The Week of the Floor

Thanks for joining me on my great kitchen caper.  We started this adventure on February 4^th, so if this is your first visit, you may want to check back to see what things looked like from the beginning.

This has been the week of the floor, the second largest space in the kitchen—only the ceiling is bigger.  The decision to replace the vinyl flooring was a no brainer.  After 24 years it is showing wear, along with many gouges and (my favorite) nail pops. Here is the process I went through in decision making about flooring.

Old Vinyl Floor

First, I checked out Consumer Reports magazine.  That’s almost always where I go before making a large purchase.  But, this time CR really didn’t rate all the kinds of floors possible for the kitchen:  wood, cork, bamboo, stone, slate, vinyl, linoleum, and tile.  So, I went to step two.  Using some of the information from CR I started a list of the characteristics I wanted in a kitchen floor.  In the end I chose porcelain tile from Florida Tile’s Renaissance collection and the color is Noce .  Here’s why.

Florida Tile--Renaissance-Noce (Color) 

Tiles in Place

Durablility.  This will be my “forever floor.”  In all likelihood, we will live with these floors as long as we live in this house.  I want something that will not show wear.  The kitchen is the high traffic area of the house. It’s almost the first place we land after entering the house. I don’t want to see paths worn in a few years. Porcelain is stain resistant, thank goodness.  I tend to spill grape and cranberry juice, so the very hard surface will not absorb stains or hold them on the surface. Porcelain is hard. When I drop knives (a frequent happening,) it will not gouge or cut.  It’s more likely that knives will bend, unless they hit my foot. Porcelain is easy to clean with a Swiffer mop or even a steam mop.  It doesn’t fade.

Attractive. With lots of choices in colors and textures, choosing the color and texture I wanted was the most difficult part of making the flooring selection.  In the end I chose a color (noce) very similar to the cabinets but with variation which looks like marble or even leather.  I worried that the kitchen would be too monochromatic so I chose a contrasting grout color (expresso).  The result will be a warm looking floor with contrasting gout and neither will show dirt.  (That is the real bonus of my color choice.) I chose a smooth glazed finish because I did not want a chalky matte or rough texture that might hold soil.

Porcelain does have some disadvantages.  It is so hard that when you drop a glass or a dish, it will probably break. (I may have to add to my dish collections.)  It is slippery when wet.  (I may need to add some rugs in areas likely to get spills and wipe up spills quickly.)  Porcelain also tends to be cold to the touch, an important issue for a mountain girl who likes to go barefoot in the house.  The remedy for the cold floor is to install heating under the tile.  This will not only warm the floors, but it will make the breakfast room with floor to ceiling windows much warmer in the winter. In the summer, when a cool floor is a bonus, the heat is turned off.

Electric Heating Grid

So here is what happened last week:  the subfloor was secured to eliminate all the squeaks, an underlayment put in place for stability, the wiring for the floor heating was laid down and attached, the tile was mortared in place, and the grout lines were cleaned. The tile cured over the weekend.  This week the grout will be applied. 

The space for the refrigerator was grouted Friday so the refrigerator can be moved from the dining room and attached into the water line today--I hope.  I’m glad.  I really miss being able to get ice and water anytime I want.  I’m becoming dehydrated and my wrinkles are showing.  Also,  I can’t wait to walk on my new tile floor.   

Bucking the Trends

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Keeping Wood Cabinets

Keeping the Old Wood Cabinets:   One of the big trends in kitchen design is painted cabinetry.  While I love the crisp clean look of a white kitchen, and some of the new colors are wonderful, I decided not to paint my light oak cabinets.  The wood is in really good shape with no wear, discoloration or stains.  Unlike many people, I really like the grain of oak.  I think it has character and frankly, I love the warm look of wood.  These are not “builder grade” cabinets. They were custom built, chosen by me-- and I still like them.  I was tempted, however, to change the top molding from the porch picket style to a more architectural design. But, I chose this style because I like to display my antique kitchen items on the top of the cabinets.  Solid molding would make it difficult to see some of my treasured family gadgets.  Plus the rails make decorating the space above the cabinets at Christmas easy with just a few pine garlands.

Still Love the Wallpaper

Keeping the old wallpaper:   The second big thing I like in my “old kitchen” is the wall paper.  Believe me I’ve looked for wallpaper or a paint color and technique I would like better.  I still like the willow and house striped pattern with the blue border and light cream colored background.  It is neutral.  It has the colors I want, the design I like and it is in really good condition.  I am really surprised and delighted that this kitchen has stood the test of time.  The wallpaper has no holes, no peeling, and the seams are really firmly in place.  It has not faded, discolored or stained.  So, surprisingly, the wallpaper stays too.  If I do find a paper I like better or a paint color I would prefer, I can make those changes with very little expense or effort.

