What NOT To Do or Say When a Neighbor is Moving

When you live in a neighborhood for a few years, you can really grow close with the people who live around you. Especially when your kids are the same age or you have had opportunity to do projects together.

First of all, one thing everyone should accept and understand is change happens. People move away. People move in. Babies are born and, sadly, people pass on to the next life. Everyone makes decisions to benefit themselves and their families and there is NOTHING wrong with that.

We made the big decision to move to a bigger home as we plan on having more children in the future. After looking at some awesome houses, we looked into building a house and found that was the route we wanted to go. We put our house on the market and planned to live in an apartment while our house is being built. There are lots of details but we felt this was the best way to do it.

So, inevitably, word got out that we were moving. Wonderful things were said to us and also hurtful things were said. Here are a few suggestions of things to do and not do when a neighbor tells you they are moving.

1. Don't take it personally. People generally don't move because they hate their neighbors. It's not unheard of but its not the norm.

2. If you decide to ask, Don't make rude comments about where they are moving. To "Snobville" or "up with all the rich people" or "that's a weird part of town." Its like telling someone their baby's name is terrible or ugly. You just don't to that! Its their decision and they've probably thought it through

3. Don't disown them. You are still their neighbor. Don't make them feel bad by giving them the stink-eye every time you drive by.

4. You can tell them you are sad to see them go but Don't say you're disappointed over and over. Say it once then move past it. If you feel like you're going to say it, talk about something else.

There are plenty of things you can say.

DO ask what you can do to help. Moving can be stressful, especially for those with young kids. Ask if you can babysit. Ask if you can pack up the kitchen. Ask if there's any yard work to be done before showing the house.

DO ask how they feel about moving. You don't know why they are moving. Ask. And be excited for them if its a good opportunity for them or comfort them if necessary.  If they are building a house, ask how their new house is coming along.

Do continue being their friend whether you will continue to be friends after the move or not. You might be surprised how far a friendly smile and conversation can go for someone who is preparing to move. Again, it can be stressful.

Campbell Kitchen Remodel: Cupboards

3rd Stage: Cupboards

I honestly dont know what stage of this whole project was the hardest. I think this one may have been. I had so many steps. You dont realize how many cupboard doors you have until you take them all off and refinish one at a time! 

My biggest piece of advice: If you can wait and do this during the summer instead of winter, DO IT! As we were stuck inside doing the wood filling, gluing, and painting(sanding I did outside with a thick jacket on) I was imagining doing this all laid out in the garage using a paint sprayer instead of brushes and rollers. Seriously. Think about the weather before you take all your doors off and start goin at it! 

Step one: filling the routed design

I am sure back in the day, this was so cool lookin. I am not from back in the day. So we changed that right off! We used basic wood filler and filled the design. After the first round, there were still little bubbles so we did it a second time. I am so glad we did because you cant see it at all now that everything is painted! 

This is after the first round of wood filler and sanding:

This is after the second round:

It was practically flat!

Then you do it over and over.

Step Two: frame out cupboard doors

DISCLAIMER: For those of you who dont know, most wood at your home improvement store are not exact measurements. The length is usually correct but the other dimensions are not. I have been told its because the measurements are the raw cuts then its finished down. So when it says its 2 inches wide, its actually 1.5 inches. Just be aware. I didnt know this and I felt like an idiot when i came home with an armload of the wrong sized wood.

Alright. Back to the project. We lightly sanded the whole front of the door so the glue would have better adhesion.

So we wouldn't have circle dents in the wood, we used little buffer pieces.

After gluing all the wood, we filled the cracks and sanded. Again.

With a orbital sander, we sanded the edges of the wood pieces so they would have a rounded edge. We used 220 grit and went slowly. Some of the pieces were a little more dense so I went down to 120 for a few passes.

The directions on the glue says for best results, let dry over night. On a handful of them, I let dry for a few hours, did the wood filler then went right out and sanded. Then I left them outside for a day. MISTAKE. The wood fluctuated with the 20 degree weather and all the wood popped off. I was about ready to burn everything and spend a fortune hiring someone to redo our kitchen with new everything. But I decided instead to take a few days off then come back. That did wonders. I was not going to be bested by skinny pieces of wood and some measly cold weather.

Step three: Tac Cloth

After sanding, we used tac cloth to get off all the wood dust. This step was really important. You need all those particles gone so you can paint on a smooth clean surface. Tac cloth is really sticky so use gloves or be ready to wash your hands for 20 minutes.

Step four: PAINT!!!

Now we were ready to paint!! I always feel anxious choosing the right paint- Its a little overwhelming. I would suggest this- I took a small cupboard door with me and said 'this is what I have, and I want my finished product to have (this) function. What should I use?' They were so helpful. Granted, the paint is more expensive than at a regular home improvement store but the quality is SO much better and it looks amazing. ONE GALLON of PRIMER and ONE GALLON of TOPCOAT did my WHOLE KITCHEN. My kitchen is small to medium sized so one expensive can of paint wasn't too painful. Plus the guy at SW thought I was cute so he gave me a coupon discount and saved me a few bucks. That never hurts!

I probably should have taken this picture before we started....

