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April 12, 2017

Spring One Room Challenge Week 2| Concrete Jungle

Well friends here we are …Week 2! I’m convinced that no 6 weeks goes faster than during the One Room Challenge – it’s like I blink and another week is gone! Last week we shared our crazy and exciting plans to renovate our kitchen as guest participants in the One Room Challenge hosted by Linda of Calling It Home.  I appreciate all the LOVE and feedback from you guys (I have the BEST readers). A lot has happened since those before pictures so let’s chat about what’s changed!

Here’s a reminder of the ‘before’ Kitchen.

While it’s current state is definitely not glamorous, there is something so exciting about the mess! It means change is-a-comin’.

kitchen one room challenge with DIY white concrete countertops from concrete countertop solutions

Sorry for the grainy iPhone pic but I don’t where my camera is right now in this hot mess!

I’m calling this week the Concrete Jungle because thats literally what it feels like – concrete everywhere from smooth surfaces to spilled over cabinets and everywhere in between. But MAJOR kudos to Mr. Wright for all his hard work this week. Here’s what we he’s been up to!

Our first task was to deal with our island situation.  You can see in the picture above our island had a countertop overhang (which was so dumb) and the whole thing sat awkwardly close to our refrigerator. Also, I wasn’t feeling the wainscoting. So we ripped off the sides of the islands and removed the counter top and moved the whole thing about 6 inches.

kitchen one room challenge with DIY white concrete countertops from concrete countertop solutions

Can we say EW to that floor?! But lucky for us the builders placed the island on top of the finished floor otherwise this would have been an issue since we aren’t replacing the floors. No worries – the floor will be updated – just not re-tiled….yet! But what a difference that small change made already! The new island pieces (1/4 inch smooth plywood) were cut using the old ones as a guide and installed.

kitchen one room challenge with DIY white concrete countertops from concrete countertop solutions

And what is that on top of the island you may ask? That, my friends, is durarock cement board and is the foundation to our new concrete countertops! There is some fancy property about it that helps with water absorption when laying the concrete but that’s about all I know. It’s the gold standard as an underlayment for cast in place concrete so that’s what we got on one of our hundred trips to Home Depot this week.

So now with the island moved, new island siding in place, and the cement board installed it was time to bust open the boxes from Concrete Countertop Solutions! The way this type of countertop works involves removing the old countertop, laying cement board, adding the square edge forms, laying a fiberglass mesh with z clips, and mixing and pouring the white concrete into the mesh and then many many many other steps after that. But we’re on the ‘mixing and pouring’ step still.

kitchen one room challenge with DIY white concrete countertops from concrete countertop solutions

For our countertop (50 sq ft) there were about 25 (8ft or so) long back countertop forms. Each piece needs to be cut to the dimensions of your space using a miter saw – much like cutting corners for crown molding. Luckily Mr. Wright is really good at this very detailed task! Once the forms were cut, he screwed them into the cement board around the perimeter of the island.

kitchen one room challenge with DIY white concrete countertops from concrete countertop solutions

Then he added duct tape around each corner for added reinforcement and to prevent concrete seepage.

kitchen one room challenge with DIY white concrete countertops from concrete countertop solutions

Next was to add the fiberglass mesh and the z-clips. Safety first – wear gloves!!

kitchen one room challenge with DIY white concrete countertops from concrete countertop solutions

Once the mesh is installed it was time to mix and pour the concrete! Once we are done with the counters we promise to do a detailed step-by-step DIY but for now I’m just going over bullet points! Concrete Countertop Solutions has a super helpful youtube video that we watched many times to better understand the process!

kitchen one room challenge with DIY white concrete countertops from concrete countertop solutions

It’s super messy and dusty so be prepared! There’s a whole lot of information about the water/countertop mix and the consistency of the cement but that’s for another post!

kitchen one room challenge with DIY white concrete countertops from concrete countertop solutions

Using a super high powered drill with a mixing paddle blade – the mixture was made! Our  island took a little over 4 bags of the cement mix just as a frame of reference. Once the island was poured we continued around the kitchen after removing the old countertops and cabinet doors and drawers.

kitchen one room challenge with DIY white concrete countertops from concrete countertop solutions

Batch by batch the concrete is mixed and poured and mixed and poured filling out the mesh and the forms.  The cement has a long drying time to allow you to continually mix the batches and smooth without worrying about it drying too fast – so that’s a huge relief!

kitchen one room challenge with DIY white concrete countertops from concrete countertop solutions

It’s a VERY messy process friends. But hey- what kitchen renovations are pretty along the way?

Once it’s poured there a several tools used to smooth and level the concrete to ensure is dries as flat and smooth as possible. Once the concrete is dry (24 hours) the edge of the forms literally snap off revealing the smoothest surface – it’s so cool both literally and figuratively!

kitchen one room challenge with DIY white concrete countertops from concrete countertop solutions

Now this is far from finished! There is a lotttttt of sanding that needs to be done and then sealing and all that fun stuff but that’s all for week 3! But I’m SO excited about how things are looking.

