Kitchen Progress: Counters In/Choosing a Backsplash

It's been a while since I've really done any kitchen stuff. We got our new quartz countertops a while ago. It was kind of an all day event. Two guys came, measured a bunch of times, cut the stone on site, and glued it on. Honestly, I didn't share the results right away because I wasn't entirely happy with them. Bummer, huh? I didn't take into account the different shades of white between my appliances and my counters. They're slightly off, and it more than slightly bugged me.
Well flash forward about a month now, and it doesn't bother me so much anymore. Next step is obviously the backsplash. I went to a specialty store in Shadyside that was amazing, but quite frankly way out of my comfort zone price-wise. Then I went back to Home Depot to double check their stock. I just wasn't happy with any of their choices. So after much internet researching I came across a website called the tile bar. You can order five samples for $10 flat! So I ordered five and I'm so excited I did.
Here's what I ordered:

Not exactly "Moroccan mosaic" like I was originally going for... I realized quick that if I wanted to stay on budget, I had to sacrifice a little. BUT, these were a step up from what I found at the regular home improvement stores, so I'm happy. I thought I'd really like the marble, but it ended up being too drab against all my competing "whites".
Here's what a few of them looked like in real life.

I know it's super hard to tell from these pictures (it was hard to tell with how small the samples were), but I'm going to go with this last option- the Florentine Pearl Athens Gray Marble in the hexagon shape. It still sort of gives me that Moroccan feel I was going for, while also providing some much-needed contrast against all that white. I surprised myself with this one, but I'm excited to see it on a larger scale. Can't wait!

Moroccan Tile Backsplash: Do or Don't?

We're getting measured for our countertops this Friday. YAY!  I'm going simple- white quartz. It's supposedly more durable and less maintenance than granite. It's also only $39/sqft including installation (thank you Y&Q from the Strip District). Anyone found anything cheaper than that?
Side story, my mom had a jar of olive oil out on her counter. Olive oil inevitably leaks over the edges and left a ring mark on her granite that would not come out! Just beware. She now corrals her oils on a tray...looks nicer that way anyways.
So with simple, white countertops my thought process is do I want to splurge on a backsplash? My little, design heart says, "Yes"!
Let me bring back a photo I cited a while ago when I first talked about mix-matching appliances. It happens to have this adorable (yet slightly muted) Moroccan-inspired backsplash.

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So my thought process goes like this:

a. I love this kitchen.
    b. I love Moroccan tile.
             c. I should probably go for it. 

Don't all of you make decisions like this? :)

Here's some samples I've found. 

A simple basket-weave tile. 

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 A nice, geometric pattern. 

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 And my favorite, flowered design. 

can't find the source of this image for the life of me, and I really like it. Sad. 

Also under consideration, a lattice design to mimic our new rug that I found at Big Lots, which happens to be the same rug at Target, but for much less! 

rug via Target 

I know that for resale purposes I'm risking a lot by doing something so taste-specific. But with our decision to stay in our house for a while, I really want to make it my own, not with someone else in mind. Thoughts?

Food Poisoning and Kitchen Remodeling

If you like sagas, I have one for you. If you'd rather just look at pictures, I have some of those, too. I must warn you, however, remodeling is not for the weak of heart. I have no finished product- it's a work in progress still, but I do finally have appliances and a story to go with it. Perhaps if you're contemplating a kitchen remodel for yourself you should read on to catch a glimpse of what you're in for. Or on second thought, maybe just check back in a week when I have the finished pictures up.
Here's a before picture of one side of our kitchen. We've decided to get a bigger fridge, among some other things that allows us more counter-space.

Saturday night: Husband disconnects all old appliances. Kitchen's a wreck!

 Sunday 9am: wake up to a blizzard- husband's out snow plowing. Call guy from Craigslist to make sure he's still coming to buy disconnected appliances.

Sunday 10:51am: Craigslist guy shows up late, but does come after all. Pays me $1300 for everything and loads them up. Deal!

Sunday 11:45am: Craigslist guy drives off into blizzard with his new appliances. Bon voyage! Kitchen's still a wreck, but at least one can navigate through it.

Sunday noon: get to work cleaning under old appliances. Previous owners had a huge Saint Bernard. Maybe this is where the mystery smell was coming from. That grey stuff isn't dust... it's pet hair! Same thing under the fridge, oh joy! 

