Another Design Choice Has Been Made!

 

The process of building a new home is in full swing now. 

We had our first meeting with our building manager on Tuesday. He explained how the new building process works. Boy, have things changed since 1978!!

They run this operation like a fine tuned machine. On Tuesday we got lucky, and we were there as they were pouring our foundation. 

Best part! I got to wear a hard hat!!

I was so relieved that it was blue and not orange.( I am totally serious about this) That would have totally clashed with my dress, plus orange is just NOT my color!!

Luckily I had some old tennis shoes that I keep in the trunk to wear if we just happen to go to the beach so off went my cute madras plaid flip-flops, and on went my grungy tennis shoes.

Lots of very important discussions were going on here!

A huge crane like  mechanism delivered the cement to the hard working cement workers.

We both were very excited about seeing all of this start to happen. So now we own some dirt, some metal rod thingys, and some cement!! We are on our way!!!!

I think I need a job where I get to wear a hard hat once in awhile!! Just kidding!!

Speaking of our new home another decision process has happened. 

We picked out our flooring!

I have learned something in my life, “Once you have hardwood floors there is no turning back!”

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As you all saw in my previous post we chose the countertops…

This is a quartz product by Arizona tile called Lyskamm.

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The cabinetry has been chosen……….

A classic door style with an inset panel with bead detail.

Basically it will be an all white kitchen since I will probably use a white subway tile as my backsplash.

Since it is so much white I knew before ever going into the meeting that I liked white kitchens with a darker floor to ground the room, rather  than the color of flooring I had in my last home which was white oak, in a clear finish and 3in wide planks.

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In our new home I want to have a bit more of a casual relaxed look, and I think the flooring can help me achieve this goal.

I want to have a somewhat Traditional coastal feel, think of a Nantucket look, and that pretty much nails where I am headed. 

You will probably hear me refer to the look of my new home as Nantucket style, even though we are surrounded by olive trees, and grape vineyards. I am just a coastal gal at heart!

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With all of this information in my brain the flooring was the easiest of decisions, pretty much a slam dunk.

We chose hickory in a medium value stain. It has some texture to the grain, including some knots. The planks vary in size from 4in., 5in., and 6in., and the lengths vary in lengths from 1.3 ft- 5 ft planks. 

It has so much character, and will give some texture to our home, plus be casual, and easy to maintain. 

Best of both worlds.

This is a vignette of my flooring, quartz, and cabinet doors.

Another choice checked off!

Next bathroom finishes!!!

 

 

We Made Our Kitchen Cabinet Choice

 

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Over a year ago I started a Next House pinboard, just for fun. I figured we would move someday,  we just did not know when. 

I thought it would be fun to explore what I might do in A NEXT HOUSE! Little did I know I would be accessing it this soon.

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I am so glad I made that board because it really did help me zero in on some of the quick design choices I had to make for our new home. 

Pinterest, or saved clippings of what you truly love is a valuable resource when it comes time to zeroing in on a style, or color choice for your home.

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If you line your images up you will see a pattern start to form, there will be repeats of colors and styles. This will be your clue to what direction you will be able to live with long term.

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I already shared our countertop choice. The reason I started with the counter top is it was the main star of that part of the room, and I knew that every other design choice would hinge on the style, and color of our counter top. 

Something to keep in mind when making design decisions….

…..I think it is a good idea to choose the least available element first. I knew I would be limited on my choices  for the counter top due to the color, and feel I wanted, and also I was limited by the builders offerings.

Lyskamm, quartz by Arizona Tile.

So many people want to start with a paint color because it is a fast quick fix, but that is not the best approach in design. 

There are limitless colors of paint, or you can have a custom mix made, but something like a rug, or in my case, a counter top will be more limited in choices.

As I wrote in my post about the counter top choice,  I needed something light and bright with a bit of movement due to the size of my kitchen island which is over 9ft long and almost 4 ft. in depth. 

At one point I considered a white on white, without movement until I saw the huge helipad of an island.

This is a model of my kitchen, but my personal kitchen is going to look different. The layout is the same but the materials and paint color I chose are quite different.

You can see how it looks into the great room, This is what I loved the most about the model we chose.

Let me show you some of the images from my  Pinterest board, “Next House board,” so you can get a pulse of the direction I tend to like.

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My heart almost stopped when I saw this kitchen. I know the island being a different color than the perimeter cabinet is a trend, and one that will not be here forever, however I really love this idea, and thought I would do just this very kitchen color combination going into the design meeting.

