Kitchen Renovation Progress ~ Day 7 ~

Here we are seven days into our kitchen renovations and to be honest I’m enjoying the process.  Whatttt??? Are you crazy your enjoying the mess.  No not the mess lol ….and dust is not ideal but seeing my design come together and take shape is very exciting!  When you dream about something for a long time and then come to the realization that it’s actually happening …..well that’s a great feeling!   Before I show you the state of the kitchen with the tile backsplash here’s some background with what happened behind the scenes.  We ordered the countertop and it was suppose to arrive last Thursday….

….well something happened and our countertop didn’t make it on the truck to Sydney.   Grrr… no really grrr… totally bumped and annoyed BUT I quickly switched gears and went into ‘ok whatever’; next step lets move on and see how we can proceed. (That’s after cursing of course lol and trying to analyze why it didn’t get on the truck … even when you ordered it we were told, yes it WILL be here on this date.  So we had to wait another week before it arrives, which is tomorrow.  That’s the nature of renovating, stuff happens. I’m over it lol )

Your renovating, there will be hiccups.  Pick up your bootstraps and carry on anyway.

Here’s the latest developments of our space and since I can’t keep it a secret any longer … our backsplash in process.  Normally we would have waited until the countertop was in but since it was delayed the contractor went ahead and started putting the tile on the wall.  The contractor also painted the walls and bulkhead with one of my favourite colours Benjamin Moore HC-172 Revere Pewter.

 

Tile Backsplash

Tile Backsplash

Tile Backsplash

~ heehee so excited

One of the things you’ll notice is that the backsplash tile is going all the way up to the ceiling.   I absolutely love this Moroccan inspired white porcelain tile.  It really is a statement in the overall design.   Taking it up to the ceiling provides a bigger impact and helps to expand the space. Tile was purchased from ValueCheck Flooring here in Sydney. 

 

Elegant Flooring from ValueCheck Hartford Lantern White Matte (HA-MOS-DL-1005)
Elegant Flooring – Hartford Lantern White Matte porcelain.

 

This was one of the jumping off points with the design scheme, as well as the old postmasters cabinet and then of course everything else flows from there.   There was another change of plans behind the scenes that I don’t mind sharing and that is the original countertop I chose was Calacata Marble Formica 180FX which you can see below with the tile and one of the kitchen cabinet doors.  Looks nice, great combination don’t you think?
Design Scheme

Original plan …

simpledetailblog
{Via} A beautiful example of Formica’s Calacata Marble but notice no seams and it’s one piece.

Calacata Marble 180fx
{source: Formica’s Calcutta Marble}

Love the veining, Love the colour, Love the look but …

Just one small snag which I didn’t find out until I went to order it.  Here’s the scoop our counters our 19′ long.  The laminate doesn’t come that long so it is understandable that it would come in two long lengths (12′ and 8′) and we would have a seam where the two pieces meet.  Not a problem, that doesn’t bother me.  But, there is no way to order the two pieces with the pattern to match up evenly so you could potentially end up with a seam plus a mismatched vien where the two pieces connect. This pattern has a 3′ repeat and even with that you wouldn’t get one continueous pattern match.  Bummer.

Inside Scoop: When the manufacture makes the material they come in 12' x 12' sheets and then from there, they cut the pieces in half.  If you order two lengths you get the top and bottom when the piece is cut in half.  If you can imagine the top piece when put at the end of the bottom piece the pattern doesn't match up.

No special treatment and you can’t get them to make it to match up.

So I went with a second choice and selected another pattern.  That’s the kind of stuff you learn along the way and it’s good to know this before you pay, get your countertop installed and then realize it’s not what you thought it was going to be.   Bottom line is you have to adapt and trust that things will work out the way they are meant too.  Sometimes, things work out even better.

Here’s the winning pattern for the countertop. Premium collection – Arctic Snow – P394

arctic snow

Arctic Snow Formica
Arctic Snow up close!

Now let’s talk grout colour for the Moroccan tile.  Here is a great article on grout.  I know your beyond excited lol … but it’s an important detail.  Each colour has the power to impact the overall design.  You will get a different flavour to the look and feel depending on which one you chose.  No pressure though lol ….

White Tile Grey Grout

Need your help peeps, which one would you chose?

I’m leaning towards one but would love to hear which one you guys would select.   Light Grey, White or Dark Grey?? (Funny I just noticed they spelling Grey; ‘Gray’  hmmm american spelling. Anyhoooooo.  

Comment below and let me know which one you would pick!

 

Here’s a look back to the original kitchen before all the work started 🙂 

 

 

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