The kitchen designer dude came out with a couple of samples. He brought two different quartz countertop samples and the backsplash sample shown below. His thought was to use the bottom sample of the board for the backsplash.
Here are the two quartz countertop samples. The brownish one is matte and the grayish one is kind of semi-matte.
And here you can see them on the backsplash board.
Our thought was they are both still too dark. We really wanted something lighter colored and you can see, especially in the middle picture, that they aren't much lighter than the current countertop.
The designer's thoughts were he didn't want to go too brownish because then there would be no clear difference between three of the elements in the kitchen. Those elements being the cabinets, backsplash, and countertop. Everything would sort of blend together into one blah mess. He was also against a glass tile backsplash because he thought that it would be too dated: in ten years someone could come in and say, "Oh, this was done about ten years ago." Just like clothes have fashion, so does remodeling!
My thought is so what if I want glass tiles? It's my kitchen and if I get tired of it in ten years then I can redo it then. Regardless we made plans to meet on Monday at the countertop place and then the tile place because none of the choices he brought really excited Bill or me.
Now for the bad news.
I had been hoping to do this for about $20,000 or less. As we started doing our research I realized I would have to scale back on my plans. For example now we are planning on getting a Jennair 30" stove top instead of a Wolf 36". There will be no cabinet shifting or remodeling with the exception of a simple removal of the cabinet over the stove so the ventilation system can be installed.
We are responsible for purchasing the appliances outside of the construction contract. Jennair is having a special now so we can buy an oven, convection/microwave oven, stove top and get a free dishwasher. The appliances cost about $8,000. The designer guy said everything else (tile, countertop, installation, etc) is going to be about $21,000. So obviously that brings the total to approximately $29,000, seriously over my budget.
On Monday I'm going to propose that my husband and I do all the demo (which we've done before) and debris removal, and I will install the backsplash myself. As I told one of my sisters, I've watched enough DIY channel and HGTV so I'm sure I can do it. I don't know how much that will lower the price, but something's gotta give if this project is going to move forward.
5 comments:
Everybody is still hurting for money so, I think if you really talk to these people, have them break down the costs, perhaps they will work with you better, they don't want to lose your business. I liked the idea of you two doing a bit of the work too, smart! And a convection oven is what I want so bad! M&D had one at Coulombe, and I learned to just love it!
Patti
What made you decide on quartz vs granite?
The smaller tiles for the backsplash are a nice contrast to the solid counter surface.
On TV, one of the designer guys suggested doing your own demo to save money, it looks easy enough. Just remember to turn off the water and electricity before tackling the sink and stuff.
love ya!
MT
Happy to see you blogging again!!
Lots of excitement going on for you. We miss you guys but are so excited for you!
Kathy
Hey, MT!
I'm hoping they will take a LOT off for us doing the demo ourselves. Remember we did all the demo when we remodeled both bathrooms and kitchen, and those were from bare walls up, so we know how to do that. Since I've done the kid's floors in tile and the mosaic work and all the DIY network and HGTV I have no doubt I can handle the backsplash. If they don't come down enough I may just have to become my own contractor!
Thanks, Kathy!
We miss you too!
I forgot to add the reason we were going with quartz this time was the price is supposedly less and quartz doesn't need sealing but granite does.
Post a Comment