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...

clutter fairy

When I picture my new kitchen, I realize that I am dreaming about more than just a new countertop and floor...I am dreaming about a magical new countertop and floor that will stay clean and uncluttered. Think about all the pics of beautiful kitchens in books and magazines--they are always spotless, and the only thing on the counter is a bowl of fresh fruit that coordinates with the wall color. My kitchen certainly doesn't look like that now. On my counters now, along with the usual dirty dishes that haven't made it into the dishwasher yet (because the clean ones haven't made it out of the dishwasher yet) are the following items: 2 jars of Christmas candy (one for each kid--and I'm in charge of when they can eat it), 1/2 box Chanuka candles (we celebrate everything in our house), a jar of loose change, 1 bottle of Elmers glue, 1 bottle of yellow acrylic paint, 1 table hockey game (2 little nets, 2 little hockey sticks,2 little pucks), 1 spool of ribbon, 1 jar of intensive hand fixer ( a necessity in the winter), 1 kazoo, 2 bead necklaces, 1 Franke sink catalog, 1 box of chalk, 1 water jug, 2 rubber bands, 1 clothespin, 1 empty soda can, 1 cork, 1 crayon, 1 coaster that traveled from the living room, 1 paintbrush, 2 toy lizards, 1 precious princess jewel (unfortunately not a real one!), 2 pumpkins (Don't ask!), Dora the Explorer and her hat, 1 gel-pen drawing of a fairy, and 1 empty vase. Is there a countertop that comes with a clutter fairy that will take care of all this stuff? I would definitely pay extra for it. I guess I haven't given up on the search for the perfect countertop...or maybe I'm just searching for the perfect maid.

too many choices

I read a book last year called The Paradox of Choice--Why More is Less by Barry Schwartz. The premise is that though we assume that more choice is a better thing, too many choices actually lead to less satisfaction and more stress and anxiety. He could write a chapter (or maybe a sequel) about kitchen remodeling...I would be an excellent case study. Although I had given up on the vintage sink idea and thought I would just choose a new sink, it was easier said than done. Trying to find the right sink--finding the right style in the right size at the best price with the best quality was quite a balancing act. I still haven't figured it out. I think Dr. Schwartz could apply his ideas to shopping on Froogle or ebay very easily, again using me as a case study. I have clicked on hundreds of sinks....ebay, Home Depot, Lowes, a variety of plumbing supply stores, and who knows where else...still haven't had that "aha" moment. I also haven't figured out what to compromise on to just make a decision and get on with it....smaller size but the perfect style? bigger size but not quite what we were looking for? good size and style but too expensive? (What is it about sinks? How much can a piece of metal bent into a bowl shape cost to make? When I first started looking, I was immobilized by sticker shock.) Again, I was almost longing for the good old days when you would just buy what your plumber had and that was it.....no decision necessary. I'll continue the search--the good thing about Froogle is that I can shop on my couch in my pjs while drinking tea and eating cookies and watching TV--nothing like multitasking to distract you from how indecisive you really are!

The perfect countertop

I am continuing the hunt for the perfect countertop--strong enough to stand up to the abuse it will get in our house, able to work with an undermount sink, pretty but not too trendy-looking, and compatible with the vintage style of our kitchen and house. Today I visit a fancy kitchen showroom and talk to the designer there. She agrees with me that some granite will look dated in a few years--she especially thinks that the black granite look will be out in a few years. But, she thinks that if you can find the perfect stone that will tie together cabinets and floors and look like it belongs in your kitchen, it will still be stylish for a long time since the stone itself is so beautiful. I agree with her there, but haven't found that "perfect stone" yet. I feel better that a professional is telling me I need to find the perfect countertop--maybe my obsession is not as crazy as I think it is.
Then I move on to my next stop, returning to the Green Building Center in Md. This time I am without the kids, so I can look around and see everything (without having to say "Put that down" and "Leave your sister alone" every 30 seconds.) The place is crowded (something the environmentalist in me loves) so I wander around a bit while waiting to talk to someone about Paperstone samples. I notice a display I missed last week. Beautiful terrazzo that comes in tiles and slabs. It is called Eco-Terr and made by a company called Coverings Etc. It is recycled stone and glass in cement. One sample jumps up and shouts "Perfect Choice" to me (The Paperstone across the room remains silent.) . It is light colored and sparkly and costs $24/square foot, plus shipping. I ask about the shipping--a final quote would come with an estimate based on our kitchen measurements, but he tells me that (as a ballpark figure) it would be a $350 crating charge plus about $70 to ship it. I've done the math here at home--that comes out to $38/sq foot. Not only the perfect countertop, but a really good price, too! The sample I brought home looks perfect--it matches the cabinets and the wall color, it would look good a with stainless steel sink, and is basic enought to complement a lot of floor colors. It is easy to care for and hard-wearing like stone, and the white and gray color has a vintage look that I have been looking for in a new countertop.
Husband likes it right away and agrees that it is perfect. I thought this would be an endless quest, but I think I've found it. Next week, I can move on to obsessing about the perfect floor.....

