Let’s jump right into it, shall we? Last time we discussed our new custom cabinets: where they’re going, why we need them, how we put them together, and how we use them. BUT, we didn’t get to the crowning jewel: the handmade herringbone countertop. I was getting a little wordy on that last post (as I am apt to do), and I felt like it would be nice to dedicate a full post to the true DIY hero of this project.

While we wanted the new cabinetry to coordinate with the existing kitchen, we knew it wasn’t going to be a perfect match. The cabinet style is slightly more modern and simple, and the countertop was going to have to be a completely different material. So basically the cabinets would be sisters, but not twins.

We wanted the new countertop to be special, and we worked through several ideas before landing on the winner. In the end, we didn’t want to introduce a completely new material (like concrete), because we felt like it would end up feeling more cluttered than cool. So we stuck with wood to coordinate with the floors, but decided to add a fun texture. Spoiler alert: doing this made it about 1000x more work. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE how it turned out and I absolutely wouldn’t change it, but we’ve made other wood countertops that were much simpler.

We designed the countertop to match the height of the granite counters for continuity. The future renovation includes removing that granite backsplash, the tile backslash, and repainting the old cabinets.

We decided to create a frame with an interior ledge that we would set the assembled herringbone top into. To do this, we measured for the overall countertop size (matching the overhang from the other countertops), and mitered the corners for a nice finish. Before we assembled the frame, we used the table saw to cut out a corner of each piece that would then form the inner ledge.

We then added several cross-braces for stability. These would also serve as several contact points for the herringbone insert to rest on and attach to.

Next came the real work. I drew up several configurations to help us decide the proportions we wanted in the herringbone. Since we were using scrap wood of various sizes, we had the freedom to select how big we wanted the individual herringbone “tiles” to be. The smaller option felt too busy to me, so we ended up with tiles at 2.5″ x 8″.

Once we got the proportions that felt right to us, it was time to start cutting. And cutting. And cutting.

On one hand this was an amazing “clean out the shop” project. We didn’t purchase any lumber for this project, so that’s pretty cool. On the other, it felt like a lot of work just to get started. We first ripped down all our scrap boards to our desired width, just under 3″. Then we used the chop saw to cut them down to length. We had a nice little assembly line going, and ended up cutting about 100 tiles so that we’d have plenty to work with.

Next came the really fun part- adding the tongue and groove. We could have done this a little differently if we wanted to skip this step, but we really wanted this to be one connected piece, not just tiles laid on top of a solid base. So off we went to the Decatur Makers to use the router table. We used a tongue and groove bit to cut all four sides of every. single. tile. One short + one long edge got tongues, while the opposite got grooves. It took about 5 hours, and my 34-weeks-pregnant self had to tap out after 4. Ben is such a champ, and he did an amazing job. (Note: to keep our final desired dimension in mind, we had to add the width that would be cut from the router to our original ripped width. Or else we would have ended up with smaller pieces than the look we were going for.)

We then schlepped all 100 tiles back home to start dry-fitting the top. I wanted to apply the finish to individual tiles so that I could make sure to stain every nook and cranny, so we just did a test run to see how the pieces were coming together. Also, when you apply a stain, you want to be able to rub it in the direction of the grain. Because the pieces go in different directions, I thought it would be a much bigger hassle to try and apply the stain properly across the assembled piece. We made this “mistake” with our bed (which has a wooden chevron head- and footboard), and it was frustrating. We laid the tiles out on the assembled frame to get an idea of how big our assembled top needed to be.

Next came lots and lots and lots of sanding. Then wood conditioner, then stain. We also applied several coats of poly, but I was able to do that to the whole top after it was assembled.

Then it was time for real assembly. We painted wood glue onto the tongue and groove of each tile to add even more strength. The tongue-and-groove provides a nice tight fit, but the glue is a great addition, especially since this wasn’t going to go over a solid base.

For a fun twist, Ben set up his go-pro to record us assembling the top.

Herringbone Assembly

Once that was done, we left it to dry for a day, and to give ourselves some time to mentally prepare for the scary part: trimming down our assembled top to fit in the frame.

Of course, we didn’t get pictures of this part because we were so focused 🙁 . But it was a mostly straightforward task: we had to measure the interior of the frame, and use the circular saw to trim off the angled pieces so that our top was the right size to drop onto the frame’s lip. This was challenging because it was hard to transfer the lines onto a piece with no straight edges. The assembled top was all angles. We were also nervous to get an angle wrong, or cut the top too small and end up with a piece that didn’t fit correctly in the frame.

