The Mistake I Made in Choosing Granite

If I had the chance to do it over again, I would change my decision and not get granite on our kitchen counters.

When we bought our house, the builder offered white ceramic tile as their standard for the kitchen counter.  I knew I didn't want ceramic tile with a bunch of grout to clean... so we opted to upgrade our kitchen counters to granite.  Via our builder this was not a cheap option, but granite was the popular decision so we went with it.  When it came time to select the type of granite we went with a somewhat busy speckled grainy pattern, a mix of neutral and darker colors.  The granite we chose is called Santa Cecelia (pictured).  It looked so beautiful... and once it was installed my husband and I both absolutely loved the look.  If we lived in a model home where we didn't actually use the kitchen, it would have been an amazing choice.  However, being that we actually do cook in our kitchen, I admit that I am not loving the granite.  Not at all!!!  If I could do it over again, I would definitely not select any kind of speckled counter top surface.  

When you look at this picture, can you tell if the counter is clean or dirty?  Neither can I...

I do like having a solid surface counter.  However, what I don't like (in fact, I can't stand) is that you can't see crumbs and small spills that happen all over the surface.  They completely blend right in.  The granite does a great job of hiding food, bread crumbs, spills, splashed spaghetti sauce and such.  If you don't wipe up something the second it happens you won't even see it.  Next thing you know there is junk stuck to the counters and it is hard to clean once food is hardened onto it.  I know that sounds disgusting, but it's the truth.

I admit that I don't mind floors hiding dust and crumbs, but the one place that I do want to see and know if it's dirty is the counters where we prepare our food.  I want to see every splatter and spill, and know they are there so I can wipe them up right away.  Unfortunately in our house,  all too often, when someone makes something in the kitchen, they don't clean up their mess right away and then since it is hard to see, they forget about it.  The number of times I go to prepare dinner and find stuff stuck to the counter tops drives me crazy.  

Once upon a time, I had a white laminate counter top in the kitchen of an old home.  Yes, it was cheap and boring looking, but it was the easiest thing to clean!  

If we had a solid color or a light color counter we would know immediately if something was on it that needed wiping up.  

Choosing the darker speckled granite was a big mistake!  

If you are considering new counters in your kitchen you may want to consider what I am saying... Like I said, if I had the chance to do it over again, I would NOT buy granite.  Expecially not for the kitchen!

I would probably go with a light color quartz or even something like a Corian surface.  These  may not be the most popular option, but knowing now what I've learned, that would be my choice.

I wish I would have done more research on the subject or someone would have told me to consider this before we had picked them out.  By sharing this information here, I am hopeful that it will help someone who is trying to decide what to use for their kitchen counter surface.

Blessings,
Diana

Subway Tile Backsplash (The Debacle Continues)

For those of you that are wondering how our kitchen DIY tile backsplash is going and awaiting the big reveal, here is an update on our progress.  After the never ending tile saw debacle (Read Post Here) we finally have officially gotten all of the tile cut and up on the wall.  Hallelujah! 

We had so many struggles along the way... I thought I'd share the story of the ongoing craziness:


We had originally planned to do our entire tile backsplash over a two day weekend.  Wow, we had seriously underestimated the time it would take to do this DIY project!!!  It always looks so easy on HGTV and the DIY Network (lol).  A few weeks ago we spent the first two days just getting a tile saw that actually worked (Read Post Here).  And then we got is just a couple of hours of actual tiling done. Since my hubby doesn't have time mid week for home projects and the following weekend we had to be out of town, our kitchen sat just awaiting us to find time to work on it again.  

Side note: When I say "we" worked on it, it mostly means my husband worked on it :)  Although I do make some of the tile cuts, I am mostly the supervisor on this job (hehe)...

We decided we would spend two days over Memorial weekend (Sunday and Monday) finishing the job.  Unbelievably we had more tile saw problems.  Sunday morning, when Jim was setting up the tile saw, the tube that feeds the water into the top of the wet saw broke.  Yes, it broke.  Ugh!  We had purchased the two year warranty.  If anything goes wrong you take it back to the store for a replacement.  So we packed up the saw and headed to the store where we had purchased it.  Going to this particular store is a 50 mile round trip.  Needless to say, what a waste of our morning!

When we got home we assembled the new saw, added water and pluged it in.  It was working... really it was... temporarily.   After using the saw for a handful of cuts, the water pump started struggling.  Oh my gosh, are you kidding me?!!!  Seriously this couldn't be happening.  The pump intermittently would work and then stop working, then work and stop again.  We continued to tile for a few hours, shaking and rattling the pump to get it to work each time we needed to make a cut.  I'm thinking there was an electrical short of some sort in the pump/wire.  Being that the pump was submerged in water this didn't seem like the best situation.  Luckily we didn't get shocked!

