Flooring:
For flooring, we debated using bamboo over traditional hardwood. We had seen some new homes with bamboo and it looked fine. However, I did read somewhere that the bamboo comes from Asia so the fuel cost itself doesn't really offset the "green-ness" of the material. Also, we don't know how well bamboo will wear over time as it is a relatively new flooring material. So we decided to go with hardwood.
- Tentatively going with red oak in 4" or 3 1/4" planks
- Oak wears well for flooring.
Carpet:
- Going with something neutral, not sure about patterned carpets yet
Roof:
- Letting our designer choose the color of our roof - she's picking a dark color.
- 40 year composite roof
Drywall:
- Old world texture #1 which is pretty smooth with a little bit of pattern in it.
- Baby bullnose corners so we'll have slightly rounded corners versus hard edges
Friday, March 28, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Marbled Elegance
I had asked my mother where she got all her material for bathroom countertops and shower stalls since they were seamless slabs of some unknown material. She referred me to Marbled Elegance.
So we went on an information gathering trip. The material is cultured marble which is made from crushed stones and other stuff but it looks like natural stone. There are collections of looks that range from two colors to many colors (more colors = more $$). The mid-tier to higher tier collections look a lot more natural than the lower tier collections. One of the best things about it is that they can make large slabs of it (largest is 8' x 10') so you can get rid of grout lines in the showers. Usually people use tiles in their showers which are just a pain to clean -- too many grout lines. They can do seamless countertops such that the sinks bowls are integrated (example). You have to use their sink bowls to do that though. However, I think they have enough variety to accommodate most people.
Cost-wise, it comes to be about the same as putting up tile. For tiles, installation is the big expense ($20-30 per sq ft) while the tile itself is $4-sky per sq ft. With Marbled Elegance, the installation is $7.25 per sq ft while the material runs from $20-? (I forgot the cap) per sq ft depending on the collection you choose.
We're almost definitely going with Marbled Elegance unless there's some unknown advantage tile has that we don't know about yet.
So we went on an information gathering trip. The material is cultured marble which is made from crushed stones and other stuff but it looks like natural stone. There are collections of looks that range from two colors to many colors (more colors = more $$). The mid-tier to higher tier collections look a lot more natural than the lower tier collections. One of the best things about it is that they can make large slabs of it (largest is 8' x 10') so you can get rid of grout lines in the showers. Usually people use tiles in their showers which are just a pain to clean -- too many grout lines. They can do seamless countertops such that the sinks bowls are integrated (example). You have to use their sink bowls to do that though. However, I think they have enough variety to accommodate most people.
Cost-wise, it comes to be about the same as putting up tile. For tiles, installation is the big expense ($20-30 per sq ft) while the tile itself is $4-sky per sq ft. With Marbled Elegance, the installation is $7.25 per sq ft while the material runs from $20-? (I forgot the cap) per sq ft depending on the collection you choose.
We're almost definitely going with Marbled Elegance unless there's some unknown advantage tile has that we don't know about yet.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Big Home Day
University Electric
Since the first store we wanted to go to was closed due to city maintenance, thankfully the appliance store was on the same street. So this turned out to be our first stop.
Narrowed down the cooktop: 36" GE Monogram gas cooktop
We were also considering a 36" DCS coooktop. We picked the GE Monogram over the DCS because
Other cool features include
We looked at a variety of wall ovens but very few of them actually have dial controls. Most of them have touchscreen digital controls. Because of all the functionalities available on ovens these days, some of the controls were not very intuitive. booo. We're heavily considering the GE Monogram single wall oven because it has the dial controls.
Home Depot Expo
We didn't realize the extent of this store. We spent a whole afternoon here and still hadn't gone through it all. They have so many kitchen and bathroom setup examples. Since they have so many products on display, we were able to see some of the fixtures that we picked out from a catalog. They had many many Kohler products displayed - including the ones we selected, the Memoirs pedestal sink and matching toilet, and the Tea-For-Two tub. When we asked an employee about their selection of Grohe faucets, he told that they didn't display many of their products but there was a small section. He commented that Grohe's the best. (yay, made us feel good about our selections)
In their lighting department, I spotted a pendant light that I had admired online - Mini-Veneto by LBL. Too bad the price tag is $300 each light!!! With three in the kitchen, we might as well buy a nice chandelier instead. :p Yeah, we're going have to consider other pendant lights. Those babies are so expensive!
