Sick of subway tile? Me neither! Get in here! (another kitchen reno)

[Macrolide]

We recently downsized from a 3000 sq ft home on the edge of town to a 1500 sq ft place in the historic core that is just a walk through the park from work. MMM was a huge motivator for this increase in efficient living. DW said we couldn't move in until the kitchen was done so I was motivated to finish as quickly as possible.  It took me almost 20 days of work over the span of 6 weeks to finish.
 
This isn’t my natural skill set, but I love learning new things…shit, I love doing anything that doesn’t involve being a pharmacist. I’d done a backsplash before, but it was the first time for everything else.
 
The floors are 85 year-old oak that I salvaged (free) from a house about to be demolished. They match the rest of my house. After carefully prying them up then removing the nails, I ran the boards through a planer. I’m kind of a tool whore and jumped at this “need” to buy a planer since one wasn’t available to rent or borrow. After the install I went over the whole house with a rented drum sander, edger, then finished with Waterlox tung oil.
 
I kept the original cabinets and just added some shaker style trim, paint, new hardware, and some salvaged hardware from the condemned house – very cheap.
 
The countertop is the only part I hired out. It’s Ceasarstone quartz.
 
I installed a cast iron apron front sink which required a support brace built with 2x4s, a super dope faucet, and garbage disposal.
 
Some electrical work: new outlet and switch for garbage disposal, outlet for microwave, and some wiring involved in converting the recessed lights to pendants.
 
Dishwasher from Craigslist. The other appliances were the biggest expense - counter-depth fridge from Jet.com, new 36” range, and hood.
 
Finished up with 22 cent subway tile for the backsplash with grey grout.
 
At this point I was beat and did a disgusting job with the baseboard trim. Haha!

Check out my video that shows some of the details of the process: https://youtu.be/8y73Yh8REVs

[pbkmaine]

Nice work!


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[justajane]

That looks awesome. You and I obviously have the same aesthetic down to the schoolhouse light fixture. We're about to have our bathroom renovated and are doing white subway tile on the walls and in the shower to match the bathroom downstairs. I've thought about doing white subway for a kitchen backsplash as well to liven up our older black and white kitchen, but I haven't gotten up the nerve yet. We are hiring people to do the bath.

Did you rent or do you own a tile cutter? I was hoping to get away with a cheaper tile cutter but might pay to rent a nicer one.

We use the Daltile Rittenhouse Square subway tile at Home Depot. I'm guessing it's the same as what you used.

[kendallf]

That's beautiful!  Love the salvaged flooring and hardware.

[Macrolide]

That looks awesome. You and I obviously have the same aesthetic down to the schoolhouse light fixture. We're about to have our bathroom renovated and are doing white subway tile on the walls and in the shower to match the bathroom downstairs. I've thought about doing white subway for a kitchen backsplash as well to liven up our older black and white kitchen, but I haven't gotten up the nerve yet. We are hiring people to do the bath.

Did you rent or do you own a tile cutter? I was hoping to get away with a cheaper tile cutter but might pay to rent a nicer one.

We use the Daltile Rittenhouse Square subway tile at Home Depot. I'm guessing it's the same as what you used.

Ya, I think we're the same person. Haha! We just did our bathroom too. I was too tired after the kitchen to tackle it myself though and hired it out, which was probably a good thing - I don't think I could have done a good job with those tiny hex tiles. My tiler for the bathroom used Daltile. In the kitchen I used American Olean from Lowes and I can't see a difference. I borrowed a wet tile saw from a friend at work - one that has a sliding table (so important). You can also rent them at HD.

[cheddarpie]

Beautiful!! I also have the same schoolhouse light, but no subway tile ... yet. :)

[lizzzi]

Wow...well,I'm impressed.  Also lived in New York and had bathroom with white subway tile and little hexagons on the floor. I'm not sick of it either.

[lizzzi]

I like the white countertops--once you start using them,cluttering them up,etc., you will still have that clean, fresh look. Dark would work, too, but my personal pref. is for the white. Looks a little stark when empty, yes, but just wait till you start cooking, baking, rolling out cookie dough, and all that.

[meadow lark]

Beautiful!  Nice job!

[justajane]

Here's my bathroom, my PNW twin :).  I'll have to post pics for you of my new bathroom in a few weeks when it is done. BTW, how large is that schoolhouse fixture? Where did you buy it? I bought one online for my new bathroom and it is WAY too big. I can't find a small footprint schoolhouse. It's a pretty low ceiling.

[Bajadoc]

The dog looks kind of mad.

[lthenderson]

Excellent work! I like that term 'tool whore'. I'm sure others have referred to me as the same thing but if you are big to DIY home remodeling as I am, you just about have to be.

[10dollarsatatime]

I love subway tile.  I'm in the planning stages of remodeling both the kitchen and the bathroom.  Subway tile will play a prominent role in both.