Finding a green countertop

The sink obsession is on the back burner for now. It was a small side trip on this whole kitchen journey. I do keep checking for the perfect sink, but we are back to our default choice for now. Today it's back to the previous obsession: countertops. We are still not sold on any of the standard choices, so I have been investigating another choice: paper. Richlite and Paperstone are made from paper mixed with resin to make a countertop similar to Silestone or Corian. Paperstone interests me more since it is made with either 50% or 100% recycled paper and uses a non-petroleum based resin (made from cashew nuts or something.) It was easy to read about online, but hard to find out exactly where I could buy it other than Seattle. (It is made in the Pacific Northwest somewhere.) I finally emailed the contact on the Kliptech homepage, and finally got a return email from
Jason Holstein at Amicus Green Building Center in Kensington MD. They carry Paperstone as well as lots of other green building stuff. We plan a trip there on our way to visit my parents in Columbia.
We get to see (and feel) the paperstone as well as some other choices. The paperstone looks like laminate or corian but feels much nicer and softer, not like plastic. The cost is not too bad. We try to debate color choices but the kids decide that is's time to demonstrate just how loud cute little girls can be, so we had to cut our visit a bit short. Howie thought we should take some samples, but I was not ready to make color choices--there are workable colors, but none of them shouted "Perfect Choice" to me. I will definitely be back soon--without children--to check it out further. I think I want to buy a piece and abuse it to see how well it will hold up in our house, under actual circumstances. The idea of it is quite appealing. I love the "green cred" it would bring to the house.
I feel much better about having another choice. Husband thinks it is a bit expensive for something that looks like laminate--his role in this is to keep an eye on the bottom line. Still haven't found the perfect choice--the obsession continues!

Just the kitchen sink

Obsession of the day: the kitchen sink. We hate our current sink, a double bowl white enamel sink. Looks very cute and vintage, but drives us crazy. The bowls are too small to fit a large pot, so washing up can be a hassle, and metal pots and cookie sheets leave scratch marks on the enamel, so cleaning up actually produces a mess that needs to be cleaned up--not fun. It is definitely on the list to go. We also don't like how water gets trapped between the tiny space between the back of the sink and the backsplash--impossible to clean. We were thinking a stainless, undermount, single bowl sink, but with the drain offset to one side to make it a bit more flexible and functional for us. Franke makes several in different sizes. High quality but definitely with the accompanying high price, but probably worth it to get what we want. A trip to a local Franke dealer is in the near future, but I haven't been able to fit the time in yet with the holidays. We thought it was pretty much a done deal, unless we came across a similar design for a lower price.
But then the obsession developed. Got a book about "green" kitchen design: Good Green Kitchens by Jennifer Roberts. One of her suggestions to reduce raw material use is to buy a used sink. The thought had never occured to me, so I did a quick search to see if you really could do that. On ebay, there were a few old farm sinks, most were pretty pricey, especially if we had to pay for shipping. But on craigslist, there was a totally cool 1940s kitchen sink...regular countertop depth, single bowl, drainboards on each side and with a backsplash that would just fit below the window above the sink. Just like an undermount sink (because of the drainboards) but with vintage style. Of course, it was white porcelain/enamel over cast iron, but in a big single bowl sink, we shouldn't have the same issues we have now. And, best of all, the price was only $50. I WANTED that sink! Hubby thought it looked cool and understood the attraction (although he was more attracted by the price tag.) However, once we measured the kitchen, we realized that it wouldn't really fit in our space--we would lose too much counter space and there would need to be a transition between the sink and the countertop right over the middle of the dishwasher. Spending only $50 on a sink and then spending a thousand dollars to redo the cabinets so it will fit does not seem to be the most budget-wise move, so we'll have to pass on this sink, ( I do keep checking the listing just to look at it, though. ) So then I thought that maybe there is a similar sink but in a different size (one that would fit just right.) so the obsession began. I searched ebay multiple times--hoping that slightly different search terms would make the magical perfect sink show up. I also searched historichouseparts.com. They had some really cool sinks, but they were not selling any of them for even close to $50. There was one that was beautiful and just as cool as the one I wanted, but it came with the whole kitchen and was $1800--definitely not in the budget! This architectural salvage business seems like a good profitmaker. We have an old bathroom sink in the basement--maybe we can sell it and pay for the kitchen. I am still waiting for the perfect sink to appear--if I check enough places, maybe I'll find it....or maybe I'll just get on with the rest of my life (but I'll still be thinking about sinks!)

