Matt Sletten worked today setting ceramic tile in the backsplash around the kitchen. The photo below shows the subway tile running from the wall oven cabinets on the left all the way to the refrigerator cabinet on the right. The new tiles set off against the cabinets, Cambria, and walls look great!
I could not help myself…So I went back and installed the vent hood & wall oven, put some supplies in the cupboard, and hung one of Deb’s decorative plates behind the cooktop.
This kitchen is going to look great!
Matt spent Friday installing the decorative tile backsplash in the kitchen at the “L” Shaped House. The first photo shows the patterned tiles on the wall behind the kitchen counter cooktop for the very first time. The subway tile backsplash will (of course) continue under the cabinets all the way around the kitchen.
The next photo shows a close up of the decorative tile backsplash. Here it is easier to see some of the details of the tile placement especially along the sides and bottom of the kitchen cabinets. Matt’s (obsessive?) attention to the details is once again paying off in the form of a very nicely conceived and executed bit of work!
Next I decided to add the sample cabinet door Steve Carmichael prepared to the photo. This door has been “distressed” using the glazing and wiping process we plan to apply to all of the white cabinets. I really think this whole elaborate plan is going to come together nicely.
In this last photo I could not help myself and set Matt’s alignment laser to “stun” and took a couple of shots.
Deb and I met with Matt Sletten to finalize the ceramic tile backsplash he is going to install behind the gas cooktop on the kitchen counter. We started by referring back to the decorating plan Katie Hunsley delivered way back in December. The plan back then included a countertop with an integrated 4” Cambria backsplash. Our new plan has subway tile running right down to the counter tops. Careful consideration of this change caused us to conclude that we needed to start fresh (only our second departure from Katie’s plans).
Matt got us started by carefully measuring the available space and then tracing some possible layouts on the wall using the actual subway tiles. This process eventually led us to building a couple of sample layouts on the island…
Like the one pictured below. The available space combined with the ceramic tile sizes and aspect ratios made this a surprisingly complicated endeavor. In the end…the layout pictured below seemed to represent the best compromise of a “big enough” patterned area and a “look and feel” we all liked.
The images below show the backsplash area before and after Photoshopping (you had to know this was coming…)
Jay and his crew showed up this morning to continue working on the Landscaping plan at the “L” Shaped House but quickly determined that the rains last night made our site too wet to work. The panoramic photo here shows the back yard after they completed the finish grading yesterday afternoon. The planting beds on both sides are complete and the wide runway down the middle is graded and ready to be mulched and planted in low-mow turf. The irrigation folks are coming Tuesday to install the sprinkler system and it looks like we’ll be ready!
Matt is back today setting tile in the basement bathroom. The two photos below show the back wall of the basement shower with the mosaic tile accent “stripe” and the 12” x 24” wall tiles running all the way to the ceiling. The tile looks very nice and it feels good to be getting close to finishing the bathrooms.
Jay and his landscaping crew were back yesterday continuing to work their way around the the house creating and filling the new planting beds. The first three photos show some of the new features added to the front side of the house. In the first we see the thin ribbon of plastic edging winding across the front porch and the buckets of new shrubs waiting to be placed at the far end.
The next photo shows Sam inspecting the trench dug along the West side of the new driveway where a PVC pipe will drain the gutters on the front corner of the house into the front yard. The next photo shows the dry river-bed we have decided to install along the front edge of the porch. We decided to eliminate the stairs on the front of the porch and the gutter above after experiencing a “real” Minnesota winter with our new standing seam roof. The prodigious pile of snow and ice that accumulated at the front stairs as well as the gutter being nearly torn from the roof convinced us to pursue a different path to our front door. I think that an under appreciated benefit of this change will be experiencing a nice summer rain complete with water running off the hot tin roof into the river bed from the comfort of our screen porch!
The Last two photos show some of the progress Jan and his guys made in and around the back breezeway entrance. The first shows the new plantings along the top of the modular block wall and back side of the garage as well as the dry river bed along the limestone path.
The last photo shows these new features from the back wall of the house. Here we see the front edge of the new paver patio and limestone path with the new plantings running along the top of the modular wall. The beginnings of our “high tech” dog run can be seen at the right hand side of the photo. Here Jay has installed rock in the dry river-bed that runs across the front edge of the dog run. Once the fencing is installed he will add the rubber membrane, plastic decking and K9 grass.
Another detail of the basement decorating plan is now officially off the unfinished list. Deb and her friend Kim spent a recent morning tracking down ceramic tile to be used as a trim element around the basement fireplace. They have selected the tile shown below (1” sample sheet) from the Tile Shop.
We plan to have Matt install a single row of 4” square tiles all around the fireplace like the Photoshop sketch below. The ceramic tile border should be a nice, simple, finishing touch in this corner of the basement family room.
Matt Sletten was back working in the basement bathroom yesterday afternoon. The two photos below show the 12” x 24” ceramic tile going up on the walls and Corian shelves installed in the corners. Deb has decided to have Matt install an accent “stripe” around the shower walls using three rows of the mosaic floor tile. The stripe will be set just above the wall tiles shown here and the 12” x 24” wall tiles will then continue all the way to the ceiling.
Rick and Jordan are back today painting on the “high side” of the “L” Shaped House. The first photo shows Rick near the top of their 40’ ladder cutting-in at the very top of the gable above the basement walk-out patio. They have all of the siding below the “stripe” finished and a first coat on everything but the very highest parts of the exterior.
The next photo shows the same scene from the opposite corner of the back yard. Here we get a sense of how high the above the basement walk-out patio Rick has to climb to paint this gable. As Rick paints on the back wall Jordan is working his way around the house painting the MiraTEC trim. They hope (weather permitting) to have the exterior pretty much wrapped up by the end of this week.
