a woman's prerogative...

Haven't posted lately, and I apologize, although not much has been going on. We finally started a game of phone tag with the contractor, after he was unreachable for more than a week (not just to us--to anyone!) I found time to visit a few tile stores. Some were filled with helpful people, and one was staffed by a salesman who apparently thought I was an easy mark.
I told him I wanted ceramic tiles for my kitchen floor.
He showed me some tiles that were ceramic with a top layer of Congoleum to make them softer.
I said I wanted ceramic.
He said they were ceramic.
I asked if it was vinyl on top of the ceramic.
He told me that it wasn't vinyl, it was Congoleum (apparently there is a difference--it's all petroleum based products to me)
I insisted that I wanted just ceramic.
Then he asked me if I had a certain brand in mind.
I did not. (Does anyone shop for tiles by brand? )
When I said I wasn't tied to a certain brand, he showed me one display and said this was what they had....when I could see that there were other tile displays in other parts of the store.
I assumed that he was showing me the ones with the most markup. I looked through the choices and, not surprisingly, did not see anything even remotely close to what I was looking for. So I just left, and I certainly won't be back.

One flooring store I visited had tile, but none that were right. I am definitely not with the times in my flooring ideas--everything is tumbled, distressed stone. I certainly see the practical side of that--if you scratch the floor, you can just pretend it is how the tile came. But I don'' want that look for my kitchen, and that is all that anyone is selling right now.

Anyway, the flooring store also had Marmoleum. I talked to the sales guy about our situation (cold floor because kitchen is partly over an unheated, uninsulated, inaccessable crawl space.) He suggested a vapor barrier, then an extra layer of cork, then the Marmoleum Click floating tiles (which have a layer of cork built in) He thought this might block the cold sufficiently and feel warm even without the radiant heat system under the floor (unlike ceramic tile) I do really like the look of the linoleum, and the idea of a floating floor makes me less insecure about making the wrong choice...if we really don't like it, we can remove it easily (unlike ceramic tile, which would be there til the end of time) And, there would be no ongoing cost of the electric radiant heat. AND (most important at this point in time) all I would need to do would be to bring a few samples home and pick a color....no more traipsing around to every tile store in Northern Virginia looking for the elusive perfect tile. So, I think I have used my prerogative, and changed my mind....ceramic tile and radiant heat Out, Marmoleum Click In.

Eight Days a Week?

Not much going on the past week or so....haven't found time to go to a tile store without dragging small children along with me ( "dragging" should be taken literally when referring to bringing my kids to any home improvement type store). After our experience at the Green Building Center, I am looking for a chance to visit a tile store without kids. After all, I missed the perfect countertop choice when I was at the GBC with the kids and only saw it when I went back alone. I figured that a tile store would be the same...one trip without kids is the same as several visits with them. (One visit would not only take less time, it would seem like less time since I would not be listening to "Can we leave yet?" requests over and over and over.)
We could revise our budget a bit to add a significant amount to cover babysitters....would that be worth getting a floor or light fixture or sink that is not exactly what we want? Right now it isn't, but if I can't figure out a solution soon, I may change my priorities. Of course, it's been worse because of a fever that kept one home a couple days, snow and ice delaying school opening, and the start of afternoon activities for both of them that don't allow more than 40 minutes of uninterrupted time in a single stretch--I know I'll need longer than that to find the right floor--I'm just too obsessive over this to make a quick decision. Where is that 8th day of the week? I need it!

champagne taste.....

While at stores looking for floor tiles, I also looked for tiles for the backsplash. I was thinking plain white subway tile or even just plain white square tiles, but if something exciting showed up, I would consider it. We saw plain white tiles, but did not see the subway tile size I was thinking would be best. (2 x 4 or maybe 1 x2--a small kitchen needs smaller tiles--maybe it will make it look bigger? or am I just fooling myself?) At Expo, however, I was immediately drawn to some cool silver 1 x 2 subway tiles that were $70 a square foot. Of course that is what I would like best--the most expensive choice in the entire store! Does that mean I have good taste? Or just that I'm good at spending money I don't have? It's nice to think about, but it's time to go home and just enjoy a beer....

