Friday, February 20, 2015

Toasty and Warm (Inside)

Since I have nothing much else to talk about besides how freaking cold it is outside, and I'm sure you are all painfully aware of this fact, I'll show you what has been going on INside.

Where it's toasty warm.  Where there is no snow or sleet or ice.  Where my eyeballs don't frost over.  Where the cats and the GSD have taken up residence in front of the wood stove.  I need to burn some incense or put some of those carpet sprinkles on Charlie because just his exhaling (from both ends) is making the house smell like stale dog food and farts.  I'm a little concerned about his close proximity to the stove as there is the distinct possibility of the dogbutt gasses having concentrated enough to explode into a ball of fire and blast my flaming and charred body across the room if I were to open the door to the wood stove.
Split pea soup with a chunk o' ham bone and a smelly, slow roasting dog.
What else is going on INside?  Well, I've got a pot o' split pea soup on the wood stove.  And we just finished leftover BBQ'd pork ribs and asparagus.  So yeah, imagine the amazing cornucopia of odors that would smack you in the face if you were to walk in here right now.

On to more pleasant, and less offensive to the nose, things going on INside.

A month (or so) ago, Paul got me my wonderful, beautiful, super-dooper double oven.  And he also started working on the counter tops and back splash.
Cabinet above the stove had to be moved up for microwave.
The white, ugly, delaminating laminate counter tops had to go.
The wall behind the stove / fridge needed some finishing.
Even though we're in semi-austerity mode right now, we needed a new microwave.  So that was purchased and Paul installed it.  The counter tops were yanked off and replaced with an oak butcher block.  We purchased it in an 8' unfinished slab and Paul cut it to size, rounded off the edges oiled and sanded it.  Instead of just painting the back wall, I convinced Paul that corrugated roofing material would look cool behind the stove & refrigerator.  And the fact that it was cheaper than buying and installing tile was a bonus.  Although I liked the look of the metal back splash, I still painted up above to bring some color into the kitchen.


Now that I'm pretty sure I'm happy with how the counter tops came out (and their cost-effectiveness), there's the OTHER side of the kitchen to work on:
Yes, there's a cat on my kitchen counter top.  Yes, cat hair is
a recurring ingredient in my cooking.  Deal with it.
That's a LOT of counter top real estate to work with.  We're still undecided if we'll put the butcher block on there or tile it with a terra cotta colored tile.  In all honestly, it probably won't done before next Christmas anyhow so at least it gives me more time to think about it.  At least that's what I'm telling myself.

15 comments:

  1. Looks great! I've thought about doing that, but we may sell it when we "retire" if I live that long :)

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  2. What is the material in front of the bottom of the metal roofing? Wood or???

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  3. Nuthin' like the aroma of GSD slowly roasting in the kitchen! Wet dog is bad enough but I think you may have reached new heights. (Your second paragraph's flamboyant language sure as heck was funny though!)

    Classy work on the whole stove/refrigerator wall! Give yourself enough time and you'll come up with something just as impressive for the other area.

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  4. Love the corrugated metal backspash! You did good. Ignore the dog smells for now, it will slowly (too slowly) diminish as the spring slowly makes it way back into your lifestyle.

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  5. Wow! That looks great. Send Paul my way if he's got some time to spare.

    I often wonder what my house REALLY smells like. I think I'm desensitized to the general dog odor (farts not withstanding)

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  6. Nancy, that's just a piece of the butcher block, cut to make a back splash for the, well, back splash. Paul cut it from the hunk we had, screwed & glued it to the counter.

    MamaPea, I'm telling ya, just that sloppy dog is just stanky! I love my new kitchen (well, half of it anyhow)!

    DFW, thanks! I can't wait to open the windows and blow all this stink out of the house.

    Tami, Thanks! Paul ain't going nowhere though, sorry. And yeah, do you ever walk into somebody's house and it smells like, old soup or wet socks and wonder if OUR house smells like that to other people. I'd hate to think of what THEY thought.

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  7. We just used rusted corrugated metal on a wall in our bunkhouse-style guest room, and I immediately thought how cool the new stuff would look in the kitchen. And then your post came along! Please let me know how easy or difficult it is to clean after you boil up a pot of spaghetti sauce in the vicinity. I need to know whether it's practical enough to let my husband anywhere near the stove.

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  8. Good thing my Wife doesn't read the blogs linked off mine or I would have to defend my damned roofing metal now. :)

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  9. Your kitchen looks fantastic! I love it.

    Now off to see if I have any split peas hidden away in the pantry. I know I don't have any leftover ham, but maybe I'll see what I can do with some of that smoke flavoring.

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  10. Carolyn,

    What a great idea putting the corrugated metal on the wall as a back splash. Paul did a beautiful job.

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  11. Kitchen looks great just don't do granite tops for the rest of it, you won't like them. I didn't know the kitchen was that big. Maybe some day you can take us on a photo tour so we can peak inside the palace and see how rich people live! :-)

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  12. Is the wood in front of the metal curvy or? Can't tell from the photo...

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  13. Using that metal roofing material was a very clever idea; I like it too.

    I wish I had bought that double oven stove now......oh well, the short life of the appliances I buy will allow me to get one yet!

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  14. Your kitchen looks amazing! What are your thoughts on using a wood stove in comparison to a regular stove?

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