twelveOeight

I have been so excited about sharing our new cement kitchen counter tops, and the day is finally here!

We bought our home a year ago and the kitchen was cramped and dark with oak cabinets for uppers and lowers.

I immediately knew that painting the cabinets a bright white on top and dark grey on the lower cabinets would modernize the kitchen quickly. But we were still stuck with the blue Corian counter tops, so we took our time deciding if we wanted butcher block counter tops or concrete.  After much discussion, concrete was the winner.

We decided to build a mock counter top and pour some concrete on it allowing it to try and keeping it in the kitchen for a couple days to make sure we liked it. 

Down came the upper cabinets as we decided that tiling the wall all the way to the ceiling would make the kitchen so much more open,

We removed the old countertops, used plywood to build the new base for the concrete counter tops, and built a frame with recycled wood we had on hand knowing it was just going to get thrown away.

We installed lath to strengthen the concrete, and the fun part was about to begin.  Troy mixed the concrete by the load, and poured it in while I leveled it with a concrete trowel.  We knew that if we did not somehow shake out the bubbles that we would end up with lots of little gaps in the concrete when it dried.

I used a palm sander with no sand paper on it around all the edges of each leveled area on the side of the wood frame.  The vibration shook so much of the air bubbles to the top we were able to achieve the smooth look we were hoping for.

When the concrete was wet and we waited for it to dry I knew this would either be something we would love or live with.  Without the use of our kitchen for a few days, toast and coffee were made on our big farmhouse kitchen table. I could not wait to pull the frame off and sand the rough edges of the new counter tops.

The total project cost us about $50 in extra-strength quick-setting concrete, $40 for the plywood and lath, and $35 in wet look food-grade concrete sealer.  We actually sealed it twice, the first time with a matte look sealer, then realizing we wanted them to have a glossy look, the gloss which we love!

Once the counters were dry and sealed we ran subway tile all the way up and used a dark grey grout.

All the work had paid off!

It was so fun to look for a few new pretty pops of color to bring into our “new” kitchen. 

We thought about installing floating shelves but all of our dishes fit nicely in our pantry so we are loving how open the kitchen feels now.

We are taking out the center section of the soffit in the kitchen next and installing recessed lighting.  That will give the kitchen an even more open feeling.

When you come in our back door you walk thru a small dining area that we use for a home office, and can see straight into our dining and front living room.  It is amazing what some paint and allowing the light to come thru can do in a space!

While not everything we try is a huge success it seems like if we play it safe too much of the time we never try anything new.  We are so glad we went for it and ripped out those cabinets and counters without looking back.  What part of your home would you love to change but aren’t sure where to start? I would love to hear what your next project is or what you would love to change!

Thank you as always for reading, wishing you a blessed, amazing day 🙂

xo, Tanya

The weather is warming up and I don’t know about you but the first thing I have to do is spruce up my front porch! I love to mix lots of plants, move a few plants back outside and make our entry a welcoming hello for the summer.

We bought our mid-century modern home exactly a year ago, and while you would think the amount of work renovating it would be great material for blogging, I sometimes struggle to balance it all and share what we have done.

The first huge project was painting the exterior a dark warm grey and lighter grey combination with white accents. It plays up the the angles of the entry way, and while I don’t have a huge porch I try to maximize the space with some fun things that make me happy.

This area rug is a thrifted find here in town, the pots and planters a mix of new and used that I have scored over time. The stand in the back is an industrial stool with a top that spins, so it makes a much better plant stand than a comfy seat

I love to mix natural wood and wicker in to bring warmth and depth to spaces indoors and outside too.

I would love to say that I have mastered Macrame but this was a find from Marshall’s that I could not pass up. I thought it would be kind of fun to use it as a door hanging instead of a wreath this summer.

We still have a fence to build and two bathrooms to totally redo, but we are getting there project by project. I will share the newly finished concrete kitchen countertops soon too, they are so cool and I was worried I would not like them. Not only were we really sore and tired when we finished them, but we ended up loving them sooooo much!

Please scroll down and check out some more beautiful summer spaces from a few of my great blogging friends!!  I hope this finds you enjoying the sun, family, friends and time to relax a little as we move into another summer. As always thank you for reading friend, love you so!!

xo, Tanya