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I went back, and forth in my mind on whether I wanted to take a risk doing something that would look dated in the near future, or just go for it.

Well my decision was made for me by my friend Mr. Budget. In order to have the island painted a different color was just going to be too costly, and our budget would not allow for that. 

We had priorities of MUST HAVES, and those had to  be met before a WANT. So in comes the all white kitchen!!!

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To be honest when I looked at my kitchen boards they were mostly all white kitchens. I had even debated on painting my  green cabinets to white in our last home when we did the reno, but after thinking long and hard, I knew for that particular home the green cabinets were perfect.

Now I had the opportunity to do something different for me and it still felt classic enough to have staying power even though I know white kitchens have been done to death it is still a favorite look of mine.

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I toyed with the idea of black counters, and was drawn to images of such kitchens. I played with the idea for an entire day, looking and pinning kitchens with white cupboards and black counter tops. 

At the end of the day, I realized I tired of the all black counter tops for my own personal home. I still love them and think they make a gorgeous kitchen.

I am going to show you the image of my kitchen design once again so I can explain the changes that we made in the design.

First visualize white walls and white cabinetry with the Quartz counter tops! Are you ready!

Let’s start with the back of the island. This was one of the main elements I wanted  changed. We will have panels that will go with the door fronts we chose, so it will be painted panels of wood.

(this is the actual door front we chose)

The upper cabinets will not be in an up and down configuration and the space above the cabinets will be less.  Our ceiling height is 10 ft. The uppers will be 42in. instead of standard 32, they will also have a larger crown above them 7 in. instead of the smaller 3 1/2 in.

( here it is in wood. I think you can see the detailing better in this image. It is simple and classic)

The two cupboards flanking the stove hood will have glass doors. I am really excited about these changes.

We chose the standard simple mushroom nickel knobs and will change those out in the future according to the design direction I go.

I hope you can visualize for now! WE only have to wait 5 more months to see it all come to fruition.

 

 

Apartment Living Isn't That Bad!!!

   

 

Things are slowing down now, and I think we are finally catching up on our rest after the whirlwind of this last months move.

Apartment living has turned out to be a fairly easy transition. We got right in, and made this place feel as much like home as we could. 

I feel very fortunate to have the space that we have here. The apartment is 1200 sq. ft. which is a nice sized apartment as far as I am concerned. It has two bedrooms, each with a walk in closet and it’s own full bath.

One of the days when my sweet hubby was back at the old house doing the last minute things that only he could do, I opted to stay here and spruce the place up a bit. 

I think that was the first day I realized that we really DID move, and we were not going back. I know that sounds silly, it even sounds silly as I type it, but when your home has been your home for 37 years, it becomes a part of you.

Just this morning I woke up because I thought I heard some familiar sounds that I heard in the mornings at our old home. I woke up a bit confused to where I was, and then when fully awake, I realized I was here, in the apartment.

I am learning lots of lessons about myself, and even about my hubby, who I have been married to for over 44 years.

It is funny how a stressful situation will bring out the best, and the worst in people, kind of like what they say about weddings and funerals.

I will have to say I have seen way more of the BEST than the worst. When I would see the worst in myself, and in him it would because it was the end of the day and we were just exhausted.

If I could give only one bit of advice about moving I would tell you to purge, purge, and purge some more along the way before you ever move.

I realized after packing up umpteen, million boxes that I have waaaay to much, and this was after purging a great deal. 

(See my new bobbin chair? We ordered it before we even knew we were moving. I am kind of in love with her!)

It also made me realize WHY oh WHY do we tend to think we need so much stuff? It clutters our closets, and cupboards, but most importantly it clutters our lives and minds.

When we move in 6 months to the new house I know I will have to purge again, because there is no way all of the stuff we have will fit in our downsized home. 

I am trying to retrain my brain into thinking a new way. If it is not sentimental, or something we will actually be using in our home, then it must go.

This new way of thinking is going to be a tough one for me, but it has to be done for the sake of open space, and a free open mind. 

I honestly think I could live with what we have here at the apartment, and probably not miss anything that is in the boxes stored in the storage unit. 

So let me leave you with this thought, I highly recommend that when you purge, or clean out your closets, drawers, garage etc, be ruthless with yourself. 

Pretend you are moving, and get rid of it if you truly don’t use it, or need it. 

I am not advocating a minimalist lifestyle, but I am advocating an uncluttered home, and mind. Do your kids a favor, get rid of it so they won’t have too someday.

 Closing thought:

Most importantly you CAN make any place a home if you put your heart, and mind into it. Home truly is where your loved ones reside.