River House Diary

The paint color for the Den built-ins exceeded our expectations. Simply goregous. Den built-in cabinets; personal collection

Yesterday, the trim carpenters moved upstairs and started work on Pete’s desk — built-in shelves and a work surface. He’ll have a great view of the river. And I’m not minding my window mistake as much as I thought I would. Beginning of Pete’s desk; personal collection

Pete and I had a glimpse of our waves earlier in the construction process when we approved them. Now they have been sanded, painted, installed and trimmed — install complete. Waves appliqué on the kitchen vent hood; personal collection

When designing the Bonus Bath both Zuniga Interiors and I missed a critical bit of information provided by the house plans. The slope ceiling non-surprise surprise; personal collection Those dashed lines circled in red indicate the ceiling is sloped where the bathroom vanity is located. What the plans didn't indicate was how high up on the wall did the slope start. Today, we found out. Ceiling slope in Bonus Bath; personal collection The wall is 83-1/4 inches high -- less than an inch short of 7 feet. The height of all the things that have to go under that slope are: 33.25" -- Bathroom vanity without countertop   6.00" -- Countertop and backsplash 35.00" -- Mirror   9.00" -- Light bar ------- 83.25" That means there would be no space between the backsplash, mirror and light bar. Not good. The lights have already been ordered and changing them would require a restocking fee. Also, there's not really enough room for sconces on e...

Last week we met with the cabinetmaker to discuss the design of the Den built-ins, and totally redesigned them on the fly adding another section for a total of six instead of five. The design was the cabinetmaker’s idea once he knew the primary purpose for the built-ins was threefold: 1) house a big TV, 2) store DVDs and 3) books. Pete should still have room for a 65-inch TV. He is a happy camper. Beginnings of the Den built-in cabinets; personal collection

The other vanity we purchased ourselves was the washstand and sink for the Half Bath. It was from Restoration Hardware and was a bit of a splurge. It still needs to be centered on the plumbing before being secured in place. Half Bath washstand and sink; personal collection

Things continue to happen at River House. The bathroom vanity we purchased for the upstairs bathroom was moved from our storage unit to the house and set nearly in place — it still needs to get pushed against the back wall. Bonus Bath vanity; personal collection

I saved this photograph of a Phoebe Howard designed kitchen in 2011 and it is still one of my favorite kitchens. Wave pattern on vent hood inspiration; courtesy Phoebe Howard Look closely at the vent hood. I’m stealing the waves. My waves still need to go back to the shop in Walstonburg for sanding and painting, but they are looking good! Wave pattern for vent hood; personal collection.

We stopped by the house yesterday and several "pretty" things happened Monday in the kitchen. The countertops and sink were installed as well as the kitchen backsplash tile. I have been swooning over this tile since Zuniga Interiors sent us the design concept for the kitchen and it certainly didn't disappoint. Roca Tile USA Maiolica 3" x 12" ceramic tile in Aqua Crackle ; personal collection I selected a single-bowl under-mount sink for the island as I am not a fan of how most farmhouse sinks are installed. The cabinets, sink, and countertops have to be installed perfectly for it to look good and that doesn't always happen. For the countertops in the kitchen and master bath, I chose Cambria's Fairbourne quartz. Fairbourne features a creamy foundation highlighted with swirls of white and light beige. It blends perfectly with the CabCraft Canvas cabinets, allowing the tile to be the star of the kitchen. Cambria Fairbourne quartz ; courtesy of...

