Four - Budgeting the Details

As our target date for kitchen/bathroom construction approaches, I've been going through our ideas and plans to narrow down what we think we want to do. We've been advised to begin serious talks with contractors in July, so we're trying to finalize our budget and hopes for the project to be prepared.

So, I've been going through our wish list and selecting where we plan to splurge, and where we plan to save, in order to meet our goals. It's been a lot of fun!

For example, I've known all along I want a farmhouse kitchen sink - the kind where the front apron is exposed. But we've wavered between splurging on clean white fireclay:

Photo courtesy of Rohl Home

or saving with deep rich copper:

Photo courtesy of Van Dyke's Restorers

This week we decided on the copper. It's actually surprising to us that copper's the less expensive options - I mean, have you bought a copper pipe lately? Yikes! Anyway, while we love the clean, classic look of the white sink, we think the copper will wear better, and add beautiful depth and texture to the room. Plus, I love that it will get better with time, as it develops its own unique patina!

Schoolhouse lighting has also been a must all along, and I absolutely LOVE to peruse the gorgeous designs of Schoolhouse Electric. Their prices tend to give me sticker shock though, so eventually we were able to find another schoolhouse style light for about one fourth the price! With 9 of these fixtures in the plans (6 in the kitchen, 2 in the upstairs bath and one in the half bath), that's a few hundred in savings!

Photo courtesy of good old Amazon

So, that was a few saves. Let's talk about a splurge now! Way back when kitchen plans were just a twinkle in our eye, I put some rather fancy kitchen hardware on my Christmas list. For the last few Christmases and birthdays, my parents have been great about giving me a drawer pull here and there, so they've been slowly collecting. I've since wondered if I'm being too extravagant, but then I hold the solid brass pieces with their beautiful brushed nickel finish, and decide once again that I don't care!

We have decided, however, to curb the price a bit and add some variety by using the pulls above on drawers, and the corresponding knobs below on all cabinet doors. This saves about 1/3 the cost, and aren't the little round knobs cute?

Photos courtesy of Restoration Hardware

And now, for our biggest (and toughest) savings decision. Are you sitting down? We've decided to give up the checkered marble floor in the kitchen, and instead have our old worn wood flooring replaced with new oak flooring to match the rest of the house. It took several days for me to be ok with this, but now I'm excited for the openness and continuity it will give to the main floor, as well as the warmth and softness it will bring to the kitchen.

Photo courtesy of Granite Gurus

Since we're giving up the marble floor, we'll also saving on our backsplash with white porcelain subway tiles rather than the marble ones we originally considered.

It's not all savings though - I'm not giving up all my marble! We're hoping to SPLURGE on a white, marble countertop! We love the beautiful, classic look of the white stone with big grey veins running through. Don't the tiles and counter look great together?

Photo courtesy of Granite Gurus

Watching Anthony Bourdain's travel show No Reservations (available instantly on Netflix) confirmed that we were on the right track with the white marble countertop, as we watched his Sicily show on repeat, and it inspired us to take advantage of all the practice Chris has gotten making butcher block cutting boards. We want to top off our island with a warm, rustic butcher block top.

Photo courtesy of Domestically Speaking

I'm still convincing Chris and we can totally save on this by having him making it. We may have to splurge on a planer first, though, for that to happen!

So, that's our updated as we get closer to the big day . . . . only four months left to wait!