Kitchen mayhem and triumph

So apparently I have a small following which means I can finally say: "I'm a big deal on the Internet". Thanks, y'all! 

Sorry for the delays. But I have been under the weather, but fortunately Morris is still a machine!

The news for the week is that there is some SERIOUS progress happening in the kitchen.  Previous posts saw how Morris took out the old drywall ceiling and the sink and some of the old caninets. This weekend saw a lot more getting ripped out and much of it going to the dumpster. Thursday and Friday evenings were about laying the concrete backer board for the kitchen floor, and this was some serious stuff. This is the anchor for the tiles that are going on the floor so they have something strong that won't move like wood will as the house settles and shifts over time. (I am learning so much through this process). For the curious, in the time it takes me to screw down one board, Morris can do 3 or 4. 

Morris inspects the work, and the headlamp is because the power for much of the first floor was off while he was figuring out how the hell the different circuits were wired together and/or separately. It was quite the mystery.

Once the backing board was all down and passed inspection, it was time to lay the tile. There weren't much by way of in progress shots because 1) he went for the quick set mud and when it says quick set, IT MEANS QUICK!!! and 2) I ended headed home to the apartment early because I felt like crud and Morris was learning how to do it more easily after the first few bits.

Here is the overall layout before the mud and mortar. Fun fact. We discovered that the Home Depot team accidentally gave us about 5 boxes of the wrong color tile, but it was the same size and shape, so we decided to make it work, and Morris found a really great way to lay it out. I think the extra color makes it look more like marble.

Here is the main breakfast nook area post wiping off the excess grout (what a fun process......) That is a good looking floor! Now we just need to lay the corner bits that will actually require cutting on the fancy tile saw. I have officially lost count of the number and types of saws we have.

Another major kitchen development was the decision on the countertops. Morris found a place near Alexandria called [Wood Craft] which covers all sorts of tools and supplies for fine woodworking. He was like a kid in a candy store and had a great time getting excited with the guys in the store about different options. We had been strongly thinking about using hardwood for the counters, but were totally sold once we saw the materials they had. We also had some promises with the guys from the store that they could come by and see the results in person. We were introduced to some slabs of bloodwood that inspired the Wood Craft guy and Morris to both getting a little giddy. As well as some gorgeous chocolate Peruvian maple and purple heart. Did you know that wood can naturally come in a deep purple color, because I sure as hell didn't! 

Here is one of the bloodwood slabs that will compose the majority of the island counter:

And here is one of the planks of purple heart. Image wasn't manipulated or edited. #nofilter. This is actually the color of the wood in its natural state:

Then we turned to the ceiling for some additional dramatic excitement for the ceiling. After seriously considering a naked, open joist look, we actually decided to go with a latticeboard ceiling to partly hide the joists and wiring and pipes, but still allow access for Morris to play with wiring and doing new stuff. We picked up a nice dark stain for it and we were both glad that we didn't pick the even darker colors that we considered. But it looks great. And after solving most of the wiring mysteries (light bulb moment!), Morris managed to put up some of the new lights we got for the kitchen and it looks so modern and sophisticated and rustic and industrial. All in a good way. It is gonna be a sexy ceiling.

That was a good place to wrap up, but before we left on Sunday evening, Morris realized that he needed to mow the lawn because the lawn was growing with vigor after the earlier fertilizing and seeding that he put down. Fortunately lawn trimming pickup is Monday morning. Yes, 6 of those bags are just from his mowing the lawn on about 20 minutes. Have you ever seen someone sprint through mowing? It is a terrifying treat.