Not sure if many people are reading today (due to the impending turkey-related holiday) but we wanted to stop in with a quick kitchen update. We officially got our counters templated (aka: measured so they can be fabricated and installed within the next hopefully two weeks). Woo to the hoo! And this finally means our sinkless days are finally numbered. Huzzah! For anyone who missed the counter discussion, here’s what we’re getting.
The best news is that although I initially worried like a neurotic person about the tape measure snapping back and hurting her fingers, it’s actually a light duty one that doesn’t have any force, so she laughs when it “gets her” as opposed to crying. Always a good thing. But how did this kitchen update turn into Clara chatter? Back to the subject of our counters…
When they came out to template we did learn that we would need reinforcement to support the 12″ overhang on two sides of the peninsula, so they quoted us $300 to build in some steel rods when they fabricate the counter or offered up the DIY option of buying some brackets (either decorative ones that will be seen or hidden steel ones – we’re leaning towards the latter) that we can add ourselves… to the tune of about $15.
Guess which option we’re going with? Haha. Yes, option two. So we’ll share the process of installing those brackets (four on the long side and two on the short side) before the counters go in, along with all of the other kitchen projects that we have on our “Soon” list (demo-ing out the tile backsplash, removing the spent plywood backing and adding cement board in its place in preparation for backsplash tiling, etc). And of course we’ll be back tomorrow with some sappy Thanksgiving goodness for ya (hope there’s time for you to stop by between stuffing and pie).
Clara is so beautiful! She is just so cute!!
I’m glad they suggested an alternative to the $300 quote! Something decorative would be nice, too but I would choose the hidden supports!
I’d go for hidden support too – easy to bang your knees on those decorative ones, however nice they look.
Happy Thanksgiving! And, happy counter templating!
Don’t forget your international readers! We may not be celebrating Thanksgiving, bit I will be following this week! Clara is totally adorable in both videos. What a cutie!
We could never forget you guys… although sometimes we assume you’ll all check in your morning so we’ll hear crickets for the next 12 hours, such a surprise to get such an early comment from ya!
xo,
s
I must admit I try to catch the posts as they roll – about 3pm this end – while I’m at work, as a great mid-afternoon break!
You rock. There’s a big turkey-breath kiss coming atcha from Virginia! Haha.
xo,
s
Hahaha, this is too cute, can’t wait to get home and watch it with sound!
Such a cute little lady :) Is that a missoni dress she’s wearing?
That’s actually a Gap hand-me-down from her cousin Elsa! But she’s flattered that she looks so fancy! Haha.
xo,
s
Cute Clara vids! Can’t wait to see the counters in. Have a great Thanksgiving!
The vanities for our new bathroom are being installed as I type. Hopefully they will come measure for countertops later today. I know you will be super excited to get the kitchen back to normal. Can’t wait to see future pictures! Have a wonderful turkey day.
You too! So exciting.
xo,
s
Well you have at least one reader here! And I definitely plan to ‘stop in’ on your blog tomorrow for a quick sanity break between cooking dishes and taking care of guests. Happy Turkey Day!
Aw thanks Anita! Happy Thanksgiving to you too!
xo,
s
Definitely reading! Still have to work today, so Im so glad you posted because it helps make the day go so much faster :)
Happy Thanksgiving!
OMG……..both videos are absolutely adorable. I love her jibberish ~ with a few words thrown in that you can understand.
Happy Thanksgiving John, Sherry, Clara & Burger =)
I’m here! All my Turkey Day prep is being handled by my Mom and Aunt (as I did it for friends this past weekend) so I will be sure to tune in tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving to the 4 of you. Will Burger get any special treats?
Oh yes, I’m afraid he has already made off with something that almost blew his little dog brain. More details (and a picture of him in action) tomorrow!
xo,
s
So cute! & her hair is really starting to grow in!
Have a great Thanksgiving YHL!
OMG Clara is so cute, I can’t handle it!
