A New Vanity, and Sad Cabinet News

First, the good news: We found a vanity for the master bathroom! I had been looking at this one at overstock.com, but was nervous about the shipping since they don't ship to our remote location.

At the last minute, we decided to go to the Big City and pick up the rest of our kitchen island (Number One was only able to fit in one piece with our bathtub last time) and see about a vanity, toilet, etc. etc. that are still on our list.

{Did I tell you about the bathtub?? We found a whirlpool tub (that's right, jets!) on clearance at Home Depot! With only $1,000 total in our budget for the tub, fixtures, rough-in materials, we SCORED. With everything, we only went over by about $80 in that category! I will show you the faucet and shower head we chose later...}


So, we went to pick up the rest of our kitchen island at Home Depot. They were missing one of the boxes, so that piece was reordered and will be sent via UPS to our door. I just hope the finish matches when it arrives...

While we were shopping around, we noticed a vanity, high up on the shelves at Home Depot. It had a will-call sticker on it. It also had a price sticker on it, so we asked about it. They said the folks who had ordered it never showed up to pick it up, so basically it was "up for grabs" and anyone could purchase it. We asked about special order vanity cabinets, which are essentially the same cabinets they sell for kitchens. And the lowest price quoted was over $100 more than the price displayed on the vanity on the high shelf.

I asked them if that was the best price they could give us, and they said they could take off an additional 10%!!! Score! We got a nice custom vanity, and had enough money left over to order a nice counter top with sinks, and get some lovely faucets too! I LOVE coming in under budget! (and that excess will help absorb our slight overage in the bathtub department too).

Unfortunately I can't show you the vanity at the moment, it is wrapped in plastic and just not very photogenic. As soon as I can, I will post a picture!

We ordered our bathroom faucets, which have not yet arrived. We also picked up our kitchen faucets. For the main sink, on the bar which will wrap around and separate the kitchen from the living room and dining room, we chose this faucet:


It will accent the heirloom black island, and our kitchen counter tops also have some black flecks in them. Oh! We ordered the counter tops too! We chose Silestone, a solid-surface quartz, which I first heard about from my friend Kelly. (thanks Kelly!) This is what Home Depot (my fave) says about it: "Silestone is the perfect merger of beauty and easy care. Unlike other stone surfaces, Silestone is dense and absolutely nonporous, so it never needs sealing or polishing." Sounds great to me! I can't find a picture of our counter top choice online, so later there will be lots of pictures! Plus, with our counter tops we are getting a free kitchen sink! I LOVE Home Depot, I tell ya.

The faucet below will go on our bar sink, in the kitchen island. Same color, "Tuscany something-or-other," but a different style.


Now for the bad news: our kitchen cabinets, the main ones that will go around the perimeter of the entire kitchen, were in an accident over the weekend. I didn't even expect them to be on the road, but apparently a semi-truck FULL of cabinets, not just ours, had an accident and all of the cabinets were damaged. The company will be making new cabinets for us, and they will probably still arrive on schedule. I guess we'll see.

More soon!

A Bit O' History

Not only are we interested in trying to save as much money as we can from our meager budget, we also wanted to try to use some things that were languishing in storage around the ranch. Number One told me some time ago that there were a bunch of old doors in one of the basements below the bunkhouse, and I finally made it down there to take a look.


The basement is not an easy place to get to. There is a heavy piece of decking that needs to be lifted out; there are no hinges so you have to be strong.


Then you crawl through the hole in the deck and go down some old, spiderwebby concrete steps.


At the bottom of the steps, you encounter this warning:


Someone was certainly concerned about "exsplosive" now weren't they. (There aren't really any down there, but let's keep that to ourselves, shall we?)

Through the foreboding door is a treasure trove! If you can get over the spider webs, dust, and thoughts of black widows lurking, you'll see what we saw: possibility in the form of gorgeous old doors.


Two of these doors are from the original bunkhouses on the ranch. Who knows how long they have been in storage, at least since the 60's or 70's I would guess. They are heavy and solid and beautiful, and just perfect for our needs. I am guessing they were on the ranch when it was purchased by Number One's grandfather, and thus when Number One's father came down to run the place and fell in love with it. And the rest is history.

I asked Number One to haul them out into the light, for further inspection and measuring.



I think one of the reasons this remodel seems so painless, despite our modest budget, is that Number One and I are flexible. We are not chained to any one idea. We are open to anything, as long as it will look good. We are not set on there being One Perfect Anything at all. There is no bickering, no disagreement, only open discussion and lots of new ideas being tossed around.


I will admit, this light fixture from Pottery Barn would look amazing in our dining room, but it would also take up almost 1/2 of our entire lighting budget. With several other rooms to outfit in lights, this is just not feasible. But I'm okay with that. We have these super cool doors, and we also scoured the internet for hours and days on end and found a great dining room light fixture for less than half of the Pottery Barn one! (wait until you see it!)

