Tuesday, April 19, 2011

another thing to blame for the lack of my blogging presence

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

A house remodel. The cause of stress, anxiety, and much pulling-of-hair. Yes, we decided to take it on, seeing as how I was living like a pioneer woman with no dishwasher, and the general layout of our bathroom was something cavern-like as opposed to being light and accommodating. We felt if we didn't do it now, we might never, so after meeting with four contractors and getting all sorts of advice, we embarked on the project with the help of a lovely designer, whom I'll just refer to as CP. It is almost done, and I cannot WAIT to store my Fiestaware in those lovely glass-fronted cabinets.

An early view of my beautiful sage-y green, subway tile backsplash. I had my heart set on a green and white kitchen, something that would look natural and beautiful, making a nice segue into our backyard. Let me tell you, finding a nice green tile that will not break the bank is no walk in the park. There was lots of green glass, and plenty of minty and forest green, but nothing that fit my bill. Until I encountered "Sequoia," the perfect shade. As I soon came to expect along this journey of renovation, there was a huge obstacle to my happiness once I chose my tile. It cost millions of dollars. Well, not millions. Not even hundreds. I am exaggerating because of my initial despair. I decided to persist in my search, and finally found a store that stocked "Sequoia" at half the price. Another lesson learned about remodeling: if you have all the time in the world, you will be able to eventually get what you need, at the proper price point. Of course, I do NOT have all the time in the world, but just happened upon an incredible piece of luck, not just with the kitchen tile, but also with my granite. A big part of me wanted to have tile on the counters as well, but my propensity to spill anything and everything caused my SH to immediately veto the idea. So, granite it was, and again, I was on a quest to find something that might have a hint of green. Enter "Costa Esmeralda," the absolutely PERFECT choice for our kitchen. Not too light, not too dark, with flecks of green (and brown, my favorite), it was just right. Yet again, I was stymied when it came to finding what I needed-my Costa was very popular and simply not available when we needed it. I have a terrible tendency to like the most popular things. Fortunately, CP kept calling the granite/marble shop, and when some poor soul failed to pick up their granite after an extremely long grace period of a week, we managed to snag it for ourselves.

The almost-finished bathroom, so light and beautiful and blue! I am in love with the floor, and thankfully, was not presented with so many difficulties in selecting and ordering the tile. My SH is quite hirsute, so not only is the color of my floor gorgeous, its deep blue shade serves as a disguise of sorts.

The pièce de résistance! My made-in-England, weighs-as-much-as-a-person farmhouse sink! CP tried to keep me in line with our budget, warning me that this sink would cost a king's ransom (not really, but a good deal more than an average old sink), but it was the one thing that I just HAD to have. Despite the fact that we had to reconfigure the cabinets to make it work, I know it is going to be worth. every. penny.

Mere days remain before I'll be cooking away again in my new kitchen. It has been arduous and difficult at times, but I am full of excitement at the improvements now present in our little house.


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