I'd like to backtrack just a little before going forward. In regards to the porcelain tile I chose for my kitchen floor, having lived with it for almost two months, I have a few words of caution to add to my previous warnings about the difficulty in cutting porcelain and the weight of it. Porcelain is supposed to be one of the toughest tile materials available, or so I was told. That's not true. Apparently, my hubby and I are a challenge to any flooring material (you know, people that walk around in slippers or bare feet). There was the one exceptional incident where hubby managed to drop a full glass bottle of Ketel One vodka about a foot and a half, shattering a single wood-look tile without so much as scratching the vodka bottle. I was utterly speechless which is highly uncommon for me. I said nothing, turned my back to him and just sat motionless. Seeing as how the scope of the project was still fresh in my mind along with the agonizing burning sensation in my hands keeping me awake at night, I'd say he was very fortunate. When he left for work the next day, I sat on the floor with my tools, removed, cleaned up and replaced the broken tile. I swear, not one evil thought crossed my mind. With that incident behind us, we move forward to my regular vacuuming and washing of the floor. Each time I do so, I notice yet another small chip in the tile. We are up to about 8 random chips and we haven't dropped anything besides an occasional potato chip or piece of paper. The brand is Marazzi from Home Depot. I am unsure whether the tile may have been handled roughly prior to my purchase causing the integrity to be diminished or if it's just low quality tile. The thought of having to replace this floor in a few years due to damage and wear does not appeal to me one bit.
Now moving forward. I managed to get through the construction and installation of the toe kick drawers but stopped at doing just the three large ones opposite the working side of the kitchen. This is not a project for anyone squeamish about banging up their hands or working from awkward positions. By the time these were done, I had removed most of the skin from the knuckles of both hands and severely bruised my ring finger on my left hand so that I couldn't wear my wedding rings or a month. I was working against a cement floor under the cabinets in a very tight space. I did do as instructed on the link on Pinterest and built the frames and drawers then installed them but the type of drawer slides I chose had to be installed on the frame while it was in place so that they were level and lined up properly. I wanted the rugged ballbearing ones rather than the plastic wheel guided type because of the width of the drawers and weight of the contents. Overall, I am extremely pleased with them and love having them so it was worth the painful struggle to get them in.
I ended up staining all the toe kicks and drawer fronts the eventual color of my new cabinets when I can afford to do them rather than matching the existing light oak ones. I am so not in love with the style or dated color and the toe kicks currently match the wood-look tile nicely.
I also ditched the ugly contractor grade recessed lights on the kitchen ceiling buy using the pendant light conversion kits found at Lowes with some pretty glass globes called "river stone". The recessed fixtures were so bizarre with the lack of a mounted can and diffusing glass or plastic cover. The glare was obnoxious. A word of caution for anyone thinking of doing this: Canless recessed lights make the installation of the kits unstable. I had to put them up, adjust them and readjust them repeatedly to get the ceiling plate to seat properly and stay put. In the long run, it would have been cheaper and easier to just remove the canless lights and install regular pendant lights. I do like the look much better than what I started with however.
I've stopped paying through the nose for Bath and Body Works foaming hand soap by refilling my bottles with about a quarter cup store brand hand soap and warm water thanks to a pin I found also. The large variety of facial masks using bentonite clay powder have been a godsend. They do so much for your skin so quickly. From smoothing and tightening skin to drawing out makeup grime from pores, there is no commercially produced mask that does so much for so little. Plus I love the idea of using natural ingredients on my face. I've also make the sugar scrub with coconut oil, regular sugar and lime juice to slough dead skin for a closer shave and longer lasting smoothness. So cheap to make and it works so much better. You can make it any fragrance you like with essential oils. I added bergamot to my last batch and it's wonderful.
Well, that's it for this time. Happy pinning!
