The Porch Rail: Kitchen Reno: One and a half years and counting...

I know what you're thinking. And honestly, I don't know how you've lasted this long without one of our awesome and extremely informative house blogs. Well, no worries, cause here it is. The continuation of our seemingly never-ending kitchen reno has really earned a special place in our hearts. Seriously. There's nothing better than having a half-finished, half-functioning, highly utilized space. Awesome.

So let's see. Where were we? Oh yes. Culinary awesomeness. Melting faces. The concrete! So we closed up the wall on t

he exterior, through up some ick-ea (Ikea) cabinet frames and poured our own concrete countertops. Not as easy as you may think. Thankfully, we had the Yoda of concrete helping us for our first time. Oh, and when I say "us", I mean Kenny. Although we had several pictures of this process, someone skeeved my computer, and alas, I have lost the physical memory. But let us try and recreate the process. There was Nate (concrete Yoda) and Kenny in rural, humid, Florida pouring 100 pound per linear foot slabs of quickcrete. What might that have looked like?

I guess we'll never know. Anyway, the concrete turned out great. Kenny and Yoda hauled it all the way up from Florida on a trailor (busted three tires under the weight, I believe). Then we hoisted them up on top of the cabinets, sealed them with epoxy and added in some kickin florida cypress detailing. I admit, Kenny had to sell me on it, but I really love it. Who knew two architects could come up with a design for their kitchen without killing each other?

Next step was to build and install the florida cypress plank doors, Ick-ea glass doors and handles, and all of our new appliances. Needless to say, the kitchen has come a long way since the old yeti-infested gnome cave it was a year back. We still have a way to go, but it should be pretty freakin awesome when we finish up.

Now, back to you. How can you melt your friends' faces via an awesome reno? Well, get yourself a concrete yoda. Concrete not your thing? K. Perhaps a marble buddha, or a granite dalai lama. Regardless, it's good to have some reliable guidance in areas of construction when you may not know what the bleep you're doing. Got a tight budget? We do too. We saved money by using Ick-ea where you don't see it and spending on nice wood that was visible. We bought 12 x 12 tile for $5/sf and cut it down to 2 x 12 rather than spend $26/sf on the same style tile that was already cut down to the trendy 2 x 12. Looking for other ways? How about saving on the appliances. I have found that if you go far out enough from the perimeter of Atlanta, you can easily find low priced appliances in the yards of trailor parks, farm houses, and other delightful country dwellings. You may even get a tireless Chevelle out of the deal!