Building Our Home // Cabinets, Countertops, Appliances, Tile, Flooring, Stone

Cabinets and flooring and tile, oh my! Cabinets and flooring and tile, oh my! Cabinets and flooring and tile, oh my!

(I'm singing this to the tune of one of my all time favorite movies, The Wizard of Oz.)

The last two weeks have been such a blast! I am back to my regular, almost daily, visits, and I couldn't be happier. And the visits haven't just been 'because', it's because I am actually needed!! I go there to make important decisions like, which way my flooring will be laid and what I'd like for my tile design and layout ;)

Our builder Kent, calls me to double and even triple check that things are going the way I'd like them to. I'll say it again, I LOVE our builder! So in the morning, the time I usually get his calls, I know that I'm 'needed' for something important, and I run out the door, haha!

I cannot believe that the next blog post I write about building our home, will be after we sign papers and the house is officially our home!! I'm sure the next two weeks will go by just as fast as these last two weeks! At least I hope they do! I'm keeping myself busy with some DIY projects just in case, so that will help.

As soon as I can I will give you an official house tour, when everything is sparkling clean, and not coated with an inch of construction dust ;)

But for now, it is what it is. Now on to the good stuff! Pictures!

January 24th, we went to check out the house with my parents, and I just about blew the roof off from my squeal, we had cabinets! Pretty white cabinets. They still need to be finished out with trim, but hey, I'm happy! Oh and can I say drawers on gliders. I'm so happy with them! I will really appreciate functional drawers, just another thing I am not going to miss about my old 1960's home, nasty, sticky, hard to open drawers! 

The next time we went back was Sunday the 29th, and our counter tops were in, the fireplace hearth was done, and the flooring in the laundry room and bathrooms were done too.

When picking out my counters I had a choice of quartz or granite, and you can bet I did my research before I made my decision. I read and wrote many pro's and con's lists' for each counter top, and in the end I went with a beautiful quartz that looks like marble. I am absolutely in LOVE with it too!  It is called Venatino by Lucastone, it's in their movement series. I wanted something that looked like stone/marble without the maintenance.

The top three reasons I went with quartz over granite is:

#1. It requires NO MAINTENANCE. That means no sealing. Nothing. Just wipe it clean and you're good to go. It will stay looking brand new without any special care.
#2. It is non-porous. That means that it is very stain resistant. It is a completely solid surface that will not absorb spills, unlike nature stone. And since it is non-porous, that makes it more hygienic and clean, there are no little nooks and crannies for bacteria to hide in. My happy OCD-self celebrates big time :)
#3. Appearance. I got the look of marble, without the cost, plus I have all the benefits of it being quartz. It's extremely strong and scratch resistant, unlike marble. The color is consistent and there aren't any seams to worry about. Quartz is made up from 93% quartz stone and 7% resin.

I can't wait to get the protective film off of it and really see how beautiful it looks...

Tuesday the 31st, the stone for the outside of the house was installed. I kept with my color scheme of neutrals and plenty of gray :) Now we're just waiting on some warmer weather so the exterior can be painted. Someday....

The first week in February was all about that tile, 'bout that tile...hehe ;) I actually made several trips over to the house that week. I had to help figure out the layout and design of the master shower and kitchen. 

Thursday, February 2nd, the flooring in the main part of the house was laid. I went with an easy, low maintenance, waterproof laminate. The color is Fumed Oak by Cordillera. Again, I cannot wait to see it sparkling clean and really be able to see how pretty it is!

People have asked why I went with laminate flooring and not hardwood. This is just a personal preference for me. I had my own business and cleaned houses for a little over 3 years, and in that time I figured out what I liked and disliked. And just like my countertops, I decided to go with something that is easy, durable and needs no maintenance. I had laminate floors in my old house and I loved how easy they were to care for. I absolutely love the look of hardwood, it's timeless and beautiful, but the thought of having to maintain them, completely turns me off. I'm kind of a lazy girl, so for me, the less work the better. Plus these are a waterproof laminate, so I don't have to worry about them tweaking or bubbling if we do end up with a leak someday.

  

Friday, the counter top in the laundry room was installed. Yet another thing I am going to love, an actual laundry room! I don't even know what I'm going to do with all that counter space. Oh ya probably fold clothes on it, haha!

Saturday the 4th, all of our faucets, sinks, toilets were in. The water was turned on and all the plumbing was checked and working. Some of our appliances were delivered and installed too!

The next couple weeks are going to be the final stretch! Everything on the inside that needs finished will be done. Tile with be grouted, doors will be hung, cabinet hardware will be installed, trim work will be finished, paint will be touched up, carpet will be installed, lighting will be hung, the final move-in cleaning will happen, our finial walk through will be completed, we will have a home inspection done, and then lord willing, we will sign papers, get the keys, and start moving in!

*Just for those who are asking. All of the outside landscaping work and exterior paint will be completed when the snow is finally gone and the sun is shining again. Come on Spring, hurry up!

Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing our excitement. I hope you have a sweet and wonderful day :)