However, we prevailed, and our top fits beautifully! We added glue to our cross braces, set the top in, and placed several heavy weights on it to help it cure. To hold it in place, we drilled up into the countertop through the top of our base cabinets. We wanted to make sure that if we had to ever remove the top, it would be easy to do so.

On went a few coats of poly, and this bad boy was done! We used the same color stain on every piece, but because of how they catch the light, it makes such a gorgeous, changing pattern.

I love this project SO MUCH. Not only is it incredibly useful, but it turned out exactly how we envisioned it. Now I have a lovely place to do not-lovely things like folding laundry and sorting recycling. This project also has me really excited for the day that we finally paint the kitchen cabinets, because I think it’s going to turn out so beautifully!

 

That title is not hyperbole, y’all. We’re working on catching up with sharing everything we’ve done in the past year or so, and today I wanted to get down to the nitty gritty of the most useful project we’ve done at our home.

I’ve mentioned before that our kitchen/laundry room included an awkward space that we weren’t quite sure how to best utilize. There was a nice open stretch under the window and across from the laundry closet, but it wasn’t clear what we should do with it. For the first 2 years we lived here, it was an embarrassing jumble of junk: recycling, dog supplies, cleaning supplies, and all the gear that comes in from and goes out to the shop. WARNING: this post is chock-full of really glamorous photos 😉

It was not cute. In all honesty, it didn’t always look THIS bad, but even when it was a lot tidier than that, it still felt like a junk pile.

When we found out that Baby Muratet was on the way, it was the perfect motivation to finally get this area in gear and make it work harder for us. Our kitchen has plenty of storage, but there’s not really a dedicated pantry space. As a family of 2 (humans) this wasn’t an issue. We typically grocery shop for exactly what we’re going to eat that week, and we don’t really stockpile food items, so all our dry goods were just on a small shelf. We figured that once kids were in the mix though, we would need to have more food on hand, and it would be better to have more space for food so we wouldn’t have to shop as often. (Spoiler alert: I was right! Hah!)

Our original cabinet setup included a floor-to-ceiling cabinet next to the fridge, which came with a pull-out trashcan. While it was nice to have the trashcan concealed, it also felt like a lot of wasted space in this particular cabinet. (Forgive this terrible photo taken after we removed the trashcan, but it gives you an idea of how much space was wasted in that bottom portion when it only held the trashcan). We also had random cleaning supplies and our natural-disaster stockpile of water.

So we hatched a plan: build a new cabinet under the window that will house pull-out bins for trash, recycling, and dog food. Then we could turn the old trash cabinet into a pantry with organized pull-out shelves. Enter my favorite organizing supply ever: the Elfa System from The Container Store!

This piece was such a ridiculously perfect fit- it was like organizing destiny! We got 3 different sized drawers to help us corral dry goods, and there is a perfect space on top of the drawer unit to hold our reusable shopping bags. The great part about this solution is that we can take these drawers with us if we ever move. We had originally planned to build our own sliding shelves, but this honestly feels like a much better solution. Elfa for the win. Always.

I then drew up plans for a custom big built-in cabinet that would house our cleaning supplies, trash, recycling, and dog gear. But then, on a whim I decided to take a stroll through Ikea for inspiration. I found the infinitely hackable Ivar cabinetry, and I was sold.  Bonus: it’s a perfect fit for the pull-out hardware and bins that we were already planning to get at Ikea. I picked up 2 of the 20″ deep cabinets, and they were each $20 off at the time.

The Ivar is ideal for this project because it’s solid wood and a perfect blank slate. Sure, we could have built something from scratch, but for about $140, I got to start with cabinets that were already planed, doors and shelves that were perfectly square, and all the hardware I needed. It was like starting at the halfway mark, and it was absolutely worth it. This was just like our- basically a solid wood starter-kit. How could you not?

After assembling the cabinets, we had to build a base to set them on. Because the doors run the entire height of the frame, you have to either wall-mount Ivar with a little space underneath, or add legs or a base to lift it off the ground. This way your doors swing freely without scraping the floor. We also wanted the base to help these new cabinets match the height of our existing cabinets so that this new area flows more seamlessly with the current kitchen.

*A quick aside about blending the new cabinets: since we matched the height, and since our previous cabinets are a pretty simple style, I think once it’s all painted the same color, it’s going to blend so nicely! We’ll replace the tile backsplash, and pull down the granite border backsplash as well, and it’s going to make a world of difference!

For your support, all you need to do is decide how much you want your base inset from the edges of the cabinets, and then you use 2×4’s to build a frame that you’ll drill down into through the bottom of the cabinets. We mitered the corners of our base for a more finished look, but because the base is inset you can hardly see the details, so that step isn’t completely necessary. We added 3 support braces from front-to-back so that we’d have a beam underneath the center of each cabinet, and in the very center of the overall piece.