Sunday 1pm: Lunch time with this little girl down the street at Drew's. Best french toast and strawberry sauce ever. 

 

Sunday 4:30pm: We go to Sears Outlet in Monroeville to pick out a new fridge. I've been there three times already so this process is short and sweet. I find the lady who goes over (and over) why I need an extra coverage plan, I deny, and buy the fridge, but she does talk me into paying the $20 extra charge to get the fridge delivered early. Tuesday morning, so not super early, but earlier than the alternative Thursday. I oblige her with my info. Everything's good to go.

Monday noon: We go to Perlas appliances in Swissvale to buy our stove and dishwasher. I've already been here, too, so this is a simple trip as well. Great family business. We walk in, tell them what we need, they told us it'd be delivered on Wednesday (no extra charge).

Monday evening: Call from Sears about our delivery. Confirmed.

Tuesday 6:45 am: Call from delivery guy asking if we salted our driveway. Yes, we just had an arcade machine delivered the other day no problem. See pic below with our old pantry and new arcade machine in playroom. Awesome.

Tuesday 7 am: Delivery guy said there's no parking on our street and he can't fit up our driveway. Husband points to two hour parking sign. Delivery guy does a lap around our neighborhood. Husband asks him to just stop and leave fridge at the bottom of our driveway. Delivery guy says his truck is too big for our street. The street he's already on.

Tuesday 7:05am: Delivery guy leaves with our fridge.

Tuesday 7:07am: I call his cell phone and leave a message because he won't pick up my calls. I'm basically crying (slightly ridiculous, but I'm a girl) saying I'd like my fridge back and that we paid extra to get it "early".

Tuesday 7:15am: Manager Bob calls me, tells me they can't get it out till Saturday, offers no apology. I told him we've never had this problem before and we've had plenty of trucks bigger deliver things. He hangs up when I threaten to cancel the order.

Tuesday noon: I call store back, get in touch with new manager of Pittsburgh store who actually helps. Asked to reschedule for Wednesday morning and took off delivery fees. Thank you, Diamond!

Tuesday night: I eat a salad with ham and cheese in it. Bad idea. Ham went bad.

Tuesday 8pm-1am: Food poisoning strikes again. Second time this year, I'm afraid!

Wednesday 2am: I feel like death!

Wednesday 11am: Husband wakes me up (he let me sleep since I was sick all night). I couldn't get out of bed. He told me delivery hadn't come yet. I called. Manager said it was supposed to already come. She called and found out the entire transaction was cancelled when my delivery fees got credited back. Fridge was back at Sears Monroeville.

Wednesday noon: Sears is afraid to answer my calls or call me back.

Wednesday 4:30pm: Someone finally calls and says our fridge is coming in 30 min. Perlas is already here delivering our stove and dishwasher. No problems. *I went white and slightly retro, see post here about my choice to mix and match appliances.

Wednesday 5pm: Fridge is finally delivered, no problem. It's amazing how a different delivery man makes all the difference in the world. I would have kissed him had I not been so sick! He got a tip instead. Had the first guy gotten out of his truck, we'd never have had this problem.

Wednesday 6pm: Sears calls because they realized I have a fridge that hasn't been paid for. I'm too sick to pay in person. They need my social and I won't give that over the phone, so they have to wait till tomorrow. Plus, the drink dispenser on the fridge doesn't work. I ask them to put in a free service call.

Wednesday 7pm: Sears calls again. Sweating bullets, and apparently afraid I won't pay. No really, I'm in excruciating pain and can not come in. I paid you once, I'm not a thief, I will be in tomorrow.

Thursday 1pm: I go to Sears to pay. No apology for my inconvenience. I had to re-explain everything because the manager was on a conference call, and the guy couldn't figure how to ring me up. Also, I asked about the service call that was supposed to be scheduled. No one scheduled it. Next one isn't available till Wednesday. Perfect! Considered passing out- not just for added affect- still feel weak from lack of food/water.

Thursday 1:45pm: Finally left the store. Reward my three yr. old with Chuck E. Cheese for being so patient.