We did one coat of primer and two coats of topcoat. Then we went back and couched up a few spots that needed a little more once they were hanging up. We used a paintbrush in the inner corners then a small skinny roller for the rest. This whole process took a few weeks because we would do a coat of primer after the kids went to bed, pick them all up the next morning, then put them out after the kids went to bed and repeat. Again- DO THIS IN THE SUMMER IF YOU CAN! You can leave it all outside.

Step five: Hareware

We figured out it would be about $150 to replace all the hardware. And that was getting the cheapest of everything! Ugh. That was a little more than I was willing to spend. Solution- spray paint the old ones!
My husband went out and chose this spray paint and it looked good to me!

I put everything in a bucket of vinegar and water for a day and scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed them. They were so old and nasty. I didn't want the hinges to rust so I put them in a bag of rice to suck out the moisture. The ones I didn't put in the bag rusted so I would say it worked!

Because they rusted, I did have to buy a few replacement hinges.

I got a small box and put thumb tacs through the bottom to hold the handles up and then sprayed them! We also did the hinges- front and backs. I was afraid it would make them not be able to open but I was just careful not to cake the spray paint on too much.

This really made me smile because we were able to keep something from the old ugly kitchen and it actually looked good! It kept character in our new kitchen.

Since the cupboard doors were thicker where the handles go, we drilled new holes with a hardware template. Seriously. Go get one. They are cheap and SO worth it. We also had to get longer screws. We got them in bulk so we wouldn't have tons extra- just as many as we needed. It took some trial and error to get the size and length right but we finally got it.

Last Stage: Put everything back together!!

Then we stood back and looked at all of our hard work. Oh my. The transformation is still blowing me away.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

(that little spot isnt done because it was behind the fridge. Just another one of the many touch ups)

I have to say that one thing you dont think about when you see reveals like this is that it took me over an hour to clean everything up and get it ready for these pictures. Well for the last few at least. The kitchen hasnt looked as clean since.

All that's left is to do the floor!! (And that hideous stove hood) We wanted this done right and it was a massive project. So we decided to hire it out. Should be done in a few weeks!

More to come!

Campbell Kitchen Remodel: Backsplash

2nd Stage: Backsplash

White subway tile is inexpensive and I thought it was a good place to start. I had never tiled anything before. I read and read and read about exactly what you need and how to do it. I went to Lowes, got the materials(thanks to the one employee who has ever really helped me there. He's Hawaiian and super cool) and got to work. I used a hand tile cutter since they were porcelain. It took a few messed up tiles to figure out exactly how to get it right. 

How did I do this project with two little kids? One of which is a 4 month old? I laid them 5 or 10 at a time- as many as they would let me- I would cover the mortar with plastic so it wouldn't dry out, then come back later. No problem.

I didnt know where to end the tile- at the edge of the counter or all the way to the door trim. I couldn't find anything that indicated what the best choice was. I just had to make a decision. After the project was done, our contractor said I probably should have gone all the way to the trim but it wasn't the end of the world. It still looks fine!

As you can see I worked around my dishes instead of doing them. Priorities. 

I got grout caulk and caulked between the bottom of the cupboard and tile, between the counter and tile, and edges of the tile where it was just on the wall. Caulk with painters tape! In the picture above, you can see it on the top edge of the counter. Its so much easier to smooth it out with your finger then peel off the tape. It leaves a nice clean line. I need to redo my bathtub caulk doing this method- I didnt the first time and it looks like a 6 year old did it. 

A little bit of touch up paint to go and ta-da! Backsplash done. 

Campbell Kitchen Remodel: Concrete counters

I know there are some people who have been dying to see our kitchen remodel. It has been quite a project. There are some things that I would have done differently but for the most part, I am very proud of what we have accomplished. People ask me how I do it- How do I find time to work on big projects, do crafty things, clean my house, shower, feed myself and my kids? Well, the answer is I don't do everything every day. As many moms I'm sure can relate, I sometimes go days without showering and it's not because I don't want to. Some days, I look like a babe all dressed up and hair did and other days the house is spotless and I look like I just walked out of a swamp. 

As far as projects go, they just take me 10x longer than it would if I had no interruptions. I do everything in 5 minute increments. My children's nagging for milk or crackers is sometimes ignored for a few minutes. I do as much as I can when the kids are occupied or asleep. They watch more TV than I would like. It's the way we roll 'round these parts.

Ok. On to our kitchen remodel. We have been working on this for over 6 months now in stages. 

1st Stage: Countertops

There were a limited number of options for our countertops. We wanted to do something with our existing counters- trying to keep the money spending to a minimum. After a lot of research, we decided to go with a concrete coating. I found this blog post and did everything exactly how they did it. All the materials were exactly the same. This is seriously the best blog post so I wont go into crazy detail about specifics. Read his. It's much better.

I scored the existing laminate countertop with a box cutter for better adhesion of the concrete.

Here I am three months postpartum ready to go at this project!! I'm only the slightest bit crazy. I promise. 

This is 3 coats of concrete not fully dried:

We then sealed it off like a sterile lab so the concrete dust wouldnt go everywhere and wouldnt kill us. My husband put on a mask and went at it! The blog I read said they sanded for 5 hours. We sanded for 2 1/2 and liked how it was. It wasnt perfectly smooth and still had some character.  

Post sanding/presealing:

Last coat of sealer still wet and I already love it!

A few weeks after the counters were done, I took a deep breath, stretched and went on to the next step. Backsplash. There's a little sneak peak in the last picture.