Young House Love has a great example of this in their beach house kitchen install (since I forgot to snap a picture of our base support!) But here’s an illustration that also gives a great idea of what I mean.

Once all that was assembled, we had to make some big decisions about paint. The plan is to paint all the kitchen cabinets one day, so we needed to pick the color that we will use on all our base cabinets. This was no easy feat, and it required 5 trips to 2 different paint stores to tweak and re-tweak custom colors.

The goal with our base cabinet color was to really make it complement our existing countertops. They’re a very dark green granite, and they’re currently in very high contrast to the orangey- faux-wood cabinet finish. I don’t love the granite, but it does hide messes really well, it’s been quite resilient, and it’s only about 10 years old, so there was definitely no reason to rip it all out, it’s just not what I would pick for a kitchen if I were starting from scratch.

My plan was to pick a color that blended with the countertops so that they’re no longer the focal point, At the moment, the granite is a dark mass on top of a much lighter base, so they’re what draws your eye. I picked out the darkest blue-greens I could find and painted some samples on cardboard to hold them up to the cabinets underneath the countertops, and I was honestly shocked at how light they all looked. Our kitchen does get a good amount of natural light, but I also think that next to the very very dark countertop, everything just looked much lighter. We finally ended up with Sherwin Williams Marea Baja with an additional 32 units of Black. You know, because we are apparently super high maintenance with paint. It ended up being just right- the blue comes through really nicely, but it’s dark enough to blend well.

So we primed and painted the cabinets and installed the pull-out hardware and bins and it was an instant game-changer. Having all the necessary-but-ugly items concealed but easily accessible has been amazing. Here’s a little tour of our hard-working cabinetry.

On the left side, we installed a shelf for cleaning supplies above pull-out bins for the trash and recycling. We included a lid for the trash, obvs, but felt that we didn’t need one for the recycling bin. There was a decent amount of space free between the bins, and it ended up being a perfect fit for our in-house tool bag. We like to keep some basic tools easily accessible inside the house so that we don’t always have to go out to the shop just to get a hammer. It’s a silly thing, but it’s such a good feeling when you find the perfect spot for something and it fits so well.

On the right side is all our dog gear. Our pups are big, so we buy the largest bags of dog food and have always stored it in trash cans. We matched the pull-out bins from the other side, and then found the perfect set of drawers for the right side of this cabinet. (I couldn’t find our exact ones, but the link is for a very similar item). These drawers hold all the treats, medicine, toys and travel gear, and it has been SO NICE to have all that stuff better organized. We also added a hook on the inside of the door to hold their leashes and it is PERFECT!

We also snuck in some little-seen function on the outside of the cabinet. Because this area is also our laundry “room”, we wanted to have a small ironing board accessible. I mounted a hook on the outside of the cabinet and hung a small ironing board on it. Another perfect fit! I also hung the bag we use for the dog stuff when we travel and a towel for wiping muddy paws off at the back door. It’s a hard-working hook, but it’s pretty much hidden between the cabinet and the wall, so all that stuff is accessible without being an eyesore. This area is also a great spot to stash oversized cardboard boxes that need to go out to the recycling bin.

I’ve already gotten WAY too chatty about this project, so I’ll save the countertop DIY for a second post, but we’ll end today with one last look at our fully finished new cabinets!

 

I touched on it a bit last week, but the changes around here have me itching to redo our 2nd bathroom. And while I had fun experimenting with working with what I have, we plan on being in this house for a while, and we’d like to update the bathroom to really fit our style instead of buying more things to hold us over. So I started brainstorming again on what would make this space work for us.

However, as I type, I’m just a few weeks away from welcoming a little woodworker into our family, so the idea of a major bathroom overhaul isn’t particularly realistic. That’s why I like the idea of a multi-phase project. You don’t have to do it all at once to start seeing happy changes, and you can wait until time/money/energy are maximized to pull out all the stops.

But before I get ahead of myself, let’s take a look at what we’re starting with:

These are pictures from the listing when we bought the house, and it’s honestly not any different. Except we hung a shower curtain. And hung up beach towels, because we’re totally together adults. Since it wasn’t our primary bathroom, we weren’t really concerned about it. Its certainly not an offensive “before”, but it definitely wasn’t “us”. The house was fully renovated in 2007, which provided a lot of nice details for us (crown molding everywhere, refinished hardwoods, back porch, etc.) but also left us with some inexpensive builder-basic finish choices like those dang beige tiles.

