Installing an Ikea Sink

 Lately I have been sharing about our current diy kitchen remodel project in steps, from demo to prep work to installing ikea butcher block counters and today I get to share about installing our farmhouse sink.  You guys, this sink is the bomb.com - (and yes I was teenager in the 90s.)  But seriously, I really can't say anything bad about it.  If you are in the market for a farmhouse sink no doubt you have looked at this one - its the domsjo sink from ikea.  By far it is the best priced farmhouse sink for its size out there.  Its such a great deal that we had to wait on a list for months to get one.  So know up front your closet ikea may not have one in stock if you just randomly show up.  Call before you go!  Now to be clear, we have currently been using this sink for about 2 weeks so I can't speak on longevity - but still I love it.   

For a little background (if you are just joining in) we decided recently to upgrade the majority of our kitchen - pretty much everything has been replaced besides our cabinets.  This made installing counters and this sink a little different since they are from ikea and made to install really easily into their own (ikea) cabinets.  But it can easily be done and we are living proof.  It just took a little extra work.

The fist steps in this process was back in our demo days which involved removing the old plumbing and cutting out the area in our cabinets in which this sink was going to sit.  Next, we cut our counters to size and cut in the notches for the sink.  After that we secured our counters in place and we were ready for the sink to go in.  So that brings us to the picture below - the mini beams.

This sink is massive and heavy - no exaggeration- and needs really good support.  If you look at the instructions from ikea you can see that the cabinets you buy from ikea have this support already built in.  To make it work for us, Justin built two "mini beams" (one for each side of the sink) under the cabinet for it to rest on and to be secured to.  Honestly, this was the most complicated part of the whole process...besides maybe the plumbing portion..but this is all about the pretty stuff right now.  

After the sink was firmly in place the next thing we did was seal around it (not pictured).  We used a caulk gun and some silicone based sealer around the edges of the sink.  There are some great tutorials out there but basically we taped off the sink and counters with painters tape and ran the caulk down the crease, wiped with a damp cloth and removed the tape.  I'm not going to lie I was pretty sure I was going to ruin the counters at this point but it all worked out.  Just take my advice and have some damp cloths readily available. 

We still need to fix the bit underneath the sink - its on our immediate to do list.  I'm also seriously considering painting the lower cabinets a darker gray...to be continued.  

But look how far this little kitchen has come!  I just love this before and after.

Cool thing is, we still have a few more things to do and it already looks a bajillion times better.  

I am a believer that a little goes a long way and patience pays off.  We have slowly worked to get this thing to where we want it and have not broken the bank at all.  Everything we have done has been within a small working budget.  Remodeling a kitchen does not have to be the biggest deal ever and all those little things make a major difference.  I'll share more soon about some of the little details!

Installing Ikea Butcher Block Counters

I'm excited to continue sharing more of our little diy kitchen remodel today.  Last week I shared about the demo and prep process so today its getting into more of the fun stuff - installing the countertops! Since moving in to our home almost 5 years ago I have been researching different counter options.  I went back and forth with the whole butcher block idea but ultimately decided it was a great choice for us.  To keep the costs down we are not replacing our cabinets (just painted them) and we wanted to install the counters ourself - butcher block just made the right fit.  Ikea has some great options and really great prices so we went with the karlby counters in walnut.

The installation process was pretty straightforward for us.  We really just needed two cut pieces, plus the sink notches cut out (more on that later).  To keep things even more super simple we also chose the domjso farmhouse sink.  This sink sits on top of the counters so any cuts we made would be covered, kind of perfect for first time kitchen installers.

The countertops come in two sizes - we needed two of the larger size to make it work.  So we measured our cabinet length and got ready to cut.  I should say too that we also had the sink out and did a lot of measuring the sink and cabinet lengths - it is nerve racking to make a big cut on something you only have just enough of.  So when we felt confident we went for it.

It was a nasty weather week (so-much-rain) when we got into this so we had to do it all inside - this picture looks deceiving but we did have the countertop raised off the floor while Justin was cutting it (also pay no attention to the lack of safety going on here).  After making the big cut the moment of truth had arrived and we nervously placed the countertop in and held our breath - thank goodness it was correct!  We did another check on the level to make sure it was all coming together right.

Once we had the length cut we had to cut in notches for our sink (it won't fit without these).  So we measured the area (a billion times) and made the cut.  Here again, the sink will sit on top so no need for an absolute perfect cut.  We cut the notch on both sides and sat the sink in to make sure it was correct - not that there was any fixing anything at that point.  Oh and just a little tip - you need to measure both notches - the sink we had was not perfect and the notches were both a little different.  So don't do one and think you can just use that as a template for the other side.  I don't know why but that would not have worked for us.

It was actually fairly simple and only mildly stressful.  We really had an easy set up to work with.  

The final step in installation was fastening the cabinets underneath.  It was just a few screws and bolts and now everything is in place and not going anywhere.  I am so loving these counters. It fits the feel and look of our house so well.  Counters = Complete!!

The next step of this diy process was our sink - and man, do I love it.  I'll share with you tomorrow how we made it work in our existing cabinets!  Have a great Monday!

Linking Up Here:

DIY Like a Boss Link Party

Painting a Kitchen Chalkboard Door

Well, its about that time again for me to paint something with chalkboard paint.  I did have a good reason this time.  A while ago when our tile floor was being installed our kitchen door was removed and put outside until the tile was completed.  Not a big deal, except for it rained and the door was left  out in the elements.  We had a little water damage on the door but haven't had much time to address it.  Eventually, I would love to get a new door but we don't have time for all of that right now.  So a quick fix was needed- chalkboard paint.

