Kitchen Counters and Backsplash

We have lived with temporary countertops for way too long! White quartz was always our choice for the countertops, but we couldn't decide on the backsplash tile. So... we waited... and waited!

Originally we though we would want a 2x2 ceramic tile. Mostly white with a splash of color randomly placed throughout.

Original Kitchen Concept

After years of research and living with the kitchen layout, we have narrowed down the tile design to white quartz counters with white subway.

Inspiration

I know!!! How predictable. BUT... we aren't as boring as it may appear. We do want subway style in a 3x9 inch size. We do want them to be white, or at least a white that matches the quartz countertops. HOWEVER, we have discovered dimensional tiles. Yep. Tiles that have a slight raised geometric pattern in them.

We absolutely LOVE the dimensional tiles created by Heath Ceramic.

Traditional Subway Tile Layout

Heath Ceramics Dimensional Design Options

These sleek 3x9 Oval Dimensional tiles are modern and add a sense of interest and texture to a completely white palette. I seriously can't love these anymore that I already do. HOWEVER, there is one drawback... one very big drawback. These beauties cost $78/sf. That's right. SEVENTY-EIGHT DOLLARS. Our backsplash area is about 13' x 2.5'...doing the math, it was clear we needed alternatives. 

Option One: Ann Sacks—Modern Field Tile 3 x 9

This is a great choice, but I have yet to find out the cost. It may be even more than the Heath Tiles, but I really am digging the classic brick layout. The texture of the dimensional tile really creates an interesting pattern. The product spec sheet outlines other designs and layouts in the line. I will update cost once I visit the showroom. (Today is a snow day... so I'm will trek downtown once we thaw.)

Classic Brick Layout—Horizontal

Now, as cool as this layout is, turning it vertical gives it a completely different feel. I really like how the vertical layout breaks up all the horizontal lines and begins to create a completely different look using the same tiles. 

Classic Brick Layout—Vertical

Option Two: Pratt & Larson—Frame A 4x8 

These are not quite as interesting, but a very viable option. The big plus is that these babies are in stock as our local tile store: Classique Floor & Tile

I think this could work in the traditional stacked, horizontal brick, or vertical brick layout. I really need to see these in person, because the white option may not be white enough... it kinda looks grey. Hmmmm. 

Frame A 4 x 8 by Pratt & Larson

The frame is recess so the middle section is relief. My main concern after the color, is the thought a wall of these tiles may look like Legos®. NOT what I'm going for... So let's keep looking.

Option Three: Byzantine Bianco 3D Ceramic Subway Tile

These tiles are interesting. They run about $21.50/sf... which is less than 1/3 the cost of the Heath Oval tiles. Not the same, but point us in the right direction. 

Traditional Stacked—Byzantine Bianco 3D Subway Tile

By simply adding a flat 3x9 tile ($16.95/sf) into the layout, the design starts to create a fantastic pattern. Now... we're getting somewhere. This is AMAZING and I will order a sample to see if this is a good color match to the quartz counters we have selected. WOW. WOW. WOW... just ordered the sample! 

This may be the winner!

Once I have the samples in front of me, I will have a better idea which way we will go with the backsplash. I am really liking both vertical and horizontal layouts. The mock concepts give me an idea, but I will need to hold these in place to get the best feel for the space. 

Decisions. Decisions. 

BUT... yeah... those Oval Dimensional tiles from Heath Ceramic... 

Oh. My. Heart! 💙

-Haley

We're still here!

I know it's been quite a while... but we are still here and still love living in our Rummer. 

The major projects are mostly finished and we're sort of just spending time enjoying living in a great house. 
I guess that's not entirely true... I've been working on "Plan B," our 1956 Airstream Safari. Haley says she wants to go on a trip in June and there is a LOT left to do before it's roadworthy. I'm thinking I'll start another blog to document that little adventure. 

In the meantime, we've had some great pics taken in the last year or so... why not share!

I do hereby solemnly promise to try and add updates on the home office re-do, the garage workbench, and future plans for the master bedroom and bath. 

Thanks for dropping by!

-Steve

Pulling It All Together

Haley loaded up all these pictures. I think they rock... it always surprises me how well our home photographs. Anywho, I'm not sure what to say about these except, enjoy the eye-candy!

Let there be light!

One of the major complaints about the old kitchen was the lighting... or more to the point, lack of it. There were four 80s style "modern" fluorescent lights that worked okay, but it always seemed like we were working in shadows. We designed in a few different lighting solutions into the new kitchen let's take a look... shall we?

Globe Lights
These iconic light fixtures are a must have for any Rummer. They were in virtually every Eichler, and Mr. Rummer knew they were crucial to the nearly identical styling of his modern homes. The previous owner of our home threw away all the original globes and replaced them with ordinary fixtures (?!!!). She told us people were always bumping into them and that they didn't put out very much light. The kitchen had four, the family room had two. We've already replaced one in the loggia and two in the hallway. So far no one has bumped their heads. (Except for all our friends who are 7 feet tall.)

In order to have the kitchen globe lights centered between the beams, we had to move two existing wiring boxes (and figure out a way to cover up the holes they left behind), and add one in front of the fridge & ovens.

Our daughter came up with the brilliant solution of just using a smoke detector to cover one of the holes, and a carbon monoxide detector to cover the other one. Brilliant, simple and we needed them anyway.

I'm in the process of writing up a post about tweaking Ikea Fado globe lights so they look more like the originals. Stay tuned...