starting on the floor obsession

I knew I would start obsessing over the right floor choice soon. I was unexpectedly sidetracked by the difficulty in finding a sink the right size, but now that I have found it, it is time to move on to choosing the floor. My starting point was choosing a material. We considered laminate and wood and linoleum tiles, but we settled on ceramic tile because that would work best with the radiant heat we will be installing under the new floor.
Took a trip with hubby to Lowe's to look at tile. (We had a sitter for the kids--nothing like a trip to a home center as the start of a romantic evening out!) Found what we wanted for the bathroom floor (a very small side project we are tacking onto the contractor's work in the kitchen) but nothing for the kitchen. Everything has that tumbled stone look that is very trendy--I do not want trendy, I want classic.
The next day I went to Expo and Home Depot (alone--the sitter was gone, so husband stayed with the kids) I figured starting at the least expensive places was the best. If the perfect choice is available for $1/sq ft, why pay more? I found a few possibilites and bought a few tiles to bring home. The cashier had one of the choices in her house and said she loved it.
At home, none of them looked quite right...one was too dark, one was too light and the white was just a crazy idea. We had it on the edge of the floor while we fixed dinner and it got dirty right away--a whole floor of white tiles would look white for about 5 minutes and then it would be over, so it is probably not the best choice, unless we want to go for the "lived in" kitchen look (also known as the "I lost my mop" look) Next stop: a real tile store (with real prices, I'm sure.)

a home for obsessives

I have discovered a home for kitchen obsessives like me. I was still searching for the mythical sink and came across an online forum where I could ask if anyone else knew where I could find it. Here is the link: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/kitchbath/. I posted my question and had an answer by the end of the day from several folks, including one person who offered to share her spreadsheet of sink choices with me (and I thought I was obsessive--it would never occur to me to make a spreadsheet--maybe it just means I am obsessive and disorganized.) Other people just told me where to look online, and I found the sink I wanted at a good price. So the sink question has been settled, but now I am obsessed with checking the forum. It is interesting, in a time-wasting sort of way. Some posts teach me something I did not know about kitchen planning/materials. Some posts have pictures of cool kitchens. Some posts have funny stories. Some posts make me glad I am not totally renovating my kitchen, just changing a few key elements. Many of them make me doubt that I am obsessed...I seem pretty normal compared to people who are REALLY obsessed with their kitchen renovation.

Although, after checking for new posts several times a day, I realized that not only am I obsessed with my own kitchen, now I am also obsessed with other people's kitchens as well. Maybe this is not such a good thing. Of course, if I post often enough, I can also get other people obsessed with my kitchen...there's plenty to obsess about, and there's always room for guests in the kitchen, even virtual ones. Come on in and join the party! Obsessions all around!

In Search of the Perfect Sink

Still obsessing over the sink...Got tired of searching poorly-designed online stores to search for it. Since most people buy a sink of a certain size, I don't understand why that info can't be on the FIRST page you see instead of having to click on each sink to see what size it is...I guess plumbers don't make good website designers (or website designers don't know enough about plumbing to know what is relevant.) However, I have become quite skilled at judging the size of a sink just by looking at the little picture. I am wondering if this is a skill I should add to my resume--surely it must be useful for something besides prolonging my obsession.

Waiting, waiting, waiting

After obsessing over choices for all this time, I feel ready to go now that I have found the first piece of the puzzle--the perfect countertop. The rest should, hopefully, fall into place easily (once I find time to go look at tile...that will be another post.)
Now I am waiting on other people...waiting for an exact quote on the countertop, waiting to hear from the contractor. Called the other day and left a message and have tried to call since then but can't leave a message because the mailbox was full. My friend who referred him offered to deliver a message in person (He is still working in her neighborhood.) I hope she does, since I can't get him on the phone. She assures me that he is difficult to reach before you hire him, but once he is in your house, he is all yours. I am okay with that, but I'm having a hard time waiting just to leave a message that I will have to wait for him to return.
I supppose a little more waiting is okay since I am also still waiting for the perfect sink to appear. (The obsession never really ends.) I found some that are the right size with the drain placement in the rear, but they are DEEP DEEP DEEP. What would I do with a 12" deep sink? I suppose it would be good exercise to bend and stretch that much every time I needed to reach something on the bottom of the sink, but how am I supposed to teach the kids to put dirty dishes in the sink (or maybe even to wash them!) if they can't reach the bottom? They would need to get inside the sink to do it...the little one, whose favorite activity is getting herself wet and messy, would probably love it, but I am not picturing less work for me in that scenario. Or maybe we could just move bathtime to the kitchen...