It's Great To Be Home

The Flip: Cabinets Go In

November 16, 2010 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 8 Comments

If you’ve been keeping up with the ol’ flip on Twitter or Facebook, you know that the great room is no longer big and bare and empty like it was here:

That’s right, the cabinets have gone in!!!! I filled you in on what they were supposed to look like here, but seeing them in person is entirely different from seeing them on paper. It’s such a thrill to see them come to life!!

There are still some tweaks that need to happen (finishing installing the island, installing panels, crown molding and toe kicks, etc., but these pics give you the general idea):

In a nutshell, the kitchen has a back wall of cabinetry with a peninsula (that will have bar stools) coming out of the wall in front of the French doors, as well as an island separating the kitchen from the living area.

Here you can see the back of the peninsula – we did 12 inch cabinets there, so the space that you see behind the cabinets will become knee space for the bar stools and will be covered with granite.

I mentioned earlier that the cabinet guys need to finish installing the island. The island cabinets butt up to a pony wall that houses the plumbing and electrical, but the pony wall is too long and needs to be cut down before the back panels and end cabinet can be installed.

There has been lots of drama over this darned island, and although it’s fabulous it didn’t turn out exactly as we’d planned due to some miscommunication. The main thing is that the sink is not centered in the island – at all – so that throws our plan of having two pendants over the island out the window since it would look odd with an off-center sink /faucet between them. We’re thinking about returning the pendants that we just bought (after the drama of having 2 other sets of pendants out of stock throughout the country) and getting 4 smaller pendants so that the off-center sink won’t be so glaring. What do you guys think?

( This is the end cabinet that can’t be pushed into place until the pony wall is cut down. )

And the vanity in the master bathroom has been installed, too!!

We decided to pull the sink cabinets forward for a staggered look – it’s easiest to see from above:

How do you think the cabinets turned out? The granite guy came to measure for the countertops yesterday, and the painter is supposed to start this morning, so I’m anxious to see everything come together!

Our Flip: Make A Splash

July 13, 2009 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 18 Comments

Hold onto your socks, it’s time for the big backsplash reveal!!

I’ve been excited about this reveal for weeks, ever since we picked out this gorgeous backsplash:

Mmm, delicious – I love the blend of marble with frosted and translucent glass. This unique backsplash has a ton of personality and style, while still remaining neutral enough to appeal to any potential buyer.

Check out the tile mid-install – you can already tell it’s going to be fab:

This tile is designed to fit together perfectly, with staggered rows that interlock and each sheet of tile connected on a mesh backing – see?

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for . . . drumroll please . . .

Check out that backsplash!!!!

I love the way the undercabinet lighting draws your attention straight to the backsplash. And now that the backsplash is all installed and gorgeous, I can’t wait for the brushed nickel hardware and stainless steel appliances to be installed – that will really complete the look.

Here’s another shot:

The granite is still dusty, the faucet hasn’t been installed and the electrical outlets still need to be put in place . . . but you get the idea!

I can’t resist a close-up:

I think that the pale alabaster grout that we chose really showcases the tile by defining each piece, and also ties the backsplash in with the white cabinetry.

And finally, here’s a pic of the hubby and yours truly – please forgive us for our lovely appearances – it’s about 107 degrees in this photo (no joke!):

And that’s that!! Does it look as good as you thought it would? I’m really pleased with the way it turned out, but I want to hear what you guys think! And stay tuned for more details about our flip . . . it’s nearing the finish line!!

Paint By Numbers

April 1, 2009 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 11 Comments

Hey there all you paint-happy people! After our renovation was featured last weekend on Young House Love I got bunches of emails from you guys asking about the paint colors that we used, so I decided it’s high time for me to finally spill the paint-covered beans. So hold onto your paint stirrers ’cause here we go!

1. What brand of paint did you use? Our original plan was to use Behr from Home Depot, simply because that’s what we’re familiar with (and there’s a Home Depot about an inch from our house). But it turns out that painters in our area recommend Pittsburgh Paints like it’s going out of style, so we went ahead and gave them a whirl. Turned out pretty darn well, if you ask me!! The coverage is awesome (not too runny or thin) and they have tons of awesome shades to pick from. (My personal favorite is Toasted Almond, but more about that later).

