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Kitchen Reno – Day 5

(Post 190 of 263)

The floor is in! It just needs a good polishing.

I went with polished concrete for the floor, counters, and backsplash because I couldn’t find any inexpensive tile I liked. This isn’t meant to be my “forever” reno where I’m looking 20 years out, so I didn’t want to put in anything that is very customized or expensive. The idea was to do something pretty neutral (in case I choose to sell) and updated that would be easy to clean and maintain. Polished concrete fit the bill. Dark grey (natural) happened to be much cheaper than white and was my preferred colour as dark grey carries through the house. By the time the furniture is in and the walls are painted, it’s going to look much less industrial.

This is my inspiration picture for the room showing how bright yellow, turquoise, a polished concrete floor (albeit a tad lighter), and big windows can come together. Of course, I’m not doing the terrazzo but rather wood, and I think that’ll really warm things up.

As I explain in the video, yesterday was a spendy day because I had to pay for all my extra materials. The sink was a little over budget (but worth it as I’ll get a newer and better quality faucet), but paint was right what I expected and they even found me a new water heater that was much lower than my budget!

I cannot believe how the sink turned out. It was determined I did not have space for a large, deep, two-basin sink if I wanted to keep the undercabinet shelf with the 18 metal baskets. So I was advised to find a single big basin I could live with. Instead I showed a sign outside Cubimás, a kitchen store next to my Pilates studio and asked if the sink in that ad might work. I’d spotted it during online shopping, or at least I was pretty sure it was the one I’d spotted, and I knew the depth was perfect if that was the case. One biggish basin with half a basin would be a great compromise.

I had an almost identical sink in the RV and loved having the two sizes:

Oh, the nostalgia from that picture. That was a great kitchen.

The advertised sink ended up being exactly the right dimensions for the space we have to work with!

The only other thing to pick out is the hardware for my new cabinetry. I showed how I want the same burnished bronze as the door handles through the house, which the carpenter called “antiguo” (antique) and was told I’d be given a few options to pick from. I think that’s it for choosing anything. Now, it’s time for the rest of this project to come together!

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Kitchen Reno – Day 4

(Post 189 of 263)

A day that convinced me I have an internet curse because I was a horrible person in a past life who denied others progress and modernity and, more relevant to this post, I got a not-so-shiny new subfloor!

 

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Life with Funky Circuitry

(Post 188 of 263)

Sunday was day three of a reno hiatus. I just had one more four-hour job to do and then I’d technically be on vacation for the week! I decided to do my work later in the day and spend the morning on the Paseo de Montejo.

First stop was for brunch, and I went with chilaquiles rojos rather than my usual verdes (definitely still more of a green than red fan!). I cannot believe how much my tastebuds have evolved since moving here five years ago. I had an entire package of pickled jalapeños with carrots, half of a container of pico de gallo made with serrano peppers, and the ENTIRE container of habanero sauce (circled — that’s a a lot of liquid fire!). 😮

I then wandered up the entire Paseo, checking out all the artisans and sellers, chatted with my friend Jan who is there every Sunday selling his photographs, and ended up at the Walmart. I was just so over salads, sandwiches, and ordering in, craving a proper home cooked meal, so I had a think about what I could make with a toaster oven and selected a package of pork chops…

Came in, did my work, spent some time with Queen B, and then it was time to make dinner. My thought was to bake the pork chops with grape tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice in the toaster oven while preparing spaghetti in the microwave using my Fasta pasta maker (hey, Fasta pasta people, can I be your new spokesperson?!). That meant plugging the two appliances into two different circuits. What happened next is one of those “a video is worth a million words” moments:

Not mentioned in the video is how the breakers are in the laundry room and we’d just had a huge rain storm. I almost had to swim to there as the yard by the laundry room entrance was under a couple of inches of water!

After figuring out separate circuits, I finally got everything cooking, so the next step was to start on the dishes and then finish prepping my spaghetti sauce. I mixed crème fraîche with Parmesan, garlic, pepper, and lemon juice. No salt because the noodles are cooked in salty water, plus Parmesan is very salty.

The noodles and meat were done at the same time. I set the pork chops aside to rest while I poured the contents of my sheet pan into my crème fraîche mixture — olive oil, pork juices, lemon juice, tomatoes and their juices, garlic — and tossed the noodles to coat. I finished off by running outside to get some fresh oregano (I cannot believe that plant is still alive).

End result was perfection — a savoury sauce, al dente pasta, and moist pork chops, accompanied by a glass of crisp cold white wine. I’ll have to remember this meal, except that in my new kitchen I’ll cook the noodles on the stove!

The worst part of not having a proper kitchen right now is the cleanup because the only places to fill a jug of water are the downstairs office shower or an outside tap. I’m doing the washing up with two basins, one with soapy wash water, one with vinegar rinse water. It’s going pretty well, but I’m making sure I don’t have anything that really needs scrubbing, so I lined my sheet pan with aluminium foil. Otherwise, life without a proper kitchen is no big deal.