We made a quick stop at Sears appliance area but I think we were so pooped from the previous stores that we didn't want to make any decisions here. So we still need to go check out the Sears appliances since they were rated highly in Consumer Reports.
Since the first store we wanted to go to was closed due to city maintenance, thankfully the appliance store was on the same street. So this turned out to be our first stop.
Narrowed down the cooktop: 36" GE Monogram gas cooktop
We were also considering a 36" DCS coooktop. We picked the GE Monogram over the DCS because
- a. largest burner is 18,000 BTUs versus 17,500 BTUs - great for stir frying
- b. knobs are located in the center of the cooktop versus knobs on the side which cuts into the width of the cooktop - more width will make it easier to use multiple pots
Other cool features include
- a. All burners have a low-simmer capability - not available with all cooktops
- b. The grates lock together to provide a stable surface - some of the floor models of other cooktops had wobbly grates
- c. Auto reignition - flame automatically reignites if it goes out
We looked at a variety of wall ovens but very few of them actually have dial controls. Most of them have touchscreen digital controls. Because of all the functionalities available on ovens these days, some of the controls were not very intuitive. booo. We're heavily considering the GE Monogram single wall oven because it has the dial controls.
Home Depot Expo
We didn't realize the extent of this store. We spent a whole afternoon here and still hadn't gone through it all. They have so many kitchen and bathroom setup examples. Since they have so many products on display, we were able to see some of the fixtures that we picked out from a catalog. They had many many Kohler products displayed - including the ones we selected, the Memoirs pedestal sink and matching toilet, and the Tea-For-Two tub. When we asked an employee about their selection of Grohe faucets, he told that they didn't display many of their products but there was a small section. He commented that Grohe's the best. (yay, made us feel good about our selections)
In their lighting department, I spotted a pendant light that I had admired online - Mini-Veneto by LBL. Too bad the price tag is $300 each light!!! With three in the kitchen, we might as well buy a nice chandelier instead. :p Yeah, we're going have to consider other pendant lights. Those babies are so expensive!
We made a quick stop at Sears appliance area but I think we were so pooped from the previous stores that we didn't want to make any decisions here. So we still need to go check out the Sears appliances since they were rated highly in Consumer Reports.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Tips from Parents
Since my parents had gone through remodeling before, they always sprinkle our get-togethers with bits of advice and words of caution. Here's a quick compile of this week's:
* Protect any part of your current landscaping you want to keep before they do anything. Otherwise, they'll assume you don't want any of it. My parents lost a fruit tree before they realized this.
* If they are of good quality, current kitchen cabinets can be removed and installed in the garage for storage.
* For lighting, instead of a pendant or center light for their casual eating area in their family room/kitchen, put two sets of lights on either side. This way if you move the table, you are not dependent on the location of light.
* Protect any part of your current landscaping you want to keep before they do anything. Otherwise, they'll assume you don't want any of it. My parents lost a fruit tree before they realized this.
* If they are of good quality, current kitchen cabinets can be removed and installed in the garage for storage.
* For lighting, instead of a pendant or center light for their casual eating area in their family room/kitchen, put two sets of lights on either side. This way if you move the table, you are not dependent on the location of light.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Doors
Our designer took us to look for interior doors and door handles. There are SO MANY choices in styles! The guy at the store said that he had a customer who tried to put four different doors in one room. The customer figured it out later that it wasn't such a good idea. But I totally understand how that customer felt. There are so many choices that you just want to use a whole bunch of styles in your home.
Once we got over it, we decided on a simple two-panel door for our interior doors and a lever handle with privacy lock.
We're keeping our current front door. (yay, saving money!)
Once we got over it, we decided on a simple two-panel door for our interior doors and a lever handle with privacy lock.
We're keeping our current front door. (yay, saving money!)
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