Not sure if many people are reading today (due to the impending turkey-related holiday) but we wanted to stop in with a quick kitchen update. We officially got our counters templated (aka: measured so they can be fabricated and installed within the next hopefully two weeks). And this finally means our sinkless days are finally numbered. Huzzah! For anyone who missed the counter discussion, here’s what we’re getting.
When they came out to template we did learn that we would need reinforcement to support the 12″ overhang on two sides of the peninsula, so they quoted us $300 to build in some steel rods when they fabricate the counter or offered up the DIY option of buying some brackets (either decorative ones that will be seen or hidden steel ones – we’re leaning towards the latter) that we can add ourselves… to the tune of about $15.
Guess which option we’re going with? Haha. Yes, option two. So we’ll share the process of installing those brackets (four on the long side and two on the short side) before the counters go in, along with all of the other kitchen projects that we have on our “Soon” list (demo-ing out the tile backsplash, removing the spent plywood backing and adding cement board in its place in preparation for backsplash tiling, etc). And of course we’ll be back tomorrow with some sappy Thanksgiving goodness for ya (hope there’s time for you to stop by between stuffing and pie).
Melissa says
You know that you are great at understanding baby babble when you can understand other parents kids! That or she is awesome at saying tape measure. I think the second option.
Lynn @ SafeBeauty says
She is too funny with her DIY Clara speak. Makes me miss the days that my kids were that small…sniffle… :o) And you had nice servicemen to tell you about the mega discounted DIY option that you guys could do yourself. Cant wait to see this kitchen all done y’all.
My best, Lynn
Tabitha@aintlifesweet says
Happy Turkey Day-eve to you guys as well. I don’t think we would expect anything less than you guys finding a way to DIY & save! Glad they gave you that option!
On a side note – I just saw a white ceramic rhino (wall mount) and an awesome little bottle cap opener made from vintage bicycle chains, and wall sconces made from bicycle rims. All of it screamed YHL… so I had to share. I wish this store was closer to Va – it’s all the way down in Beaufort SC (I also found a mini Beyonce)… go figure!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw man it sounds awesome!
xo,
s
amyc says
I’ll still be checking in from snowy Canada!! Good luck with the counters & turkey!!
Maky says
Oh my… can Clara get any cuter? When’s she getting her own blog, Mom and Dad? LOL She’s already talking for England!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I can’t wait for the day when she writes hilarious little posts!
xo,
s
Leticia says
Oh my good gravy is that kid cute!!! I think my head exploded when she said “tape measure”! I’m really enjoying watching her grow now I have my own little girl (11 weeks) I cant wait to she gets to that stage. We’ve even been inspired by her weekly photo and are doing a set of our own here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetlibertinecakes/sets/72157628116255193/
Looking forward to seeing the new counters too! Its already so much more of an improvement, its going to be lush when its finished!
YoungHouseLove says
So cute! Love those pics!
xo,
s
Ofelia, México City says
I will check your blog tomorrow, that’s for sure. What a cute Clara looks in that video trying to measure Burger! Happy turkey day!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks guys! You’re all so sweet. Happy thanksgiving!
xo,
s
Elizabeth says
Wouldn’t dream of missing your blog! Every day I check (numerous times I might add) to see what kind of lovelies yall are getting in to! I don’t own a house yet, but I look forward to one day, and I’ll be well equipped, thanks to you and yours! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Elizabeth!
xo,
s
Maddie says
Haha – Clara is too cute!
I have an off subject question for you guys. I was looking back over your photo wall posts because we’re planning on doing something similar in our place. I loved your idea with the newspaper templates and marking where nails go. My main question is this: It looks like there’s no way that every nail is nailed into a stud to hold up the frame? Did you use certain nails to do this or did you just tap them into the wall (without even hitting studs)?
Thanks so much & happy turkey day!
