It's finished!

Well, it's actually been mostly done for a while now but I've been absolutely exhausted thanks to Claire, our daughter that we are expecting in July. Our attention has been diverted to avoiding morning sickness, sleeping, and planning for Claire.

I finally ordered our knobs and pulls so my dad came by and put all the finishing touches on the kitchen. He also repainted the vast majority of the main part of the house. I had done a terrible job 6 years ago when we moved in so while the color didn't change, it is much more crisp and fresh looking (and he touched up all the spots on the ceiling that I hit...oops!). It looks great!

Okay, without further ado, here it is...

The breakdown:

Countertops: Black Pearl granite with an eased edge from Venetian Blind Carpet One Floor & Home

Backsplash: Contempto White Marble 3x5 from Daltile laid in a subway pattern, no border (installed by my dad's tile guys)

Sink: 60/40 16-gauge stainless steel sink from Lowe's (I think? or Home Depot...)

Faucet: Delta Leland

Cabinets: Existing cabinets with trim added to the top, painted Chantilly Lace by Benjamin Moore

Under and over cabinet lighting: Xenon lighting that my dad hardwired in after removing the original backsplash (we've actually used one so much that one little light burned out...ignore that, it's been installed for quite a while now)

Knobs and pulls: Amerock Revitalize collection from http://www.pullsdirect.com/

Pendant Lights: Currey & Co. Regatta pendant, bought from Layla Grayce (I waited for a sale)



We kept our current appliances and existing cabinets. That saved a LOT of money since both were in good repair. Any changes I would have made to cabinets would have upped this to a major renovation which I just wasn't wanting to do and Robin would have vetoed. We did extend the bar in front of the sink out so that it's actually large enough to place dishes, plates, etc. so barstools can be used there.

What do you think? Add barstools or no?

An Update...Backsplash is in!

While Robin and I relaxed in Scottsdale and explored the Grand Canyon last week, our backsplash was finally installed! We had a delay when the tile that I chose (after numerous trips to check out tile) was on backorder. We decided to wait it out and I'm so glad! It turned out exactly as I hoped.

After a lot of back and forth, we ultimately decided on Contempo White Marble from Daltile laid in a subway pattern with grout to match the white in the tile. With a plain white subway tile, it's common to choose a slight grey-toned grout to bring out the subway pattern but with the marble, we had veining that allows the subway pattern to be noticeable. We didn't want to pull more grey out of the tile, so we stuck with white.

Getting the backsplash installed also helped us finally select a paint color. I had previously narrowed it down to 4 different Benjamin Moore whites. This was harder than it sounds: they have over 150 different whites! Once we were able to hold it up to the backsplash, countertop, wall color, and existing trim color, the right white for us was obvious.



We are going to have our cabinets painted Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace.

Still to do:

- Choose and install new switchplates.

- Install molding on upper cabinets and trim that was removed to install countertops.

- Paint the cabinets!

- Install pulls and knobs (still have to finalize these and order)

- Install pendants above the island (will be done in the fall because Houston attics are just too hot right now)

Etsy: Sifting and Searching...

I've ordered quite a few things from Etsy in the past. I love finding all of the great things offered there, many for amazing prices.

A few of my favorite past purchases:

(That's a camera strap)

(A pouch to hold my iPod Touch and earbuds in my purse)

Sifting through Etsy, though, can be a huge pain, especially when you are just looking to window shop. Enter the Taste Test. Basically, you click on 9 pictures of things that you like and it pops up with a gigantic list of suggestions for you to browse. Try it here. I recommend not thinking about it too hard. If you like the picture, click it. I end up with the most diverse things that way.

 Here are the results of my most recent Taste Test and a few of my very favorite things in the results. Now the problem is trying to restrain myself!

Give the Taste Test a try! Any favorites on Etsy that I should check out?

It's been a while...

Well, it's been almost 2 months since I've updated this thing. The kitchen remodel was put on hold for a while because the backsplash tile I chose was out of stock and took for.e.ver. to come back in. I opted to just wait it out. I had a terrible time choosing backsplash tile and didn't want to repeat it, plus, why not wait for what I really wanted? Our kitchen is fully functional so we've been fine. Love, love, loving the under- and over-cabinet lighting!

Of course, since I've had extra time to ruminate over choices, our cabinet color choice is now Cloud White, a slightly-warmer-yet-still-not-cream white from Benjamin Moore rather than the somewhat-too-stark Simply White. I've also found new pendants for the kitchen. We'll be going with these gorgeous pendants:

Photo courtesy of www.laylagrayce.com, an online store with ridiculously gorgeous things

I really wanted something that a) did not have a clear glass shade because the pendants are right above the sink and b) had some interest to them. I am also slightly obsessed with capiz and love how they tie into the marble backsplash tile.