Narrowing Down the Choices

So while I am obsessing over making the right choice and reading books and magazines, talking to everyone and searching the internet for info, I decide that it might be a good idea to go out and actually look at some of the choices in person. My husband had the day off and both kids were in school for a couple hours, so we took off for the Expo/Lowes/Home Depot tour to check out the options. I especially wanted to be sure that what he was picturing and what I was picturing for the new kitchen were at least in the same universe. So we looked (and felt--how a countertop feels is pretty important, I think) at granite, at soapstone, at marble, at limestone, at Silestone, at Corian, at laminate...and for floors did the same for ceramic tile, stone tile, wood, bamboo and laminate. We did like and dislike the same colors/styles, but other than that, we were just overwhelmed. I almost longed for the good old days when your countertop choices were laminate....or.....laminate.
So what are we going to choose? We pretty much ruled out laminate. It would be pretty accurate for the period look (especially if we got the metal edges) but we're not too keen on the particle board underlayment offgassing into the kitchen for years. Silestone and Corian are expensive, and I don't really like the way they feel--too plastic. Granite is beautiful and feels nice, but is expensive (although my friend used a fabricator who was super-reasonable, so it is not out of reach) and I really worry about it looking too dated in a few years--it has become so standard now that I know it will go out of style someday. Soapstone might look a bit more old-fashioned, but I worry about it chipping and scratching. Marble and limestone, besides being expensive, would not hold up well in our kitchen--we are not the "wipe up the one drop of lemon juice immediately" type of people...and I don't think getting an expensive marble counter would change our behavior--it would just change how the counter looks pretty quickly. I keep thinking about wood, but my husband points out (correctly) that it would not hold up well near the sink (we are not the "wipe that drop of water up immediately" type of people either) So we have narrowed down the choices to....nothing! Granite is in the lead now, just because it seems the most impervious to the abuse we will give it, but I would want to find a granite with the right look, so we could as least pretend it fits the vintage theme we're working with.
My friend brought me to the warehouse where she got her granite. It is a nice little field trip. The stones are all beautiful to look at. Most of them are not anything that would go in my kitchen, but they are all really cool, especially the limestone with the fossils in it--we could have science class every time we made a sandwich. I don't find quite what I am looking for, but the choices change all the time, and I am not buying today. The ones I like the best are, of course, in the "High" price range...if we were to get the granite, we would definitely be limited to the "Low" range and if the perfect choice showed up, maybe "Medium". It is easy to spend money--if only it were just as easy to make it!
For the floors, we are leaning toward ceramic tile. It would be hard on the legs (and the dropped dishes), but would work best with the under-floor heating. People are putting wood floors in kitchens now, but the proximitiy to all that water makes me nervous about it. And you need to be careful with wood and under-floor heating to make sure it doesn't dry out the wood too much. Not a practical choice for us. We look at laminate, but my husband isn't a fan of it--says he always notices the repeat in the pattern, so it looks really fake to him. I need to find out more about linoleum--the real stuff, not vinyl. It comes in tiles now that are installed as a floating floor, so can be used with the heating element underneath. It would definitely be true to the period, and is a very "green" choice, since it is made of natural materials, is very hard-wearing and will biodegrade once it has lived its life. Setting the material aside, what color would the floor be? That's a big unknown. We need to pick the countertops first, and we haven't gotten far with that. I need someone to tell me what the best choice is, so I can stop worrying about this and stary worrying about all the other things I need to be doing!

