Sunday, March 9, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
The can...
The bathroom is easily one of the more important rooms in the house.
I've already pointed out what I plan to do in lights but I figured I'd show you what I'm going for in color, flooring and such...
I found the following pic and decided to use it as a guide:
A few points:
- I can't affoard wall tiles.
- I couldn't find a tile to match that color exactly but I got something pretty cool in it's place.
- My bathroom won't have the stand up shower and fancy tub.
Otherwise we'll see how it turns out....
I've already pointed out what I plan to do in lights but I figured I'd show you what I'm going for in color, flooring and such...
I found the following pic and decided to use it as a guide:
A few points:- I can't affoard wall tiles.
- I couldn't find a tile to match that color exactly but I got something pretty cool in it's place.
- My bathroom won't have the stand up shower and fancy tub.
Otherwise we'll see how it turns out....
Lighting
I started off looking for lights at Home Depot and Kent. After getting some decent ideas I found out I would have to get all of my lights from the Lamp Post. No big deal. I figured I would get all I could there and anything else over and above would come out of pocket.
Here are some of my ideas so far. See captions below each pic.
These are the same color/style as the pot lights I'm going to do in the kitchen. The only difference is that my lights will have an octagonal trim. It looks very sharp and is something different from the norm.
These are the type of lights that will be over my bathroom vanity.
I'm doing track lights like these in the center of my bathroom. I'll probably aim the outer three towards the shower and the remaining will be used as general bathroom lights.
This pendant light will be used over my breakfast bar in the kitchen (I picked up two).
This fixture will be in the main stairwell / porch. The finish is a brushed nickel like the rest of my lights (not the bronze pictured).
This is the fairly standard lights I decided to go with in the bedrooms and most likely hallway. They're sharp and I had to save a few bucks somewhere...
I can't find a picture of the light over my dining room table but it's really sharp. I think overall the house will have a really cool modern feel with this lighting. Post comments!
Here are some of my ideas so far. See captions below each pic.
These are the same color/style as the pot lights I'm going to do in the kitchen. The only difference is that my lights will have an octagonal trim. It looks very sharp and is something different from the norm.
These are the type of lights that will be over my bathroom vanity.
I'm doing track lights like these in the center of my bathroom. I'll probably aim the outer three towards the shower and the remaining will be used as general bathroom lights.
This pendant light will be used over my breakfast bar in the kitchen (I picked up two).
This fixture will be in the main stairwell / porch. The finish is a brushed nickel like the rest of my lights (not the bronze pictured).
This is the fairly standard lights I decided to go with in the bedrooms and most likely hallway. They're sharp and I had to save a few bucks somewhere...
I can't find a picture of the light over my dining room table but it's really sharp. I think overall the house will have a really cool modern feel with this lighting. Post comments!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
The inside...
So here's where I start needing the help of everyone who has potentially been reading this because I force fed you the link.
Once you're settled on the layout the inside can be broken into the following major decisions:
1) Flooring
2) Cabinets
3) Lighting
4) Paint
5) Extras!
I'll bring you up to speed on these topics one at a time and provide more insight as time goes on. I'm still not 100% settled on everything.
1) Flooring
The flooring allowance of my house was originally $4k. This is enough to get you carpet, vinyl, and some relatively cheap laminate. I had mine immediately bumped up to $7k (at the advise of Bill). To me, spending an extra $3K on flooring is a much wiser investment than spending $3k extra on siding. If I walked into a house in a nice neighborhood, looking to buy a $185K home, I probably wouldn't buy the same house at $182K with all carpet.
My choice based on personal preference was hardwood in the living room/hallways, ceramic in the porch/kitchen/bathroom and laminate in the bedrooms. I think ceramic and hardwood is the way to go in a nice house. The only reason I am putting laminate in the bedrooms is that they are low traffic areas, with 75% covered by furniture. It's a quick cost savings and doesn't look bad at all.
I shopped around at a few flooring places and I found that the big chain stores were way too impersonal. They also wanted cash up front which I cannot do [Aside: When you are contracting a house the various contractors don't get paid until the mortgage closes and the bank releases the cash]. I went to a few other places but was either unimpressed with their prices or scared away by their typical salesperson demeanor and lack of credible reputation. I finally stumbled upon a place called "Hardwood Depot" in Mount Pearl. They installed floors for a friend of mine recently and did a quality job.
Hardwood Depot is a pretty friendly place overall. I still haven't figured out the relationship of the people working there but it seems like some of them are related somehow. I found their selection of flooring excellent and the pricing was competitive. When I first went there I still hadn't made up my mind about the stairs. Hardwood vs. carpet. Expensive vs. cheap! When I first went to Hardwood Depot I was sold on hardwood stairs. When most places install hardwood stairs for you they'll build them step by step on top of your existing stairs (in a similar manner to laying carpet over top of the temporary stairs built by the construction crew. Hardwood Depot builds the full set of stairs in their shop and physically removes the existing stairs from your house. The work they do is very detailed and given a lot of attention. Despite the cost I was sold as soon as I saw a full staircase.
