More home construction

I've been bothered, somewhat, about how open our interior is. I don't like a completely closed up home where you have to go through a door or doorway to get to each room, but to have it completely opened up takes away a bit of mystery to me. I like getting lost in a house and when it's completely open where you can see every room but the bedrooms, just bothers me. It doesn't seem as "homey", I guess. Our house is quite different than any other home I've ever seen. I don't know what the original plans were, but the way the flooring is, the living room is where the dining room should be and the dining is where the living room should be. Meaning, the dining room is the room where you walk through the front door, and the living room is off the kitchen. You'd have to go through the living room to get to the dining room from the kitchen. Even though the flooring is carpet in what the previous owners must have called the living room and linoleum where they must have called the dining, I didn't do it like that. Right now, my living room is on the linoleum and the dining table on the carpet. That's the reason I'm anxious to get new flooring. Well, one of the reasons. Also, the way I have it, the fireplace is in the dining room, not the living room. I don't care about that at all. I think a fireplace in the dining room is quite cozy.

I've been trying my hardest to figure out how to divide the kitchen and dining room where it won't be shut completely off, but yet, allow it to have a little privacy from each other, and I think I've figured it out. As long as the opening is big, it won't be shut off. Also, the walls that will be put up will allow me to have more cabinets in my kitchen, even though I have quite a few now. Who couldn't use more cabinets, right? We shop in bulk, so I know I could use the extra storage!

So, the problem I'm facing is knowing Clayton isn't even going to want to take on the task, even though he would do an excellent job. (He's too happy with his boat right now to even think of work while he's off) He's always done our handyman work so hiring someone scares me. I have no idea whatsoever how much these kinds of things cost and I'd so much love to save the money and spend it on the many other things that are needed here. In fact, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't even know who to call to build that wall. I've seen a wall build before...I wonder if I could manage to do it. We have the tools and we are only talking 2x4's, right? At least I think so.

I'll have to post pictures of everything I'm talking about and will put them on this post, so check back. Keep in mind though, everything is brown brown brown! UGH!

Excitement has been contained :(

Well, it's back to the drawing board with the flooring. I kept feeling like I wouldn't like the tile so much if it were more than just the 4 tiles completing one design. I googled images of patterned tile and found something similar and it's old and dirty, but still, the entire pattern and colors are pretty close...enough to be able to see how busy that design would be on our floor.

This is the tile I originally thought was beautiful:




















This is the floor that made me realize NO WAY!!!

So, what now? I really don't want wood look laminate flooring in my kitchen. That's too much wood going on for me. The cabinets I have now are the original cabinets I'm in the process of painting until I can get an entire kitchen remodel. (probably years from now) I guess I could always stick with white cabinets even after the remodel. I'm so lost now.

If I do go with laminate like we planned originally, I'm going to have to wait longer since it will include the living and hallway as well. *Sigh*

A few positive thoughts - at least now the painted paneling won't look cheap next to laminate flooring (the sheetrock can wait a little longer), I can still have my painted cabinets without them looking cheesy next to that flooring, and my dining table and chairs won't look bad next to laminate like I feel it would with the tile (it's contemporary and I don't feel like the tile would really fit in well with that style).

Such is life.

Getting ready for new floors! :)

I thought I'd be on here more often, but we have been so busy with loads of different things around here.

We shopped for flooring for the house today. Actually, we went to look at laminate and I wasn't sure what I wanted, but as I was comparing a couple pieces, I came across a piece of tile that intrigued me. Gorgeous stuff!!! So, after putting it next to a mirror to get an idea of the design it would be, I fell in love!! I looked at a couple more pieces of tile and nothing compared to it. So, we decided to use this tile in the kitchen and dining room. Here's a picture of it by the mirror:
Trust me, the picture does not do it justice whatsoever!! I'm so excited, I can't contain it! Before the end of this week, they are going to come out and measure and in a couple weeks, this will be my new flooring for my dining and kitchen! Oh, so pretty!