Kitchen: Backsplash lovin'

The kitchen is almost complete, which means we aren't too far from our closing date, and we couldn't be more excited!! We decided to take that excitement and book in a little time at Lowes for some window shopping and inspiration. Since we're there pretty much there all the time looking at
lighting, appliances and everything in between we figured it would be a perfect excuse to go a little crazy and check out backsplash tile.

We opted out of purchasing the kitchen backsplash through the builder since the

cost to tile ratio was ridiculous and wouldn’t have been very friendly on our already tight upgrades

budget. We could have had a really basic tile with nothing special for the hefty price of
$1700. It was a project we could eventually have done ourselves and could give us the flexibility to  splurge on a really high end tile for a fraction of the cost.

So to continue with our little adventure at Lowes, we got to see a great variety of their tile that would fit our budget just right. Here are our top picks.

Even though some of the tile was on crazy sale, we couldn't really purchase anything because we didn't think to take the proper measurements while we were there earlier. We also didn't really want to buy what was on the floor because we didn’t want to come up short once we moved in. So we decided to wait.

A few days later, we were browsing the Costco isles checking out their appliance
selection, and we noticed they started carrying a lot more items for home improvement..
sinks, faucets, bath tubs.. and there it was.

Our tile.

Other than the price, can you actually tell the difference?

Neither could we.

So we jumped, and bought it.

Total savings (before taxes): a whopping $14 per square foot!! Can you say score?

Flooring mishap... Take II

Last Thursday should have been an exciting milestone at the house! We received a call saying our hardwood was about to be installed, and to us, that was amazing!! It meant the count down was officially on, and that we were one step closer for our kitchen install! Double yeah!!

We decided to give it a few days before popping in to see the flooring, but on a whim we decided to check it out. We were expecting the wow factor; Oooooo's and ahhhhhhh's... a celebration.

But the second we walked through the house, we both sighed deeply with disappointment. "Umm.. yeah.. not the flooring we picked.." (WOMP WOOOOMP)

For the record, I would like to say that we have had very little issues with our builder thus far (knock on wood for the future); if anything, they have gone above and beyond for us and have fixed any mistake they've made along the way. The only thing that has got us in continuous spiral of doom is our hardwood situation. Really. The only thing.

When we went in for our initial design centre appointment, we feel in love with a sample our personal  consultant sold us on. It wasn't a generic brown stain on brown. It was this gorgeous oak with a double stain finish; highlighting alternating red and brown hues... sounds nice right?

via Gaylord flooring - Circa 1850

But after attending our 'meet your new neighborhood' session, we quickly learned that the hardwood supplier was no longer working with our builder, therefore meant we had to re-pick.. not thrilled. We loved this flooring so much that our design consultant was holding off on the call to tell us the bad news; she didn't know how we would react. (good excuse? you tell me?!).

Since our hardwood was such a special look, they couldn't find a suitable replacement to match the original flooring; And any other sample we kind of liked didn't match our kitchen cupboards. We  couldn't change our cabinets since they were already in production. Basically live with it sucker, these are your options.

After refusing 2 of their offers to upgrade our flooring to any level at no additional cost to us, they finally offered to show us two brand new Birch samples from a newer supplier to see if we would jump at them. I was a little hesitant at first because I had done a lot of research on 'best hardwood for dogs' and birch didn't initially make the cut. That being said, If we were going to settle for an option, may as well have settled for something we loved rather than being practical about it. Cause let's face it, if it were up to the dog we would have plywood as our main flooring throughout the house. nuff said. Luckily Rufus doesn't make the decisions around here. (he only likes to think he does)

So off the the sales centre we went, and indeed to our surprise, we fell in love again! We were shown 2 Birch samples and decided to go with the sample which reminded us most of the Circa 1850, our initial choice.

Took a few pics, signed off on some papers and off with our day we went.

Fast forward 3 months...  Here we are, wrong flooring in all it's glory.

hmmm... kind of looks like the other sample right?!

Yeah, we thought so too. Now we play the waiting game to find out if the samples were either mislabeled at the design centre or if the supplier delivered the wrong samples. Either way, we are disappointed but remain optimistic that this mess will be fixed one way or another in a timely matter.

Here's hoping third time's a charm... and, fingers crossed, no delays for our closing date.

Updates to follow

Walking through: March 11, 2012

Not much has changed this week.

The seat bump is finally looking pretty fab so far!  

We absolutely love the direction the house is going.

9 weeks to go, we can't wait.

Walking through: February 26, 2012

While I was in the neighbourhood shopping with my mom today, we decided to take a quick peek at this week's progress in the house. Since most of the focus had been made on the exterior these past few weeks, we weren't expecting to see much change done indoors. But it was a pretty great suprise to see our gorgeous banister in all it's glory!! I am so glad we chose to take the knee wall out because it really opens the upstairs hallway.


We had a couple styles of banister/railings to choose from, but this pick really worked in our favor. We were going for a modern chic look, and we got what we paid for. I love the detailing of the wood strip on the floor where the carpet would normally go. That extra detail really makes it look that much more spectacular. It completes the look really nicely!

I was also pretty excited to see the doors and baseboard materials waiting in the den. I have a feeling things are about to get done very quickly over the coming weeks. It's going to look ahhhhhmazing.  

Walking through - February 19, 2012

It's tile day!! We are so happy on how it turned out! We could have gone with some crazy modern tile but we wanted to keep it neutral and we are so glad we did. While keeping resale in mind, trying to find our perfect tile was quite the job. We've seen quite a few bathroom remodels that highlighted some very modern ‘fad’ tile selections and we didn't want to go that route. Call us boring, but wanted to keep it simple. With our choices, we can easily change the look of our bathrooms by giving it a fresh coat of paint or even buying a new set of towels instead of doing a total bathroom overhaul a few years down the road.

As a standard, the builder included tile in all wet areas. That was a huge bonus for us!
We now have tile in our entrance way, powder room, garage entryway, all bathrooms and upstairs laundry room. The only place we opted out of tile was the kitchen since we are having hardwood installed on a 45 degree angle through most of the main floor.

Here is a quick look at our brand new tile!

**to note: we did not upgrade the tile. All the tile included in our home was part of the standard selection**

Walking through - February 5, 2012

And just like that, the brick is on!! The big orange tarp was replaced with a big white one, but lots of progress was made on the outside facade and it's looking great! Nothing much has changed indoors, so I'll limit this to an outside post for now. 

Walking through - January 29, 2012

The ceiling is speckled and the walls are primed; this place is really starting to look good! It's been really nice to see that our color choices have paid off. We may paint a few other rooms in a different tone, but we really like how this color can be very versatile. It adds a touch of warmth and won't darken the room once the kitchen cabinetry and hardwood go in. It's very refreshing and we couldn't be happier. 

Our last place was a mess of Easter colors (I may have had something to do with that); this clearly was a great choice as it makes our home look more 'mature' and not like we're trying too hard to be up with the trends. Another plus is most of our furniture works very well with this color. It's very neutral and since we have a lot of different decor items and themes going on, the color will bring all those little details together seemlessly. 

Here are a few more shots of the main level..