A DIY Blog Empowering You to Complete Your Own Project
Have you ever fallen in love with two different cabinet hardware? But, you worried that your friends and family might have you arrested by the non-coordinating home accent police? No? Okay, so maybe it was just me.
I fell in love with these glass knobs. [Read more...]
You may have noticed that pretty little seedy glass pendant light over our sink from my video the other day. It was a breeze to install, so I want to share with you the tutorial. BUT…before we get down to the step-by-step, I have some awesome news for you. GoldenageUSA.com has offered to give one of you lucky ducks a $200 Shopping Spree on their website! GoldenageUSA gave me the seedy glass pendant light in exchange for mentioning them on the blog. If you haven’t heard of them, they have an online store FULL of the most amazing light fixtures. They work with a lot of high end stores and even custom design light fixtures for clients upon request.
I put together the graphic above with just a small sampling of some of their products. They sell every type of light imaginable. Plus, they have ceiling fans, rugs, mirrors and much more. If I won the $200 I’d have a very hard time deciding what I’d like to buy with the winnings. If you think you can chose, be sure to enter the giveaway at the end of this post. [Read more...]
I am so thankful for all the comments and well wishes you have given me over the past six months. Many of those comments have lifted my spirits during the long kitchen renovation process. Your belief in me has truly allowed me to take on projects I would have probably shied away from.
After 6.5 months, we finally unpacked our boxes and officially moved back into the kitchen. The plumber hooked up our sink and dishwasher on Tuesday. It was a milestone for us. My boys (young and adult) acted as if the kitchen sink was a thing of wonder.
As a thank you for helping me through the process of building our kitchen back after the leak, I’m giving you a little sneak peek of the progress. It’s not complete, but I feel like I owe you this little video preview:
Source List:
Just getting caught up on our kitchen renovation? You can read ALL about how we went from a small water leak to bare studs to a working kitchen!
One of the best decisions I made in our kitchen renovation was adding cork tile flooring. I was exuberant when Globus Cork agreed to work with me on my kitchen renovation! Now that they are installed, I am in total love with the cork flooring. It is warm, water resistant, cushy under foot, attractive, and best of all the two tone tiles help tie the different wood floors in our home together.
The light pine flooring in the living room matches nicely with the lighter natural floor tiles. And the darker golden oak color tiles match our darker heart pine floors in the rest of our home. It’s as if the differing wood floors in our home are woven together in the kitchen.
The installation of the cork tiles was fairly easy (if you are precise). The prep work was a bit tedious, but worth the effort. [Read more...]
One of the biggest decisions I had to make on our kitchen renovation was what flooring to install. We have always had linoleum flooring and I was happy with it. But, when I was shopping for new linoleum I couldn’t find a pattern or flooring that I really loved. One of the things I was looking for was a flooring that had a matte finish. And I wanted it to have enough pattern that it wouldn’t show dirt easily.
Because of our water issues, I completely nixed the idea of wood flooring. Especially because we have two different colored wood floors in adjoining rooms. So, picking one color would always make the “odd floor out” feel disjointed.
I also didn’t want porcelain or stone tile flooring because I don’t like how cold it gets (which is why I installed radiant heat under our mudroom tiles.) And I didn’t want our dishes to shatter every time the boys dropped one (which happens a lot in our house.)
At one point I was considering installing groutable vinyl tiles. I loved the look and thought it would have the warmth and comfort of vinyl but the look of tile. But, then I read this article by Mike Holmes, he explained why he didn’t recommend groutable vinyl tiles. Apparently, there is a tendency for the grout to crack over time. At this point, I was really feeling stressed about flooring and was considering just picking a linoleum that I liked (but didn’t love.) Then I saw this:
Those are cork tiles! They have the look of wood, and the comfort of linoleum. And as a bonus, they are eco-friendly! Cork is harvested from the trees every 9 years. The tree is not cut down or harmed. The bark is simply cut off. And the tree regenerates new bark. Within 9 years that tree will be ready to be harvested again. This process can continue for hundreds of years without killing the tree. Did you know that most of the cork trees are in Portugal? And the cork forests provide habitat for many endangered species? You can learn more by watching this video:
There are many manufacturers of cork flooring. But, I was drawn to Globus Cork (and ultimately partnered with them) because of the variety of tiles they sell. Not only do they have 38 colors to choose from…
…but they can produce custom colors as well! Oh the possibilities.
They also have three textures to select from:
As if that wasn’t enough, they also offer a variety of tile shapes and sizes!
I browsed through some of their installed flooring photos and was instantly in love with the idea of cork flooring. I found a few kitchen examples you might find inspiring:
For the more modern and daring homeowner, how about these:
If you prefer classic patterns, you’ll appreciate these:
In the process of researching flooring for the kitchen, I read through several forums online about cork floors and pets. The consensus seemed to be that if you have an animal that likes to dig and scratch, you might want to steer clear of cork flooring. We never had any problems with Buddy, so I figured we were safe.
Another concern that several people asked about was if cork floors were water resistant and stain resistant. Cork is naturally water resistant which is why they are used as wine stoppers. And the Globus Cork tiles come pre-sealed, but they sell a sealer to add a final coating after the installation.
I was sold! I’ll share with you my Globus Cork tile installation tutorial here. If you follow me on Instagram, you got the preview ahead of time.
Disclosure: After lots of research, I selected Globus Cork because I liked their products and their customer service. I approached them about working with me on my kitchen renovation. They agreed to partner with me. I received complimentary products, but I was not told what to write or share. Please know that I am very selective about which companies and products I chose to work with.
