Week 14 Kitchen Update: Floors, Island and Trim

Week fourteen kitchen expansion and first-floor renovation update of our little ranch style home.

If you have been following my Instagram stories then you probably know all about our crazy 4-week hardwood floor drama. Without rehashing all the traumatic details, let's just say, the guys who refinished the floors were incompetent and failed miserably to refinish them properly. They ended up having to correct and refinish the floors not once, not twice, but three times to get them acceptable. It was beyond frustrating and set us back weeks on the renovation.

Thankfully, the floor drama is now behind us and we are moving forward and getting so close to being able to actually use the kitchen. The cabinets, island, sink and a lot of the trim work have been completed and the quartz countertops should be installed by the end of the week. The house is still very much a work in progress, but having the floors finished and being able to move in furniture makes all the difference.

I talked in the week 10 update about how hard it was to find a stain color that minimized the red tones of our original red oak floors. After much trial and error, I ended up going with a mix of 3/4 Special Walnut and 1/4 Dark Walnut. Adding the dark walnut was enough to cut some of the red undertones and bring out the grain in the oak.

I also had the stair treads torn out and new oak treads installed. Having the upstairs floors run seamlessly down the stairs really helped tie everything together, especially with the new open floor plan. I still have a lot of touchup work to do, but I'm really happy with how the stairs now tie in with the rest of the space.

One of my favorite updates is seeing the new farmhouse sink installed. I went with the Blanco Cerana fireclay farmhouse sink and it's absolutely gorgeous. The clean lines and generous size make it both stylish and perfect for hiding dirty dishes.

A lot of the cabinet and trim work has been installed as well as the island, which I was dying to see set in place. I went with Iron for a pop of contrast against the white cabinets and to tie in with the doors and windows in the rest of the house.

The island is small but will house the microwave and offers additional storage, prep space and seating.

White and dark gray kitchen renovation progress

I still have a ton of nail holes to fill, caulking to do and painting to complete, so for now, I'm keeping the furniture to a minimum. I'm refraining from really decorating the living room until the new TV is hung and I figure out furniture placement.