Floor selection was another story. I looked long and hard for the 'right' floor. The process is really dependent on what you care the most about. If you care about your kitchen the most then you should pick cabinet colors and flooring simultaneously. If you care about the living room the most you should pick paint and flooring and then work the kitchen around that. I decided on a certain style kitchen and based my floor selections around that. I knew my kitchen concept would require a dark floor so I thought the living room should be somewhat light to add a little contrast. Whoa. I'm getting a little worried about myself now...
Anyways, I decided to put in a light, natural looking wood. I found a nice maple at the Hardwood Depot and got a great price on it (significantly less than $4/sq ft). For those of you who aren't so familiar, a naturally stained maple hardwood looks like this:
As mentioned earlier the kitchen floor is a fairly dark gray ceramic. I'm going with the same tile for the porch due to the open concept and visibility of both tiles from one location. I don't have any pictures but once the floor goes down, you'll see. The laminate in the bedrooms is a darker brown than the main hardwood and should look really sharp. The bathroom floor is totally different tile but I'm going to cover that in a different post because I have a full entry's worth of thoughts on the bathroom.
Some notes about flooring:
- Ceramic tile is relatively cheap in general. Typical tile will run you $2.50/sq ft. However in order to lay ceramic tile you need a second layer of plywood to allow for greater support and less impact from shifting. The labor is also more expensive (typically clocks in about about an extra dollar per square foot).
- Hardwood is very sensitive to moisture. If hardwood is installed in a moist environment it will start to cup. Once my basement is poured I'm going to install my own dehumidifier to go around the clock in an attempt to dry the shit out of that place. The basement is currently still a snowbank so it will take some work!
- Carpet seems to be a dying trend. Not only do you have to own a vacuum cleaner but as people move into a new home they're inheriting the former owners dirt. If you've ever hauled up carpet you know how dirty it really gets. My house will be much cleaner on the whole.
- Some laminates are actually more expensive than my hardwood! I think they're meant for well off people's cabins!
- Hardwood stairs add about $2K to your bottom line. Yikes!
Once you're settled on the layout the inside can be broken into the following major decisions:
1) Flooring
2) Cabinets
3) Lighting
4) Paint
5) Extras!
I'll bring you up to speed on these topics one at a time and provide more insight as time goes on. I'm still not 100% settled on everything.
1) Flooring
The flooring allowance of my house was originally $4k. This is enough to get you carpet, vinyl, and some relatively cheap laminate. I had mine immediately bumped up to $7k (at the advise of Bill). To me, spending an extra $3K on flooring is a much wiser investment than spending $3k extra on siding. If I walked into a house in a nice neighborhood, looking to buy a $185K home, I probably wouldn't buy the same house at $182K with all carpet.
My choice based on personal preference was hardwood in the living room/hallways, ceramic in the porch/kitchen/bathroom and laminate in the bedrooms. I think ceramic and hardwood is the way to go in a nice house. The only reason I am putting laminate in the bedrooms is that they are low traffic areas, with 75% covered by furniture. It's a quick cost savings and doesn't look bad at all.
I shopped around at a few flooring places and I found that the big chain stores were way too impersonal. They also wanted cash up front which I cannot do [Aside: When you are contracting a house the various contractors don't get paid until the mortgage closes and the bank releases the cash]. I went to a few other places but was either unimpressed with their prices or scared away by their typical salesperson demeanor and lack of credible reputation. I finally stumbled upon a place called "Hardwood Depot" in Mount Pearl. They installed floors for a friend of mine recently and did a quality job.
Hardwood Depot is a pretty friendly place overall. I still haven't figured out the relationship of the people working there but it seems like some of them are related somehow. I found their selection of flooring excellent and the pricing was competitive. When I first went there I still hadn't made up my mind about the stairs. Hardwood vs. carpet. Expensive vs. cheap! When I first went to Hardwood Depot I was sold on hardwood stairs. When most places install hardwood stairs for you they'll build them step by step on top of your existing stairs (in a similar manner to laying carpet over top of the temporary stairs built by the construction crew. Hardwood Depot builds the full set of stairs in their shop and physically removes the existing stairs from your house. The work they do is very detailed and given a lot of attention. Despite the cost I was sold as soon as I saw a full staircase.
Floor selection was another story. I looked long and hard for the 'right' floor. The process is really dependent on what you care the most about. If you care about your kitchen the most then you should pick cabinet colors and flooring simultaneously. If you care about the living room the most you should pick paint and flooring and then work the kitchen around that. I decided on a certain style kitchen and based my floor selections around that. I knew my kitchen concept would require a dark floor so I thought the living room should be somewhat light to add a little contrast. Whoa. I'm getting a little worried about myself now...
