Back to the kitchen

It took Bart and I weeks to decided on a tile for the backsplash. Originally we were going to use the same tile from the floor but I just didn't like it. After we went through 50 different tile samples, we finally chose this little 3x6 subway tile from Daltile...but we ended up ordering it in from Home Depot for a better price.

I've always liked white subway tile but white just didn't compliment the granite and walnut cabinets, so I am glad that we found this tan/light brown/cream color. As always Bart is amazing. He started placing the back splash last night and he was able to get more than half way done.

Bart likes to work and he is driven by his own insanity! I tell him to stop working and sit with me...because laziness likes company but he never listens.

What do you think? Also should we tile up around the window above the sink?

Movie Review: Sarah's Key

I thought that you may be sick of our house projects, so I decided to would recommend a movie we rented from Redbox over the weekend.

Sarah's Key is about a Jewish Family living in France during the Holocaust.  Please, do not rent this movie if you are looking for a chick flick, a comedy, or something lighthearted....again this about the Holocaust.  Bart and I both love history and Bart especially likes learning about WWII, This movie portrayed a part of the war that I was not familiar with.

The actors did a wonderful job and the movie was filmed on site in France. This a brief synopsis of the movie. "Julia Jarmond (KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS), an American journalist married to a Frenchman, is commissioned to write an article about the notorious Vel d’Hiv round up, which took place in Paris, in 1942. She stumbles upon a family secret which will link her forever to the destiny of a young Jewish girl, Sarah."

The stocking were hung...

Well, the stocking aren't really hung yet because we have no place to hang them, but Bart is working on that.  Bart is determined to have Christmas decorations, a tree and stockings for Christmas.  Last year we didn't decorate at all because we were in the process of showing our house and getting it sold. We signed on Dec 22nd, right before Christmas, thus all our decorations have sat in boxes for 24 months.

In order to get a mantel to hang our stocking on we needed to first, demolish a yucky 2 foot cement bench that stuck out of the fireplace wall (2 feet off the ground).

Then we had to frame the wall in and get all the electrical in place.

Next we had to sand and stain the hardwood floors (which was as terrible and time consuming and as awful the first time we did it), paint the ceiling and get crown and base in.

What do you think of the dark walnut floors and revere pewter wall color?

Bart then had to build the mantel itself, and that required many trips to Home Depot and lots of spackle, primer and paint. (Don't mind the washers taped to the mantel...I thought I wanted to do nuts and bolts but decided against it)

The fun part was picking out a marble to go around the fireplace. We lucked out by loving the Grecian Marble that Home Depot carries.

One of the last things, was to spray paint and reuse the fireplace surround from the downstairs basement fireplace.  Some day we would like to get a gas insert but right now it's not on the priority list.



After all that time and work we are officially one step closer to getting our stockings hung by the chimney with care...