It's been over a month since we have had a chance to update the blog- and we apologize for getting behind! Just because we haven't been posting doesn't mean we haven't been working on the house, though... so I will do my best to catch up.
One of the big things that happened in August was that we bought our cabinets!!! We decided to go with Ikea cabinets. Because the cabinets are actually made from metal and composite material, and only the faces are actually nice wood, these cabinets are SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than, oh let's say all cherry cabinets that we had in the condo in Phoenix. We had originally budgeted about $7,000 for all of the cabinets, looking at warehouse and discount stores. The issue with these stores is that you essentially only have the options in front of you. They may not be the exact shapes/sizes you need, or not the right color. When we went to Ikea to browse, we found a style that was exactly what I had pictured in my mind- and had all of the features we wanted, such as soft close doors and drawers, glass front-paned doors for the dining room buffet area, etc.
After deciding what face type we liked, we headed home to design our cabinet layout. Ikea has a program on their website that allows you to design your rooms and print out an item list as well as a 3D rendering. The program itself is a HUGE headache, but completing all of this at home was incredibly beneficial. That way, I could be on the computer looking at options, while Tim could run over to the room and double/triple check measurements. Once we were finally happy with the design, we headed in to the store to purchase the cabinets. This proved to be a headache in and of itself, but, in the end, we completed the purchase and got cabinets for the kitchen, a dining room area buffet and the vanity area in the master bedroom for under $5000. Oh- and that also includes the hardware, a new (farmhouse!) kitchen sink and faucet.
Thankfully, we had Ikea deliver the cabinets- it would have been multiple trips even with Tim's truck. We managed to clear out about 1/2 of the garage and anxiously awaited the delivery. When it finally came, we went through each item, cross referencing with our list, 3 times in order to be sure we had everything and the order was correct. This was quite a process, especially when you consider the crazy names that Ikea gives everything. Luckily, the order was fine. As part of this process, we also divided everything by room- giving an area to the dining room cabinets, kitchen and master.
The first set of cabinets to be installed were in the master bedroom. It was only 2 sets of drawers, so by far the easiest to install. For the vanity, we had previously purchased a tiger's eye glass tile for the counter top. Once the cabinets were built and installed, Tim added a counter in particle board, and a strip of fascia above the seating area. We were also able to install the vanity sconces!
The next step was to tile! This was my first experience laying tile, and I have to say it was not that difficult. I'm sure it also helps that we were tiling a flat surface rather than a wall- good practice for the backsplash and master bathroom! Basically, you spread out a layer of thin-set mortar, using a 1/4" notched trowel to get a consistent thickness. Then, you lay the tile down. The glass tile came in 13" X 13" sheets, so it was as simple as putting the large squares down evenly. We did have a few cuts to make, and rather than using a tile saw, we managed to find my stained glass equipment and used the "chompers" to break the glass. Once the tile is placed, we pressed it down into the mortar and allowed it to dry. Finally, we used a sponge to remove any residue from the glass.
The next step was to grout. For this portion of the project, we had a guest star! My parents actually came in to visit, and of course, were put to work! My mom did a fantastic job of grouting the counter. We decided to go with a dark chocolate grout so that the small tiles would look more cohesive and you would not notice each tile as much as the overall effect.
We also were able to hang the mirror- another Ross find- and add the drawer hardware. The hardware for the vanity was actually purchased at the Home Depot. We found a design that mimicked the design of the mirror and antique chair (which is not pictured).
Overall, I am very happy with how the vanity has turned out. Because we have such small bathrooms in this house, it is really nice to have a separate area to get ready in the morning. Additionally, because we installed outlets on either side of the vanity, it also functions as a desk if I need to set up my laptop.
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