kitchen notes | finishing touches
We've just wrapped up a glorious weekend, filled with bright blue skies and cooler temperatures. Saturday night Jimmy and I enjoyed a late dinner outside at a favorite Mexican restaurant and today we squeezed in the farmer's market, a neighborhood baseball game, bike rides, naps {for some} and dinner at my parents.
We've been without a stove, sink, kitchen plumbing and counters for about a week and the novelty of eating out has worn off, so we are mighty grateful for my Mum's cooking. Speaking of the kitchen, if you want the play by play you can follow along on instagram {nineandsixteen} or click on the instagram tab above. I don't have the time to adequately blog about the great counter debacle so I'll be very brief. I was set on soapstone, found a sample I LOVED and was a VERY happy girl. When it came time to place the order we discovered that the quarries for that type of soapstone closed about 6 months ago and there is no more to be had. The available alternatives weren't to my liking, so I made a 180 degree switch and went light. As in a marble look alike quartz. I love marble, but I'm too afraid to use it so I went with a suitable alternative. I MUST blog about the options out there because it is interesting and may help others who love marble yet are scardy cats like myself. :) I also think the dark matte soapstone might have swallowed up my tiny kitchen, I need to be able to reflect and bounce the light and the quartz will allow that, I hope!
So...Once that decision was behind me I was able to focus my energy on the finishing touches, which is really my favorite part. I'm still debating on a fabric for roman shades. I might even just end up with a solid linen, but at this hour, the top contenders are pictured above. I'm using a grain sack like material for the under sink skirt and recovering the counter stools in check scalloped slips. I'm phasing out the raspberry-red colored checks. They felt too loud in the new kitchen. I will keep the fabric though and convert it to pillow covers because I know at Christmas time I'll want a bit more of it around. I'm keeping the red check ottoman in the living room though. I added a sconce in the corner of the kitchen between my two windows and I adore it. I replaced our cheapy door knobs with pretty porcelain ones. We have polished brass and antique brass knobs throughout the house but for some reason the 2 doors in the kitchen had matte pewter knobs, no idea why. I've been all over the board on shelf brackets too but I've firmly decided to keep the ones pictured above. Now that about brings you up to speed. The kitchen should be complete by the second week in October. Most of the work, besides painting, will wrap up late this week/early next week. Fingers and toes crossed those wonderful painters of mine are running on {maybe ahead} of schedule. I'll be back with sources, great online shops, and more info on counter top options soon. For now I'm all tuckered out. Nite!