Yeah, what IS up with that kitchen?!!
To begin with, the cabinets were 70's white melamine with 70's white hardware. The flooring was an out-of-date 70's almond tile with a very scary grout situation going on. The walls were in a 70's state of disrepair. And the counter and backsplash were...just bad. Get the picture? Well, actually, you SEE the picture.
Sally had already shopped for new, stainless-steel appliances. She had also decided that she was not interested in a complete demo of the kitchen. The first design decision would be how to refinish each surface, then the colors would be selected. During our inital brain-storming, we just happened upon this beautiful glass tile at Tile America for her backsplash. The colors were an exact match to Sally's new LR and DR color palette...the rich chocolates and blues would continue in the kitchen. That was easy!!
We decided it was not necessary to replace the cabinets. And because they are a melamine finish, we opted to NOT refinish them; any finish over melamine (which is a plastic) can be compromised with normal wear and tear. Adding new brushed-chrome hardware would instantly update them.
The next surface was the old tile floor. Without a demo, we could install over the old tile: a) stick 'n peel tile, b) new, ceramic tile, c) floating laminate flooring. Or, d) install Skimstone concrete, as we had done in Sally's CT powder room. This decision was easy...Skimstone. Although the process of prep and installation would have to take place over 5 days, the end result would be a high-end polished concrete floor. And...how gorgeous would a chocolate concrete floor be?! !
The first step in floor prep is cleaning.
Vacuum, mop and wash down with TSP (a super-duper cleaner/degreaser). We then backfilled the entire floor with a tile patch compound; this eliminated the grout lines. We did a second coat to ensure the grout lines would not 'ghost' thru the concrete.
Once the floor was dry, the skimstone concrete was mixed and trowelled on. It's a 3 coat process-applying each coat thinner to backfill and smooth out.
The final step is to apply the sealer which gives it a beautiful polished stone look. We also applied a custom blue lusterstone finish to the walls.
Ta Daa!!
During this process, there was a good amount of 'watching concrete dry'. And, obviously, the kitchen was off limits...so we kept busy with several other projects in Sally's apartment (hint: two 70's style bathrooms). We'll save those project details for a later post. And by that time, we will also be able to update the final
'Ta Daa' photo with the new appliances, backsplash tile and the new cabinet hardware installed.
For now, however, we will end this post by sharing a view from Sally's balcony overlooking the East River. This is what traffic looks like after several glasses of Merlot...
To be continued...
Susan and Tracey
FWS
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