Cabinet Up Lights

Since the area above the wall cabinets is kind of encased between a couple of beams, it always looks kinda dark up there. So we wired in some fluorescent lights and wow... what a nice dramatic lighting effect. It's kind of an ambient look that is great in the evening. (Don't be fooled by what looks like white hot magma on top of the cabinets in this pic... the camera setting was wonky. It's really quite soothing.)
Notice you really don't see anything weird about the beam at the left in the two above pics, as opposed to the lights on the beam in the pics below. Keep reading to see what's up with that.

Task Lighting
These were really needed! I wish we would have thought ahead a little more and accomidated the light fixtures in the hanging cabinets so they would appear more recessed, but they work well, they look fine, and they make it a LOT easier to see what’s happening on the countertop.

NOTE: These seem to generate quite a bit of heat, so much so that the cabinets get fairly warm on the inside. We may be switching out the bulbs for something cooler. Maybe LED?

Spots in the Faux Beam
Haley is the genius mastermind behind these lights. Aesthetically we knew we needed to put a beam over the cooktop, but after talking with our construction guy, there wasn’t anything structural needed, so a false beam would suffice. We figured the area over the cooktop would need some extra lighting and neither one of us is crazy about track lighting (usually looks like an afterthought). Why not recess a few can-lights into the false beam?
It seemed like a simple idea, but it took a little extra encouragement and problem solving with our electrician and construction guy to make it happen. Just look at how much light they throw out. These lights are in my top 5 things I like about the new kitchen. I married a genius.

Here are a couple of our favorite shots.

NEXT UP...
Countertops. The countertops you see in these pics are temporary; sheets of melamine. We are hoping to get solid surface counters. Probably white. Hopefully much less expensive than what we've been seeing lately.
Backsplash. It desperately needs color under the hanging cabinets. We're thinking of a mosaic made from 2-inch square tiles, mostly white with random turquoise, grey & brown accents.

Tile is gone. Concrete board is on it's way out!

We spent the weekend removing all the tile from the kitchen and office nook. It was really quite the job, and learning from our past experience with the loggia floor we rented an electric chisel. Steve got to work on it and he made it look so easy. So I thought I'd give it a try... NOPE! That thing had to weigh about 40 pounds and I was only good for about 3 tiles before my girlie arms gave out. So I turned it back over to Steve and he made quick work. I demoted myself to debris hauler... carrying bucket after bucket of broken tile to the dumpster. (Sadly, I was still sore from that little job.) Steve's hands were thrashed after wielding the power chisel all day, and then he had to hurry off to play 3 sets at Portland's Scream at the Beach. I don't know how he does it all!


Our contractor let us borrow her large crowbar thingy. It worked great for prying up the concrete board and removing the nails. We still have about 1/2 the concrete board left to tear up, but it should go pretty quickly. The boards in the office nook were screwed in so that may prove to be interesting.


The floor guy is coming in tomorrow to measure and order the VCT tile. We are using the same tiles that we put in the loggia. It will really simplify and clean up the look from room to room.

Gonna rip it up!

Hammers, crowbars, Reciprocating saws, OH MY!
Y'know, when you watch one of those home shows and see a goofed up remodeler or high-heeled flipper swinging a sledgehammer on a "never-been-updated" kitchen, it always looks like they are having the time of their life. Wild eyed. Shards of sheetrock flying everywhere. Giggles and grunts. They make tearing out an old kitchen look like it's more fun than a pocket full of squirrels.
Well I don't mean to shatter any illusions here but... it's work! About 100-million screws, and 1/3 of which stripped out the second I touched them. Screwed into the floorboards, screwed into each other, screwed (and glued) onto a ledgerboard that was also screwed into the studs. I had to use everything from Vise-Grips to a reciprocating saw to do it, but the cabinets are now all outside under a tarp.

I suppose it would have been easier and more satisfying to just start swinging the sledgehammer, but although we don't care for the design of the cabinets, they are well made and are in decent shape, too. I'm sure someone else will want them, so we're donating them and the appliances to the Rebuilding Center in Portland.




The ghosts of wallpapers past!

A little urban archeology for your amusement.

Grossest thing ever!
Mice! When we moved one of the base cabinets, we discovered a mouse-mini-metropolis made of insulation and mouse poop. Learn from this, dear reader... seal up every possible entry to your house no matter how small, or these little varmits WILL find a way in. And while they are kinda cute, they smell BAD and can spread disease. You DO NOT want them in your house!!! Haley somehow managed to supress her gagging long enough to hold open a trash bag while I used two other bags as gloves and scooped away the mouse unrine soaked insulation, and about 5-10 dead mice. (YUCK! I guess they had been poisoned or something.) Then I used the Shop-Vac to clean up all the smaller bits. Yuck Yuck Yuck!

Sheetrock removal
This was actually kinda fun... dusty, but fun. After making a few initial holes and making sure the power and phone outlets were clear, we started pounding, prying and pulling away the sheetrock. All four of us got into the act and a sort of contest developed to see who could pull away the biggest piece. There is now Mount Sheetrock in the middle of the floor just waiting for the dumpster to be delivered today (it'll be a regular family style sheetrock bucket brigade tonight!).
The sheetrock was hiding some interesting things.

-It became clear where the new kitchen beam needs to be placed in order for it to line up with the existing beam in the dining room.
-There wasn't any insulation in the water vent portion of one wall (used to build Mouse-Metropolis, no doubt).
-When a previous owner had opened up a pass through from the kitchen to the dining room, they did a very poor job in shoring up the studs they cut. Two of them were literally unattached and wobbly. Good thing it's not a load bearing wall!

-There is now an amazing view of the back yard now from the kitchen. We are very pleased with our decision to open things up a bit.
...stay tuned.....