Big things are happening in the Cambor household! If you’re new to this “design coaching” project, let me catch you up to speed! Back in January, Emily wrote a post asking for people to submit their upcoming design/renovation projects in the hopes that she might be able to offer some insight and wisdom as someone with a lot of remodel experience under her belt. She wouldn’t be taking over the design or project management of someone else’s project, but she’d act more as a backboard–bouncing off ideas, advice and past learnings, as questions or design conundrums came up in the process. Chrissy and Peter Cambor submitted their kitchen renovation and it felt like just the right project to take on. In just a few months, they’ve made a TON of progress.
In our last update post, the final kitchen layout had been decided on, IKEA cabinets and stone countertops were purchased and demo was underway. Well, now it seems the kitchen is nearly complete! Pete had a lofty goal to finish the remodel by Chrissy’s birthday (June 22) and apart from a few finishing touches, they’ve pretty much met their deadline! WILDLY IMPRESSIVE. But hold on – this is not a reveal post just yet! There is PLENTY of fun process to catch you up on–so let’s get right to it.
A quick reminder–this was their kitchen before. They have been pretty great about documenting their remodel journey and Pete had a lot of helpful things to say about how it’s been going so far. He’s done a ton of the hands-on work himself, only hiring out where necessary, but leading this renovation with great DIY success. Here’s what he had to say:
“To be clear – all of this is very doable, if not time-consuming. I am by no means a construction expert – I am a very JV DIY type of guy (I am sure there will be plenty of head scratching by some who look at my handiwork). I think it is important with DIY to remind yourself that you are GOING to make mistakes, and almost everything can be fixed at minimal cost.”
Here’s the gist of what all they’ve finished since we last checked up on their project:
Completed demo
Finished drywall and bumping out the wall
Moved and added a new window
Built & installed IKEA cabinets
Installed stone countertops
Installed appliances
Tiled the back wall
One of the first things to address after demoing the old kitchen was the wall that was shared with the powder bathroom. The original corner cabinets receded into the wall initially, which meant that post-demo, they’d need to bump that wall out to make it flush. They originally thought this would add a little square footage to the bathroom, too, but Pete says, “We couldn’t open up the bathroom because there was water piping running upstairs in that bathroom wall – so we just popped some framing to make the new wall squared off with the kitchen. Even though we technically reduced the square footage of the room, the room actually feels LARGER. It’s just great.”
Simultaneously, they tackled arguably the most crucial part of the redesign–building and installing the IKEA cabinets. They went with the AXSTAD blue kitchen cabinet fronts.
“The cabinets from IKEA are great. The product has improved a lot over the last 15 years (in my opinion), and once you get into the swing of it, it is very doable. Our approach was to build the interior (the bones, if you will) of the cabinets in the 10 days leading up to the install. So basically, we would do a few a night, and just stored them in our living room. It was annoying in that it was inconvenient to have them lined up in our living room, but it made install day way easier. We hired a great group to come in and do the demo, which took about 4 hours, and it took me the rest of that day and the following day to install the cabinets and really get them dialed in. This included building a brace for the island (the cabinets have to be supported against something).”
“Here you can see the beginning of the island taking place. The 2x4s are there to support the cabinets and give them something to latch onto. Notice the gap in the 2×4 support structure. That is for the periscoping downdraft vent. This photo is before we had to move the gas line and vent location…”
Unfortunately, Pete discovered that the gas line and downdraft vent needed to be moved to line up perfectly with the periscoping vent fan that pops up behind the stovetop. They hired someone to move the gas line and the vent, but Pete was able to take care of the electrical. The red circle is where they had to shift everything to.
“The periscoping vent fan was the most stressful part of all of this, as it required total precision to line up behind the cooktop and for the [stone] fabricators to make the cut just right. I lost many a night of sleep over this, and had to constantly adjust, even a bit on the day with the fabricator. In the end, it all worked out, and we would have found someone to install it, but we had trouble locating anyone who had any experience in installing a periscoping vent.”
“Here’s a better look at the structure that supported the cabinets in the island. And shout out to Mountain House Camping Meals – I ate a zillion of them when the kitchen was out of commission. Mac and Cheese and Lasagna, I highly recommend (the kids were partial to Mac and Cheese).”