Our kitchen backsplash area has 9 electrical outlets, a light switch, a CAT5 outlet and a switch for the garbage disposal... That is a ton of things to cut around!!!  After a few hours of working we still had a bunch more cuts and we realized that we would need to take the wet saw back to the store again for another replacement.   It was already dinner time so we decided we would go to the store again in the morning.

Monday morning, Memorial Day. We should have been swimming and barbecuing with friends and family, but instead we were still dealing with ongoing tile saw problems and just wanting to get this stupid job done!  Another 50 mile round trip to the store for another new saw.  

When we got to the store they told us they didn't have any in stock and we would have to wait until Wednesday when more were scheduled to come in.  No way!  We had set aside this day to tile and one way or another we were going to.  Luckily I walked around the store and I actually found one.  It was the only one and it was located in an oddball spot so thank God that I noticed it!  

Again we came home, assembled the saw and it worked.  This one actually continued to work all day.  More than four hours of tiling and we still had two corners and three receptacles to cut around.  Knowing this process would take at least a few more hours we decided to stop for the night.  Bending over a tile saw and over a kitchen counter all day while working is not very nice to the body.  You find that you have muscles that you didn't even know existed.

We knew our kitchen was big, but this project seems to be taking forever.  This past weekend we finally finished getting all of the tile up.  Every little painstaking piece.  We should be able to grout this coming weekend.  I think grouting will be easy.  It will at least be easy for me since again I will be the supervisor :)  Since it doesn't require fancy electrical tools hopefully we won't have any issues!  

The issues we had on this job were pretty much all tile saw related. If we had gotten a good tile saw to begin with, this job would have gone so so much faster! 

I'm hoping that this whole project is sort of like giving birth, super painful while you are going through it, but after it's over you forget the pain.  I seriously hope so!!!

Until next time,
Happy decorating!

Diana

Organic Gardening Tip - Simple Weed Control

We just finished planting our veggie garden for this year.  We try to be as organic as possible in growing our own fruits and vegetables.  Our town has a small nursery that has been here for over 50 years and they always give me great advice!  

I was talking to them about organic gardening and how last year I had a problem with weeds.  Their expert advice was this, "DO NOT buy expensive organic weed control products, but rather shred a regular old newspaper (luckily we have a paper shredder)!   Spread a few inches of the shredded paper over the top of the soil, turn it into the soil and water it well.  Then just plant the veggies as normal.  He said that something in the newspaper and it's print doesn't allow weeds to germinate/grow.  He said if we did this at the beginning of each season, we would have very few weeds the entire year. 

After turning a few inches of shredded paper into the soil, we planted tomatoes, cucumbers, green bunching onions (chives), cilantro, basil, zucchini, strawberries, watermelon, cantaloupe and kale.

We watered everything well and now I can't wait to have fresh home grown fruits and veggies!  

The strawberries on the lower level we had already planted prior to the newspaper trick... so now I'll be comparing the amount of weeds in the bottom, around the strawberries) to the top.  I am hopeful that the newpaper trick will control the weeds.  Assuming it will, I will be sure to put the shredded paper into all of our garden areas next time :)

In a few weeks I will update you on how our fruit and veggie garden is doing/producing and how our weed control is going.

Happy decorating and happy gardening!

Blessings,
Diana

$10 DIY Organizer & Bulletin Board

I made this multi purpose organizer board for just $10.  The solid wood shutter I found at a thrift store for only five dollars.  It was still raw wood.  When I first found it I wasn't sure what I would do with it, but for five bucks, I just had to get it!  A little paint (that I already had) and $5 worth of hooks (from Target Stores) and now it works as a garage entry board to hang our keys, hats, purses, backpacks, and whatever else we want to pop on a hook.  That door at the end of the hall is to our garage.  This is where we enter and exit the house, since our cars are parked inside... so the board is in a perfect location!

Since I found this shutter piece in raw wood, I started by painting it a creamy off white (heirloom white).

Next I used a dry brush technique to add a multitude of blue and aqua craft paints.

I lightly sanded the edges of the shutter and then used a touch of dark wax on the edges and in the crevices to give it some vintage aged character.

I love the finished look of the distressed paint!!!  This next picture shows you a close up of the finish.

I added four hooks across the bottom.  I measured and marked where they needed to go before attaching them.

My husband hung my masterpiece onto the wall for me (he's such a sweetie).  He secured it into a stud... and then I used Command Picture Hanging Strips on the back at the bottom to keep it from shifting on the wall.  Since they are velcro they worked great!

