Please show me your backsplash...

[missy]

Aw @ILikeShiny you are so kind and think more of my choices than I could ever have thought of! The decorator selected the below and I thought it would look great.. it's a picture of the tile and the quartz that is going on the counter there.. teal blue knobs for the cabinets! thank you again, my little house on the hill would fit into maybe your great room! or laundry room j/k we all love our homes and I love mine especially because it is exactly what I wanted at this point in my looooong life. I look every day to see if you have changed anything.. and I'll post pix here for sure as I don't like to post much of my life on IG as all my nieces are there

Love this teal blue! Really pretty and eye catching!
Another one here who is very much looking forward to seeing more pics of your beautiful home.

 

[missy]

I love that tile!!! It's sooooo cheerful and would make me smile all of the time. I can't wait to see it paired with the teal nobs; it's going to be adorable!! And I think we have the same quartz!! Mine is "white ice", I think? I can't remember. But it looks incredibly similar so obviously I love it

As for house size, for me it's always around functionality; a house can be small and incredibly functional. Case in point, this time a year ago I was living in a place that was around 1200sqft and I was perfectly happy. Was it "ideal" for me? No, but it was quaint and adorable and welcoming, and it met my needs. The extra ~6000sqft we're moving in to will allow us to really spread out, but the same welcoming feel is of utmost importance to me. I've always wanted guests to feel like they could kick off their shoes and curl up on our couches

Aaaaaaand, you got me I did change something - haha! I literally ordered the pendants, received an email confirmation of the order along with one of those "Other items you might be interested in" previews and went OH! I LIKE THAT BETTER!!!! I swear that I've looked at probably over 300 pendant lights, and yet I don't recall ever seeing this one. Sooooooo order canceled and new light ordered . I didn't post it because i felt like an idiot who can never say yes without second-thoughts .

Old:



New:



I like that it has the "dust catcher" above the pendant (I don't know what it's technically called), so it will keep the interior glass from getting dirty as fast. I also like the additional scrollwork on the sides; it seems to fit with the overall flow of my decorations.

Oh that is very functional and aesthetically pleasing too! Very nice.

 

[Arcadian]

excuse the dogs yoga mat, she eats raw and its easy to clean....lol Plus SHE picked it!! I like it honestly.


Anyway this is what I'm working with. Because the kitchen is SO OPEN (which makes me nuts honestly) It will be more of a peninsula as it will be against the left side wall to make it its own room.

Measurements on the island are about 8-10 ft. the kitchen is about 18 feet long.
I can do a 2 sided island/peninsula.

Herein lies the issue: I can get the same cabinet fronts as the same design, but color matching is not exact. They have brown/black but...its not the same as what I have.

Soooooooo Now I have to think about where to go with this.

the granite is this stuff.


I won't lie, I thought about doing a bright red island with walnut spalted maple countertop.....lol I adore spalted maple, but I admit its not the best choice for a counter top!!! the plan is to incorporate a beverage refrigerator to the island (I will be doing a dark fridge) So yeah something in quartz likely because the granite wont be matched...its been too long.

And here's the thought; it will separate the kitchen from the dining room so..... maybe a color bottom is the way to go?

I'm not in a huge rush. but its on "the list".

 

[Arcadian]

Oh yeah, one other project; I will be adding on a 200amp transfer box. I will have to have a real licensed electrician assist to keep me out of trouble with insurance but hey he's game. he think its pretty cool I know what to do. After the last hurricane, this is a MUST!

 

[BlingDreams]

excuse the dogs yoga mat, she eats raw and its easy to clean....lol Plus SHE picked it!! I like it honestly.


Anyway this is what I'm working with. Because the kitchen is SO OPEN (which makes me nuts honestly) It will be more of a peninsula as it will be against the left side wall to make it its own room.

Measurements on the island are about 8-10 ft. the kitchen is about 18 feet long.
I can do a 2 sided island/peninsula.

Herein lies the issue: I can get the same cabinet fronts as the same design, but color matching is not exact. They have brown/black but...its not the same as what I have.

Soooooooo Now I have to think about where to go with this.

the granite is this stuff.


I won't lie, I thought about doing a bright red island with walnut spalted maple countertop.....lol I adore spalted maple, but I admit its not the best choice for a counter top!!! the plan is to incorporate a beverage refrigerator to the island (I will be doing a dark fridge) So yeah something in quartz likely because the granite wont be matched...its been too long.

