Home Over the Range

Big E has become enamored with Facebook Marketplace.

His latest find was an over the range microwave for $25.

Since I've wanted one

 (I hate that we use precious counter space for the microwave we have)

and this one seemed like it was in pretty decent shape,

he went and got it.

That meant cleaning out all the spices and meds from the cabinet.

So I cleaned out the cabinet,

and finally Big E had an evening to get to work.

He had to cut the cabinet above the stove.

He used this really cool gadget called an oscillating tool.

I NEED one. 

It didn't take long to get everything cut to make room for the microwave.

Really, I didn't even have to move the canning supplies until

he was ready to drill holes for screws and wires.

Take a look at the wall color on the plaster!

After a few hiccups,

we got the thing mounted and in place.

Big E used an extension cord to make sure it worked

(thank goodness it did).

We just needed to cut the doors down to fit 

and put them back in place.

Once everything was back in place,

you couldn't even tell that the doors were cut. 

I'm thrilled with this over the range microwave.

It's much bigger than the one on the counter top,

and now I have a bit more counter space.

New Floor

 These are photos of the kitchen from last year

before we started doing anything.

 You can see the duct tape patch on the floor

where Miss Bertha sat in her kitchen chair.

 The kitchen "table" at the time

was actually a cabinet and countertop

that we removed.

 We painted the walls and removed the linoleum

to find mostly hardwood floors.

But in the back portion of the kitchen, there was plywood subflooring.

This is the area that was added onto the house after it was built.

The line where the hardwood meets plywood is the original

footprint of the house.

I spent a lot of time worrying over that hardwood.

I went through a ton of possibilities of what I could do to save it.

But in the end, 

the reality that there was concrete under the plywood

and the very worn condition of the hardwood

plus the amount of water the dogs slop everywhere,

I decided to go with my original plan of putting down vinyl tiles.

Big E laid the first one in place.

And here we have a teaching moment.

While talking about the best way to attack the floor, 

I mentioned the instructions on the back of the box.

Big E mentioned he had done this before and wanted to start in a corner along the wall.

I agreed to go with his thoughts as I had never done any of this before.

So we started along the wall.

 It goes pretty easily once you get your first tile in place.

 But you really need to follow instructions on the box.  

Especially when your house doesn't have a straight line in it

to save its life

and you're laying tiles with a checkerboard pattern.

You can see the tiles by the doorway are crooked

compared to the tiles Big E is working on in the photo below.

We ended up needing to order 2 more boxes of tile

to replace what we started using.

Once we got things lined up and on the right track, 

it was simple to gets things put down.

And now we have a shiny new kitchen floor.

I miss the hardwood, 

but I surely don't miss the plywood!

Big E also removed the light fixture above the table.

So all that's left in the kitchen for now

is to get the cabinet painted white.

Guess What's Happening!

It's time to say buh-bye! to the kitchen floor.

Part of me is still a little sad about not being able to salvage the hardwood,

but the larger part of me is happy to see the plywood

disappear. 

Kitchen Reveal

It's been a while since the kitchen walls were painted, 

and finally (thanks to being confined because of the snow)

I finished the trim and most of the touchups.

So, here's the kitchen process.

First photo is the kitchen as it was originally.

Note the "table" to the left- 

it was actually a cabinet with laminate counter top.

The fridge had apple stickers on it,

the floor had duct tape over areas that had been worn down.

 First we removed the built in "table".

Then we removed the vinyl flooring,

which revealed hardwood on most of the floor.

We attempted to removed the wallpaper paneling, 

but discovered the plaster walls were in very bad shape.

The decision was made to paint over the paneling.

Primer made a HUGE improvement.

Notice the cabinet by the doorway

(it's white on top, brown on bottom)

It's been the topic of much discussion on what to do with it.

Painted brown it was an eyesore, 

and I was thinking of taking off the top door to see if it made a difference.

 On the agenda is removing the retro lamp.

 We started cutting in.

And I want to say another THANK YOU! 

.to my family who helped.

 When my dad saw the color he wanted to know 

if we were opening a bordello.

(he's also not fond of the red front door)

Here is the finished product.

Turns out the white on the cabinet made a world of difference.

I'm using it as is for storing my small appliances.

The floor isn't done, of course.

There is some serious hope that I'll be able to remove the plywood,

and put down hardwood in the back part of the kitchen.

I don't want to lose the hardwood floors.

This spring, the cabinets will be updated.

I'll be adding some 1x2's to frame the doors and then paint them white.

But for now, they're fine.

Amazing what a few coats of paint can do.

(Note: red paint takes several coats before it's covered. 

 I should have tinted the primer red but didn't.  I think that would have made a difference. 

 I applied about 2 1/2 coats- after the 2nd coat I only had to spot treat the light areas)