The shutter slots are awesome because they have many uses.  They easily hold outgoing mail, menus or flyers to my favorite stores.

I added a few clothes pins and now the board doubles as a bulletin board too.  It's a great place to put fun pictures and notes.  

I am loving my new piece and I love even more that I made it for only $10.

Until next time,
Happy decorating,

Diana

Pottery Barn Love and SO Much Inspiration

Need a Pottery Barn fix???  I did... so I got one yesterday :)  

Pottery Barn is about an hour away so I don't get to visit their store very often.  But when I do I always get so inspired.  They have great accessories, beautiful furnishings and much of it looks vintage, even though it's new.  I thought I'd share my visit to their store with you.  Here are some pictures of things that inspired me.

Let me first start off by saying, I have the most amazing husband ever!!!  In this next picture, that is him, my hubby Jim sitting on the couch.  He is so patient.  He allows me to spend as much time as I want browsing and he never ever complains.  Women in stores constantly tell me how lucky I am... and I completely agree!

Aqua is my absolute favorite color!  So seeing so much of it around the store definitely got my decorating juices flowing.  I was thinking... I want that, I want that and I want that.  I know that makes me sound like a brat.  But, seriously anything aqua or sea glass inspired makes me feel super calm, peaceful and relaxed and I can't help but want it!

I enjoy seeing all of the red, white and blue patriotic decor.  Independence Day isn't too far away and they have so many items that I'd love to own.  I hope to do my porch up cute for the 4th of July!  I don't have the budget to just buy what I like, so I will definitely have to come up with some budget friendly DIY's!

If only a creamy white sofa would stay clean.  I would own one in a heartbeat if I thought our family could handle it.  Since it would likely be dirty in a week, I stick with darker furniture.  I admit that I'm basically a chicken! 

I noticed that much of the patriotic decor was also nautically inspired.  If only we could all have a beach house :)  I can dream, right?

I didn't look to see how much these flag pillows are.  I assume they are pillow slip covers since that is what Pottery Barn usually sells.  I think I might need to go back and get a couple... because I am absolutely Loving them.  So fun!!!

Are you feeling inspired yet???

Until next time,
Happy decorating!

Diana

Murphy's Law and Our First DIY Tile Job

Last month we decided it was finally time to put up a real back-splash in our kitchen.  When we moved into our new house the back splash was just a painted wall.  Then last year I had painted it with chalkboard paint which was pretty fun for awhile, but grease splatters from cooking and chalkboard paint don't exactly go together very well!  So, it was time to figure out what to put up as a real back-splash.  We spent a few weekends looking at every type of stone, tile, marble, etc... and in the end we chose a simple antique white ceramic subway tile.  It's classic, it's neutral and goes with everything.  Plus it wasn't too expensive which I liked!

We had watched a DIY video on how to lay a tile backsplash and were comfortable with it.  So I planned to have all of the needed materials in advance of the weekend... hoping we could complete the entire job in one weekend.  I had plenty of tile, thin set (the gunk that holds the tile to the wall), a tile trowel, a rubber float, a 5 gallon bucket, a mixing paddle, tape, plastic to protect the counters... etc....  We were fully prepared.   

We had bought this handy dandy tile cutter that we had seen at a swap meet last year that was supposed to be awesome!  The guy at the swap meet was like an infomercial showing us how easy it was to use the contraption.   And he made it look super easy!  With that little contraption cutting tile was going to be a breeze.  (INSERT Murphy's Law HERE)... Anything that can go wrong will... And if it looks to good to be true, it probably IS!!!

Saturday morning all excited and ready to tile we decided we better cut a tile to see how it looks.  UHG!  What the heck.... it looked horrible.  We followed the directions, did it just like the guy showed us.  Needless to say, the thing was a piece of CRAP (excuse my language) but i can't think of a better word!

We would not be defeated, this was just a temporary set-back.  I looked online at both Lowe's and the Home Depot to see what kind of tile cutters they sold in store.  We didn't want to spend a few hundred dollars on a fancy wet saw, we simply wanted something that would cut a straight line clean.  Okay, so Home Depot had a non electric sort of like vice that held the tile where you would score the tile and then snap it.  It was about $30 and the box directions made it look easy enough so we bought it.  We took the saw home and cut one tile....  AHHH, no.  The tile was ugly, chipped and looked horrible.  

Time for a break... we got some lunch and now our morning job wouldn't start until afternoon.

After lunch it was back to the store.  Now it was time to get serious.  We needed to buy something electric, something that would actually cut the tile, not just score it.  So we returned the "mistake" purchase and wanted to buy something a bit more industrial... Yay, power tools!  Nothing at the first store in our budget.

