Mavis’ Remodel Blog Day 17 – Picking Out Hardwood, Tile and Fixtures

Yesterday I met up with Chino the Handyman at the flooring store to finalize my picks for the new house. {The HH for the most part is like… “Just pick what you want. I’m sure I’ll like it. It’s just easier than having to listen to you convince me I should like something}. 🙂

Since the beginning of the project Chino and I have been fighting about the 12×24 tile I picked for the laundry room floor. I refuse to give in. The pictures don’t do it justice, and the laundry room is only 79 square feet so it’s not like I need a whole lot of tile for the floors, but still, this whole time he’s been trying to get me to pic something cheaper {to save about $100}.

And I keep saying no. I like it. A lot.

Even Girly Girl {his wife and underpaid assistant} agrees. We think it’s going to go great with the white lower cupboards, and Formica Flax Gauze Laminate I chose for the laundry counters. Sometimes simple and elegant comes at a price. But still, we are only talking about 79 square feet for Pete’s sake.

I also chose these Allen + Roth Earling Oil-Rubbed Bronze Fabric Semi-Flush Mount Lights for the laundry room. My friend Zoë thinks they are dust catchers… but again, I’m kinda, sorta in love with them so I’m going for it.

Another decision I had to make was the tile for the fireplace.  I decided on Golden Sand Slate, Quartzite & Sandstone Mini Stacked tile {the center one}.

The HH and I both really liked the one of the left, but thought with the combination of the deep brown hardwood floors and the stained mantel beam the whole area would be just too dark and out of place with the rest of the house, so we went with the center one.

It has a nice mix of dirty white, pale green and grey in it. And since the family room is right off the kitchen and the kitchen cabinets will be white {plus we have a ton of windows in that room} we figured the lighter tiles would “pop” a little more. {Note: this picture turned out really dark, the tile and floor is a bit lighter than it appears in the photo}.

And about those floors. 😉 We decided on #3. Not too dark, and it had enough variation in the pattern that if Lucy the trouble puggle were to scratch the floors {she didn’t in our last house but it was still in the back of my mind}  then I could just fill them in with my favorite Miniwax stain pens and everything would be okay.

But apparently Chino didn’t like the quality of the wood on #3. So he told me to pick something else. After about 10 minutes we {Chino and I} finally decided on Dansk Country Legends Hickory Floors. Even though it’s just a wee bit darker than my first choice, this new place has a TON of natural lighting, and with the white cabinets and trim, I think it would work out fine. Plus… I just love the look of a hand scraped wood floor.

Now, if I can just get this place painted by Monday… we can start getting this stuff installed!

Wahooo! Almost there.

~Mavis