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Progress (Granite In), and, of course, B/S decision

12 years ago

I've been semi-lurking here for several months and have enjoyed and appreciated all the great information and advice given on this forum.

We've been doing a facelift/mini-remodel since spring. The general plan was to slightly reconfigure some of the cabinetry, buy new doors, strip and refinish the existing cabinets and put on new countertops.

Our first re-finisher's attempt was a distaster, and took 2 months of hard work by DH to get it back to a point where someone else could give it a try. We decided that the first contractor probably didn't have the expertise to correct the damage. Our second finisher did a wonderful job, and the granite was finally installed last week. The cabinet doors/drawers will be installed in a couple of weeks.

Now, like many others here, we are faced with choosing the backsplash. I just didn't feel like I could make a good decision until I saw the cabinets re-done and the granite in place.

We want to go with a rectangular subway shape. I've got some samples of honed crema marfil that is probably the leading candidate at this point, but am considering a matte ceramic or possibly crackle tile also. I would like to jazz it up a bit though, without making it too busy, maybe with some sort of border or a few accents. I love glass tile, but it may look a little to modern for the generally traditional style we have. A stainless hood will be going above the range and we plan to tile all the way up behind it. Any suggestions would be welcome, and thanks in advance.

Original kitchen with yellowed clear maple cabinets and badly done white builder's tile counters:

New version:

New doors:

Marble subway tile:

Seafoam green granite:

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Comments (8)

remodelfla
12 years ago
Really nice reno so far! I'm not loving the tile with your counters. I'm not sure... I think it may be that the color is just too drab and does not bring out the beauty of your stone. I feel like you need something "brighter". If you want traditional... what if you were to use ceramic but mix up the same color in matte and gloss. That would give you visual interest without competing with the stone or looking too modern.
ptamom
12 years ago
The crema marfil subways are perfection with your granite!
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Hi Sauceyc, I see you got your Heath samples! I think based on the feel you want for your kitchen - beachy/funky/cool, the photos (which admittedly are hard to tell without seeing the real thing), I think you should go with the glass tiles in a colour similar to the French Gray. Somehow, I think that you are being lured by other backsplash options when you and your hubby are really feeling the glass, and it goes with the theme that you want. You just need to be able to feel confident that you've exhausted other options. Colour - I think the colour of the taupe glass tiles look like a "mistake" whereas the French Gray compliments your granite better. I think that having slight colour differences between the countertops and backsplash are okay. But I think that when you have busier, colourful granite like us, you need to pull a similar colour from the granite to tie it in, or risk everything looking too busy. Your beautiful Lennon granite has an undertone to it which seems to conflict with the taupe. See how your paint goes so well with the granite? I think you should find a glass tile that compliments your granite like your walls do. This is a glass tile we were considering. See how it "goes" with the granite so well in terms of colour? Pattern - I also wanted to comment on the pattern which you know very well, I LOVE. I know you like the running pattern of the Heath tiles and that my La Cornue ad inspired you which is great. I'll have to be honest that I'm concerned whether the pattern will work with your particular layout. The running pattern naturally "falls" from top left to bottom right, which gives a slight feeling of movement, which requires overall symmetrical cabinetry. Your range wall, while symmetrical in turns of the upper and lower cabs, has the fridge to the left which is a strong piece in stainless steel. I'm worried that it will look unbalanced...just thinking aloud here. Again, this is my two cents, I'm not a designer. Please take my opinion and consider with the others, as well as your own, because it is merely an opinion and I want YOU to feel comfortable with your decision!!! Do you have a designer you can consult with? It sounds like you feel pressured to make a decision before you're ready. Many people have said to me on this forum that I should take as long as I need.
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I know I wrote to wait, so what am I doing suggesting something but ... here I go! With the creamy perimeter cabs I would stay away from anything cool, as you wrote. As I was reading your response to remodelfla I nearly jumped out of my chair at the grey / sea green tiles, and I mean jumped in a "stop katmandu!" sort of way. I think you are after a classic, timeless kitchen. I think the tumbled marble will be plain wrong, I think it'll be the only rustic in the sea of refined elegance. I think something in a subway-ish shape (doesn't have to be the classic 3" x 6" -- could be similar to redroze's yummy 2" x 8" tile) is going to make much better sense in your kitchen and not make your eye stop when you see it. (And what I mean by that is remember Cybill Shepherd [the actress] back in the '80s wearing a black velvet strapless ballgown with day-glo orange high-top Reeboks? Clearly she was making a point [I get it -- I like comfy things as well], but the eye stopped on those sneakers like "what in the hell???") It's one thing for the eye to stop to say "ooh-la-la!" but another to wonder why the discordant note. Maybe I am projecting way too much onto your kitchen, but in my mind's eye the tumbled marble will be wrong. Oh wait, I should clarify that when I think of tumbled marble I'm thinking of something really rustic -- I am NOT thinking of something similar to mindimoo's gorgeous backsplash. Is that what you were thinking of? Because that could look terrific! Tying the island countertop together with the perimeter in its backsplash ... I kinda like it! Okay, so back to my mind's eye: I love the idea of a nearly-ecru (maybe your latte?) subway -- not the golds of igloochic's backsplash but something with that kind of character (and hands-down that tile is my favorite element of her kitchen), or a backsplash like that of your neighbor and our friend Mindi. I am babbling and it's late for me, but hopefully you'll be able to wade through my divagations and know my intention was good! And I think the mercury glass pendant would be wrong for your space, the more I think about it -- too cool in color! I know, I am so redundant. I really am so happy you found someone (GC) so quickly and are able to proceed apace. I felt horrible for you about the flake -- what a kick in the stomach! But I'm grateful it happened before your project started and before any money changed hands! You've given me another reason to keep checking in here for the next few months -- I'll be following your kitchen! Oyasuminasai!
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Carson...thx! Your place is looking gorgeous as well. I love all you trim detail going up. Zoe....thx! Your place is coming along beautifully, too. I love all the arches that you have throughout your home. For perspective, it took our builder around 2 months after cabinetry was installed to our completion date. Builder wouldn't give us a projected move in date until that point, too. Mrsb...love the light fixture! Michelle...thx...that was exactly my goal. I worried with changing our color tones from warm beiges to cooler tones that it would look cold but the BM reverve pewter is one of those great neutrals that combines both. Our baseboards are 9" with the room height being 9' Mattiepies...I love my BM reverve pewter! For my basement vanity I used BM la Paloma...looks much cooler but no blue undertones. CZscrap...looks like some beautiful views! Dreamer16...looks like a beautiful classic brick home Juniper...think your trim looks great! I agree with Amberm that once your stone goes up any thought of white will go away. I also think the white would have been too stark with the dark windows. Are you carrying the creamy tones into your interior trim? I think that it would bring some continuity to it instead of jumping to something really white inside
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annac54
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks remodelfla and ptamom for your comments and suggestions. RL has had us focusing on things other than the kitchen this week, so no decision on the backsplash yet. I brought home some samples but in the kitchen they didn't really seem to work, so no progress there. We've decided to wait till the doors and drawer fronts are installed before making a choice. I think we will have a better feeling for how things will look.