So off to another store where I found a small (personal size for small projects) electric wet saw.  It was slightly larger than my laptop and a bit thicker.  It held a little water and it said it would cut tiles up to 12".  It was under $100 and came with the cutting blade.  Finally this should do it.  Since we were only using small subway tile, this would work... or at least it should work.  Right???

We live in a somewhat rural area so going to the home improvement store is a 16 mile round trip... and having to go to the competitors store is about a 40 mile round trip in the opposite direction.  So by the time we found the saw, our day was pretty much shot.  We decided to hang it up for the day.  The next day (Sunday) we would start again in the morning.  Okay, so our tile job might take two weekends, but we could deal with that!  Since my hubby works all week, weekends are the only time for this kind of job.

I'd like to say that this is where the story ends and that we lived happily ever after.... But, unfortunately I can't.  Because Saturday night something was bugging me about the little wet saw we had just purchased.  It just didn't "feel right".  I guess you could call it intuition, but I just knew this was not the way to go.  I decided I better look online for reviews on the little saw.  And guess what???  Yep, the reviews were horrendous!   Although the saw might cut a few tiles, it will rust as soon as you use it.  Imagine that, a wet saw that rusts.  Not only will the cutting blade rust immediately, but also the saw tables metal surface rusts on day one of use.   So for $100 you have purchased a throw away tool.  

Our kitchen back-splash has 8 electrical outlets and one phone jack in the backsplash area.  All of which need to have the tile cut around them.  At this point I had no idea how many days of cutting work this would take, but I knew I was not going to keep a saw that would rust.

Okay, so maybe we could rent a tile saw for a day, but at this rate and most likely we would need it for several days and that gets pretty expensive.  So buying one was still our desire.

On Sunday morning we decided to bite the bullet and go buy a proper wet saw.  The place we decided to buy it was a 50 mile round trip.  We purchased the wet saw, the cutting blade and a two year warranty (just in case).  This thing is going to last us one way or another!!!  

With breakfast in route combined with our time at the store and then returning home, it was after noon by the time we got home.  Yay, we got a real tile saw... like the pros use.  Some assembly required.  That's okay, we can do this.  I joked that it would be 4:00 before we could cut tile (I was joking, I swear!).

But, here comes Murphy again!!!  Tile saw set up, turn it on, loud POP...  NO... Seriously, what just happened???  We open up where the blade is attached and the piece that holds the blade in place was broke in half.  I thought my husband was joking... then he showed me.  It was broken!  Okay, I finally lost it and started crying!!!  After all, a girl can only take so much...  

My husband was still cool as a cucumber.  He noticed that the hole size in the center of the blade was too large for the mount that it sat on.  This is what caused the break to happen.  He suggested we go back to the place we bought the saw (another 50 mile round trip) and take the broken piece and the blade that they sold us.  Tell them what happened and ask them to open another saw and give us a new piece to replace the broken piece... and also give us the correct size saw blade.  

I wanted to tile and I wanted it done in one weekend.  And that was so not happening!!!   

I finally stopped having a pitty party hopped into the car and off we went for what felt like the millionth time... to get a saw that worked.  I know that's a bit of an exaggeration, but seriously this was getting ridiculous!!!

The good news is that the store fixed our problem, they gave us the piece we needed off of another saw, also gave us the proper blade and apologized.  All was well... And it was going to work this time.  It had to...

It was just before 4:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon that we finally cut our first tile.   

Here is a sneak peek at our tile... The first wall is done... and so far so good.  We have only just begun!  I pray that Murphy and his Law will stay away for the rest of this project...  We only have weekends to work on it, so hopefully before long, I will be able to share our completed back splash with you :)

Until next time,
Happy decorating!

Diana

$5 Wall Art - Decorating with Letters

I recently decorated the base of our stairwell with some thrift and flea market finds that I had painted and given new life.  The wall at the right of the stairwell was begging for some sort of wall art.  While shopping at Michaels Craft Store I found large letters made from a paper mache type cardboard on sale for $5 each.  I decided to to get a large "W" for our last name, which is Walker.  With some leftover Black Chalkboard Paint that I had on hand, I brushed on a quick coat and let it dry... There you have it. This was seriously the easiest ever DIY wall art!!!

Below is a picture of what it looked like before I painted it.  I always say it's amazing what a little paint can do!

I waited about 15 minutes for the paint to dry and then I put Command Picture Hanging Strips on the back to make for easy hanging.  Command Strips are awesome for hanging lightweight items and they don't damage the walls (which I love)!!!

I've always like the look of decorating with letters, but this is the first time I've actually done it.  I like it so much that I think I'll do another somewhere else in our home :)

Until next time,
Happy decorating!

Diana