Building the Dream: Gables and Names

This week we’ve started making a little more progress.

We have applied to get special permission for Nicholas to start the school year at the public school near our property, although the house won’t be finished yet. I would hate to have him start the year at a different school just to be there for a few weeks. 

The crew has been working on the front of the house, particularly the gable dormer.

I’d really like to come up with a special name for our property. I fell in love with the idea after meeting Yvonne from Stone Gable, who lives very close to us and hearing about the history behind her home. (Yvonne will be attending the Haven conference with me this week and my plan is to stalk her in the friendliest way possible, of course-and force convince her to be my style mentor. I will call her Auntie Yvonne and we will sip lemonade on her gorgeous wrap-around porch. Or she will call the police. One or the other.)

We need help with this naming business. We’re not very good. The best Eddie and I came up with after hours of brainstorming was Green Acres and, um, that has already been taken by a cheesy old tv show, so….please give me suggestions if you have them!!

There has also been a lot of this:

Eddie had been letting the kids help him put together the kitchen cabinets. We now have half of the boxes built. There are cabinets in two closets and the living room in the apartment where we are staying while the house is built, and more in a storage unit. They are taking over!

I took the kids all around town on Monday and got countertop quotes from 3 different places.

Right now I am in love with white granite that looks like marble, like the island in this image from Rabbit Runn Designs:

Sadly, I learned that there is NO WAY that it is going to fit into my budget. Bummer. Every place I went had it labeled as one of their “exotics” and it was priced at almost $100/foot. I need over 55 feet plus cutouts for two sinks and a cooktop and installation fees and and and…$$$$$.  Plus I heard rumors that it will stain and we are not easy on our counters around here.

But look how pretty it looks. 🙁 This kitchen by Samantha Manning has a very similar layout to ours and I’ve been using it as inspiration.

Can we pause and just take a moment to grieve the loss of the white granite I will never have?

Sigh.

Thank you.

The run-of-the-mill granite from Lowes was the most affordable quote I got (by almost $2,000! It was actually about the same price as installed laminate, which was pretty crazy.) But it was also my least favorite option. I thought it already felt dated. Right now I am leaning toward the solid surface (Corian-style) counters from Home Depot.  They looked about a gazillion times better in the store than they do online. They were more expensive than Lowes, but it was still in my budget and I liked their color choices much better. Also, I did not appreciate that Lowes had a weird rule about choosing a different material for the island. You weren’t allowed to mix grades, so you couldn’t choose a nicer material to feature on the island and use a cheaper neutral on the perimeter. That’s a really dumb rule if you ask me. The third place we went was a privately owned granite yard and their prices were pretty comparable to the big box stores, but they were booked solid for three months, so they probably won’t be able to install within our necessary time frame.

So far this is the hardest decision I’ve had to make. Each style and color brings such a drastically different feel to the space (or at least I think it will. It’s hard when there’s not even a room yet to take samples into) and I want something I’m going to love for 20+ years, so I think I’m going to avoid looking at Pinterest kitchens (gasp!) for a little while and try to go with something neutral (and on-budget!) that can transition through style phases with me.

Look at me being all grown-up and making practical decisions and stuff.

I hope I can start showing you finished spaces very, very soon!!!!