The vanity in Bath 2, or the guest bath, is CabCraft Dalton door style , a partial overlay style. Bath 2 vanity which is CabCraft Dalton door style; personal collection

Most of the cabinets in River House are from CabCraft , a small company in Charlotte, North Carolina. In the kitchen, great room and master bathroom, we used Allentown, a full overlay door style. To save money, we used the Dalton door style, a partial overlay style, in the master closet, laundry room and the guest bath. With any partial overlay style you can see some of the cabinet frame. CabCraft Dalton partial overlay door style in the laundry room; personal collection I still am not crazy about the countertops. With no lights yet, it looks too gray and the pattern is definitely too busy. Upper cabinets with trim; personal collection

While we made our quick trip to Macon, Georgia, over the weekend, our kitchen island began to take shape. It acquired legs! The kitchen island grew legs in attained its final shape; personal collection Kitchen island from the Great Room; personal collection

Our project manager sent a photo of the kitchen cabinets yesterday. They are by CabCraft, a small semi-stock North Carolina manufacturer. This is the Allentown door style in Canvas. The island stain is Smoke. Kitchen cabinets; courtesy of Austin Bayliss

I have looked at more photos on Houzz.com of kitchen and bath cabinets than I care to admit. I was looking for some unknown, and it turns out, nonexistent rule on when to use knobs, pulls or bin pulls. I did find this article helpful in confirming my decisions: How to Select Cabinet Knobs and Pulls . Yesterday we got the final quote from the cabinet supplier which included all the hardware. I’ve decided whatever she specified is good enough for me. So we will be using Jeffrey Alexander’s Hayworth collection throughout the house except for the Master Bath and Den. Jeffrey Alexander Hayworth cabinet hardware; personal collection

We're getting near the end of the selections process. The penultimate choices were bath, cabinet and interior door hardware. For most of the bathrooms, I selected towel bars and toilet paper holders that matched the style and finish of the faucets. The Master Bath was a bit more challenging. It's spacious but has few walls for installing towel bars. So I thought I would try a double bar. Moen had no such thing. I ordered this one from Restoration Hardware with matching crystal door knobs and drawer pulls for the vanity. Vintage double towel bar in chrome ; courtesy of Restoration Hardware

When I ask Zuniga Interiors a question, I always get a beautiful answer. Here's the solution to my cabinet conundrum. Cabinets over refrigeration columns; courtesy of Zuniga Interiors (source unknown) What was the problem? Those short, squatty upper cabinets above the refrigeration columns that don't align with the appliance widths. Elevation drawing of refrigerator/freezer wall; courtesy of JAK Moulding & Supply Those cabinets really bothered me. When we visited the cabinet supplier in May to complete the outstanding items related to our order, we talked about the squatty cabinets. Working under the premise the cabinets would be operable, there just wasn't a good CabCraft solution. So we didn't change anything. But they continued to bother me, and I finally did what I should have done in the beginning. I emailed Zuniga Interiors. They pointed out the appliances were 7 feet tall and those cabinets would be difficult to access. They suggested using ...

My brother has graciously agreed to be our receiving department for items we are ordering ourselves, but I was trying to keep his hassle factor to a minimum. Restoration Hardware's website said the vanity and sink for the Half Bath typically ships in three to ten days. So I ordered it ten days before we arrived in New Bern. But our vanity didn't arrive until several days after we had returned to New York. Sorry Ted! Restoration Weather Oak Single Console Washstand ; courtesy Restoration Hardware

Since my first choice for a vanity for the Bonus Bath was out of stock, I went looking for another one. I ended up choosing a vanity base with doors instead of drawers to eliminate any issue there may have been with the door casing trim. Glenn Single Vanity Base Cabinet Only, Weathered Natural, 30" ; courtesy of Houzz.com The burning question now is do I change the floor tile color? Lagoon or Beige ?

Darn it, Home Depot! Why is my vanity out of stock? Home Decorators Collection 30" Teasian Vanity in Flagstone ; courtesy Home Depot When I spoke to customer service, the representative did not believe this color would be restocked. I thought it looked great with the floor tile color. 360 3/4" x 3/4" floor and wall tile in Lagoon ; courtesy Bedrosians Perhaps this vanity wasn't the best choice as the drawers hitting the door casing trim may have been an issue. The price was certainly right, though.

Our house plan specified locker-type cabinets by the back door to the garage. I envisioned something like this: Mud room lockers; courtesy of PB Kitchen Design But, boy, those lovely suckers are expensive. So we are building a closet in that space instead.