My hope was that the paint plus anything that was written on the door would hide the damage and be less noticeable and from the above picture you can see that it really does the trick.

To paint the door I used a few supplies - paint, foam roller, an angled paintbrush, a small craft brush and after it dries you need chalk and a magic eraser.  The craft brush was huge for painting around the edges of the window so I didn't have to tape anything off - time saver.

I had a great helper for this project.  It did take 3 coats of paint to get a good finish on the door.  Once the paint was completely dry the next day it was ready to be seasoned.  If you want your chalkboards to have the right look and to not have "burned-in" writing on them, you need to prep the surface.  Basically, take the side of some chalk and cover the entire surface and then erase it all off.  The chalk gets into the porous surface and fills it all in.  I have found the best thing to use to erase the chalk is a magic eraser - use it dry not wet!

This part was a little time consuming and required almost a whole box of chalk...sidewalk chalk would have worked better - but thankfully I had such great help who thought this was so much fun.  It was also messy...this was quite a big surface to cover so chalk dust was everywhere.  

I can't find a good before shot when it was painted white but still, I like the original shot compared to the current one.

We are having so much fun with this door, I may not want to ever get rid of it.

I was worried that the black door would be too dark for our kitchen but I actually really love the contrast of it.  I think with it being a chalkboard surface it kind of helps keep it from being too drastic.  

It felt like a little risk when I first saw the black strokes of the paint going on but in the end I decided it was just paint and I could change it if I couldn't stand it.  But the little risk paid off and we are enjoying it!  Chalkboard paint saves the door.

The Kitchen, So Far

So we are back after having a nice break from the ordinary and taking a visit to Nashville to visit family.  We had a great time seeing everyone and enjoyed watching Silas play with his cousin Maddux - who are 7 weeks apart and even got in a little mini trip to see Memphis, take a ride across the Mississippi and put our feet down in Arkansas.

At the Mighty Mississippi in Memphis

Now that we are back we are putting together a list of things that we want to accomplish over the next couple of months as the summer rolls in and our life gets super busy.  We have curtains we still need to hang, faucets to install, bathroom mirrors to replace, rooms left to paint, art to hang and that's just the little stuff (as I type Justin is busy working on a few of these things, what a great husband I have).  We still have the exterior painting looming in the distance.  With all of the rain lately there just hasn't been a great time to plan this kind of project.  Hopefully we will get a break from the weather and also from our busyness to start, because we are so ready for the outside to change.  We talk about this often. As you know our kitchen has gone threw a mini makeover since moving in and we have lots of plans for it in the future but we thought it was a good time to stop and take a look at how far it's come.  These are just some of the things we have done in our kitchen that we feel have made the biggest difference.

Beginnings...Oh yes, the kitchen of our dreams.  Complete paneling overload.  Painting this kitchen took almost a week to complete, but sooo worth it.  Brightening up this space helped bring it into this century and also helped open up the kitchen immensely.  All of this dark paneling was totally shrinking the space.

I'm still cringing at this monstrosity of a fan...it will be gone one day, this I promise.

Source List:  Cabinets and Trim: Off the Shelf White in Olympic No VOC paint

Back kitchen wall:  Olympic No VOC paint in Abracadabra

Side paneling wall:  Olympic No VOC paint in Tattered Sail

As you can see we added a cabinet to this long wall - this is an antique piece called a Hoosier cabinet.  We don't have a pantry so this is serving that purpose right now, it actually holds a lot more things than I thought it would, I think it's kind of cool that we are using it for it's intended purpose and not just a decor piece.

I love how this wall looks painted, It adds a lot of character to our kitchen.  Painting real wood knotty pine paneling is a pain in the butt, not gonna lie - but you can see it's well worth it.  If you are thinking of painting paneling or knotty pine in your home you can read how we did it Here and Here.  (This is also our change sorting station - we use the cash only budget method so we end up having lots of spare change by the end of the week - every penny counts.  You can read more about our envelope cash method and how we budget Here).

Oh knotty pine cabinets, how we hated thee.  And ugly cabinet hardware, and ugly faux marble back-splash and ugly countertop...ok I'll end it there although I could go on.

Ok, so all of the hated items are still not gone - like the countertops for example.  But, we are dealing with it since the cabinets looks a bajillion times better with a little lot of paint.

More Sources:  Cabinet Hardware is from Lowe's

Bamboo Blinds - "Miranda" from Home Depot

Rug - Ikea

This is the best before shot I could find of the sink/window.  I wanted you to see the reason we hung the clock where we did - not necessarily because it's a great place to check the time but because there is a huge whole behind it.  

I really love this window - I don't really love the dangling cord but once again I'm dealing because the white paint looks so great on this window trim.

Quick before shot of our backsplash.

And -after we painted over it.  It was really simple and added so much impact.  You can read about that Here.  I also love these glass canisters I picked up at Target.  I make enough sweet tea to quench five families thirsts so a huge canister of sugar at a seconds reach is awesome.  I guess I'm easy to please. 

An over the fridge shot...why not?  You can see where the two kitchen colors meet and greet.

And finally, our little eat in kitchen nook.  It's so much prettier now.

I wanted to show how we just painted right over the fuse box...no biggie and it blends in so much better now.  Eventually I plan on painting the little desk here below, still debating what color right now.

My sweet friend brought over this hydrangea from her yard, I love having fresh flowers in the house and it's so pretty I had to take a picture.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day break and we are so thankful for our wonderful Armed Forces who have served and our serving our country so humbly and honorably.  Tomorrow we have another giveaway coming at you and then we will start sharing some of the things we are getting crossed off of our list.  Take Care!