Caulking the Kitchen

This weekend we were back in the kitchen, finally finishing the backsplash we installed back in July. After we grouted the tile in the beginning of August, we never caulked or installed the outlet covers. We also needed a new piece of molding to put under the window. The kitchen looked like this.

I hoped that the objects on the counter and the light coming in from the window would hide the fact that our work was not finished, but when you got up close it looked like this without the blue tape.

The easiest part of this project should have been replacing the outlet covers. We decided that they should be black since the outlets line up perfectly with our black stripe. However, when Douglas brought home these plastic ones, I did not like them.

On Friday, I informed Douglas that I wanted to finish the backsplash this weekend before our guests came for Thanksgiving dinner. The first thing that he did was to go purchase metal outlet covers. I planned to paint them black.

After the first coat in the picture above, they did not look that great, but once done I think that they look much better than the plastic one. What do you think? Am I crazy to have worried so much about this minor detail?

While Douglas worked on replacing different bits of trim, I caulked the backsplash. The most time consuming part of this was putting the blue tape around, but it really makes the job much easier.

One interesting thing that I learned this weekend is that the caulk gun has a spout trimmer. It is very handy.

When I finished, I caulked around the sink. This is the first that the sink has been fully installed since we removed the counters back in January. It feels so good to know that it does not have to come out for a long, long time… possibly forever.

Next, I decided to caulk around the baseboards. I had been thinking about doing this since we tiled the floors back in March of 2013. Of course, I never got around to doing it until yesterday. Are you sensing a theme of long-delayed projects in this house?

I had to move and clean behind the refrigerator and cabinet. I am glad that I did it though; the trim looks much better now. Here is the before and after.

Speaking of delayed projects, part of the problem is that my spouse has the attention span of a gnat. This description might sound unloving, but it is how he describes himself. At one point this weekend, I turned around and Douglas was painting the porch. Granted, this is another delayed project that needed to be done since we replaced a couple of rotting beams in March of this year, however, it was not something that needed to be done this weekend, when we were supposed to be finishing the kitchen.

I had to call him back to replace the molding that I painted Saturday night. It was a tough angle, but finally he finished it.

Then, we realized that the board bowed out at the ends because the middle was deeper than the tile.

He needed to pry the board off without damaging the tile. I was terrified that would not be possible, but he managed nicely.

So, now our counter look much nicer, and we are several steps closer to finishing the kitchen once and for all… or at least for a couple of years.

Here is a before and after from when I bought the house. It looks worlds better, no?

The kitchen project list is dwindling. We may just be able to finish before the end of the year. Here is the list I made at the beginning of the year when we started the counters. All that’s left is the painting.

• Remove the countertops
• Install new countertops
• Move electrical outlet
• Tile the backsplash
• Caulk the tile
• Patch wall
• Paint walls
• Paint trim
• Paint door
• Caulk moldings
• Polish cabinets
• Polish hardware
• Reconfigure cabinet storage
• Clean everything well and put it back

Happy Homemaking!

P.S. I am sharing this post with Wow Us Wednesday, Show and Tell Friday and Feathered Nest Friday,