It’s the Little Things that Count

After two 12 hour days of working non-stop on the kitchen (what?  there was a weekend?!), the small touches that often don’t get noticed, are taking shape.

Ryan got out his chop saw and carefully measured and cut each  trim piece that will grace our kitchen floor.  We laid (but have not yet secured) trim and quarter round (of course painting still to come).  Small project #1 of the weekend, complete.

We also went to Zeegar’s Hardware and purchased two 1.5″ transition pieces.  These metal strips join the carpet and and the tile to create one cohesive floor threshold.  I wish I would’ve had the camera ready to take pictures, but it went so fast there wasn’t time.  In the Michelle ‘Cliff Notes’ version, Ryan measured each metal strip to fit in the door jam, cut it with the saw-zaw, and nailed it in to the flooor.  Here is the finished product:

Because our kitchen is open to both the living room and the dining room, we needed to install two transition pieces.  They come in several different lengths (I purchased 3 foot) then you cut to size of your door way.   (We cut the excess carpet with a razor before nailing in the metal piece).  Small project #2 complete.

My next step in the process of getting everything in order was to remove all the kitchen cabinets.  I removed all 14 cabinet doors, (2 hinges per door, a handle on each one, and a center fastener on each door)  as well as the 6 drawers (yes, all I have is 6 kitchen drawers) and their hardware.    They all needed a little touch-up paint.  It’s been about 6 years since those babies have been painted (which says something about well painted cabinets).  I decided to give them a little touch-up since they were feeling a little neglected after all the love the kitchen floor received.

I got out Ryan’s new Milwaukee drill and started unscrewing all the cabinet doors.  There were 5 screws per hinge, two hinges per door, then 2 screws per door pull, and one screw on the center fastener…yes, that’s 13 screws per door= 194 total screws removed.

Taking out every single kitchen cabinet door really leaves an awful mess to look at, which is why I have decided I could never have glass doors or open air cabinets!

So off to paint I went.  Not only do the cabinet doors and drawers need a little touch-up, but the cabinets themselves could also use a new glossy white coat. Paint will take a little time since I want the doors to properly cure, so project #3 half way complete.   More to follow tomorrow.  We’ve over-shared our kitchen enough for one weekend….haha.

Happy Monday!