Not having a stove or dishwasher is proving to be challenging though ….

Until next week friends! Oh, and don’t forget to follow along with all the other amazing guest participants here! So much talent!

Thanks again to our One Room Challenge Sponsors!

 

 

 

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Comments

  1. Cassie says

    April 12, 2017 at 9:00 am

    oooh i love concrete countertops! so awesome111

    Reply
  2. Cristy @ W. Collective Interiors says

    April 12, 2017 at 9:13 am

    Lookin’ good, girl (and Mr. Wright)! How are you supposed to whip up that famous hollandaise sauce with no stove?! Tragic! Guess it will just taste all the better in a new kitchen!

    Reply
  3. Kate Smith says

    April 12, 2017 at 8:12 pm

    You’ve made such great progress already! I LOVE those concrete countertops!

    Reply
  4. Kristen says

    April 12, 2017 at 10:43 pm

    Oh cool! Great idea to do concrete countertops!

    Reply
    • restyleitwright says

      April 14, 2017 at 9:58 am

      Thanks Kristen!

      Reply
  5. Tee @ Beauteeful Living says

    April 12, 2017 at 11:43 pm

    Can’t wait to see how that concrete countertop comes out! Good luck with week 3 ahead! Hope you have some helpers in the dishwashing department 🙂

    Reply
  6. Iris Nacole says

    April 13, 2017 at 6:25 am

    I love the process of creating concrete countertops! Y’all did such a great job! That edge is so smooth!

    Reply
    • restyleitwright says

      April 14, 2017 at 9:56 am

      Thanks Iris!!!

      Reply
  7. Emy says

    April 13, 2017 at 8:31 am

    I LOVE how the countertops are looking so far! This is on my project bucket list. So cool!

    Reply
  8. Shannon says

    April 13, 2017 at 10:50 am

    OOOh! The counters look so pretty! Can’t wait to see the rest!

    Reply
    • restyleitwright says

      April 14, 2017 at 9:55 am

      Thanks Shannon!

      Reply
  9. Lindi says

    April 13, 2017 at 12:33 pm

    THAT CONCRETE COUNTERTOP!!!! Sorry, I’m shouting, lol. I LOVE it though. I would love love to do something similar in my home. Can’t wait to see everything come together!

    Reply
    • restyleitwright says

      April 14, 2017 at 9:55 am

      hahahah shout away!!!! Thanks for the love!

      Reply
  10. Sarah says

    April 13, 2017 at 1:20 pm

    loooove how the countertops are looking so far! i am so excited to see your kitchen come together. it’s going to be amazing!

    Reply
  11. Jessica | Petal + Ply says

    April 13, 2017 at 3:46 pm

    The concrete countertop looks awesome!!!

    Reply
  12. Diane Rath says

    April 13, 2017 at 4:08 pm

    That is awesome!! I am so envious of the courage you have to take on making your own concrete countertops.

    Reply
  13. Lora says

    April 14, 2017 at 8:33 am

    Ooooo I’m excited to see concrete!!

    Reply
  14. Jenn @ Loveland Lodge says

    April 14, 2017 at 10:02 am

    These are going to look so amazing!!

    Reply
  15. Jessica says

    April 15, 2017 at 1:32 pm

    We so wanted to do concrete countertops, but decided not to because of the work and the mess. Good for you guys for tackling this in such a short time frame! So excited to see how these turn out.

    Reply
  16. Diana says

    April 17, 2017 at 9:23 am

    I absolutely love concrete countertops!! I considered using concrete as well, but was too intimidated. Great choice 🙂

    Reply
  17. Lisa J Wood says

    April 17, 2017 at 12:14 pm

    That’s quite an accomplishment! Well done!

    Reply
  18. Lauren says

    April 17, 2017 at 1:23 pm

    Oh wow! That is so cool!!! I love the look of concrete countertops, and this seems like it would save a ton on getting it premade and fit in!

    Can’t wait to see more 😀

    Reply
  19. Creatively Homespun says

    April 17, 2017 at 3:10 pm

    Holy Moly you’re making amazing progress!!! I’m in LOVE with that counter! I just know my hubby will love it too! xo

    Reply
  20. Vanessa @ {nifty thrifty things} says

    April 18, 2017 at 5:06 am

    Oooo, I love it already!! I can’t wait to see everything together and finished. This definitely looks promising! So cool!
    XO, Vanessa

    Reply
  21. Kim says

    April 18, 2017 at 8:33 am

    I love the look of concrete countertops and never realized what was involved. It looks great already! So exciting to see how it all turns out!

    Reply
  22. Shani | Sunshine & Munchkins says

    April 24, 2017 at 10:03 pm

    That cement countertop looks awesome! Way to DIY!

    Reply

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