Hope you have a great turkey day!!!:)
We can all agree here that the pictures and videos of Clara you’ve posted thus far have been cute — but the second video is off the freakin’ charts. So congratulations on creating the most adorable thing that ever lived ever.
Oh course I’m reading your post today- your blog is the first thing I read every morning! The kitchen redo is helpful- I have a friend doing the same and he found the info about corian to be helpful. He’s also thinking about open shelving so I sent him that link as well. Happy Thanksgiving!
Of *course* we’re still reading today!!! :) Don’t be silly.
Aw shucks, you guys are sweet. Thought we might hear crickets, haha.
xo,
s
Of course we read before impending Turkey Day and ON Turkey Day. Does life exist without YHL? Hope you guys have a great Thanksgiving and enjoy your little family as much as we the readers do. :-)
Aw, you guys are making us blush. We’re SO THANKFUL for you guys.
xo,
s
My cooking marathon starts this afternoon, so I have time to get my YHL fix in the morning! :P I can’t wait to see your counters with the painted cabinets! I am still debating about whether I want to paint mine eventually. I might try the bathroom cabinets first.
Exciting progress! Thanks for sharing. While I appreciate the new posts to read, I sure hope you’ll have plenty of time off over the next day or 2 to enjoy the holiday with your family. Happy Thanksgiving!
Aw thanks Christin, we figure we’ll just pop in once or twice, but most of the day we’ll be stuffing our faces (and catching up with the fam).
xo,
s
this may be my new favorite Clara video duo!! you guys must be SOOOOO proud to see following in your DIY footsteps!! Super cute! (and she is growing!! I could swear she’s gotten taller!)
She’s growing like a weed! Nearly all of her pants are 2T now and she’s only a year and a half! She’s long like her daddy.
xo,
s
Happy Thanksgiving YHL! I love how Clara just talks and talks as she runs away with the tape measure in the second video. I wonder what she’s talking about? Just you wait until she starts measuring for new ideas for her bedroom. That DIY-Diva is gonna be trouble! ;)
It’s all jibberish. She just called my mom this morning (well I dialed and handed her the phone) and she ran around talking non stop for ten minutes and we’d occasionally recognize words and phrases among a whole lot of not-words. Haha.
xo,
s
Cutest.Videos.Ever. Made my day.
And of course I’m reading :)
I love that she measured twice! Happy Thanksgiving you four!
Today is a slack off at work say, so what better to slack off to than reading some YHL? Of course we’re here and reading!
Clara is adorable. Stinkin’ adorable.
Ahhhh! I love that baby!!!
No Thanksgiving here in Australia so it’s business as usual for me! Which basically means reading YHL like a true fanatic/blog stalker haha. Can’t wait to see counters… and backsplash! So obsessed with the tile you guys picked.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all (incl. Burger!)
x
The Few, The Proud, The Devoted YHL fans.
Some of us are still here. I used up all my leave for the birth and early days of my new twins, so for the first time in many years, I’ll not only be at work the day before Thanksgiving, but also the day AFTER Thanksgiving. *sigh* But will be spot-checking the YHL page. Happy Turkey Day to you and your family.
Haha, I love your little tagline. Hilarious. Happy Turkey Day Ted and everyone else who is still here!
xo,
s
Also working both the day before and after—it’s becoming a yearly tradition for me since I don’t have enough vacation time and my company doesn’t recognize the day after Thanksgiving as a holiday. At least there are still blogs to read! :)
That’s right Clara – measure twice, cut once. I’m hopeless at measuring and cutting fabric and the like. Regardless of how many times I measure and re-measure, it’s always a bit off. Oh well – we don’t all have Clara’s measuring skilz and that’s OK. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
How exciting! Are you going to paint the cabinets before you get the counters??
Nah, since we know the counters will scrape when they go in since they’re such a tight cut (along some of the taller pieces like the side of the fridge and the pantry) I learned my lesson with our last kitchen and will be painting the cabs after installation! I’ll just cover the counters.
xo,
s
She is soooo adorable. Happy Thanksgiving from the snowiest part of Minnesota!