These Counters Will Go

Quartz Instead of Granite Counters:  The old counter tops are plain almond beige laminate with bull nose edges.  While these counters are in good shape, this is where I chose to splurge.  The replacement will be a quartz product by DuPont.  Quartz has a look similar to granite but is has more even color and pattern.  Quartz is very hard and heat resistant, it doesn’t need to be sealed and is antimicrobial.  (Bottom line is the low maintenance aspects of the product.)  Because of the new counters, there will also be a new sink, to be mounted under the counter.  I was tempted to replace the stainless steel sink with a quartz model, but decided that stainless steel would coordinate with the dishwasher and be less expensive.

Will Keep Refrigerator

Keeping Some Older Appliances:   Over the years we have replaced several appliances.  These include the dishwasher, the garbage disposal and the refrigerator.  These will stay in the kitchen since they are in very good condition and have several years of longevity left.  Besides, I love my refrigerator.  It is the third one we have had over the 25 years in this house and it is finally the one I really, really like.  It is a French door design with the freezer drawer on the bottom.  I can see all my leftovers in the top without getting on my hands and knees..  I can stuff more frozen foods in the bottom than any of the side by side models I’ve had.  I am a happy camper. 

I will be back next week with more pictures and commentary on my great kitchen caper.

Kitchen Plan—a Taped View

The kitchen update project is well underway.  I last wrote about the changes to be made, but I failed to say that my greatest hope is that the changes will result in a much better work space and traffic pattern. 

In the old kitchen we had to circumnavigate the peninsula to get to the dining table or the breakfast bar.  So, if you needed the ketchup or anything else once seated at the table, you went through an obstacle course to get it.  The new layout will give a direct route from the table to the fridge, table to the microwave, table to the silverware drawer and table to the kitchen sink.  My new “work triangle” works!

One thing I was concerned about when changing the floor plan was whether there would be enough clearance between and around each appliance.  First, I drew up a scaled drawing of the proposed layout.  However, since I’m both a visual and kinetic person, I needed more than the drawings to “know” that the new design would work.  So, I found another use for painter’s tape. 

Then, I marked out the spatial measurements for the island and appliances on the kitchen floor with the painters tape.  This really helped me see and feel that there would be enough space for the refrigerator doors and freezer drawer to open with room to stand in front to look inside.  I established that the dishwasher door could be opened all the way for loading.  I also wanted to make certain that the door to the deck could be opened without hitting the new counter and island.

Here are more photos of my painters tape markings.

A big advantage to my tape markings was that I could easily explain the renovations I wanted to the contractor, the cabinet maker and the counter fabricator.  They could visualize what I wanted immediately.  They could also see that I had planned the necessary clearances and walkways for a much better traffic pattern and a much improved working kitchen. I would recommend doing this taped layout to anyone planning a kitchen renovation.  Taping really helps with communicating your ideas to others, including your spouse and children. 

Kitchen Update Getting Started

We live in the house we built in 1989.  This was to be our dream house.  After all, we had lived in three homes that we owned and in 8 places we either rented or they were military housing.  I worked in all eleven of those kitchens, plus the farm kitchen where I grew up, and in the five apartment kitchens where I lived in before marrying my Air Force husband.  I thought this last kitchen would be perfect. Certainly I knew what I did not want.  Hah! As I unpacked the boxes and boxes of pots, pans, dishes and gadgets, I knew that this was not my perfect kitchen.

Here what my kitchen looks like now.

Now 24 years later we get to iron out the kinks in my kitchen.  We don’t need a total renovation.  We are just going to fix some of the items on my aggravation/wish list.

1. For budget reasons we put good quality sheet vinyl on the floors when we built the house.   We’ll say good-by to nail pops and the squeaky vinyl floor. Today our choice is porcelain tile. I will talk about the “why’s” of each of my choices in later posts.
2. The peninsula resulted in awkward storage space and the counter space that was good only for collecting clutter.  The peninsula will be eliminated and turned into an island.
3. Counter tops will be up graded not because there is anything really wrong with the almond colored laminate. But…if we ever want to sell, a more up to date surface would be more attractive to buyers. (I must confess, though, that I really like the quartz material I chose.)
4. Because of the new counter tops, there will be a new sink and faucet.   (Well, I could have kept the old stainless sink and chrome faucet, but they would look really tacky with the new material.)
5. The refrigerator will move to the vacancy left by the end of the peninsula. This will eliminate one upper cupboard (which I can’t reach) and a lower cupboard (that I stand on my head to access).
6.  New cupboards and counter space will be created in the space left by the refrigerator.
7. The florescent light must go!  New pot lights will be spread around the perimeter of the kitchen and pendant lights will be added over the island.
8. Finally, an updated stainless steel range hood will replace the outdated almond colored one.  The new vent has more light and more power to eliminate cooking odors.

In future posts I will share the specific decisions I made in my kitchen update. I hope you will enjoy my journey into kitchen nirvana.  Check out my before pictures.