Kitchen Tile

One of my friends reminded me today that it has been a while since I've posted to the blog. I've been really busy and haven't found the time to get around to it. But I have been storing photos and thoughts for some time now. Here is what has been going on in our home:

Jenetta has been working a bit more lately. She is doing a lot of networking and has had a number of photo sessions for a variety of clients. She also told me the other day that she feels like she is "nesting." This has lead to the beginning of a project in our kitchen.

We made a decision a while back that we would no longer be going into debt to finish our home addition. If we didn't have the cash, we wouldn't do the work. Basically, due to our current financial situation, this has led to a whole lot of nothing. We have had ripped up vinyl flooring in our kitchen, carpet scraps around the couch and TV area and in our master bedroom, and unfinished concrete everywhere else. It was starting to get depressing - like we would never be able to make any progress again. It has also led to the scaling back on our plans (which is probably best for our home and the housing market anyway). Hardwood floors throughout was downgraded to hardwood only in the kitchen and dining room to hardwood only in the kitchen to tile. We decided to go ahead with the tile because we could afford it, and we could do the work ourselves. My parents decided to come down for the weekend. It was a lot of driving for them, and we really appreciated it!!! We could not have done as much as we did without them.

As you can see from this first photo, we finally added our peninsula cabinets. We went with stock unfinished cabinets that I am planning on staining to match. For the near future, I will make a tile countertop to match the other counters, and this peninsula will have pendant lights and some stools in front for a seating area. I probably won't have any photos of the finished product until June sometime. I still have to build a wall and cover it with drywall for the backside.

My dad did all the cuts on his tile saw. We kept the saw inside because it was about 1000000000000 degrees out on the deck!!!

My mom helped out with a lot of the cleaning. But here she is taking a break with the dog.

This is how I look after a whole day spent on my knees - pretty pathetic!

We also tiled the front entryway, and it looks really nice. I should finish up the grout tomorrow, and I'll post photos of the finished product when we are done.