We DIY’d our own steel supports on our overhang. Couldn’t be happier with the slick, clean look. And the price tag!
Wahoo! So glad to hear it!
xo,
s
I am sad you will be working on Thanksgiving. After reading how long and hard y’all work, you guys need a break!
Have a restful holiday! Thanks for all of the inspiration you guys dole out! We are about to start a major renovation here that will include the kitchen…totally soaking up the details! We need to make room for baby #4
Aw, we’ll just be stopping in! You guys are like family so we have to visit with you for a second on holidays!
xo,
s
All need a break from all the festivities so you can be sure I’ll be reading at some point! And Clara is adorable! I could totally hear her say tape measure!!
I love how Sarah Richardson uses old corbels removed from buildings as brackets. It always looks so interesting and adds much needed character to a lot of spaces. Anyway, I’m interested in seeing how the peninsula progresses!
Clara is adorable.. but you already knew that. :P
I hit “play” on the video and my ten-month-old daughter speed crawled from the other side of the room to come watch. She smiled and cooed and then started saying “hiya” to Clara. Just wanted to pass it on: my kid thinks your kid is rad.
So cuute!
xo,
s
Her little chatter is so cute! Is that what you get to hear all day? Jealous!
Pretty much! Just a moment ago she grabbed the phone from Sherry while she was talking with her mom and started gabbing away. Somewhere in there we heard “How are you?” a couple of time. Looks like she’s already picking common phone conversations!
-John
YHL, Happy Thanksgiving to your adorable family! I think it’s over-the-moon adorable that Miss Clara can say tape measure! Too stinkin’ cute!
The thought of that tape measure recoiling & cutting her had me shivering while watching the video. That happened to me requiring a couple of stitches. Glad you mentioned it’s a light duty one.
Yet … it is so cute how she says tape measure!
Clara is sooooo stinkin’ cute! I’ll be stopping by tomorrow morning to check out your turkey day goodies . . . Have a great thanksgiving! :)
We just replaced the dated wooden brackets on our kitchen island bar and used shiny steel modern ones from IKEA to the tune of $7.50 apiece. They’re meant for shelves so there was an extra overhang on both sides – solved with a grinder :)
Of course we’re reading this AM! Spying on the blog from my work computer as always… happy turkey day!!!!
Once when I was working at a design firm, the cabinet guys slightly moved the cabinets after the counter template was made… one giant granite slab cut incorrectly. Whatever you do, don’t get inspired to slightly change your cabinetry :D
Haha, those babies are set for good!
xo,
s
I bet most the people reading today are the international ones who dont celebrate thanks giving.. i had to google it to see what it was about! ha
I love the Clara measuring! It appears that she has seen someone do that a few times… :)
Awww! My toddler LOVES the tape measure too! And the calculator! So cute. Have a great Thanksgiving. Now it’s off to make pumpkin cheesecake!
When we got template-ed for our new counters, I was petrified they were going to tell us they couldn’t install them after all because our old walls were too out of whack! What a relief when everything finally went in (and they are so pretty, they still make me smile every time I go in the kitchen!).
So I was actually worried earlier about the overhang, I was picturing it falling over on you guys :-) Glad there will be support, phew!
So stinkin cute!!!!!
I’ve seen little ones play with tape measures, but ive never seen one actually measure something, it was adorbs!
I’m interested to see if you change your mind of decorative brackets, i can see Sherry looking at them in Pinterest and getting an awesome inspiration idea. Maybe not all six, but half the brackets being decorative wouldn’t surprise me…just say’n..
We just thought since the chairs won’t be centered between the brackets (there are going to be three on the long side of the peninsula and the one to the left as you face it will be half in front of cabinetry and half just under the overhand- hard to make sense of this in words) that they’ll just make things look off-centered.
xo,
s
LOVE Clara’s dress in the video. She’s so precious! Keep the cute video’s comin’!
(Oh, and glad to hear about the counter too….can’t wait to see the final product!) :)
We just posted another one on Young House Life (just click the “life” tab under the header). Can’t resist! Haha.
xo,
s