THE KITCHEN | it's officially starting!

 Before we move in, we're taking care of a few things with the house, so we can just move in and not have to move around a dusty construction zone.  Not that we're doing that much, but nonetheless, it'll be nice to just move in and be done.

 First up - the kitchen.  Wonderful layout, gorgeous windows, and really nice walnut cabinets in great shape.  But that tiled counter.  That's just a big mess that - looks aside - I just can't live with.  It's not bad, but it's not working for us.

So here's a little [crudely] Photoshopped pic of what I'm thinking of!  A very pretty white quartz [with some grayish green undertones which works very well with the walnut], some pretty glass subway tile backsplash in a gray-green, and eventually I'd like to paint the ceiling white.  The wood is cool, yes, but we have it in the living room too that I won't touch, and in here it's been whitewashed.  Again, not bad, just not what I want in my sleek, gorgeous Mid Century home. [I have a feeling Brandon could care less about the ceiling, so that may be something that changes down the road, after the sting of new kitchen counters wears off]

A lot of people who see the house don't hate the tile near as much as I do.  But - looks aside - this tile has to go, because it has a few major issues.  Like this:

that grout crumbled when I just touched it.  Not the best for food prep...

[here are sample materials!  pretty tile on top of pretty quartz!]

And about a week ago, the demolition commenced!  I had to take out the current back splash so our quartz guy could get an accurate template.

For the most part, it came up really easily, except for a few spots:

right here, where the top of the tiles was caulked, as soon as it let go of the wall it ripped down the veneer on the bottom of the cabinet.  Craaaaaaap.  [I'll probably get new veneer, stain it as close as I can, and put new stuff up there.  I'll keep you posted!]

And here, under the microwave, it was a little tricky to get the tiles off, because they were glued on with liquid nails, instead of with traditional mastic.  [it could have been worse - they could have allll been glued on, and I would have cried a little.]

So here she is!  All naked up top:

As soon as the counters go in I'll tile the back splash [with the help of my mom and her tile saw] and we'll be moving in!