And here's the thought; it will separate the kitchen from the dining room so..... maybe a color bottom is the way to go?

I'm not in a huge rush. but its on "the list".

I think a solid color countertop that matches the major color in the granite striations would be great. As for the color of the island cabinets, I love the idea of doing something different. Is there a color that dominates your house in the surrounding areas in terms of decorations? Perhaps you could pull that in with your island. Based on your visible rugs it looks like a colorful place so I'd say you have a lot of options!

 

[missy]

Oh yeah, one other project; I will be adding on a 200amp transfer box. I will have to have a real licensed electrician assist to keep me out of trouble with insurance but hey he's game. he think its pretty cool I know what to do. After the last hurricane, this is a MUST!

Yes we have a 200 amp transfer box too and in my opinion (and I don't even live in a zone where we have **that* much power loss but any power loss is too much for me) our Generac whole house generator was the single most important thing we did after we moved into this house. It gives us peace of mind and was worth every penny. It goes through a weekly self test and we get it checked three times a year by the Generac authorized electrician. It's important the electrician who maintains it is Generac trained/authorized because there is a lot to the Generac operation and maintenance (OMM). So far so good. When our entire neighborhood lost power during Sandy for 2 weeks our generator kept us going and we had our neighbors on either side of us plug into our power. Luckily our neighborhood has not lost power for that long again since Sandy but well you never know and even shorter power losses can be a hassle so yes yes yes to having a backup.

@Arcadian that is a nice size island! Great space and it's not only going to be functional it's going to be beautiful. If I had been daring enough to do a color island I would have chosen something with blue. Love blue. And if I was doing different color cabinets/bottom in the island I would have for sure chosen blue. In my imagination I am daring and adventurous.

 

[Tekate]

LOVE the new pendant lights.. spectacular and will look awesome.. truly I'm almost more excited for YOUR home than my reno.

You are right, we are making homes.. not museums or model homes.. but live in, love, share homes I am lucky I can have a home that reflects me (altho I change a lot at times in my life!).. and while I love my house the way it was decorated when I bought it, it turned out after living in it a few years it wasn't quite me... so ergo my changes (next year I hope to gut the master bath, but we shall see on that!)..

Thank you for your kind words about my choices (they weren't mine but Lisa's, but she has more talent in her pinky than I have in my whole body, altho I HAVE been told all my life I should do comedy!!) : )

Keep your pix and updates coming.. I think it's awesome we get to see others tastes in homes, their ideas and their love.

Kate

I love that tile!!! It's sooooo cheerful and would make me smile all of the time. I can't wait to see it paired with the teal nobs; it's going to be adorable!! And I think we have the same quartz!! Mine is "white ice", I think? I can't remember. But it looks incredibly similar so obviously I love it

As for house size, for me it's always around functionality; a house can be small and incredibly functional. Case in point, this time a year ago I was living in a place that was around 1200sqft and I was perfectly happy. Was it "ideal" for me? No, but it was quaint and adorable and welcoming, and it met my needs. The extra ~6000sqft we're moving in to will allow us to really spread out, but the same welcoming feel is of utmost importance to me. I've always wanted guests to feel like they could kick off their shoes and curl up on our couches

Aaaaaaand, you got me I did change something - haha! I literally ordered the pendants, received an email confirmation of the order along with one of those "Other items you might be interested in" previews and went OH! I LIKE THAT BETTER!!!! I swear that I've looked at probably over 300 pendant lights, and yet I don't recall ever seeing this one. Sooooooo order canceled and new light ordered . I didn't post it because i felt like an idiot who can never say yes without second-thoughts .

Old:



New:



I like that it has the "dust catcher" above the pendant (I don't know what it's technically called), so it will keep the interior glass from getting dirty as fast. I also like the additional scrollwork on the sides; it seems to fit with the overall flow of my decorations.

 

[Tekate]

My drank room has my recycle wine bottle drawer, the washer and the dryer and you walk thru it every time you come into the house from the garage.. it's a passthru! the tile floor needs a 'refreshing?' but what the heck I would love a wine fridge but can't fit it in.. !!

Grey quartz would look great .

I spent time in Ikea today. Ugh...... So they no longer sell the same cabinets I have, so, I have to decide what type of cabinets will work for an island. They have simiar cabinet fronts so thats awesome. But they don't have the same granite, meaning, I have to decide what to do for the island. I don't want to do black, but maybe grey quartz? cabinets will be dark brown.

