A Brief Design Break

I thought today we might take a break from all the construction photos and discuss design just a little bit. As things are moving along, the first hard design decisions we have to make (other than the layout of the whole house) are tiles and counter tops. As some of you may remember, we were considering going with purple tile in the bathroom. But we changed our minds and decided to go for a more classic, timeless white subway tile look. To go with it, we chose little marble hexagonal tiles for the floor (another timeless look), and white carrera marble for the counter tops and tub surround.


Our cat picks out his favorite trim.

We also need to make decisions about the kitchen, and for the longest time I had my heart set on granite counter tops. But after watching many hours of Rehab Addict, I came to the conclusion that I wanted a look in the kitchen that would be more in keeping with the time period of the house. So we came up with this design for the kitchen:



Let me explain the photo. Tile 1 and Tile 2 are tiles that we are considering for the backsplash. Hubby loves Tile 1, I'm partial to the more rustic look of Tile 2. I think we're gonna go with Tile 1, but I'll keep you posted. For the regular counter tops we've decided to go with a nice thick butcherblock. This would have been a material available when the house was built. It's very durable, and I just love the warm look of wood. To fancy things up a bit, we're going with marble counter tops on the island. The marble island will give the kitchen it's "wow" factor and will be sealed so it doesn't stain. The cabinets are going to have classic shaker lines and a warm, creamy, slightly distressed color. The floors are- get this- going to be a stained checkerboard pattern (that's why we have a light and dark floor sample in the photo). How spiffy will that look?! And finally, the cup in the center is inspiration for the color of the body of the island...a nice dreamy blue. I think that color will go well with my AGA stove:



So there you have it folks, the design for the house is finally starting to come together. I'll try to have a construction update in the next couple of days. Lots of exciting stuff is happening!