tile... step 2 and then some.

This week has been a week of tile.  The tile in our house takes up over 50% of the flooring, so nothing can really happen until this is laid, and grouted.  And, they are grouting today!  Our tile is a travertine in a rectangular format, laid "running bond" or shifted.  Natural stone in a classic format.  The kitchen, hallway, and bathrooms will be in tile.

Grouting.

Domingo Montez.  Best tile layer ever, even at the age of 60+

And here is my current dilemma.  Backsplash tile.  As a designer, there are many options available, more so than Home Depot, etc.  This makes the decision even harder.  I don't want to do something super simple/plain or something that everyone is doing.  The other annoying part is that yes, even though we are remodeling a house and spending all this money, we are trying to stick to a budget, and $14/SF tile is not in the budget.  So of course I'm trying to find a deal and not go all willy-nilly on whatever is the most amazing, etc.  I have to be practical too.  Kinda.

(The concrete looking tile is representative of our granite...)

Island stone, grey linear shifted

http://www.islandstone.com/product-detail.php?id=14&keywords=Linear 

Casa Mood Shimmery mini's

http://www.casadolcecasa.com/en/prod-147-1673-03_silver_lux.asp

Porcelanosa ceramic minis, matte and glossy

http://www.porcelanosa-usa.com/home/products/mosaics.aspx/d=13174/title=Mosaico_Air_White 

I really like the idea of shifting it 45 degrees!

Daltile Silver Screen Marble 

http://products.daltile.com/seriesdetailStone.cfm?item=5091&series=105&item=5091&log=4&subType=1 

So, I have decided to not make a decision until our granite is in, lighting is in, and cabinets are in so I can make a well-rounded decision.  We can live in a house without a backsplash... right?

Our beautiful backyard after all the rain.  

The fireplace in transition.  Power and cable drop poke through with existing supports for a mantle.  Plywood up to mount the metal lath to...

(metal lath)

and then the new stucco can be troweled onto that.

Another dilema.  Landscaping.  This area at the back of our house is a dead zone.  Literally.  Nothing is growing.  There is so much shade, but really nothing has ever been there to try to grow, so even with rain its a futile effort.  I am in the process of scheming an idea for this area.  

I have decided that commercial landscaping, like the kind at the domain, and nicer shopping centers, has great inspiration for native plants that are simply laid out and full and pretty.  

Exhibit A.

On to other things.  David is power washing the guest house this weekend to prep it for... NEW EXTERIOR PAINT!  The little house will no longer be exposed cedar siding, but look just like the main house.

(also, I am very adamant about a privacy wood fence there on the left side.  Another day.)

Cabinets get delivered and installed next week!  Then the real magic begins.  All kinds of trades can be in the house at the same time, which helps everything to happen faster.  We are looking at a move in date near the week of August 13th.

Until the next step, katie, H&H

paint! step 1 of... many.

Paint!  First step towards finally living in our own home!  Here are some recent pics from Sunday.  The grey paint we picked is just right and barely shows up with all the natural light that fills up the house and the naturally grey concrete floors and no crisp white baseboards... so its still up in the air if we really and truly picked the "right" color of... grey.  Just kidding, its going to be great! I think.

Guest bedroom

Baseboards.  Nice and simple, and 6" tall!

More primed baseboards.  All of our trim and doors are being painted/sprayed on with an oil based slight off-white/....grey (did you think I'd go any other direction but grey?).  Oil-base will stand up better to nicks, scuffs, and is super easy to clean, doesn't show the streak marks from a paint brush or roller, and it looks so beautiful.

Clear pine to wrap the re-clad ceiling beams.   Eventually will be stained to match our floors.

Our doors!  with casings, and hardware! (except no handles yet.)

David's garage/shop.  We closed up the rafter;open ceiling, made an attic door and painted it the grey.  So pretty and bright for making me all kinds of new fun things in there!

"My" garage.  The front garage was newly textured and painted.  So nice and fresh.  This also shows how close the extension of the laundry room wall came to hitting the electrical panel.  But its all good.

