Excursion

Yesterday went pretty well after a rocky start.

Fred called at 10 to 10, asking where we were. He was under the assumption that we were meeting at 10, not 11 (as scheduled).

We got there at 11 (since Kyle had a tooth extracted at 9 and we had to get him and Jack to Dad before we could head out).

We picked out cabinets in Simi: though we leaned toward shaker-style, both Fred and Cathy (the cabinet lady) felt that with the curve and size of the island, we should go with something a little less angular. It worked for Lisa (and I really didn't care), so there you go. Fred was amazed that we made a decision so quickly: just 10 minutes (doesn't he know us by now).

Then we went down into the valley to pick out tile. Again quick decisions. The tile for the boys' and dad's baths was easy: something clean and versatile, so that cabinet colors and granite colors could coordinate... [good thing I remembered to bring the cell phone for pix]


The tile for the master bath was only slightly less easy: more earthy, more natural (sandy), something that we could build a nature motif around:


We left kitchen tile for later (as Fred has some tile that he thinks would be perfect... he'll bring samples later this week)... but just for the baths (and the laundry room ... which will be the lighter tile) it's a whopping $3800 (and we budgeted only $2K ... though I thinking I budgeted the shower enclosures much higher than necessary to take into account shower tile costs).

At this point, we're feeling pretty good: Lisa and I are in agreement on everything. We've talked to Fred about some things (hood vent, kitchen reconfig [we'll be moving the fridge from the right to the left side... the $500 to move the electrical and plumbing are the "last freebies" according to Fred... I let this go for now... he's in the midst of major tooth/gum infection, and I don't want to get embroiled in discussion that Lisa had wanted to broach today: the off-plan "abuse" she's (we've) been feeling... we figure we can do this later)], and we feel good about the progress we're making today.

Then it was across town for granite. When we enter the place, he tells us not to settle or compromise on granite. He also says that this place's prices can feel high, but that they've got the best quality granite he's seen (which much be why we didn't even look at the granite at either the cabinet place or the place next door to the tile place). We go in and we see granite that we love immediately (dark, almost black, but blue as well). He stops us. Look at ALL the granite he tells us. And so we do. Midway through our viewing, the woman who will be handling the sale arrives back from lunch (a lunch we haven't had yet), and she shows us through the rest of the warehouse and to the outside selections as well. While outside, we find a funky green granite with huge blocks of color. It was neat, and fun, and still "natural." We started to think about it for the boys' bath. (a partial slab had a price of $250... which was a slight relief... as I had budgeted $7K for kitchen granite and $250 each for the boys' and dad's bathroom vanity tops, and an additional $600 for the master bath vanity top.)

By the time we head back into the warehouse, Lisa's warming so much to this fun green granite, that she's thinking it could work for ALL the baths, ours included. We look at the slab:

The large chunks of color allow for coordination with both the off-white tiling of the two baths (with either white or dark gray cabinetry), as well was the sandier tile for the master bath (with either brown or green cabinetry). (you really can't tell from the pic, but it's much greener and mossier than it appears... damn the lighting in the warehouse!)

The slab of granite that should be able to cover all the bathroom needs is usually $1600, but given Fred's history and relationship with the vendor, we can get it for $900 plus tax. Excellent.

So back to the kitchen stuff. We get it narrowed to three (then because one of them is not blue as we had thought but green, and then because of pricing of another one) then to one:

[this pic doesn't do the slab justice: it's much darker and bluer and richer than it appears (again, the light in the warehouse wrecked havoc with the pic)]

Of course we'll need between four and five slabs to do the counters and the island. We've ordered five slabs, but we'll only take possession of four.

When all is said and done, the granite order is $6K. This is great: I had budgeted just over $8K for kitchen granite and the bath vanity tops. This offsets the $1800 over budget for the tile. (Of course, we still have kitchen tile to go... but I think we'll be OK)

So the excursion ends, and Fred heads off to the dentist and we head back to the county. Exhausted (so much so that I couldn't write this last night).

We're feeling a bit better about all this. Even though we didn't get to talk to Fred about some of our issues, the fact that we've now made decisions about finishes makes us feel that we're closer to getting this finished and moving back into our home.

And this is a good thing. (especially as the paint on the bathtub [and just who the heck PAINTS a BATHTUB?] is peeling most atrociously in this Santa Ana dryness)