River House Diary

The replacement countertops for the Laundry Room arrived a couple of days ago. They haven’t been installed yet but what an improvement over “drama marble.” This is WilsonArt Hebron White. The website says it has the look of “soft Jerusalem stone ... with sophisticated movement and detail in a range of warm cream tones.” Yeah, right. Replacement laminate countertops for laundry room; personal collection

After being blindsided by the need to pay extra for railings for the screen porch , we met with our builder to nail down any remaining costs over and above the contract. We also discussed the two times we had been frustrated with what we felt were surprises. The next day our builder called to let us know they and the countertop supplier were going to eat the cost of the Laundry Room counters as I was so unhappy with them. They also felt like the sample provided to select the material was not representative of the finished product and were considering changes to the selection process to ensure this didn't happen again. Using a piece of floor tile to compare laminate samples, we selected Hebron White from WilsonArt. Hebron White formica sample; personal collection After making the selection we went to the WilsonArt website to ensure the pattern was subtle and not as vivid as Drama Marble. WilsonArt Hebron White laminate ; courtesy of WilsonArt Much better! I am ver...

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

When we visited the cabinet supplier in May, I selected countertops for the Laundry Room. We decided to use Formica as a cost-savings measure. This is the color I chose: Laundry Room countertop; personal collection We visited the house today to finalize the fireplace design and the countertops had been installed in the Laundry Room. I was surprised and more than a bit disappointed when I saw them. There is a lot more pattern than I anticipated from the wee sample. Countertop installed; personal collection Too late, I went to the WilsonArt website and looked up "Drama Marble," the name of our selection. The description on their website would have had me scrambling for a new choice if I'd read it earlier: "A striking white marble design with vivid grey, brown, and bronze veining..." Vivid certainly was NOT what I was going for.

The cabinets in the Laundry Room will be painted off-white and I wanted a subtle pattern for the countertops in white, off-white, cream or beige. We selected laminate counters as a cost-savings measure and chose this WilsonArt pattern. The name of the pattern is Drama Marble, which has me a little concerned but the sample looks perfect. Laminate countertop for Laundry Room; personal collection

When I worked with Zuniga Interiors on flooring selections, I asked them to use tile from a company that distributes nationally. And they did, but TAB's tile supplier doesn't carry Bedrosians Tile & Stone. We're still working through that issue. Since the Master Bath, Master Closet and Laundry Room are all accessible to each other, we chose Bedrosians 12" x 24" Purestone floor and wall tile in Beige for all three rooms. The shower floor will be the same tile but in 1" x 2" mosaic. Purestone floor and wall tile in Beige (not a good color representation); courtesy of Bedrosians Tile & Stone

For the ceiling-mounted light fixture in the Laundry Room, we went for an industrial vibe. Verndale 11-3/4" Brushed Nickel Industrial Ceiling Light ; courtesy of LampsPlus.com

Our builder priced our home using cabinets made by CabCraft, a small company in Charlotte, North Carolina, that makes stock cabinets developed with the designer and custom cabinet maker in mind. They have a wide variety of door styles. The Dalton door style was chosen by TAB's interior designer for our house. This style is a partial overlay, which means portions of the cabinet frame are visible. Cabcraft Dalton cabinets; courtesy of CabCraft I like full overlay cabinets better because the frame is not visible. So I went looking for a CabCraft full overlay cabinet style I liked and found Naples. I thought the rope detail evoked my coastal, nautical decor theme. CabCraft Naples cabinets; courtesy of CabCraft I asked Zuniga Interiors about the Naples cabinets; they didn't like them for our house. They thought the detail might be too fussy and take away from other design elements. They were also concerned that cabinets with a lot of detail become collectors of dust,...

Pete and I have never had a front-loading washing machine and they are lovely. Erika Powell designed laundry room; courtesy of Urban Grace Interiors We read a lot about the pros and cons, and we learned they are more expensive, the wash cycles can be longer, and water can get trapped in the drum, causing a moldy, mildewy smell. Several bloggers wrote the smell can be managed with frequent cleaning. That sounded like extra work to us. So we decided to purchase a regular, un-sexy Whirlpool large-capacity washer and dryer. Whirlpool 5000 Series washer and dryer; courtesy of Affordable Sales & Rentals