Under the Sink Curtains

My sister is currently renovating her kitchen.  Although she still has a few things to tackle, she is hosting our book club meet this week so as a temporary solution to the hole underneath the sink, she asked me to sew her a curtain.  She replaced her sink with a farmhouse sink so in doing so, the doors no longer fit.

 

Instead of leaving an empty space for all to see her garbage disposal, I made her something to cover it up.  Since her cabinets are white, I decided that a big graphic print like this black and white damask would be perfect.  To tie in the teal curtains she has in the living room and kitchen walls, I added a little trim.

Even though this curtain would be under the sink, I did not want to show any seams or stitching.  First I sewed the trim onto the fabric.  Then I folded the top of the fabric down to cover the seam and I pressed in place. 

I made a simple pocket hole on the top so the curtain rod could be inserted through and I sewed a 3 inch bottom hem with a blind stitch so no thread would be seen.

Here's the lovely hole under the sink.  Its a little site for sore eyes, isn't it?

Right underneath is a tension rod to hold up the curtain.

I slipped the curtain in and voila, no more hole.

 

I think it is adorable. I love the detail and the extra layer with trim.

The kitchen is now ready for our little get together.

More details on her kitchen still to come :)

Kitchen Renovations - Painted Cabinets

The last time I talked about my sister's kitchen, she had installed beautiful granite counter tops which you can read about here.  I also talked about prepping for the back splash here and installing the range here and the sink here.  Those were great changes, BUT the cabinets were still looking a little drab and it overpowered all the upgrades they had made.  That is, UNTIL they painted the cabinets, but before I do the show and tell, let me remind you of what the kitchen looked like when they first saw it.

 

Its cute, traditional.  There's a lot of brown, from brown cabinets, to brown walls and ceiling.  Brown tiles and even the grout is brown.  You could drown in a sea of brown in that kitchen so it really looked like a cave, BUT cave no more when you see that her kitchen now looks like this.

It is dark no more.  It is so bright when I am in her kitchen now.  The white cabinets bring the beautiful granite counter tops to life with a high contrast.  Before the white cabinets, it was lost in the sea of brown. 

Even the appliances look SO much better with the new color scheme.

 

She even has the cutest hardware on the cabinets.

I love the glass knobs she bought from Anthropologie.  

I so love how the kitchen is coming along.

What's in store now?  She's got her back splash to put up, her floors to rip out and the wine rack in the kitchen island needs to be built.  I can't wait so see it all done.

Kitchen Renovations - New Countertops

I snuck into my sister's house one day to check out her new countertops.  Aren't they beautiful?  She decided to go with the classic granite countertops.  The color is absolute black.  It's black with tiny little silvery specks.  The kitchen is slowly coming along and the new countertops makes a huge difference in this renovation.

If you don't remember what it looked like before, here's a pic.   The formica counter that was there before was neutral and functional, but too traditional in color for her tastes.

She decided to extend her island to house a wine rack on the end.  The rack hasn't been built yet (hence, the temporary 1x2 holding up the end), but the extension makes the island more grand and ideal in this kitchen, not that she needs any more counter space.  She's got plenty.

With the new countertops, the new dishwasher can be installed.  I love her selection.

It goes perfectly with her new range.

Do you see the tiny specks in the granite?

For a truly unique faucet, she chose this. 

It does carry a hefty price tag, but since her hubby demoed the kitchen himself, saving quite a bit, this splurge was definitely worth it.  You can read about the demo on her site, here. 

The kitchen is slowly coming along.  All appliances except for the microwave are in place.  The cabinets are almost ready.  Wait for the reveal.  What's left are the backsplash and the floors.  I can't wait to see the finished look.

Kitchen Renovations - Prepping for new backsplash

The last we left off of my sister's kitchen renovations, she installed a new sink and new cooktop,

The backsplash, while nice for this traditional kitchen, wouldn't do in her new kitchen.

She wants the classic white subway tiles, but to get those babies on, the old backsplash must come down.  Let's first start with one tile.

Hmm...although pretty as that was, trying to remove all the tile would prove to be a little more messy.  The original tile sat on top of the drywall.  That's a no-no in my book.

Therefore, it must come down.  Also, coming down is the microwave.

 That's much better.

 

After clearing out all the dry wall, the studs are clearly visible.

Next up, is attaching the hardiebacker.   Hardiebacker is moisture and mildew resistant which drywall is certainly not.  Therefore, it is a much better solution for the backsplash.
 

Before the demolition:

After the clean-up:

The walls are now prepped for the tiles, but up next are the counter tops.  There are more pictures on my sister's site here. 

Kitchen Renovations - Installing a New Farmhouse Sink

My sister has been renovating her kitchen.  She's always wanted a farmhouse sink.  It's interesting because I consider her design style leaning towards modern rather than country designs, but she simply loves the white farmhouse sink so much she traded her stainless steel one for it instead.

You can see her original stainless sink in the picture below on the right.

Her cabinets were nice an intact until

a little cutting and framing was done.

Supports were placed under the sink to hold it up.

 

Next up, the cabinet doors will need to be re-sized, painted and installed along with a new dishwasher.  Renovations are slowly coming along.

Kitchen Renovations - Installing a New Range

My sister has been working on her kitchen for quite some time now.  This is how the previous owners had their kitchen.  It was very traditional.  With the dark wall paper and ceilings, she knew she had to brighten it up.

First came paint.   She choose a vibrant turquoise color, knowing she would paint her cabinets white.

Next came the appliances.  She replaced her wall oven and cooktop with an all in one stainless steel range, giving her a double oven.  This was a must because the oven was broken the day after they moved in!

To install the range, her hubby had to first remove the old appliances.  He removed the seal around the cooktop with a putty knife and lifted it off the counter.

 

 A saw was used to cut the outer edge of the cabinet, enabling the new range to be able to slide into place.

The old wall oven was removed from the cabinet.  

What was left was the bottom cabinet.  Since the range would sit right onto the floor, this bottom board wasn't necessary and needed to be removed.

Voila!  After the removal, a little cleaning was in order.   

 

The new range could be put into place now.

One appliance down, two more to go.  Next up, the microwave, but that will have to wait for another day.

Thanks to my sister for letting me talk about her kitchen and posting her pics.  You can check out her site here.