We did, however, get the faucet and sink installed, so now we have running water again. It's a big relief!!!

Thanks again
smaloney
12 years ago
AnnaC54 - your new kitchen looks amazing so far! Can you share the granite color? It's really beautiful!
annac54
Original Author
12 years ago
smaloney, thanks. The granite is seafoam green.
stogniew
12 years ago
what is the stain/finish you had used? I am assuming you kept your maple cabinets just re-finished them? I like very much the final color on your new finishes, so would appreciate details how to achieve such finish on maple. The kitchen place told me maple does not stain well, but what you have is looking great (I like maple wood, just not in natural maple color).
annac54
Original Author
12 years ago
efs:

The kitchen place is right, maple is hard to stain well. It has hard and soft wood that take the stain differently, so it tends to end up with areas of light and dark blotchy color. The color may also vary depending on how smooth the wood is sanded (sanding very very fine can prevent the stain from penetrating the wood). There are several methods of dealing with this, with varying degrees of success:

Pre-conditioning the wood so that it the stain goes on more evenly.

Staining very lightly then following with coats of tinted lacquer.

Sealing the wood bare and then applying color only in the lacquer coats.

Various combinations of the above techniques.

We knew this going in, and talked with our first refinisher quite extensively about it. He felt sure he could give us a good result, and did some samples that looked good, but the actual material he put on the cabinets did not look like the sample (to put it mildly - it was awful!).

So, we sanded the cabinets back down ourselves and looked for another refinisher. What is now on the cabinets is a custom stain (I watched him blend the color myself). So, I'm sorry, but I can't tell you exactly what the finish is, but it was applied in several layers, and was sprayed, not brushed on.

What I will tell you is to do your research and then try the methods you feel will work best on a bunch of samples. Be as sure as you can of the method before you start work on the actual cabinets.

Hope things work out with your project.
sayde
12 years ago
The wood and the beautiful green granite look wonderful together. I don't like the marble tile however -- neither the color or the marble material next to the granite. Would much prefer to see a ceramic tile of some kind. And since you have a tan/beige stone floor you need to make sure that the undertones in the backsplash do not conflict with either the floor or the counters. That might mean that simple off-white is best.

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