YoungHouseLove says
For heavy frames where the nail wouldnt hit a stud we used anchors and screws. For light ones a nail into the wall worked. Good luck!
xo,
s
Tamara says
My son Mason (2 years old-27 months to be exact) insisted on having a nap with his tape measure today! I took a pic which I’m trying to upload to your Facebook page. So dang cute! After your Clara videos, I couldn’t resist sharing. He’s been tape measure crazed for the last few days…maybe a future in DIY…
YoungHouseLove says
Hilarious!
xo,
s
Anika says
SO SO SO cute! Thanks for sharing – I love Clara videos!
Randa says
That child is ridiculously cute! :) Like built-in entertainment in your house, huh? Happy thanksgiving to you all.
Amy says
That really is SO cute!
mp says
I’m trying to figure out how the steel brackets can be hidden? Hope you’ll explain when the time comes. I liked the ones Sarah Richardson chose for the bar area in her summer cottage.
YoungHouseLove says
They’ll basically be thin steel L-brackets so they’ll hug the cabinet and wrap under the underside of the counter. Then we’ll add a decorative wood front to the back of the cabinets to hide the part of the bracket that might have been seen. As for decorative brackets, we figured we might knock our knees into them, and since the three chairs on the long side of the peninsula will be centered on the counter and not the cabinets (which will be less wide due to the overhang) we didn’t want the chairs and brackets to look misaligned.
xo,
s
amy says
Happy Thanksgiving YHL! I have been 100% wrong with both my kiddos, all wives tales said girl, i had dreams of a girl, was even so sure with my first i bought a few outfits for a girl, but I have two beautiful boys! My husband however is 2 for 2, if we have more I m just asking him =).
Amy says
I love everything your doing in your kitchen, it makes me want to reno my own right now!
I stumbled across this blog a few weeks ago, and they are also currently re-doing their kitchen. I realized today that you both have almost identical kitchen plans, and your both situated in Richmond. http://7thhouseontheleft.com/
Too weird!
Can’t wait to see the final product!
YoungHouseLove says
So funny! Love theirs!
xo,
s
Rhune says
Oh wow, you guys are so brave letting Clara use the tape measure near the brand new refrigerator! I was so nervous for you when watching the video lol.
Jo says
Just had a chance to catch up with a few posts and wanted to wish you good luck with your Corian counters.. which will look fabulous I’m sure.
Funnily enough I’ve just been going through the same decision making process at home and I saw that you looked at a couple of Cambria Quartz options.
It’s all here if you’re interested..
http://jdumoulin.blogspot.com/2011/11/kitchen-reno-part-2-of-many-o.html
I fancied Quartz right from the off [‘cos it’s SO hardwearing, and relatively inexpensive].
Plus I really like the mixture of colours and texture you can get.
I plumped for Newcastle.. another Cambria colour, after much soul searching. I will let you know how it looks.
Happy Thanksgiving from Canada
Jo xx
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh sounds so pretty! Have fun with them, I hear they’re virtually indestructible!
xo,
s
J'Ann says
Now you can get some assistance with the home renovations!
RebeccaNYC says
When my nephew was about 2 years old, he was fascinated with tape measures, so stupid 20 something that I was, I gave him one. A real one that measured up to about 20 feet or something. The first time he played with it and pushed the rewind button, I realized what I had done. You never saw an aunt move so fast! This became a “toy” that he was only allowed to play with when I was RIGHT ON TOP OF HIM. It eventually made its way into his dads tool box. Thanks for my morning walk down memory lane, and Happy Thanksgiving!
Erica says
So big!!!! John could never deny her! My baby looks like her daddy. . . Interesting think I heard: it’s an evolution thing so the dad animals would instinctually claim their girls. I even looked like my dad until an adult. Now everyone says I look exactly like my mom!
YoungHouseLove says
So interesting! Everyone thinks I look just like mom so we’ll have to see if Clara follows the trend!
xo,
s
Kristin says
Would we expect Clara NOT to say tape measure? The girl’s a genius! ;)
Natalie Hua says
Yes, we r reading today and everyday and we’re thankful for the Clara cuteness overload post!
Happy Thanksgiving you u guys!