Hallway. and door. and paint.

Laundry room.  I just can't get enough.  

Studio with paint.

This week is TILE!  We have a 16" x 24" travertine stone tile going in at the kitchen, hallway, bathrooms and laundry.  This will take a whole week.  And our tile layer is amazing.  His name is Domingo Montez and David and I have known him since we met... 4 years ago this fall.  

And, cabinets get delivered Monday and installed on Tuesday!

Here is what is left... 

wood floors

cabinets

granite countertops

backsplash (this is an inevitable TBD bc I can't make up my mind.)

plumbing fixtures

lighting fixtures

baseboards

fireplace stucco/tile

clean

I'm sure there is much more, but that's for David to worry about.  And he loves it.

rain = humidty = wall texture can't dry = delays

No new reports at the time.  Apparently it has been too hot and humid for the new texture on the walls to dry, so we are still in a holding pattern.  After these darn walls are finished so much more can happen!  (But I am very happy that its been raining!)

Here is what I have been doing however, lots of thinking.  And photoshop.  I love me some photoshop.

This is my rendition of our living room.  We pretty much own every piece of furniture in this image except for the coffee table.  Sweet momma bought me the charcoal grey chairs.  I also love me some grey.  And tufting.  And nailheads.  So its the perfect trifecta of desgin-ness.

After this... I have no idea what I will do everywhere else.  We have so much in storage, a 10x20 foot unit.  It is packed, and I haven't seen anything in there since March.  So you can imagine I literally have a mental block of design.  So most of the "coming together" will have to happen when we move in.  Which is looking more like mid-August instead of beginning of August :(

Happy Sunday!  enjoy the rain!

katie, H&H

waiting game, so lets shop!

No movement has happened at the house since about Thursday of last week.  Our drywall/painter decided to slack off and then to just not call David back or even show up Friday, Saturday, etc.  So, David hired a new one today!  David seems very enthusiastic about this one.  I just don't understand how people can do that.  Just not show up to finish a job they've started.  I have nightmares about emails I need to send for work and the smallest of things that I forgot to put in my documents.  This guy apparently has no conscience.  I have said my peace.

So, no updates to show, but we have some fun finds!

Saturday my girlfriends and I went to Pottery Barn outlet to see if we could find any crazy deals, and we were successful.  Here are my purchases. 

And then David and I drove out to Johnson City where we visited Pieces of the Past.  THE MOST FUN STORE EVER.  They have all kinds of stuff, a MILLION doors.  Trinkets, old windows, old water buckets made into sinks, old nailheads, old door hardware, etc.  Now, I'm a huge fan of mixing the modern classics, clean architectural lines, and a touch of old vintage.  But, its all about balance.  Although this place is awesome!  I couldn't do EVERYTHING in my house this way.  Just a few touches here and there.  So, the barn door that we were after to become the sliding door to our bathroom was one such element.  And I knew I'd find some other items too.  One in particular I am so excited about!  These old nailheads!

I'm not going to divulge my plan now.  So, the two people left that I haven't already told, will just have to wait.  But, lets just say I like things in masses of clusters and randomness. 

Here are some other things that we found.  

Antique saddle.

Snuck this shot of an old carousel horse behind the counter.

They had a LOT of old reclaimed lumber!  David's dream.

Lumber.

Doors, doors, and more doors.  Here are some of our favorites.

Bathroom doors, favorite #1.

Bathroom doors, favorite #2.

Bathroom doors, favorite #3.

Bathroom doors, favorite #4.

Cutest little windows.

Cool stuff.

Old signage letters!

Pieces of the Past is located at the intersection of Hwy 281 and Hwy 290 in Johnson City.  The owner is a fun and down to earth lady named Kathy Johnson.  She told me she'd give me a good deal when we came back if I brought her an iced latte.  And I will.

Here are some fun pictures of what my mom did with some doors and lattice she bought from her a couple of years ago for the beach house. 

Thats it for now!

katie, H&H