This is what I'm talking about: being flexible allows you to see the possibility instead of the disappointment. Sticking to your budget (and trying to come in under it) IS possible, if you are indeed flexible and determined, and okay, tenacious. And you might just end up with some more interesting stories to tell instead of, "oh yes, that's from Pottery Barn."


One of these doors will be the entrance to my closet, a sweet pocket door right off of the bedroom. Did I tell you Number One and I are having separate closets? I can't tell you how excited I am.


The other door, door #6, will find a new home as the pocket door entrance to our new pantry. It will be proudly displayed in the dining room, #6 and all, so there will be no question to guests where the pantry is: behind Door #6, of course!


The other door, with the window, is from one of the original houses on the ranch (or at least one of the oldest ones). I'm not sure how or why the tenants of the home got permission to remove the door from its location in the living room and fill the doorway in with drywall, but at least now we get to use this door in our partially-new home. A previous tenant also drilled a darn hole right through the door for their satellite television cable...so I will have to fill that in.


This door will be the entrance to Number One's closet, in its new life as a pocket door. We are debating using some window vinyl to camouflage the potentially offending contents of the closet from outside view. What I mean to say is, sometimes Number One's got a huge pile of dirty, stinky clothes, and one of the reasons for separate closets is I'm just plain tired of looking at them. So some camouflage may be in order.


I do have some work ahead of me, cleaning and sanding and repainting each of them, but these doors have character and history, and that is all the inspiration I need.

The Third Wall's a Charm!

See that offensive wall in there, just beyond the oven, where the heater is? It made our little house even littler, choppy even. Teeny tiny. In the living room, behind the wall, there was exactly one configuration in which our furniture would fit and look like it was meant to go there. And it was scrunched up in there! There just wasn't room to move. Barely room to breathe. The boys were on top of each other, getting in each others way, bickering. I couldn't wait until that wall was gone.


And now it is! The living area will be so incredibly spacious now! I can't believe it. Every time I walk in, it takes my breath away. We don't even have enough furniture for the space in which we will be living. We'll be able to do cartwheels and somersaults in there, if we ever get the notion!


Just think of the slumber parties! The 80's dance offs! The fabulous housewarming party! And mostly, think of the room to breathe.

(in the foreground, where the old wood floor ends and the new floor begins, will be the beginning of the new kitchen, with a bar that wraps around to the left. Soon. You'll see.)

Pendant Lights

We've decided we want to put three pendant lights over the island in the kitchen. Which three is a difficult question. There are too many options, and luckily some are just plain too expensive so that eliminates them from the list right off the bat. Still, so many to choose from...

Here are some that we like (among many, many others), in no particular order. Feel free to comment and let us know which one(s) you prefer:

Kitchen Cabinets: Ordered!

We chose our cabinets last year, when we we asked to approximate a budget for our kitchen. We had stopped in Home Depot and discussed options and prices, and decided that American Woodmark brand cabinets would do just fine.

Later we went back into Home Depot with rough measurements in hand, and asked for an estimate. The guy there seemed like he didn't want to talk to us. Was it because we didn't have an appointment? We weren't ready to purchase at that moment, you see, and I'm guessing he asked himself "what's in it for me?" Not exactly the treatment we're used to from Home Depot, but whatev. We asked if we could get the cabinets we wanted for a certain amount of money, and he said discouragingly, "Oh, I doubt it. It's possible, but it would just be bare bones." And he dismissed us, if he didn't actually wave us away with his hand, I know he wanted to.

And we were left, disappointed that we may not be able to get the kitchen we wanted after all. We weren't comfortable asking ABEG for more money. It just seemed greedy. We're reasonable folks, after all, and greedy isn't us. We let it go. We decided that this wasn't to be our Dream Kitchen after all, and resigned ourselves to the fact that we might have to make some consessions. Maple instead of hickory. Basic door/drawer cabinets instead of smooth rolling, large drawers. You know, a "bare bones" kitchen.

Then, a couple weeks ago, Contractor handed us his Home Depot credit card and told us to go buy cabinets. I called Home Depot a week in advance to set up an appointment. The guy said we didn't need an appointment. Remembering what happened last year (no appointment = no service), I asked, "Are you sure?" And he said that there were three guys scheduled that day, and they hadn't been busy at all. No appointment necessary. (amazing what a bit o' recession will do to a company)

American Woodmark catalog in hand, we walked in to the Home Depot. We had our measurements (verified by Contractor three or four times per my requests). We had our budget. We had chosen the American Woodmark Annapolis line, in Natural Hickory. We love the rustic, yet polished look of the beaded board doors. It will be perfect on the ranch.


