Speaking of how high to install everything, we met with the builder of House1 to discuss options etc. He asked who the cook was in the family. When Mr. told him that I was the queen of the kitchen, the builder said that he would mirror everything from his kitchen - because his wife was about my height and size and she cooked in their house. We gave him our blessing, and I loved where he placed the outlets and the ovens. That took care of a lot of decision-making!
House2 seems to be well-designed, too, for my purposes, except the hall bath which has kiddie cabinets about 3 feet tall That is our next remodeling projectā¦ one at a time.
@lookingforward - OMG yes to all the decisions about height! Itās more complicated in my household because hubby is nearly 14 inches taller than I am. We had to compromise on the height of the bathroom cabinets. In our last house we had separate vanities so they were different heights but that wasnāt possible in this house.
I also find myself saying āmatch the rest of the houseā for many of the decisions!
Decision/project fatigue is real. I definitely am at the āwho caresā point with many of these decisions.
Stained 3/4 of the deck I washed this weekend before it got too dark. Hope the wind blows away the smoke so it will be a bit more pleasant to be outside. The last side of the house to be painted is taking a long timeā¦ 8 windows and a fake chimney are a PITA.
We needed to grade the a couple thousand square feet so that we could install stabilizing grid prior to importing topsoil to prepare for grass. The excavators we hired were doing a lousy job, so I called my aunt who lives on several acres an hour away (remarkable lady, still working as PhD nurse at 74 years old) for recommendations on a new excavator. She told me to come over to her spread, taught me how to use her tractor, saddled me up, and sent me on my way. That was Tuesday. Itās a lot of work, but a lot of fun too, and weāre doing a much better job than the contractor had been doing. The Hydroseed contractor is coming Monday morning, and weāll be ready.
Aaack! I ran out of the house this morning before taking ābeforeā pictures. The old doors are being ripped out, and the new doors are going in! The cats are pissed at us for locking them up in the laundry room.
Love those countertops. Soft isnāt the right word but I canāt come up with a better one right now for how they look. Iād be running my hands over them a lot.
I donāt know if Iāve mentioned this, but the counters have the oh-so-trendy leather finish. Not having the gloss finish really changes how they look.
Weāll be at the house later this week, Iāll post better pictures. Hopefully the tile work in the new bathrooms will be finished as well.
Finally got my vein diagram back from the granite folks. One option is a non starter for me as it aligns the darker parts of the veining at the expense of the rest of the slab and doesnāt improve the look at all. The other option aligns perfectly but, it bookends the pattern instead of traveling in the same direction with the rest of the slabs. While that small section would look awesome, I think it will look weird to have a change of direction in the middle of the kitchen. Seriously tempted to take the credit and live with what we have.
@notrichenough - looking at your kitchen againā¦ is that a wood windowsill? If so, is it too late to change the windowsill to the same countertop material? It would make it spill and splat-proof, and it will look integrated with the rest of the kitchen.
^ I find with that kind of stuff 1) most people besides me donāt even notice it; 2) when I point it out, they donāt think itās a big deal, and 3) after a few weeks even I stop noticing/caring.
Once everything is finished and you have other things on the counters like dishracks and canisters and small appliances like coffeemakers etc, the countertop sort of fades into the background.
Unless you have the type of brain that will be forever bothered by this, take the credit.
@BunsenBurner, yes itās a wood windowsill, thatās a great idea, I wish I had thought of it before.
The countertop place used two slabs, so there should be at least a half a slab left, so the material is probably available. I donāt remember if the structure of the framing will allow it, Iāll have to look at it. And decide if itās worth the $300-400 it would cost.
That took care of a lot of decision-making!
That is our next remodeling projectā¦ one at a time.