Anyways, I decided to put in a light, natural looking wood. I found a nice maple at the Hardwood Depot and got a great price on it (significantly less than $4/sq ft). For those of you who aren't so familiar, a naturally stained maple hardwood looks like this:
As mentioned earlier the kitchen floor is a fairly dark gray ceramic. I'm going with the same tile for the porch due to the open concept and visibility of both tiles from one location. I don't have any pictures but once the floor goes down, you'll see. The laminate in the bedrooms is a darker brown than the main hardwood and should look really sharp. The bathroom floor is totally different tile but I'm going to cover that in a different post because I have a full entry's worth of thoughts on the bathroom.
Some notes about flooring:
- Ceramic tile is relatively cheap in general. Typical tile will run you $2.50/sq ft. However in order to lay ceramic tile you need a second layer of plywood to allow for greater support and less impact from shifting. The labor is also more expensive (typically clocks in about about an extra dollar per square foot).
- Hardwood is very sensitive to moisture. If hardwood is installed in a moist environment it will start to cup. Once my basement is poured I'm going to install my own dehumidifier to go around the clock in an attempt to dry the shit out of that place. The basement is currently still a snowbank so it will take some work!
- Carpet seems to be a dying trend. Not only do you have to own a vacuum cleaner but as people move into a new home they're inheriting the former owners dirt. If you've ever hauled up carpet you know how dirty it really gets. My house will be much cleaner on the whole.
- Some laminates are actually more expensive than my hardwood! I think they're meant for well off people's cabins!
- Hardwood stairs add about $2K to your bottom line. Yikes!
The exterior.
Thus far the content of this blog has dealt with mostly topics of a structural nature. To be honest, I think the structural part was the quickest overall decision process. Once you decide you want a split entry with a garage there's only so many ways you can organize 1070 sq. feet worth of living room, bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen.
The first part of it all was siding and shingles. The first question would be light vs. dark colors. You've seen all the nice red houses with black doors and some dark browns and dark blue/grays....well, they cost a shit load. And, according to the market insiders, they fade. I don't remember the exact price difference but I can tell you that if you intend to make your house look nice on a budget, there's better places to put your money than dark siding. When I first started the siding selection process, neither of my neighbors had any. I narrowed in on slate gray, linen, sage green and a lighter brown. I called Bill to ask what colors the neighbors had and bam.....two options gone! The neighbor to the left was sage green and to the right was a grayish color. It was between linen and brown. I was honestly leaning towards brown for a while but a few factors came into play:
1) Every second house in the subdivision is a brownish color.
2) The house on my street I liked and semi-stole the design of is brown.
3) Trend alert!
4) There's less you can do with it (versatility).
Linen on the other hand:
1) Goes with anything.
2) Isn't overly used in the subdivision.
3) Is the color of a house I saw and really liked in another part of the subdivision.
The house I liked was a little bungalow selling for $230K. Black door, black roof, linen siding.
Done. The roof was natural from there. Not that I was copying the guys a few roads over, but I knew the door was going black regardless so a black roof was an easy choice. I went with a two tone black to mix it up a little. This is the closest I could come to linen siding for pics:
For the shingles, you'll have to use your imagination!
There will also be several pot lights on the exterior of my house. Once they're on she'll be looking like this:
However, I'm pretty sure they'll be a little less yellow and a little more illuminating!
The first part of it all was siding and shingles. The first question would be light vs. dark colors. You've seen all the nice red houses with black doors and some dark browns and dark blue/grays....well, they cost a shit load. And, according to the market insiders, they fade. I don't remember the exact price difference but I can tell you that if you intend to make your house look nice on a budget, there's better places to put your money than dark siding. When I first started the siding selection process, neither of my neighbors had any. I narrowed in on slate gray, linen, sage green and a lighter brown. I called Bill to ask what colors the neighbors had and bam.....two options gone! The neighbor to the left was sage green and to the right was a grayish color. It was between linen and brown. I was honestly leaning towards brown for a while but a few factors came into play:
1) Every second house in the subdivision is a brownish color.
2) The house on my street I liked and semi-stole the design of is brown.
3) Trend alert!
4) There's less you can do with it (versatility).
Linen on the other hand:
1) Goes with anything.
2) Isn't overly used in the subdivision.
3) Is the color of a house I saw and really liked in another part of the subdivision.
The house I liked was a little bungalow selling for $230K. Black door, black roof, linen siding.
Done. The roof was natural from there. Not that I was copying the guys a few roads over, but I knew the door was going black regardless so a black roof was an easy choice. I went with a two tone black to mix it up a little. This is the closest I could come to linen siding for pics:
For the shingles, you'll have to use your imagination!
There will also be several pot lights on the exterior of my house. Once they're on she'll be looking like this:
However, I'm pretty sure they'll be a little less yellow and a little more illuminating!
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