed to fit in our four days there were visiting the Hoover Dam, walking up and down the Strip, going by the 'Pawn Stars' pawn shop, seeing "O" the Cirque du Soleil water show, and we went to the Academy of Country Music Awards which were that weekend.  It was a lot of fun and despite Vegas having a negative connotation, it was very easy to avoid the "crazy" people.

At the Awards concert

Graduation
Back from Vegas, it was time to hit the books for a great finish to my last semester.  Yep, I graduated in May with my finance degree, but I’m still at A&M.  I’m now working toward my Master of Real Estate (MRE) which I’ll receive in December of this year (2012).  I knew I wanted a master degree straight out of undergrad, and during my last semester, I took a few real estate classes and fell in love!  I enjoyed the courses, the knowledge, and, perhaps most importantly, the professors.  I heard about the MRE program and applied.  I was accepted without even having to interview.  I have enjoyed every minute of it. I love the professionals I’m meeting, what I’m learning, the people in my program, and the fact that this program is a perfect fit for me.

Boo!

During my last couple of months of undergrad, one of my friends found a litter of five kittens and a nursing momma cat in their front bushes.  I had visited them multiple times and when they were eight weeks old and it was time for them to find homes, I decided to adopt/rescue my favorite kitten.  I had no intention of being a parent to any pet until I was out of college, but I could not get over this cat.  Mom has always said, for big decisions, sleep on it, and if you can’t get it out of your mind, then you know what to do.  Alas, I chose to adopt Boo.  He has a shiny, jet black coat, yellow eyes, and is quite a ball of energy.  He loves playing fetch with his plush mice, he likes bothering Jacob (much to his dismay), and he is always happy to see me come home every day.  All in all, I know I made the right choice.

This is what he looked like when I adopted him.

And this is him now...

GE

Come summer, I was on internship again and with the same company (sort of) as the previous summer.  I had worked for Dresser, Inc. the previous summer, but that following December they were acquired by GE.  It was basically the same company, but I did have a different boss and different and more involved responsibilities.  I was given a specific project this summer as opposed to monthly financial reporting duties as I had done previously.  In short, I was charged with finding what areas and why we were losing money at one of our plants, and then coming up with something to fix the problem.  The plant in question was in a different state, so I went up there for a week to do some digging.  I had to meet with many people and learn so much more about the business than I already knew, but I did find what I needed.  I found the problem areas, and mistakes made, and the parts of the process where mistakes often occurred.   Armed with my problems to solve, I went back to Houston and by the end of the summer I put together a new costing and pricing model complete with steel research and accounting procedures built in.  This model is now what the engineers, salesmen, accountants, and everyone in between all use to cost and price new jobs.  

Familia

Also during the summer, Rachel had a baby!  Levi Wesley was born the evening of July 6 to Rachel and Justin via C-section.  He is a big, healthy, almost eight-month-old boy now, in the highest percentile of height, weight, head size, etc.  

  

As for Brewer, in the beginning of March, he proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Sabrina, and they will be marrying on March 31.  I am a bridesmaid!  We are all eagerly awaiting and looking forward to that milestone.

Jacob is making it through Biomedical Science as best he can, as it is a tough major.  He still is looking to go into Pharmacy, but I don’t think he has resolutely excluded other options. 

Dad and Mom enjoy their new role as grandparents (Pop and Gram), and they’re still holding down the fort for all of us.  Grandmother is doing as well as she can for being 81, and I know she’s happy she made it to be a great-grandmother. 

Currently

I took one of the hardest tests of my life yesterday, and have multiple upcoming obligations regarding presentations, exams, and reports.  I did have a spectacular birthday this year which makes me appreciate all my friends and those close to me even that much more.

I am blessed.

The Last of Europe

A bit of humor, odds and ends, and opinions...

Paprika chips are so tasty, but they're only sold in Europe. They really should be sold in the US.  I brought my younger brother back some paprika Pringles and we polished those off fast.  They are almost reminiscent of barbecue flavor, but not quite.  Definitely, try them if you ever go to Europe.

Random street signs we passed in Belgium on our way to the house.

 

What I managed to get by with on my European vacation.  Go budgets!

 Coke Light: Not allowed in America because the main sugar ingredient has been tied to cancer or something like that.  It tastes exactly like Diet Coke made with artificial sweetener.

