And now for something different: Kitchen Refresh

We've begun doing the early legwork on planning our kitchen...refresh. Let's call it a refresh. It certainly isn't a remodel. The cabinets are staying, the layout is staying and we aren't replacing any appliances. But it's time for an update. The counter is cracked and, since swapping out the linoleum, has become the cheapest part of our kitchen. Not cheap in a good way, cheap in a "why did the previous owners shell out so much for the cabinets and not get a good countertop?" It's been very good to us for years, but now in addition to being cheap, it's showing signs of wear, having a crack all the way through on the side that had to be removed during our new addition construction. And if we're gong to replace the counter, I can get a backsplash like I've always wanted. And if we're doing all that, we might as well pay the person to fix the cracked ceiling and repaint everything too, and and and. This is starting to feel like "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." But here we are, at the start of making a to-do list that keeps getting longer.

Here's a reminder of what our kitchen looks like now. This picture has obviously been staged in no way, so please excuse the mess - this is what life looks like these days.

Here's a beautiful underside view of our Corian counters, wrapped over some kind of wood composite. Probably not a view most people consider when choosing counters, but since I'm often on the floor playing with the kids, it's a view I see more often than you'd expect.

Everything has to match/compliment our dark cabinets, since those are staying. It makes sense to me to lighten up the kitchen by swapping out our dark gray counters with something bright. We are heavily leaning towards Silestone, despite the price, because it's strong and nonporous and doesn't need treating/sealing. We're open to other ideas if you have a suggestion.

Based on Silestone's color assistant website, I think I'd like something that has veins to look like marble, or maybe specks to look like granite. Eternal Calacatta Classic looks nice, as does Lyra or White Arabesque. Obviously we'd need to see them in person.

Then comes the backsplash. We're thinking of some kind of subway tile look, maybe with a pearly white. Or maybe slightly smaller rectangles, but also in a gray/pearly white shade. A friend suggested getting the grout done in the darker gray of the veins/specks of the counter, which sounds like it would look good. He also suggested avoiding the 3'' counter wrap that goes along the wall and getting the backsplash all the way down to the countertop.

Here are some random pictures I've compiled from the internet as I try to find inspiration. What do you think?

Personally I have always adored pressed tin. Whenever it's on a ceiling in a bar, I always notice it and enjoy it. It's probably not realistic, both because it would be hard to clean and because it looks too dark and too remarkable to blend well, but I'm putting it out there anyway as an idea. Do you like it?

As usually, I find it easier to find looks that I hate, rather than ones I love. Here some kitchens that have similar color schemes but that I find ugly.

Apparently, I don't like square tiles:

And even though I like having a decorative tile row in our bathroom, this doesn't look good in a kitchen, to me:

 And despite saying I like subway tile, this is too boring:

 The rectangles in this are too narrow and the color is too varies:

Natural stone looks like like it's pretending to be the wall of a fortress. A big nope:

I still haven't found the perfect "this is what I want" picture, but maybe I will eventually. We had our first contractor com out to start giving us price estimates and he recommended a tile store, so we may have to go shop in person to find our inspiration.

Other things we're looking to possibly "refresh" in the kitchen:

• New cabinet pulls/handles
• New coat of paint
• New dining room light
• New kitchen light, possibly switching to recessed lighting
• New under-cabinet lights
• Fresh coat of stain on some of the cabinet edges, where the wood has gotten worn

We'll see how what we end up deciding to do as we start to figure out pricing and time demands.

The ants are back, again

Last year, like every year lately, we got ants. The difference was that D discovered the only effective solution to-date to get rid of them. This year, they snuck up early and in an unexpected spot - the living room front door area, where we keep the kids' jackets and the diaper bag. What were they after? You may have guessed it - food in the diaper bag. Guess those boxes of raisins are no match for ants.

D had kept the solution he'd made last year, containing water, sugar, Borax, and cotton balls. He put one along their path.

They flocked to it within minutes, and the problem, like so many others like it, became worse before it got better.

Fortunately we left town for 3 days, leaving the doors to the cubbies open and freshly washed and the cotton ball in place. Just a single cotton ball.

We came back from our trip - NO ANTS! None. They gobbled up the poison, brought it back to their friends, and that was that.

That night, we found another little path back in their usual location, next to the kitchen oven. I forgot to take a picture evidently, but they got the same treatment. Next day - no ants. This stuff is amazing. And while Borax isn't exactly safe for kids, in the small quantities used on the cotton ball and compared to real pesticides, this is a pretty good solution. The bottle is well-labeled and out of reach in the garage of course.

Be gone, ants!

Happy Little Trees

The trees we planted in November are looking very happy. We've been dutifully watering them each day (and now, thanks to some torrential rains, they're getting plenty on their own) and they are leafing out beautifully.

Here is the maple in our front yard, evidently still leaning after a few months of training. We took the band off to see how it was doing and clearly it still needs some help learning to grow straight.

The maple in the back has a much rounder ball of leaves and seems much fuller - which will make for a nice and robust shade cover in the maybe not too distant future. The tree to the right in this picture is on the chopping block, sort of literally. It's mostly dead and now it is stealing light from our maple, so we plan to cut it down soon.

 The Japanese Snowbell is also looking happy.

And now for the very littlest of trees. D is on a mission to replant those random trees in our yard that grew in our flower beds from natural causes. He's planting a row of them along the property line with the empty lot in an effort to (one day) bring back some shade to that side of the house. Here is a tin maple we found in a garden:

He's also planting a row of them at the curb between the sidewalk and the street. It's not technically our property but it is ours to maintain. Our town recently went through planting some saplings along certain streets, but ours was not one of them. The trees that do exist in that space are looking old and worn out, so it's time to replenish the tree canopy here as well. These are tulip trees but we have a few maple babies growing in our gardens that we plan to put in this area as well, maybe not until after the hot summer.

And now a diversion to show you what has apparently become our very purple spring garden. Right now the alliums are in full bloom, as are the dark purple irises and the clematis. The lighter purple irises and the purple phlox are past their peak but still hanging on. I am loving having a garden in my favorite color. Though I'm excited for the yellows of the late summer black-eyed susans too (hopefully with some purple echinacea thrown in for good measure).

And finally, some new additions to our patio - two very inexpensive adirondack chairs from Target to match the mini ones we got the kids. I should have about another week to enjoy them before the mosquitoes come out in full force.