Love the way your kitchen turned out.  And I'm a fan of both the bathrooms in the thread. :)

[Macrolide]

Here's my bathroom, my PNW twin :).  I'll have to post pics for you of my new bathroom in a few weeks when it is done. BTW, how large is that schoolhouse fixture? Where did you buy it? I bought one online for my new bathroom and it is WAY too big. I can't find a small footprint schoolhouse. It's a pretty low ceiling.

Nice bathroom! Same sink even.

Believe it or not, the lights are from HD and are only $30 each. These are about 7" at the widest point and hang down 11". Hampton Bay brand maybe? They also make an even smaller one that's $20. The circular moulding that they are attached to is a separate piece that I used to cover up the hole left from the recessed lights.

[Macrolide]

Thanks for the positive responses, everyone! So kind.

[Altons Bobs]

OMG! That's awesome, looks so professionally done too!  Wish dh was as handy as you.  ;-)  Love your oak floor color!

[tthree]

This isn’t my natural skill set, but I love learning new things…shit, I love doing anything that doesn’t involve being a pharmacist.

Love this!  Kitchen looks great.

Did you have a hard time rehanging the doors on different hinges?  When we did this in our last house it was a huge pain as we couldn't find hinges that would maintain the same door spacing.

[Macrolide]

For the set below the sink and above the microwave, I had to cut the doors to make them shorter. Those were kind of a pain to rehang. I also had to build a set of little doors to go above the fridge that were missing in the first place - lets just say they don't work very well, but they're mainly for looks anyway since nobody can reach them.

For the rest though, I kept the doors in order, put a fresh coat of black Rustoleum on the old hinges and reused them. They went back pretty easy.

[ajonesin]

Love it!!

[Trudie]

Sexy ya'll!  I just love these photos.  Well done.

[GuitarStv]

That kitchen from the OP was transformed quite beautifully.

[nal51511]

What kind of stove is that?

[Bracken_Joy]

Beautiful work. I love how the floor fits so well!

[Maya]

Very nice

[Macrolide]

What kind of stove is that?

It's a Fagor 36in dual fuel range. If you've never heard of Fagor, the company is based in Spain, went bankrupt awhile back and got bought out by some giant... Definitely not on the same level as say a Viking but quite a bit cheaper. This one was $2100 new - still not chump change, but it has performed very well so far.

There's a better view of it in my video here: https://youtu.be/8y73Yh8REVs

[John74]

I love it. I am bookmarking this thread for when I redo my kitchen next year.

[Macrolide]

I love it. I am bookmarking this thread for when I redo my kitchen next year.

Thanks John! I'd be happy to expand on any topics as they relate to your project when that gets underway.

[nal51511]

What kind of stove is that?

It's a Fagor 36in dual fuel range. If you've never heard of Fagor, the company is based in Spain, went bankrupt awhile back and got bought out by some giant... Definitely not on the same level as say a Viking but quite a bit cheaper. This one was $2100 new - still not chump change, but it has performed very well so far.

There's a better view of it in my video here: https://youtu.be/8y73Yh8REVs

very nice, i have a fagor pressure cooker and love it, hope it works out for you. 

[osirispdx]

How much time would you estimate you invested in repainting the cabinets?  I have a kitchen full of honey oak cabinetry that I am thinking about painting, but finding the spare time to do it with my two young kids is looking like a challenge.

[Macrolide]

I feel ya. Getting anything done with my kids around is nearly impossible so I only worked during daycare hours. I was always addressing a few different parts of the kitchen at once, so you may be able to get it done quicker if you're able to solely focus on the cabinets.

In my smallish galley kitchen I have 25 doors and 15 drawers. The basic time frame was:

Day 1: take down doors (don’t forget to number their location so you know where to put them back), remove hardware, and begin sanding. I used a random orbit palm sander and oscillating multi-tool with corner sander attachment.



Day 2: finish sanding doors and drawers with the help of DW. Sand the cabinet boxes (I didn’t do the insides).





Day 3 & 4: miter cut 8ft long pieces of trim and attach with brad nailer - transforms the look from flat, boring to shaker style (save a couple days here if you’re not adding trim). Add wood filler to holes left by nailer, sand when dry.





Day 5: primer to cabinets. Used a roller and brush and it took all day (kicked myself for not using my airless). Contemplate suicide. Paint existing hinges with black Rustoleum (it will probably be muuuuuuch more difficult to rehang the doors if you are changing to different hinges). Painted some reclaimed pulls I used with the same stuff.

Day 6:
AM: lightly sand primer with a 220 block. Apply first coat of paint. I used an airless sprayer with Sherwin Williams ProClassic Acrylic-Alkyd. That is some sweet nectar, man! I’m sure some scientist sold his soul to Satan in exchange for the knowledge of how to make this. It’s an oil-water hybrid - lays flat and hardens like oil but doesn’t yellow and cleans up with water. $75 a gallon though – ouch!
PM: Second coat of paint.


[Crap, I painted over the location numbers. Keep those bastards in order!]

Day 7: Add new pulls to doors and drawers. Begin rehanging doors.

Day 8: Finish hanging.