Searching for a vision

I know what I do not like about my kitchen. My problem is that I don't have a vision for what I do want in it. I keep searching for a picture that will be my inspiration, but even after hundreds of magazine pages, no luck so far. Wandering around Home Depot/Expo/Lowes/tile stores/granite warehouse hasn't helped much either. It's how I shop for everything--I'll know the perfect thing when I see it.
I do know that I want to keep the vintage feel in the kitchen, but I'm not going to go for the authentic 1940s kitchen--I'm sure if my grandmother could have had an undermount sink, she would have loved it! So I need to find things that capture the impression of vintage, but have the modern advantages of easy care and cleaning. That doesn't sound like it would be too hard, but some people just don't get it. I recently saw an article in a magazine about a kitchen remodel in a 1920s home--the owners were so proud of how they made their new kitchen look true to their period house, but the kitchen was all cherry cabinets, black granite countertops and a big island in the middle--I don't think the original owner of their house would be fooled. I want my kitchen to look relatively timeless, not trendy. If it does look stuck in time, I want it to be stuck in the 1940s, so it will look like it has always been there. Why can't there be a "retro" aisle at Home Depot to make all this easier?

Here's the list of what has to go:
cheap laminate countertops
enamel double sink with 2 bowls that are too small to be useful
faucet (that is now leaking--it knows the end is near)
stick-on vinyl tile floor that is chipped, cracked and scuffed
too-small window on back wall

Here's the list of what will be going in:
some kind of countertop
an undermount sink
a new faucet
some kind of floor (with under-floor heating installed--no more cold feet!)
big bay window with window seat that can be used with kitchen table

I am still searching for the perfect choices...trying to consider cost, style (timeless not trendy), and environmental implications (I try to be as green as possible without going over the edge) The window is the only thing that is easy to choose--it will match the rest of the windows in the house.

Next entry...narrowing down the field.

The Beginning

We are happily living in our extremely cute and cozy Cape Cod style house, built in 1939, and still full of vintage charm. The previous owner put a ton of work into the house, which was definitely a big attraction for us. We bought directly from the owners before they had officially put the house on the market, so the kitchen was in mid-renovation. He had done all the hard stuff--moving a doorway to open the space up and building (yes, he built them himself) some great cabinets and replacing appliances. However, once those new cabinets were installed, he put in a "temporary" countertop as a short term solution. We bought the house shortly afterward, including the temporary countertops--the cheapest white post-formed laminate ever. We've been living with those "temporary" countertops for over 4 years now, and we have had the idea of finishing the kitchen update we inherited on our "someday we'll get around to it" list for pretty much the whole 4 years. Recently, a friend had her kitchen completely renovated and was raving about her contractor. Not having met anyone who raved about their contractor, I decided to call him for an estimate. When my friend had her kitchen and bathroom completely gutted and replaced, he was in and out of her house in only 2 weeks, with the job complete down to the smallest detail. Which means that if we haven't planned for all the smallest details, we'll be making decisions on the spot and taking whatever is on the shelf at Home Depot, instead of what we might really want. So now I am obsessed with making all the decisions about materials, etc NOW so that we can have everything in place when it is time to go. Luckily, the contractor has been really busy, so he has not given us a start date yet. I am spending all my time looking at magazines, checking out all the kitchen design books in the library, and interviewing all my neighbors who just had their kitchens remodeled about what they chose and why, and whether they would make the same decisions again. I am hoping that putting all this down on paper (or virtual paper, I guess) will help me overcome my obsession with making the right choices.