We are not beige people. Okay, literally, we are beige. But beige is not our thing. And this was a very beige bathroom. When we moved into the house, every room was painted a buttery yellow beige, except for the 3rd bedroom (hot pink stripes!), and this bathroom with the baby blue. And man, that baby blue just did not jive with the large-scale beige tiles. And the strangely-chosen brown glass tile accent. I guess it matches the vanity? Sort of? They did the same thing in our master bath, except with a green glass tile stripe. And the kitchen, with it’s flesh-toned square tiles and green/brown mosaic. I dunno man. Somebody here was into it, I guess.

As I am wont to do, I got bored when Ben was working on a Sunday, and I just decided to start messing with the bathroom. Down came the world’s dumbest mirror and tiniest hanging cabinet, and up went the painter’s tape. I rummaged through our paint stash to get leftover grey paint and transformed the heck out of that bad boy. This is why I love painting. It was like 2 hours of work (which is mostly taping for me) and it felt SO MUCH BETTER. Something about the grey makes the beige feel less awful. I took a terrible picture with my phone to give you an idea.

And then unfortunately because I didn’t actually have a plan, I had to put the WORLD’S DUMBEST MIRROR back up so we could have a functioning bathroom (but you better believe that stupid small cabinet and the towel rods got bundled up for Habitat for Humanity) and then I had to make a plan.

*A side note on why I hate this mirror so much, because I think photos don’t capture how dumb it is: the mirror portion is WAY small- like you can see most of your head at one time, but that’s it. AND, it’s set back about 5 inches from the frame (because it’s sort of a medicine cabinet with compartments that are too small to hold anything?) so the mirror is even less visible and very claustrophobic. Also, the magnet on the door never holds it closed properly so it’s always just swinging back open. Believe me, it is DUMB. I can’t wait to donate it, because people always go “oh that’s nice” when they see it. So maybe I just have unreasonable mirror rage. Also important (is any of this important?) to note: this is going to primarily be a kid’s bathroom, and even standing on a stepstool, there’s no way a kid under like 6 would be able to see themselves in this mirror. Rant over.

But then! I made a plan! And here it is!

So here’s the deal: Phase 1 is all about accents, and Phase 2 is when we get real messy and tear up all the tile and (maybe?) put in a new tub. But I’m 36 weeks pregnant and I ain’t got no time for tiling. (Or, really, for demoing tile and then replacing it).

But I still want to talk about our tile choices because I’m really excited about them. First, out with the 18″x18″ beige blocks, and in with multi-toned grey penny tile for the floor. I’m rull obsessed with penny tile because it feels classic but fun. I’m especially into this penny tile because I think having the shades of grey makes it sort of modern and youthful, but will also help to disguise ALL THE DOG HAIR. Or, you know, at least some of the dog hair.

Then in the shower area, I want simple and inexpensive. Subway tile it is! I mean, 15 cents a tile?! How can I not? We upgraded to glass subway in the master bathroom and it’s really beautiful, but for a closed shower with a curtain, that sort of aesthetic upgrade is kind of wasted. (Also, the glass tile was a mother$&%#^$# when installing the shower door, and we’re not quite over the trauma)

But I’d like to lay this modest tile in a herringbone style like the moodboard 1) because subway tile is everywhere right now and while it’s classic I know people are sick of it and I’m kind of sick of it, so it’s nice to do something a little different and 2) because that sort of sideways herringbone is way more interesting than a traditional brick pattern, but it’s not more challenging to accomplish (also, sidenote, every time I type “moodboard” in wordpress, it autocorrects to moldboard, and that leaves me with SO MANY QUESTIONS. What is a moldboard?! Who is writing about it?)

I also mentioned that we’d like to replace the tub, because I’m pretty sure this one is the shallowest tub on the planet and it isn’t terribly nice for an actual adult to bathe in. (Seriously, scroll up to the before and see how shallow that tub is. I’ll wait) I mean, I’m only 5’3″ and I have to get very selective about which areas of my body get to be in the warm water, so for my 6’3″ husband, it’s just a joke. And we like baths! They’re very soothing and relaxing, and we’re all about it, but I don’t know how he doesn’t partially freeze to death every time.

However, it actually seems like a good idea to have a shallow tub when bathing children? I’ve never actually bathed a child, so I’ll have to get back to you on that, but it seems logical.

SO. TLDR: Phase 2 means replacing the floor tile, shower tile, tub(?), toilet, and shower fixtures (they’re hard to see in the before photos, but they’re weirdly art deco and just not good).