I know Robin is ready to be done with the remodel, mostly because the longer it drags out, the more that gets added to the to-do list. We've also decided to have the painters go ahead and paint the Master Bathroom while they are here because parts of it are too hard for me to reach. Because of that, we also had to go ahead and get new bathroom lights for our bathroom. Nothing terribly exciting, just some nicely priced lights from Lowe's that coordinate with our faucets and other fixtures:

I know, sort of a dull update but there ya' have it.



The Patio Furniture is HERE!

Well, after a call to Target, our patio furniture finally arrived on Tuesday. I had to hurry and put it all together before Robin came home because a friend was coming over to work on his car and the furniture arrived on a pallete. Um, wow. Didn't think that one through!

Yeah, we have the most random stuff all over the garage. I have given up completely. I don't even know what the majority of it is so there isn't much I can do with it.

Thankfully, it was super easy to put everything together. Robin and I moved everything to the backyard. This isn't the final arrangement but it will do until we have everything.

Max says hi!

I didn't care for the pillows that came with the set so I picked up some other pillows. I really like the Trellis pattern in Navy so I grabbed them and love them! Now I just need to put together the other side table, find a little table to put between the chairs, find a (cheap) outdoor rug, and find a cute planter for the plant on the coffee table. We also need to drag the plants that have been wintering in the house outside.

What do you think? Any recommendations on outdoor rugs? Anything you have in your outdoor living space that we should add?

The Brookwood Community

Yesterday, my mom, Robin, and I went to Brookwood Community for the day.

If you have never been to The Brookwood Community, you are definitely missing out! The Brookwood Community is off of I-10, past Katy, in Brookwood, TX. Here is what they have to say about themselves:

"Through the Grace of God, The Brookwood Community provides an educational environment that creates meaningful jobs, builds a sense of belonging, and demands dignity and respect for adults with special needs."

The Brookwood Community provides a place for adults with special needs to live as a community. The community members have many different jobs in which they can be trained, such as creating handicrafts, gardening/horticulture, and cooking.

The whole setting at the visitors center is beautiful. We had a fantastic lunch at the cafe (the food will blow you away...really fantastic!) then browsed the gift shop (which is gigantic, the picture at the top only shows part of it) and the gardens/nursery. My mom picked up a purse and a few bracelets while I grabbed 2 jars of jam (meyer lemon pear marmalade and papaya orange habanero jam) and this cool glazed concrete/ceramic ball:

We also picked up 2 houseplants, a clover plant and this really cool variegated plant:



I just stuck these plants near the window for light, though I do kind of like the clover right there. Now I just need to find a pot for it!

We also picked up a great plant that made us instantly think of Robin's mom but we'll be holding on to it until Mother's Day.

All of the plants there are obviously well-tended and the prices are very competitive. I can only hope that my black thumb doesn't kill them!

If you have a free day and are looking for something fun to do, head down to Brookwood for a great afternoon!

Countertops, Check!

Almost a week ago, our new countertops were installed!!!
We chose Black Pearl granite for our countertops. We like that it's black but not just flat black. It's almost a bit dark grey. Grey Pearl was a frontrunner but seemed TOO grey...this one is perfect!

The bad news is that when my dad went to remove the backsplash, he discovered that the builder had installed it directly to the drywall in such a way that required him to cut out the drywall to remove the backsplash. So, we have had open walls in the kitchen! It actually worked out okay because we decided to add lower and upper cabinet lighting so the open walls made hardwiring the lights much simpler.

Without further ado, here it is!

Please excuse the mess you can see around the edges. We are still living in a construction zone and to top it off, we just had a new kitchen table and chairs delivered. The dining room is the current staging area and I decided to purge rather than just shove everything back in the cabinets so it's still covered in kitchen items.

A better view of the granite color and a peak of the backsplash tile:

At my dad's recommendation, we had the corners of the bar area cut at a 45 degree angle. I'm normally pretty good at envisioning things but I wasn't sure. We decided to go with it. Afterall, he's seen way more of these things than I have. Robin and I agree that we are really glad we went with his recommendation. It helps distinguish the bar top a bit and makes it easier to walk around. I would had to be running into a corner all of the time.

I think this might be Robin's favorite thing in the kitchen: our new sink and faucet!



What do you think? Any recommendations for me?

Thanks for stopping by!