Since my house is on the small side and very open, I want to keep the cabinets the same color.

Oh and while I won't have a "drank room" but I will have a "drank fridge"

after that, on to the fireplace (it will be electric of course!)

 

[missy]

Grey quartz would look great .

Yes I agree Kate! Grey quartz was my next top choice. It looks so rich in person. Really a lovely color.

My drank room has my recycle wine bottle drawer, the washer and the dryer and you walk thru it every time you come into the house from the garage.. it's a passthru! the tile floor needs a 'refreshing?' but what the heck I would love a wine fridge but can't fit it in.. !!

That sounds very lovely! We don't have a "drank" room at all but we do have a "drank" aka booze section.
It's in the dining room in Brooklyn and in the Living Room at the beach house. Y'all have much more advanced options than we do for liquor. So party at your place?

 

[Tekate]

Yes I agree Kate! Grey quartz was my next top choice. It looks so rich in person. Really a lovely color.



That sounds very lovely! We don't have a "drank" room at all but we do have a "drank" aka booze section.
It's in the dining room in Brooklyn and in the Living Room at the beach house. Y'all have much more advanced options than we do for liquor. So party at your place?

ANYTIME when I get back and get down to see the niece and nephew I'll be in touch.

 

[Arcadian]

@missy,Id do the island base cabinets in the same color as my coffee maker if I thought I could get another!!


As it is, it matches the main kitchen rug. If it up and dies completely I'd have to start over with a new one as this color is now discontinued (damn you Cuisinart!)


With the generator situation, I wish I could do a standby one. I'm not close enough to natural gas lines (its 3 miles north, 3 miles south and 5 miles west!) I won't have many choices except perhaps propane, which means I'd have to have at least 250 gallon tank (not sure I have a big enough yard to meet code standards), or do a big portable and use plane jane gas.

Either way, it will need to be a manual switchover box. I want to do 200AMP for 2 reasons. The main box is outside. so the transfer switch will be also. I don't really want to think about it much, I'd be able to flip the switch, then deal with turning things off and on in the secondary box inside.

The biggest portable generator I'm able to find is a Generac 17,500 Watt which is big enough to handle my house for at least 24 hours@ 50% load.. on a tank of gas, meaning it could manage the AC a few lights fridge/freezer, microwave and the coffee maker and a computer or 2.

But, they're noisy buggers, so I would have to do some sound dampening, so I'd have to build a quiet box. My current generator is a bit too tiny for any real legnth of time!

 

[rocks]

I am so aggravated and angry about this and I truly hope that Tump doesn't pass this stupid executive order Austina. Grrrr really angry. You guys are the perfect people and we would be so lucky to have you here. You already know how I feel about this but it bears repeating and know that most of us are on your side and want you here! And remember if there is anything at all we can do please do not hesitate. Greg and I can adopt you and your dh...just a thought.
(((HUGS))).

Actually, trump is proposing a point system. Austina would likely go to the head of the line because she has an adult child here, would be self supporting and tax paying. The progressive left considers policies like point systems to be discriminatory. According to the progressive left "of means" or self supporting shouldn't give a green card applicant priority.

 

[Austina]

We’ve looked at the points system @rocks and we won’t qualify under it

 

[rocks]

We’ve looked at the points system @rocks and we won’t qualify under it

Now, that's just plain nuts......

 

[missy]

We’ve looked at the points system @rocks and we won’t qualify under it

that is crazy!

Come to mummy and daddy.

 

[BlingDreams]

My pendants arrived today!

I'm tempted to open the boxes and make sure nothing is broken. Unfortunately, the temptation is just as great to hang them up in this house right now!

 

[Tekate]

New pictures.

 

[Tekate]

 

[rocks]

My pendants arrived today!

I'm tempted to open the boxes and make sure nothing is broken. Unfortunately, the temptation is just as great to hang them up in this house right now!

You most certainly should open the boxes. Things do break in shipment.

 

[BlingDreams]

It's looking great! Love the knobs

 

[missy]

Gorgeous!

 

[missy]

My pendants arrived today!

I'm tempted to open the boxes and make sure nothing is broken. Unfortunately, the temptation is just as great to hang them up in this house right now!

You most certainly should open the boxes. Things do break in shipment.

