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What to do with dark granite countertops?
Dark colored granite countertops were very much a “thing” twenty years ago, but what to do with them now when everything is white and bright? This has been my dillema for quite a few years now. I considered doing concrete countertops, like we did in our lakehouse, but at the end of the day they were just too rustic looking for my main home, which is pretty traditional. I researched some options to paint the granite to look like marble and then coat with epoxy and I decided to go for it. Because this was my first time trying this, I opted for the Giani Carrara White Marble Epoxy Countertop…
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Mini Kitchen Renovation
Recently we helped my good friend Leanne with a mini kitchen renovation. I say mini, because we only replaced the sink, facet, countertops, backsplash and painted the cabinets. This may sound like a lot, but it only took a weekend, and we worked within a relatively small budget. We have done a similar project at our lake house, where we poured concrete countertops, which was very cheap but labor intensive. The pic below is the before shot. There were Formica countertops on the counters and backsplash, as well as some odd faux granite particle board covering the back of the bottom counters. I’m a fan of painting old cabinets like…
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Stone Entryway
When we did the addition to our lakehouse for the new mudroom we didn’t have enough room for much of a front porch because the septic is in front of the house and we can’t cover it with concrete. For those of you who’ve never had a septic system, septic tanks require access for emptying. There are two access points to the septic, one about 2 feet off the front door and another about 10 foot. Our temporary solution were some odd shaped pavers we had laying around, which helped keep the entryway free from mud when it rained, but it was not very attractive… Step 1 Remove old stones…
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Pool/ Spa Renovation
Our twenty year old pool needed a face lift and we were tight on time- so with some new tiles, plaster patching and epoxy pool paint – voile! An old pool is a lot of work, especially with aging plaster which makes an easy home for algae. So when my daughter was graduating high school and we were expecting a lot of guests at the house, we decided to tackle a portion of our pool remodel. Our spa was the worst area of the pool because the tiles were actually falling off the front where the water flowed from spa to pool. We did our research and decided to remove/replace…
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Bedroom Accent Wall with Shelf
A bedroom accent wall with wall shelf is a great way to update your decor and find a place for all those things that you want to display. I contemplated how to decorate my master bedroom for a while. I knew I wanted an accent wall but I needed a way to display my daughters ceramics, art work and items we have picked up during our travels. Like most projects, I began by removing the large dated armoire that took up way too much space in the room. Before Pic Step 1 Measure wall for shelf and amount of paint needed. We used magnets to locate the studs and a…
