Design Appointment

Flooring

Again, we had decided that we wanted high contrast, and because our unit is internal we did not want to have both espresso cabinets and espresso floors. We thought that would darken our main floor too much, and would limit us in our 'natural' design. 

We started off comparing the darkest hardwood floor option ('Saddle' I think it's called) vs. the lighest option (Natural). 

We narrowed down to Natural Oak (pictured right) for the main living area, and first floor off of the garage.

 Then it was time to narrow down the countertops. You only get two choices - Santa Cecelia Light (a common option) or New Caledonoa. We went with the Santa Ceclia Light (pictured left) so we could brighten up the cabinets, and tie the light flooring into the general concept. 

Altogether, this will be our kitchen! The only difference will be that our Espresso cabinets are flat, so the kitchen as a whole will be very seamless and modern (hopefully). 

Next came the carpet. We considered putting hardwood in the whole house, but the additional $5,000 cost was hard to swallow. Mom tells me carpet will be better in the long run, because my sure-to-be-clumsy progeny will undoubtedly take a tumble down the stairs at some point. We'll take her word for it. 

We knew we didn't want the 'Almond' or tan/beige flooring. Luckily, there were a lot of really beautiful grey options, which will tie in beautifully with the grey elements in the Santa Cecilia, and will allow us to bring in a wider range of colors when it comes to decorating. 

The 'included' carpet selection is limited, but not horrible. We were up-sold simply due to the fact that for an extra $200 you can get 10 year warranted 'spill proof' carpet. We also upgraded the carpet pad to help with allergens and longevity of the carpet. 

We went with Shaw's  'Amazing Greige' carpet. A beautiful mix of both beige and grey (clever, ay?). 

Here is what the Amazing Greige carpet (stairs & bedrooms), Natural Oak hardwood (living), and Santa Cecilia (kitchen/bathrooms) will look like. Luckily, the chair at the design center is the exact color of our furniture at home. We got a great visual on how everything will look tied together, especially when you consider our cabinets will be the same color as this chair. 

Bathrooms

Bathrooms were, arguably, the hardest part. What comes included is......... kind of ugly. Plain. Boring. And upgrading to the next step up is a LOT. So we decided to sacrifice on upgrading all of the guest bathrooms (3), and instead save the money for the Master (sorry, Family/Friends/Future Guests). 

Guest Bath 1

You basically get the option of about 5 different floor tiles, and either white or 'bisque' for the bathtub. The floor we chose is tan, with some beautiful gray marbled throughout. The grey from our 'greige' carpet pulled perfectly on the gray of the floor. We decided to go with the white tile, because 'bisque' just felt like a less-clean version of white. I couldn't imagine that in a bathroom (but, hey, maybe it looks pretty in person). 

We hated the listello band. We felt that it would 'date' the bathroom, which I actually think is the opposite of the intention. I'm pretty sure the head design-options-chooser (official title) actually said "Put this scroll in the middle and it will make these people feel fancy", and none of the lackeys around the office had the guts to say "Actually boss, it may, instead, make them feel 80.". 

But again, to each their own. Maybe it looks pretty in person. For us? Nope. 

Master Bath

The Master Bath was fun, only because we decided to upgrade. You get a wide arrange of tiles to choose from, and you can mix and match your accent band as you please. The cabinets in all of our bathrooms are the flat panel Espresso, so to change things up we went with the Sandstone countertop. It is accented PERFECTLY by the accent band we chose. It doesn't register in the picture, but the band has beautiful crystallized blues and greys. I LOVE our master bathroom! 

Attic Bath + Garage Bath

Both the bathroom in our 'Attic' - which is really an additional bedroom off of the rooftop terrace- and the bathroom on the first floor next to the garage - which is part of the first floor bedroom - will have the same flooring. Both of these bathrooms just have basic vinyl and are stand up showers. We selected the flooring that had the most grey, so we could bring out the carpet (noticing a theme yet?). There are also tans/beiges in this vinyl - so we can retain the 'organic' look. 

Our laundry room will have the same vinyl. 

Well, that's all she wrote for the designing! I think we have some pretty unique choices, as we struggle to find our exact color combos on other blogs - but we are hoping that when it all comes together, we will have something reminiscent of this in the kitchen. 

Now the hard part - waiting to break ground!