DIY Concrete Countertops - Finishing

Alright, where did we leave off on the concrete countertops?  Oh yeah, the SINK!  I can feel that ugh feeling coming right on back...

(Pssst...click here to read about the Part I of our new countertops.)

In our first post about the prepping and pouring, I wrote about how much of a pain it was to install the sink form.  We hoped the pain would end once the concrete was poured but when we removed the form, we had all these big voids.

The frustration was real but we had to move on and start with the process of finishing the counters before we figured out how to make the sink look better.  So, let's talk about the finishing and come back to the sink.

With the concrete completely dry (about five days after pouring), it was time to grind them down so the tops were smooth.  Even with screeding and then floating the concrete after it was poured, the counters still felt rough to the touch, slightly more smooth than something like our sidewalk but definitely not smooth enough for a kitchen sponge to glide over.

Easter / Spring Mantel

We are not so great at all-out decorating for every holiday, big or small.  Christmas is the one holiday we do more than usual; this year we even managed to hang lights outside and we felt really accomplished.  But holidays like Easter don't see much of a change around our casa.  (I mean, Easter baskets sitting around and crosses already hanging on the walls count, right?)  But this year, I pulled a Bonnie Engstrom and decorated the mantel for Easter.  It needed a good dusting last week and one thing led to another and by the end of cleaning the mantel shelf, I had a whole new set up.

It doesn't scream bunnies and eggs (because in all honesty, I'm not a huge fan of that dang Easter bunny) but it's a simple nod to the reason for the season.

DIY Concrete Countertops - Prep & Pour

Last year, I wrote a post all about our kitchen plans and in that post I mentioned concrete countertops were on the docket.  Well, here we are, many moons later excitedly crossing that off our list.  And boy, are we glad we can.  What. A. Process. it's been.

The kitchen isn't finished yet - we still have more painting and floors to tackle - but it's gotten to the point where it's skipped right on over the dated to modern line and our new countertops have a huge part to play in that.  

rug*

Here's where we started three long years ago:

I painted the cabinets a few months ago and I know that really helps up the ante too.  A post on those will come but today, I'm going to share the beginnings of how we prepped the kitchen for those new counters and poured them in place.  I was going to write a whole big post on the prep, the pour, and the finishing but just adding photos was a bajillion pages so we'll split it up so you can chew it all without choking. 

An Overdue Kitchen Update

 Oh how far we've come...in the kitchen.

I've been wanting to share our kitchen progress for awhile but when I think to do it, another voice says "just wait until you get a little more done and then post an update".  Well, we're slow (but sure!) and so if I wait and wait, you'll never get to see it.  

We are most definitely not done but we've jumped and skipped, more like leaped and bounded, our way to modern-day kitchen in the past three years (almost three years on the dot, can you believe it?!)

I give you...progress:

Comfort Gray

 Hey!!  It's been a couple of months since I popped on here.  👀

Blame it on the wonderful world of internet technology.  In the 10+ years I've been blogging, I've never had any technical issues until the past few months.  Every free minute I had to jump onto my computer to blog was spent dealing with blog issues.  The internet changes everyday and to fix anything now, I feel like you have to take an entire college course to keep up.  There were quite a few frustrating moments but thankfully, I think they're ironed out for the most part.  

So, with twisted digits, I'm just going to go ahead and sweep all the technical stuff under the rug and dive into paint.  Hopefully it'll stay under that rug and just, well, disappear.  We've gotten a good chunk of home project progress down pat and I've got a big 'ole kitchen update to share soon but right now, I'm going to take it easy and share a tried and true paint color...

Comfort Gray 

The past couple of weeks, I spent about an hour each day painting trim and walls in our storage room/laundry nook/half bath area.  This combo of three rooms plus a small hallway sits right off the breakfast nook and it's the only place that still had unpainted wood trim.  That fact alone made it look like it didn't even belong in this house.  I hate painting trim so much that I'm sure I've put this off lots and lots of times but I finally buckled down and went classic white on it.  (By classic white I mean Pure White by Sherwin Williams color-matched to Valspar paint in a satin sheen - all of the trim in our house is this color.)