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’.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Then he added duct tape around each corner for added reinforcement and to prevent concrete seepage.
Next was to add the fiberglass mesh and the z-clips. Safety first – wear gloves!!
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!
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!
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.
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!
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!
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!

oooh i love concrete countertops! so awesome111
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!
You’ve made such great progress already! I LOVE those concrete countertops!
Oh cool! Great idea to do concrete countertops!
Thanks Kristen!
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 🙂
I love the process of creating concrete countertops! Y’all did such a great job! That edge is so smooth!
Thanks Iris!!!
I LOVE how the countertops are looking so far! This is on my project bucket list. So cool!
OOOh! The counters look so pretty! Can’t wait to see the rest!
Thanks Shannon!
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!
hahahah shout away!!!! Thanks for the love!
loooove how the countertops are looking so far! i am so excited to see your kitchen come together. it’s going to be amazing!
The concrete countertop looks awesome!!!
That is awesome!! I am so envious of the courage you have to take on making your own concrete countertops.
Ooooo I’m excited to see concrete!!
These are going to look so amazing!!
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.
I absolutely love concrete countertops!! I considered using concrete as well, but was too intimidated. Great choice 🙂
That’s quite an accomplishment! Well done!
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 😀
Holy Moly you’re making amazing progress!!! I’m in LOVE with that counter! I just know my hubby will love it too! xo
Oooo, I love it already!! I can’t wait to see everything together and finished. This definitely looks promising! So cool!
XO, Vanessa
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!
That cement countertop looks awesome! Way to DIY!