laundry.craft room

My laundry room started out as nothing special.

 6' x 10' ... Enough room for a future washer and dryer, and random storage sitting on top of builder-standard linoleum.

 Don't forget the lovely MDF shelf. That's a standard feature, too.

 We started the sprucing up by painting it Behr Spa. Ahhh.

Brent installed the washer and dryer, we used the built-in shelf for detergent and other keep-out-of-reach cleaners ...

  and I stored some craft boxes on a tiered shelf and spare cabinet (picture taken pre-paint). Nice.

For a few months we just let the room sit. But we knew the room had way more potential, despite its small size. We tossed around the idea of cabinets and a countertop to utilize wall space and high ceilings. We priced out configurations through cabinet companies but weren't sold on their products or prices. Brent was a stud and researched cabinet options for me at local stores and online. After much consideration and planning, I chose my cabinets and he ordered them online -- saving us lots of cash!

 The cabinets shipped a few weeks later and Brent went straight to work. The uppers went up in a jiffy since they were delivered pre-assembled. Brent is pretty handy with a ledger board and drill. 

 Oh yeah, we also said goodbye to the ugly linoleum. By shopping around we bought this 10x20 gray linen tile for $2.89 sq ft, which was a dollar cheaper per sq ft compared to other stores -- which adds up! Since Brent was juggling several other projects, we had a guy install it for us in the bathrooms and laundry room.

 Once the uppers were in, the base cabinets came next.

 Lookin good, eh? These are Cardell Classic II Flat Panel Maple cabinets in white with pewter glaze. I absolutely love how they have the look of antiqued white cabinets, yet with a modern twist using flat panels and pewter glaze accenting. It fits right in with our modern style.

Then the countertops arrived! This is Silestone (quartz) Stellar Snow. It literally sparkles. Because the amount of quartz we needed was less than an entire slab, we ordered it through Home Depot, who charges by sq ft instead of making you buy an entire slab -- saving more cash!

The guys who installed our baseboards downstairs (a few months back) returned to outfit the upstairs, too. 

So we turned this ...

into ...

 The finished product! Three drawers on the left base cabinets, three big base cabinets on the right. Nine upper cabinets. Space for me to sit and do crafts. And still enough room for the washer and dryer. All within 6' x 10'.

I am beyond thrilled to have my own little mom cave.

Maybe I'll even add a chandelier.

countertop and appliances swap

10.10-11.11

When choosing countertops for the kitchen, we decided to go with one of the standard granite colors the builder offered instead of their pricy upgrades. We knew upgrading later on with another company would cost much less. We told the sales agent about our plans and she asked if we would instead choose the other standard granite color. Apparently another home buyer didn't want it but it had already been ordered. I wasn't a fan of this new color, but we worked it out and figured it would motivate us to change the countertops sooner. And it did. Gray on Gray on Gray was not for me.

We priced out quartz countertops with several companies and found our cheapest option was actually the same company that provided our flooring -- Carpets 'N More. Go figure. After weighing our color options we chose Hanstone Aurora Snow. We also decided to mod up the kitchen some more by wrapping the sides of the island with quartz. The crew, Manuel and August, worked meticulously for two days transforming our kitchen. They tore out the old granite, hauled the huge slabs to the garage, then hauled the new quartz slabs in and out of the house as they measured, cut, recut, polished and installed the pieces. Then they made sure we were completely happy with the final result. And we were.

Let's compare. Before:

After:

 I am ecstatically thrilled with how the countertops turned out! Especially the island sides wrap. It works beautifully with our cabinets, handles and flooring. We picked out a new sink to replace the builder's top mount standard sink and Brent installed our kitchen faucet that we already owned.

The sink looks huge since it's a deep single-basin. I could probably bathe my almost two year old in there. Thank you, random decorative plumbing store behind the Palms! We'll be back soon for a shower system.

About a year ago, when we thought we would be buying a different house, we bought a set of appliances on craigslist to put inside this gutted house. Even after that house fell through, we kept the appliances hoping we could use them somewhere else. This set is a few years old but an upgrade from GE's standard stainless line. Fast forward to our new house. We still liked the old set we bought more than the set that came with the new house, so Brent uninstalled the new appliances and we sold them on craigslist.

 Then he installed the old appliances we bought before. May sound weird but I like this old set much better. And it included a five-burner cooktop.

We actually planned out the cabinet underneath to be wider so it would fit this cooktop. Something to think about if you're looking to upgrade. And we added pot drawers (I'm already thanking myself for forward thinking).

Now we just need to install the range hood, tile the backsplash and paint the rest of the kitchen. That's all. Hah.