2. Did you use all latex, or did you use some oil-based? We actually used a little bit of both. All of our drywall was painted with a flat latex paint – flat because I typically think shiny walls are a big no-no and latex because the cleanup is so easy, the paint dries in a snap, fumes aren’t as bad and drywall typically doesn’t need the tough finish that oil-based paints provide. However, all of the wood surfaces in our house were painted with an oil-based semi-gloss paint that is super-tough and dries super-smooth. When you’re dealing with wood surfaces like trim or cabinets that are really smooth, you want a paint like an oil-based that will dry without any streaks or brush marks or else all of your hard work will wind up looking kinda funky. Oil-based paint also adheres really well to wood so it helps prevent all of your nice woodwork from getting scratched and nicked over time. And we used a semi-gloss because I love it when wood has a subtle sheen – it makes your woodwork stand out and get the appreciation it deserves.

We wound up going through tons of that oil-based semi-gloss on all of our molding, doors and cabinetry throughout the house, as well as the wood paneling in our den:

3. How did you decide what paint colors to use? Ahh, picking paint colors. I was tempted to fib a little and tell you that it was easy breezy picking colors for this house, but let me tell you – it wasn’t. At first I was all gung-ho about the thought of picking out colors for each room – I got out our trusty paint deck each night after work, picked out colors and discussed the pros and cons of each color with my husband. We had the entire house picked out in no time. And then it came time to actually commit to the colors. And I freaked out.

How was I supposed to pick out paint colors for an entire house when I couldn’t even look at our furniture or bedding to figure out which paint colors would look best with our stuff?? That’s right, all of our stuff was still in storage when it came time to paint – talk about scary! So after I freaked out a little, my mom and I went to the paint store and picked up a whole bunch of those little pint samples of the paint colors that we liked and went to town – I swear, our house must have looked like a disgruntled painters’ union ran through it. But in the end, that’s the best thing we could have done – spending just a little money on those samples saved us a ton of money in the long run because as great as those paint decks are they can never really tell you exactly what the paint is going to look like on your wall. So here’s my earth-shattering tip that we all know but try to ignore – try it out before you buy it! And as an added bonus, you’ll have all of those little paint samples left over for touch-ups or DIY projects down the road.

4. What colors did you use? After all the drama of picking the paint colors was over, we wound up with paint colors that we absolutely love. Some of them I know I’ll use in my house forever. Here’s the list:

LOCATION PAINT COLOR/TYPE

Trim, cabinets, den walls Atrium White, 523-1 (oil; semi-gloss)

Office Balsam, 510-4 (flat latex)

Entry Toasted Almond, 414-3 (flat latex)

Dining Toasted Almond, 414-3 (flat latex)

Kitchen Toasted Almond, 414-3 (flat latex)

Craft Room Graceful, 452-3 (flat latex)

Laundry Bathroom Subtle Blue, 452-1 (flat latex)

Laundry Subtle Blue, 452-1 (flat latex)

Hallway Antique White, 516-2 (flat latex)

Second Bedroom Tradewinds, 453-2 (flat latex)

Third Bedroom Antique White, 516-2 (flat latex)

Jack & Jill Bathroom White Sage, 410-2 (flat latex)

Master Bedroom Toasted Almond, 414-3 (flat latex)

Master Bathroom Toasted Almond, 414-3 (flat latex)

All closets Ceiling White

All ceilings (except den) Ceiling White

Den ceiling Atrium White, 523-1 (flat latex)

Hall Bathroom Felicity, 453-3 (flat latex)

You can see most of the colors in action right here (and the rest are coming soon). But for those of you that need instant gratification, here’s a quick visual breakdown of our colors:

[Keep in mind that these colors are only as accurate as your computer monitor. On my screen, the Jack 'n Jill bath looks blue when it's actually green. Weird.]

Here’s a little floorplan of our house so you can visualize where the colors go:

5. Do you like all of the colors that you picked? Yes. Toasted Almond and Atrium White are my total faves – they are glorious. However, if I were to do it all over again I would not pick so many shades of the same colors. At the time I thought that it was important for each room to be slightly different so that the house wouldn’t feel monotonous, but in the end I basically wound up picking the same colors over and over again. It turns out that I like blues, greens and tans and they all work in the house so there was no point in me trying to reinvent the wheel for each room – next time I will just pick a shade of each color and stick with it.

So that’s it! The paint colors for my whole house in a nutshell. What do you think? Has picking paint colors driven you batty? Any tips for picking the perfect shade??

Check out Apartment Therapy for a few tips on choosing paint colors for your home from Farrow & Ball.