Yes I agree. Open them and check that they are OK.
And yay for the pendants arriving...so exciting!

 

[BlingDreams]

You most certainly should open the boxes. Things do break in shipment.

Yes I agree. Open them and check that they are OK.
And yay for the pendants arriving...so exciting!

Sorry, should have activated my sarcasm transmitter

I’d never let them sit unopened. I’m too cautious to not check them out. Good news is that they’re great. One bowl has a tiny bubble in it so I’ll ask about a replacement for it, but even if we keep it it’s barely noticeable.

Best news is that I think I’m really going to love them!!

 

[missy]

Sorry, should have activated my sarcasm transmitter

I’d never let them sit unopened. I’m too cautious to not check them out. Good news is that they’re great. One bowl has a tiny bubble in it so I’ll ask about a replacement for it, but even if we keep it it’s barely noticeable.

Best news is that I think I’m really going to love them!!

That is wonderful news. But where are our pics? No pics for us?

 

[missy]

@Tekate wow! Saw your home on IG when I got back last night and it is beautiful. LOVE everything you have done. Success! So happy for you my dear. I hope you are pleased as punch and enjoying your beautiful new space. Well done!

 

[BlingDreams]

That is wonderful news. But where are our pics? No pics for us?

No pics worth taking. Most of the pieces were still in the foam box; we only removed the glass bowls to examine them for breakage. But the ORB finish is gorgeous and I love the (apparent) look of the rim on top of the bowl

 

[Tekate]

Hi @missy

Thank you!!!!! it came out great (except the wallpaper which they will be trying to redo, each roll the color changed lighter or darker, she knew it and took it all down once and redid it but I don't like it and they will order more paper and try to fix it she is a sweet heart but no can do otherwise we find another vendor or we change the paper or we paint.. we shall see) as you can see the tiling isn't done nor is the drape thingy up.. soon

Missy you have been a great cheerleader for me on this, I appreciate all you have said and done.. you made me feel comfortable.. mucho apreciateo

@Tekate wow! Saw your home on IG when I got back last night and it is beautiful. LOVE everything you have done. Success! So happy for you my dear. I hope you are pleased as punch and enjoying your beautiful new space. Well done!

 

[Tekate]

@ILikeShiny thank you!!!! without your and @missy to cheer me along I wouldnt even have posted pix, Gosh I am lazy... plus I never think what I do looks right.. but I do like this.. Now we on to your new home and a few others that are upgrading, changing.. this has been a great thread to give me confidence. Thank you!

 

[Tekate]

a few more pix.

So here's 2 pix of 4 that Lisa chose for us, we travel a bit and she thought it would be great to put up maps etc of some of the cities we have been to, now I will be honest I've never stayed in Madrid, now I have to because it's there.. there was another choice, NYC but I lived there.. anyway you can see the other 2 pix in another photo. The new oven and microwave, awful bright, Bosch (not high end but it is for me! ha) the foyer light, that thing is gorgeous, it's silvery gold, it's hard to get a good photo I think but I love it.. love th new dining light too, the trey ceiling there used to be painted on the sides but Lisa thought it better to paint it all white, it looks really nice.. So when the tile and drapey thing is up I will post some finished total pix.. I really love the new slipcover, the woman who made it made pillows to match the drapewhateveritis same pattern... so now this is it, but I have to get rid of one of the chairs in the family room and probably the dining table, too Texan but since we never use it, WTF for now

 

[BlingDreams]

a few more pix.

So here's 2 pix of 4 that Lisa chose for us, we travel a bit and she thought it would be great to put up maps etc of some of the cities we have been to, now I will be honest I've never stayed in Madrid, now I have to because it's there.. there was another choice, NYC but I lived there.. anyway you can see the other 2 pix in another photo. The new oven and microwave, awful bright, Bosch (not high end but it is for me! ha) the foyer light, that thing is gorgeous, it's silvery gold, it's hard to get a good photo I think but I love it.. love th new dining light too, the trey ceiling there used to be painted on the sides but Lisa thought it better to paint it all white, it looks really nice.. So when the tile and drapey thing is up I will post some finished total pix.. I really love the new slipcover, the woman who made it made pillows to match the drapewhateveritis same pattern... so now this is it, but I have to get rid of one of the chairs in the family room and probably the dining table, too Texan but since we never use it, WTF for now

This looks sooooooo good! I love it! And your lights are awesome!

Share more pics when you can!!!