But until we have the time/energy/money to take all that on, I think we can zhush the heck out of this bathroom and make it a whole lot nicer place to be. Enter: Phase 1! (And another view of the moodboard so you don’t have to scroll)

I already repainted, and that was huge. Everything else is about making it function better for us and look a little bit nicer. And generally, it’s all pretty easy and inexpensive.

First to go was our leftover shower curtain. I hadn’t thought much about it before, but as soon as I put up the new Project 62 curtain, I was like “WAS I BLIND BEFORE?!”. I threw the curtain away because it was old and gross, but I wish I had snapped a picture first because it kind of blows my mind how much a simple change like that can make. The bright white on the new color blocked curtain just pops so much and makes the room feel WAY bigger. I’m team “closed shower curtain”, and I love how this new one looks with the fresh paint. I missed the sale when it was $18, but I got it for $24 and I ain’t mad about that.

I also mentioned before that I had taken down the towel bars without having a plan. And I wasn’t about to hang them back up over fresh paint. I’m not a fan of the towel bar, and I was very not sad to see them go. There was one right next to the toilet (yay! toilet germs on my towels!) and then one to the left of the sink that is blocked by the door in the 2nd photo. There’s not another great spot to hang towels in this bathroom, so that position got reused, but with MUCH BETTER hooks, also from Project 62. I mean, $15 total for these bad boys? Perfect! They look so nice and expensive, I’m here for it. There’s still beach towels hanging on them, but, you know, baby steps y’all.

So those are the only changes I’ve made so far, primarily because they were inexpensive, easy to get, and I was paranoid that the collection would sell out at Target and I would be devastated. But it’s already a much better place to be.

I’m probably most excited about replacing the DUMB MIRROR, and I found the perfect option with this simple round black mirror from Wayfair. I was looking for round, inexpensive, and kind of modern, and this one really ticks all the boxes. I love the touch of black for sure, but if Ikea still sold the Grundtal mirror, I would have jumped all over that. We used 2 of them in our master bath, and they’re pretty perfect: simple, modern, and 20 freakin bucks! WHYYYYY did you discontinue them, IKEA??? WHY?!

Ikea meltdown aside, I can’t really complain about a great option for only $65. There are a lot of cool round mirrors out there, but the prices got a little wild, and I’m not trying to drop a ton of cash on that particular portion of the project. (Insert another view to prevent scrolling fatigue :))

The most expensive change (which is certainly a relative term in a budget project) is the new light. Lighting is generally not cheap, and you don’t want to go with the cheapest options anyhow. I LOVE this one from Shades of Light, (specifically the Young House Love collection) because it’s kind of funky and has the cool mix of materials, but doesn’t feel too trendy or too fancy for a kid’s bathroom. The brass touches pick up the tone from the new hooks without being like “HEY, I’M A BIG BRASS LIGHT”, the black ties into the mirror, and the white shades keep it fresh.

Speaking of white, I’d love to paint the vanity a nice fresh white. It’s in good shape and there isn’t a real reason to spend the cash to replace it, but the current faux-wood finish is so dark and it feels like a black hole in the room. I think, especially when we replace the floor (which will be kind of busy with the multi-tones) it will feel so nice to have the vanity just be fresh and fade away. It’s one of the least interesting things about the room, so it shouldn’t be the first thing your eye goes to.

To bring in a little color and warmth, I’d love to include some artwork and wood tones. This piece from Minted is really beautiful, but I’m guessing Ben has something similar in his portfolio we could frame and hang above the new towel hooks. Above the toilet, I’d like to add some wood shelving, just like we did in the master bath, but make these a little more functional instead of just decorative. The countertop isn’t huge, so it would be great to have a few shelves to keep certain items within arm’s reach of the sink. We’d start with the Ikea Ekby brackets (painted black, naturally), and then use a nice medium-toned wood plank shelf to add some warmth. Then, top it all off with these Y-weave baskets in a fun cobalt to add a little more color to the room. I’d also like to find a simple natural woven basket for TP storage, and to bring in a little more of the wood tone.

The last little bit is textiles. Because perhaps we’ve outgrown beach towels. I LOVE the Serena and Lilly towels we use in the master bath, but I’m probably not going to shell out that much for kid’s towels. I hear children are kind of gross and don’t respect nice things. However, Turkish-style towels are popping up everywhere now, and these ones are fun with the allover stripe, at about half the price. I’m also into the dark blue rug, which I think will break up the tile floor nicely and add some depth with the pretty blue tone.

So there you have it: 1 MILLION WORDS about our little 2nd bathroom and the big plans we have for it. This will likely be a slow-burn makeover, getting a few pieces at a time, and then building up to the big overhaul, but every little change ends up being so satisfying that it’s still really fun to work this way.