(here's a picture, but this is actually finished in Hickory Spice~our cabinets will be lighter and more natural)

Home Depot Brad started in one corner of the kitchen and worked out, asking what we'd like and how we'd like it configured. Number One took off with H-Bomb to look at gas ranges. Sawed Off was asleep in a Home Depot cart behind me.

In my mind, I was making a list of things I would be willing to conceed and let go if the cost went over our budget. Plastic shelves in the lazy suzans instead of wood shelves, etc. We really didn't want any upper cabinets, so we did have that going for us.

An hour or so in, I asked Brad how much everything we had so far would cost. He said he could do a running total. He pulled up a number...and with Home Depot's current promotion, it was Less Than 1/3 of our cabinet budget. I was shocked and amazed.

After several hours in the Home Depot, our perimeter kitchen cabinet design was complete, and we were still surprisingly well below budget. We decided that we would buy bead board on our own and finish the outside edge of the bar, because that custom hickory paneling adds up quickly! And with bead board being less than $10/package, it should be economical. Just a bit more work for us, but that's okay.

I had been planning to refinish the kitchen island to a distressed black, because ever since I went to Jenny's sister's house in Arizona, I have wanted a distressed black kitchen island. I asked Brad about the cheapest species and finish in the cabinet line we were looking at (I assumed it would be the white cabinets, but those are actually coated in PVC-gross!), and he said that actually hickory is the cheapest, even cheaper than maple. Wha??

Number One suggested we just go with a different cabinet line that already had a distressed black finish. Brilliant idea! We chose an island from Thomasville, the Plaza line in Heirloom Black. Perfect! (and I don't have to strip or distress or paint the island at all!)


We didn't get some of the embellishments on the island, which were too pricey to justify, but hey, we got the distressed black island of my dreams!

Not only did we get just about everything we wanted, we ended up Saving Money in our budget! We are ultimately trying to come in under budget, but this excess, which we can use in other areas, may allow us to get some other things that we weren't sure would fit in the budget at all. Like a nice counter top for the vanity in the bathroom, or some nicer pendants to go over the black island. We shall see...this is only our first purchase so far.

We still need to decide on handles and/or knobs and countertops and light fixtures and everything else. This weekend we need to pick out a bathtub! (and whatever else we can decide on)

A couple more weeks, and the cabinets will arrive! I can't wait to show you.

22 Reasons You Should Just Stay HOME Today:

1. H-Bomb complains of a sore throat, but says it feels better after a swig of tea.
2. H-Bomb complains of feeling "sick," but can't/won't list specific symptoms, so School Day it is.
   
3. Contractor shows up at 11:AM (exactly the last moment at which you can leave and still make it to school on time) with lots of questions about door locations, suggesting it should go in the middle of a significant wall, and wants the pantry completely cleaned out. This makes you very late, and you start driving fast.
4. You pass a car that is going too slow.
   
5. Three miles down the road, something happens and the jeep makes a LOUD knocking sort of sound that you believe might be the muffler.
   
6. Upon inspection, it's not the muffler, and nothing seems to be wrong with the undercarriage at all.
7. Drive a bit more, still the same sound, duh, so you stop again.
   
8. Upon further inspection, you discover a rear TIRE has blown out. You know, like you see those random pieces of tread from semi trucks lying on the highway, and you wonder how the trucks can keep going. THAT kind of blow-out, but most of your tread is still loosely attached to the tire. Hence the knocking sound.
   
9. While you are out looking under the jeep, the car you just passed a couple miles back just drives right on by.
   
10. You turn around to head back home, because any distance closer is better than just getting out and walking with two young boys.
11. A tourist stops and asks if you need help. You send him after your husband, telling him to bring the van, describing where the ranch is and explaining, "No, there's not a sign."
12. You keep driving s l o w l y in 1st gear toward the ranch, and watch the tourist do a couple unsure back-and-forths in the long drive before finally deciding he's headed the right way.
13. You just keep driving at a snail's pace.
14. You see the tourist's car leaving, but notice that the van is still parked by the bunkhouse.
15. You keep driving at a snail's pace, getting annoyed that the van is still parked by the bunkhouse.
16. You make it to the driveway, even more annoyed that there is no sign of movement in the vicinity of the van. You tell the boys you hope you can make it all the way home.
17. The tire finally gives out just past the corrals. You honk and honk in frustration that The Van is Still Sitting There. You get the boys out and run, still planning on getting to school. Late, but getting there.
18. You and the boys run all the way home. You run into Number One, who informs you that the van battery is dead.
19. By that time, Kindergarten has started in town. You decide that since H-Bomb would likely miss more than half of the school day by the time you could possibly get there, it's a stay-at-home day after all.
20. You email the teacher.
    
21. You start cleaning out the pantry and deciding where the hell to put the new pantry door.
22. You're just not feeling very graceful about all this.