Tile back splash layout in new kitchen remodel

[PC7060]

Dan,

Just ran across you kitchen thread. Wow, your kitchen and home look great. Layout look similar to our kitchen but sadly for my wife we did have not room for an island.

Wood cabinets look beautiful and compliment the rooms very well.

Did you do the coffered ceilings? All look very nice. Need to keep Mrs PC away from the pic or I'll have to buy a new home!

[ss3964spd]

Thanks for the comp's, PC, am quite please with how the two rooms turned out and tie together.

I did do the coffered ceiling. Indeed, all the cherry woodwork (except for building the cabinets and shelves) in both the family room and the kitchen. The family room was a complete gut/rebuild and took me a ridiculous amount of time, much of it doing the trim work because, ya know, I ain't no trim carpenter. The entire fireplace wall is brick, which is now completely covered (except for the brick arch of the fireplace) in cabinets, shelves, and natural slate (no grout lines - so I had to size each and every piece of slate).

I've got better pics on the other computer but the three below offers a sense of the scope of that project. I'll post a few more later.

[Winter River]

Dan, very nice compromise solution on the backsplash.

[ss3964spd]

Thanks, Elise, your thoughts were appreciated.

It is growing on me - or so my wife tells me. I did get my way with the LED under cabinet lamps (and by "get my way" I of course mean that she doesn't technically know how much they cost....), so, small victories, 'eh?

Least the craftsmanship is a bit above average. I think.

[PC7060]

Very nice. Makes me want to take the wall out of my family room (again)

[ss3964spd]

A few pics.

[PC7060]

Real panel molding and built up coffers, very cool. No plastic glue up stuff! Love the Prairie Style / Craftsman influence to the family room. Would love to own and restore one of those homes but they all tend to be in cold parts of the US and my wife is a Virginia girl.

Can't imagine how you can claim "ya know, I ain't no trim carpenter". Much better that the stuff I've done. It seems like I spend more time setting up my shop than doing real woodworking.

[cx]

Nice lookin' work, Dan.

Too bad about your dog.

[JamesR]

Dan,
I just checked out the pics of your back splash project. Looks great, very neat and balances out that nice counter top you have. Great work!
I went with LED under cabinet lighting as well. Made my own setup to save a few bucks. Makes a big difference on the tile appearance.

[ss3964spd]

Thanks y'all.

The dog was my only helper. He's not actualy injured in that photo, when he showed up to keep me company he decided to lay on my Kreg pocket hole jig - part of which is right next to his left paw (pocket hole screws and biscuits and a little glue hold those frames together). That dog could lay on a bed of nails and be comfy.

My oldest son offered to assist once. I was in the process of framing that exterior wall (two day job) and needed to install the short blocks between the headers and top plate just under each joist. I asked him to go to the garage and fetch back the floor jack. He returned with it and asked "whatcha gonna do with this"? Standing there with a 7' 2x6 in my hand, I explained that I'm going to use the jack to take just enough weight off the joists so I can slide those short blocks in. His reply: "ok, if you say so, but how are you going to hold it up there"? He was excused from any further help lending.

The Prairie/Craftsman style is what I was trying to emulate, as I really love the look and feel of real wood in a home. Our home, though having good bones, was utterly and tragically without any character. I was a fun project but did take me a massive amount of time. If I were a real trim guy I'd have had the woodwork done in a couple of months instead of the 8 it took me. A good deal of that time involved contemplation and head scratching.

Thanks James. The LED's are...interesting. They do a great job of illuminating the work space in general but since each section is made up of individual LED's (as seen in one of my previous photos) they create some weird shadows and reflections. For instance, if you move an object from left to right under them at just the right speed a subtle strobe effect is created. Water from the fawcet, due the areator, has a jewel like tinkling effect. The units I went with are line level (no separate box/driver) and linkable. I just finished installing all the new switches/recepticles/cover plates last weekend and I put the LED's on an LED compatible dimmer, which I REALLY like, and should stretch their life past the rated 30,000 hours.

[Pete1972]

I don't know how I've missed this thread, but awesome work here, Dan. Simply awesome.

[Elkski]

Nice work... but it worries me.. Does OCD and tiling or trim work get along??
Nice Stickley table??
I love the hutch also.. but I am not sure about that whitewashed island. ?? I think I know the look you were after. Sort of an old farm kitchen working island.. but I picture a green with worn off finish instead of a wash.

[ss3964spd]

Thanks, Pete. I've a new found appreciation for craftsmen/women who are able to do fine woodwork. When you're not able to simply fill a slightly open joint with filler and then paint over it getting those joints straight and tight is very time consuming for a novis. One below shows where 3 pieces of 3/4X3/4 cove intersect in a corner. Those were fun. Measuring accurately for the pre-assembled paneling frames, then getting them together, sanded, stained, then poly'd took forever. Was a long slog, that project.

[ss3964spd]

Yeah, evidently I can be a little OCD.

No, little table in the corner isn't Stickley, but do have a round Stickley end table in the finished room. We've had the hutch for years. It's an old piece and I had to rebuild the wall it's against (smaller pantry and moved the fridge alcove) so it would fit. The island is new, but built from reclaimed barn wood. Incredibly heavy. Wanted the distressed, antique-ish white, contrasting color to keep it light/less imposing in a room with so much natural wood color, yet make it a focal point. Went with black framed chairs with wood seats, refinished our old maple table, built a bench - for which I decided to steal a little space from the family room so the space between the end of the island and the chairs/table would be more open.

[PC7060]

Dan,

All looks very nice. We have site finished hardwood throughout the first level and after 15+ years of kids and dogs and it needs to refinished in the high traffic areas (kitchen and halls)

Do you know of any floor finishing guys in the northern VA area? The guy I used originally has long since retired and I'm sure not going on A's list.

Re home grown labor force; both my son and my daughter have developed into good but reluctant assistants and can usually find the tool, bit or blade I need from the shop based on some pretty weak descriptions from me (uh, the yellow dewalt driver, No, no, not not the drill, the smaller thing with the light that makes all the noise.) Can't say they are avid volunteers, I usually* have to pay by the hour if the task takes longer than 30-40 minutes

*unless they are angling for something that will ultimately cost me even more money.