Kitchen Saga!

Once upon a time there was a naive couple that was trying to find the kitchen of their dreams.  They thought they liked cherry veneer.  Very modern and sleek looking.

Then they were told veneers were very expensive and so they maybe they could be happy with shaker style.  But they feared the kitchen would be overrun with woodtones from the floor to the ceiling... 

So what about they add some color and make the woods two toned?  The kitchen below really spoke to the wife.  She could see her West Elm Modernist bowls (that she had already bought) sitting on the floating shelves.

Their hopes were dashed into a million pieces when they got the bid back and the two toned, cherry kitchen was twice the cost of the shaker.  Noooooo!

How about a white kitchen?  Those can be pretty pricey too, since they are a lot more labor intensive.  But they might be willing to pay.  The white kitchen above is a little too sterile and cold, but kind of cool.

This kitchen is a little warmer, but not sure about the gray.  The wife was loving the dropped wood table around the island... but was told that her 5 kids "wood" really scratch it up.

This kitchen seems just right!  It is the HGTV 2012 Dream Home in Park City.  HGTV describes the home as Modern Rustic... sounds just like Mountain Modern to me.   This might work.  The couple quick grabbed their plans and headed to the nearest Wellborn Cabinet distributor who will give them the bid on Monday.  Hope it's in their budget.  To be continued...

Oh, here are more pics of the HGTV kitchen if you are interested...

Not loving the backsplash... so that will need some work.

What do you think of the open shelving under the cooktop?  It might be fun.  And the floors are amazing too.  They are Bellawood Select Brazilian Chestnut.

What a difference a month makes!

Not bad, huh?  It is going so fast.  We are told 2 more months til it's done.  And we have been bombarded with making decisions.  It has been very stressful.  Now I understand why people are excited for us, but finish by saying, "I'm glad it's not me though".  I feel like each day I am running around for hours trying to pick stuff out, compare things, analyze, etc.  I have turned into the Mom from Phineas and Ferb, "I'll be back in a few hours kids!"

This hawk posed for me as I took the pic below.

Exterior view with Hardie Board siding.

Our front door.  

It is made out of cherry and is 2 1/4" thick.  

The company that made it inserted a special foam in the center of it so it won't expand and contract.

We had to pick out exterior doorknobs so that the home can be secured before the county will do the power inspection.  We picked simple balls as doorknobs.  We chose Schlage Orbit it satin chrome

The front door handleset is Emtek Wilshire in brushed nickel.

We also had to choose our faucets, because the plumbers needed to know what shower valves to put in our walls before they drywalled, etc.  This single handle faucet is Delta Vero in brushed nickel.  It will be in the Master Bath and 1/2 bath on the main floor.

We chose to go with the American Standard in chrome for the basement baths.

And of course they have you pick the tubs as well, cuz they need to be framed in and are probably difficult to fit through doorways once everything is framed.  In the basement are standard bootzcast tubs and for the Master Bath we picked Kohler Underscore 66"x36".  It can be dropped in or undermounted. It has very square lines for a modern flair.

                                                            Living Room fireplace.

Guest bedroom view.  

          They are just finishing up drywalling and textured the ceiling.  Next comes the exterior rock, staining the basement concrete, the hardwood flooring, tilework, the cabinetry, painting, and the trimwork.  I'll see you in a few hours kids!