Tacoma Converted Garage // Moody Kitchen: Countertops and More (ORC, Week 4)
TACOMA CONVERTED GARAGE Catch up on previous weekly updates about this moody kitchen renovation here: week 1, week 2, and week 3.
Somehow we're already to week 4 of the One Room Challenge and it feels like we're cruising now. This week was all about countertops - honed black granite and a live edge slab of wood - replacing the post, installing the plumbing, and starting on the soffit. Phew! Here's what the space looks like as of yesterday.
And here's a video update:
Honed Absolute Black Granite Countertops
First let's talk about the honed black granite countertops. I love them. You too? They're matte and lovely and look kinda like soap stone. These slabs of granite actually came polished and it was 100% the wrong vibe for the space. So Garrett honed them for me and it made all the difference.
Can you believe that Garrett also fabricated these countertops himself? Sure there's a little wonky-ness around the sink and we had to get a little creative at the corner, but dang. They're not bad! This is the second kitchen that Garrett has DIY'd stone countertops for - ironically neither of which is our kitchen - and I'm amazed by his skills. Cutting, honing, and polishing stone countertops is just not something I thought one could do at home. But apparently it is, although admittedly it is not easy. Every time Garrett finishes an installation, he swears he'll never do another one (psst: Garrett's planning to create a video of the honing and fabrication process later). We still need to epoxy the seam and do a final clean, but here's a peak.
Finding a Live Edge Slab
Probably the coolest thing to happen this week was finding a 12'-long live edge slab at a Seattle salvage store (Earth Wise in Sodo for you locals). Garrett facetime-ed me while he was at the store and I couldn't believe our luck. I've been telling Garrett that ideally we'd find a live edge slab to waterfall over the island, but I didn't really think we'd find one. I am pumped that we did! Can't you just imagine what they'll look like? No? Here's an example.
Okay ours won't be so polished or perfect, but hopefully it will provide a similar feel to our kitchen. The slab we found is so rough that Garret had to rent a power planer to level it.
Replacing the Posts
One other big update this week was swapping out the post that hangs out in the middle of the kitchen. It's been earmarked for replacement since this renovation started. The main reason was for structural support (the previous post was just sandwiched 2x6s and not connected to the beam).
Garrett found the new post (and a couple of others) at a salvage shop, sanded them down, and got them up this week. You can see the new post in the first photo, along with the beginnings of a soffit. More on that next week!
Check out all the featured and guest participants here. Just two weeks left...eeek!
