grout, grout, grout!

So, as promised, here are the most recent images of the never ending kitchen remodel! Here are the before grout images:

Colonel Dad and I mixed up the grout... I got a nice shade of gray that would blend well with the island cabinets and dark brown wall color. I got a sandless grout so that my tiles wouldn't get scratched.

And then began the work... it's really not as easy as it looks on tv. You have to have much more arm strength than I had expected- but the concept is simple... push the grout into the spaces at every angle possible.... As I mentioned before, since this grout is sandless, it's much easier on your hands. "Why would you use your hands?" you ask. Well, because some of the crevices are too hard to get to.... fingers end up being your best tool. Colonel Dad raved about how much regular grout tears up your fingers... so, note to self, sandless is the way to go!

 Mister Hubbs is responsible for this blurry, back-side image of me in action...

 There I am again! Working that grout in!

 I was a little freaked out when it looked like this... I thought for sure that the grout was too dark and that the spaces in between the tiles was way too big. Colonel Dad assured me that once we started sponging off the access, that the line would become much thinner. Also- the color would dry lighter than it looked when wet... Colonel Dad was right, as usual!

We laid down cardboard so that the counter wouldn't get messy- also, we wanted to get a clean line where the backsplash and the granite meet... Colonel Dad plans on caulking the line with a color that matches the grout-- we will do that in the next week or so!

And then the sponging began.... we decided that the sponges worked pretty well to get the majority off of the top- but we used old rags to wipe most of the remaining grout off the tiles. We found it was much more successful!

 ta-da! See, the lines are MUCH thinner than they looked in the top photos. Also- the grout dried much lighter than the photos I have posted... it took a handful of hours to get to the correct color.

And then the lighting began... Colonel Dad got one of the lights up and functioning when the water heater needed some attention... so, hopefully we will be able to finish up the under cabinet lighting next week!

And this is the mess that was my kitchen for the day!

More later! Have a great day!