Either side of the island required a clever way to cover up these support beams, so they opted to waterfall their stone countertops. This also carved out a great spot for barstools along the backside (something many readers also suggested!). They had initially planned for cabinets on this side too, but ultimately, there just wasn’t space, so a spot for stools was an easy choice. Here’s what Pete had to say:
“The waterfall is great. We were definitely hesitant about it at first – from a design point of view, they were not our first choice, but we felt it was the best way to deal with making the IKEA island work. Due to the cooktop being on the island and the periscoping vent fan, there would have been a large gap in the end panels. The waterfall ensured this was covered seamlessly.” For the stone, they went with a quartz slab called “Enigma”.
“Here I was prepping for the top cabinets – this bracket had to be perfectly level and at just the right height for the IKEA cabinets. These were for the cabinet above the fridge and the oven/microwave. We had to move the 220 outlet, which was a bit of a thing, so we also hired someone to do that.”
Apart from a few hiccups and stressors, the bulk of the kitchen work was done, and then it was time for tile – something else Pete (and Chrissy!) tackled DIY-style. They finished up the surrounding drywall, making sure to prime the backsplash wall, which helps the mortar stick. Initially, Chrissy and Peter were pretty set on Pratt & Larson’s Idris Field tile in Pearl Gray, but after careful consideration, they instead opted for Zellige in ‘Casablanca’ by Zia Tiles.
“We ended up going with Zia Zellige Tile – which we really liked. Nice and thick, and all of our tile came UNHARMED. A few of them had some blue blemishes, which I am told is par for the course. Chrissy and I thought that ‘Casablanca’ would just brighten up the room a bit. And we LOVE it. Totally stoked. The Pearl Gray was pretty, but the white is just lovely.”
Before they could start with the install, they had to soak all of the tile in room temp water for 1-2 minutes, per the installation instructions. Chrissy mentioned that this releases the air bubbles in the clay, which you can see in the picture. Zia Tile also recommends this for glazed tile to remove dust and residue, and to make sure the tiles adhere properly. And here’s Pete’s “how to” when it comes to installation:
“The technique – take the mortar and use this thingy that has lines (super technical here) and spread it on smooth. Then make lines.”
“Then [apply mortar and] make the lines on the tile so they are perpendicular (there are like a million YouTube videos about how this creates a suction effect etc etc…).”
“Then you press the tile into the wall, and boom. You are an expert. (One thing – we used no spacers. Occasionally with imperfect tiles, we used a spacer, but for the most part, none. Also, get a laser level. Super important to make sure they are level. Just a laser that points a line at the wall. SUPER helpful. If you don’t have a tripod, get one as well for the level. Bosch makes a good one.”
Chrissy and Pete knew they wanted a sort of vertical border at the base, so they started with that and worked their way up and to the right as they placed the tile. Pete says, “People have all sorts of “ways” you are supposed to line up the tile and plan ahead. We knew we wanted to do this border at the bottom.” So that’s what made sense for them. Both mentioned this was pretty tedious and a pain in the…hands.
And here is the back wall fully tiled! The brackets sticking out of the wall are for floating shelves – something they made sure to plan for and install into the studs as they did the tile. Way easier than drilling into tile after the fact.
“You can see our cabinet fronts as well here – The blue is super dark because we left them wrapped in their plastic lining so as not to damage them during the tiling/grouting etc. Also, the blue tape – very important. Chrissy read about that online – use it to open the drawers and cabinets before you install the hardware!”
For grout, they tried out a few different grays but ended up choosing a color that felt a smidge lighter than the tile – Eggshell by Maipei. For now, that’s about where the update stops. The appliances are in, and it’s now a mostly-functioning kitchen, only missing a few final touches (like the shelves, hardware, and a handful of touch-ups) before the grand reveal.
So how are Chrissy and Pete hanging in there?
“Feeling very tired, but we did stick to our deadline of having the kitchen ready by Chrissy’s birthday – which we sort of hit – the kitchen was functioning and working, which was amazing. We even had it ready a week early for Father’s Day. I’m big on deadlines. What’s the expression, ‘Shoot for the moon, and if you come up short, at least you are that much closer to the moon?’ I’m probably butchering that, but you get it (that expression works for DIY, probably not so much for astronauts). Overall – feeling good – taking a mini break to regroup. A lot of late nights and sore backs. But we are getting ready to dive in on the lights, the hardware, and the bookshelves!”
A big thanks to Peter & Chrissy for sharing all of their kitchen DIY learnings with us, not to mention taking great process photos along the way (not always an easy task). We are so impressed with their FAST progress, and it’s been awesome to see their vision from the beginning to now. Many design shifts were made along the way, but all for the better. I think the next time we see their kitchen…it may just be ready for some profesh Kaitlin photos and a few styling touches. Stay tuned!