What we did how we could, when we could. Yes, that is a table. Yes, I am asleep.

Also asleep here, but at least my mouth isn't open...

Eating our way through Europe: Part VI (la fin!)

Paris, France

I realize it has taken quite some time to get to this point, but, alas, this concludes this European trip.  I will have one other post with a few random, funny shots regarding the trip, but this is the last fully educational one.
Our second day in Paris was where we fit in the Louvre, the Champs-Elysees (pronounced quickly: shom-zeh-ley-say), and the Arc de Triomphe.  We did so much walking on this day it probably equates to all the other cities we went to combined.  My feet hated me at the end of the day, but I digress...

We started the day off right (or wrong, as it was really early again) with a croissant from the boulangerie across the street from the Louvre.

These are the columns that greet visitors from the side entrance.  They are so ornate and the picture can't quite show it, but they are massive.  It's no wonder they have stood the test of time.

The back of the "U" from inside the Louvre courtyard.

I'll be honest, I don't remember what this one was called, but I know I've seen it before (in a textbook, perhaps), maybe you recognize it?

This is the "Diana of Versailles", a Roman copy of a Greek sculpture depicting Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, doing what she does best.

 One of the many ornately decorated ceilings.  This depicts Athena overseeing a "battle", more or less, between men.

 Couldn't miss the "Venus de Milo".  She really is beautiful and even more so when you think of the relatively primitive tools used to sculpt her around 130-100 BC.

"The Wedding at Cana" by Veronese.  This thing is HUGE! In the lower left hand side, the guy who doesn't have black hair was standing pretty close to it so it can give you a sense of scale.  The painting is a little larger than 22' x 32'.  It was one of the most impressive paintings in my opinion.

"The Mona Lisa" by none other than da Vinci. I was warned ahead of time that she would be small, so she could have been more anti-climactic for me, but still, for the amount of people crowding around her and her fame, you would expect her to be...larger.  Don't get me wrong, the painting is a work of art and her smile/smirk is intriguing, but she's about 30" x 21", so she was hard to see from 10 feet away through many peoples' heads.

 A colorful painting.

"Le Sommeil de l'Enfant Jesus" by Sassoferrato.  Translated: The Sleep of the Infant Jesus.

"Modern Rome" by Panini.  Paintings within a painting.

 Our group outside The Louvre after seeing the art and before we started the trek down the Champs-Elysees.  I cannot explain why Kevin is sans jacket. It was chilly.

This was after we already walked a bit and made it out of the gardens in front of The Louvre.  We had decided since we could see the Arc de Triomphe from the front of The Louvre, it wasn't that far. Well, it was a healthy 2.23 miles down the equivalent of Chicago's "Million Dollar Mile" or New York's 5th Avenue.  The Champs-Elysees is where the luxury giants are located (i.e. Louis Vuitton).  This is known as one of the most expensive strips of (retail) real estate in the world.

 Stopped for a quick meal before we reached the Arc.

The massive Arc de Triomphe! There are multiple underground tunnels made for tourists to access the Arc to prevent anyone from playing Human Frogger through the heavy traffic of this central location.

This is the "underbelly" of the Arc.

 We decided to pay the 6 euros to climb to the top of the Arc.  These are only a few of the stairs we climbed.  I think at some points I was using my hands as well as my then-wobbly legs.  We agreed we burned off everything we had eaten in Europe so far with this day.  Don't get me wrong, I'm fairly fit, but this isn't my usual workout...

 The summit at last! It was pretty windy up there, but the 360-degree views of Paris were worth it.  It looks like an overcast day, but the grey clouds were high.  We had visibility for miles (or should I say kilometers?).

 A view of the Eiffel Tower from the top.  I will say, Wikipedia has a great article with facts and the truly awesome history of the Arc and a really neat panoramic picture of the view from the top.  There is so much history and symbolism in this one monument; I guarantee it's more than you thought you knew.

As a final note, this was my last meal in Europe, in the airport, before our flight.  Our flight ended up being delayed by four hours, so I missed both of my connections to get home to San Antonio.  I ended up spending the night in Philadelphia before having to catch a 6am flight to Denver to connect to SA later that afternoon and then drive the three hours to CS the next day. I ended up missing class on Monday, but it was unavoidable.