If you've made it this far in my story, God bless you, you poor thing. Here's a cleaned up version of our new kitchen. Still waiting on our special order convection microwave. Yeah, you read it right- a microwave that convects! It's gonna be awesome. No more toaster oven.

Doesn't it already looked bigger? I'm really pleased so far. Minus the whole fridge experience. And food poisoning.

Next step in the reno process is our countertops, then backsplash. I'm trying to persuade my husband to take a trip back to Morocco for some authentic, mosaic tile for the backsplash. He laughed. I guess that's not quite in the budget, but I thought I'd try.

Mix & Matching Kitchen Appliances

We live in a day and age where our kitchen appliances no longer have to match to look good and I like it. We're redoing our kitchen on a shoestring budget, and I think I've got all my stainless (looking, they're actually not "real" stainless steel) appliances sold off thanks to Craigslist. Oh where would we be without Craig? [Side note: The appliances came with our house. They're in good shape, so I've often been reluctant to change them out for purely aesthetic reasons, but we've decided to get a bigger fridge and that just opened an entire can of worms. Decorative worms]. 

Anyways, I've got about a week to figure out what I want to replace them with or else we'll be using our sun room as a walk-in cooler- totally possible with this weather. I've been thinking about this for a long time and  I think I'm going with a glossy white fridge, a white and stainless gas range, and possibly a stainless dishwasher. My theory is the stove will have both the glossy white and stainless, thus allowing me to mix and match the fridge and the dishwasher. I may change my mind come buying time, but I've been doing my research and I really like the new white refrigerators. Am I wrong, or does stainless seem to be making its way out? It's all personal preference, really, but I tend to feel a little overwhelmed with all that metal. And the fingerprints. Did I mention I have a three year old?

I took a trip to the Sears outlet the other day and they had some great options. I think my only splurge might be the range. Gotta have a pièce de résistance.
Here's a couple fun inspiration photos that got me going. I'm also contemplating painting my maple cabinets. Decisions, decisions. Meaningless in the scheme of life, yes, but projects like this get me through these dreary winter days. Amen?

These three pictures are from HGTV's website. It's a country, cottage redo by designer Sarah Richardson. I always seem to like what she designs. This kitchen is no exception. Except maybe that stove, but other than that, I really love the sweet, girly vibe. The mosaic tile is exquisite, and I'm always a fan of brass hardware on painted cabinets.

 See the white microwave? I think had she chosen a range similar to the microwave, it'd be a more seamless look. I don't like how the black on the stove breaks up the white lines on that back wall.

 Something really neat HGTV does is give you a shopping guide as to where she bought everything. And I mean EVERYTHING. It's pretty cool.

 And this is a kitchen I found that not only mix and matches appliances, but cabinet colors as well. It works for me.

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What are your thoughts on mixing appliances? Am I crazy for wanting white?

Rug in the Kitchen?

I've been thinking about switching out the rug in our kitchen. We have this beautiful rug in a back sun room that rarely gets used anymore that I think will do the trick. Then I got to thinking is it normal to have a rug in your kitchen? So I googled it, and found this gorgeous modern kitchen with an awesome persian carpet, and immediately felt better about my decision.

source

Come to think of it, this kitchen is almost exactly like ours in space and layout, aside from the placement of the fridge and stove. I'm really into the exposed shelves, too. Especially since we're habitual door leaver-openers in my family.
Left is a picture of our existing, boring rug. It gets the job done, but takes a beating since the back door is really the only door we use. The previous owner didn't even leave us a key to the front door! Back door it is. To the right is a picture of the sun room rug. It's much prettier and I think it'll spice up the monotonous shades of brown in the kitchen.
How bout you? Do you use area rugs in your kitchen? Feel free to send pictures of inspiration.
We have a number a new 5 x 8 wool rugs in the shop, perfect for high traffic areas.
 

I've mentioned to some of you that we have a booth at Miller's Antique Mall in Verona. If you haven't checked it out yet, it's a great place to spend a Sunday afternoon. Here are some recent pics of the booth. Right now all the vendors are having sales of 10-30% off. And on Sat. April 28th each vendor will choose something for a Chinese Auction, where you'll get tickets to try and win your favorite items for free. All you have to do is show up! 

Enjoy an extra 15% off our booth

Awesome Oak Farm Table $350
Set of Vintage Chairs $125