Almost finished results of previous work

And what was the result of the countertop staining? See below!

There were also week of debating with myself about backsplashes. They really make or break a room!

I ended up choosing a plain white ceramic glossy brick from Floor and Decor, and adding a stripe made from a pale slate mosaic they carry. Since the mosaic is 12 x 12, I get about 6 feet of strip our of each $7 sheet.

If you are new to tiling, mosaics with small pieces are GREAT to start with, there is very little cutting needed and the slight variations hid mistakes easily.

When finished this will have a white grout to keep it simple and hide any small mistakes :)

This project is currently delayed to to work, and due to having to change out all the outlets with extender boxes so the plates sit on top of the tile, which has to be done with the power off, and it is too damn hot to work without AC right now. Plus I am getting some electrical upgrades next month and the power will be off for many many hours for that, so I will just do it then.

Solution to doggie trash diving.

Anyone with dogs knows, they like to eat the trash. My tall can has just never been enough to keep them out and I have been so stressed they will get into a chicken bones or something else poisonous...

So I was looking at all those expensive trash can cabinet inserts. They are super nice, but $60 is ridiculous! 

Then today a light bulb went on.

My cabinets had slide out shelves for baking dishes! Voila, I took out the top one and put in the can! woot! Then I realized that opening the door and sliding it out was annoying. 

So I removed the door and took the hinges off, and after a few tries to get it aligned right when screwing it to the insert thingy... VOILA! 

Change to our cast of characters.

There have been some changes to the four legged team I work with.

Kesha, circa 2005

First, little old lady Kesha is gone. Poor little thing was just frail and seemed to be in pain, when I took her to the vet they agreed she was very sick, so she is now gone. The new yard cemetery has bricks and fluffy plants so it is well marked. I learned the hard way many years ago. ALWAYS mark where you bury pets. Remembering incorrectly and then going to plant something is very very traumatic...

I had Kesha for 14 years, it is strange not hearing her chirp or having here cuddle up and silently fart on me everyday, but I know I did the right thing.


What happened next?

We have a new cast member!

In May there was a notice on Nextdoor.com about a found dog. Having grown up with a Yorkie I watched the drama unfold as people tried to match this bald lost little stinker to an owner.

He was a MESS! But with some food and baths they said he was super loving and sweet. So I offered to foster him. He is about the same age and size as Monkey. 

The first few weeks were rough. If he had ever been housetrained...he forgot it. His skin conditions made him STINK! 

Monkey was jealous, cats were being terrorized... and he is an escape artist, forcing me to rebuild the fence I have... multiple times. (and I still have to do another alteration since he keeps figuring out more escapes. He can jump over a 4 foot fence! I wish I was kidding... )

Once he started learning he managed to really win me over. More importantly he won Monkey over. They are now brothers from another mother.

And now he has HAIR!

His favorite activity is to sit and stare at me...
Like this

FOR HOURS!

So many updates! So little time!

I have been doing so much work that I have not had time to blog it!

So I will jump right in to the latest non painting project!

To start my kitchen overhaul without a ton of money I chose to refinish the countertops and add a backsplash.

Here is the before look: a great style if you like unsealed wood and orange wood.

As you can see it is a solid wood construction, and the surface is...destroyed. Plus, no one needs that much orange wood... ever. 

My original plan was to keep the backsplash and stain it also. That plan ended when I started trying to actually get it stripped and stained.  

The stripper goo worked well. but the nooks and crannies were pretty much impossible. 

After what felt like hours of sanding and attempting to stain, I basically created a huge mess. It was bad. 

I will add photos of the disaster if I have any.

So since that staining was a disaster the plan changed...

I had to remove the wood backsplash. On the plus side, removing this means I get 3 more inches of counterop depth.

The downside was that the backsplash was WAY TOO WELL CONSTrUCTED!!!!!

First there was 50 year old high quality hardwood. It ain't called hardwood for nuthin!

Then, the backsplash was attached with hidden 4 inch screws that were drilled into a vertical hole into the countertop, then hidden with a dowel.


 

This started a one month long saga.

Trying to drill the dowels out filled the hole with sawdust and then the screw could not be removed. So started the buying of tools. First I tried a multitool thingy, the hardwood just laughed at me, it barely could scratch the surface... Dremel was too small to get deep enough.

So then I got a jigsaw. I figured I would probably need it at some point anyway for something else, so I made the $40 investment. 

After some practice I found that I could jigsaw down on either side of the hole and then pry the wood out. Since the saw dust did not go in the hole, I could use a long screwdriver to start the screw loosening then finish with the power drill. Only one screw got so stripped I had to get all crazy hulk on.. 

Once the back was removed...   we are fast forwarding like 2 moneth at this point...

There is beautiful 1970s wall paper, a couple of mummified cockroaches and a ton of glue residue to be seen... 

Then started the painful process of removing the 12 foot span behind the sink... I will spare you the pictures of my hell...