We definitely need a lot more Clara videos to brighten our winter days! :-)
Wesley says
Clara has got the cutest clothes! Those polka-dot stockings are making me swoon with baby joy!
Diana says
Yep, just taking a little break from holiday cooking to see what’s new over your way! Love the Clara videos… she’s adorable and so smart! Thanks for reassuring us about the light duty tape measure… those things scare even me!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
Heather B. says
Happy Thanksgiving! The link for the babycenter post isn’t working for me…and I’m dying to read it because I’m pregnant and we’ve decided not to find out the gender, so I want to read thoughts!!
YoungHouseLove says
So sorry here’s that link for ya: http://blogs.babycenter.com/mom_stories/was-your-boy-or-girl-feeling-right/
xo,
s
Laura Bellamy says
I saw your comment on guessing (knowing) what your baby was ahead of time. I never tried but for 5 pregnancies we just never could figure out a girl name and well, we had 5 boys. Anyhow, twice I had “total” strangers tell me what sex the baby was going to be. Very weird.
April K says
Going with Corian counter tops is a great choice. After living in our home for 8 years, our Corian counter top cracked by the stove top. Our builder, who is now out of business, didn’t give us any warranty information, so we didn’t know what to do. Seeing they offer a 10 year limited warranty on Dupont’s website, I decided to call. They needed something showing the age of our house, so we printed off the tax records from our county’s tax assessor’s website and faxed it in. Dupont sent someone out within a week to fix it and the counter top looks perfect! You would never know it was cracked! I love my Corian counter tops!
I love watching your kitchen (and house) come together!
April
YoungHouseLove says
Wahoo! So happy to hear that! Gotta love a guarantee and service like that!
xo,
s
Kristen says
Did I just sneak a peek of a big ceramic dog in the office next to the file cabinets in the “Tape Measure” video??
YoungHouseLove says
That’s our concrete greyhound from a few years back. He still dearly misses his ceramic brother though. Sniffle.
xo,
s
Jennifer says
I ALMOST emailed you guys to tell you, you might need support brackets (we just did some counter tops)but figured you were already in the know!! Sorry, I shouldn’t assume!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks! We figured they’d tell us about it when they came to template and they were really thorough about it thankfully!
xo,
s
Ellen Rush says
just watched both of Clara’s videos – she is quite adorable!My husband and I are in the middle of planning a kitchen renovation (actually, it is a whole house reno), and we are thinking of using Corian as well. We have a peninsula planned that has a curved seating area and that is where we want to do the corian, the rest of the counter tops will be wood and or laminate, have not decided yet. It was validating to see that you two were using corian! We have a late 40’s house that was added on to and we have made do for a few years but its time to upgrade! Thanks for your fun and inspiring posts!
Diego says
The videos are adorable. Kudos to parents that embark on house renovations! Great job.
Aubrey says
this is a fabulous video of clara! tape measure! of course this would happen with you guys! i would hope my future children would say the same …maybe even first words. paint, tape measure, on sale!
Stephie says
Oh bummer, Mike and I installed our brackets over the weekend and I would have loved to see how you guys did yours first. When we got our new counter tops the guys reused our old brackets that were just for decoration and they could hold up our formica countertops, but not the new heavy granite! When we asked them to replace them they basically said we were on our own. But luckily I think the ones we installed this weekend are going to be functional and not too bad looking :)
Katelyn Howard says
Haha!! What a little cutie Miss Clara is!! I’m bettin’ on seeing her on HGTV in about 18 years :)
Chelsea says
Our son is into his Black and Decker tool set these days, working on projects with daddy. The real thing is always better though! Especially the tape measure!
Just wanted you to know, we just watched Clara’s Fav Tool at least 10 times, he signed “more” every time it was over. I’m pretty sure Burger running in and out of the screen was his favorite part. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- so cute! Burger is Clara’s favorite “toy” too!
xo,
s
Blaine says
Can I ask what the final tally was? Square footage x $38 = ???? We’re moving into a new house next month and are thinking of doing the same!
YoungHouseLove says
They were $1700 total :)
xo
s