Decisions, Decisions

We are nearing the end of our Rocky Mountain exodus and preparing to make the return journey.  Our time in Tucson has been filled with work and endless decisions.  For my husband it meant work work, four ten hour days a week of it, plus working on things that needed attention at home, his volunteer work with the botany department at the Desert Museum, and spending time with Tucson friends. For me it meant the usual chores, grabbing some girlfriend time, and making decisions, finally, about everything from door knobs to cabinetry to flooring.

I swear, it was easier to decide on the cabin design that to make a commitment to the details of the material and color of its contents, or maybe our contractor, Brian Shelton, just made it seem that way.  I've been thinking about all of this for over a year, pouring over books and magazines of cabins and small homes, drifting through endless websites of furniture, rugs, and lighting, doing sketches of kitchen layouts and other interior details in an attempt to visualize my ideas.  I've considered, and often discarded, dozens of materials (beadboard got tossed out for instance), genres (not brave enough to do a genuine retro decor), and configurations (open shelving in the kitchen is now about six inches worth).

When it became clear that our Tucson time was running out, I made an appointment with a kitchen designer, Vicki Pilant, at the west side Home Depot on Costco Drive.  She had connected with me as I was sweating bullets over the Formica possibilities, and during an ensuing chat we discovered that she had lived in Colorado not far from where we're building, and at a much higher elevation, so she understood the whole small cabin in the Rockies thing.  Ever prepared, I showed up with a drawing, to scale, of my idea for the kitchen.  It's L shaped, with the short side housing the fridge and stove against the wall and the long side dividing the kitchen from living/dining area, with the sink and dishwasher.  Though she had sold me on the idea of hickory cabinets with their beautiful mineral streaks at our first encounter (echoing my contractor who is also enamored of this lovely wood), there were still lots of things to consider such as wall height, appliance sizes, and exactly how I used a kitchen.  I enjoy cooking, for us, for family, and for friends, but I wanted several people to be able to pitch in to get meals on the table.  The nearest place to get a sandwich or a gallon of milk is over 16 miles away, and most of that on dirt roads, so we need room for provisions and plenty of space to prepare those three meals a day, seven days a week.

Home Depot has some pretty snazzy software for kitchen design.  Exact cabinetry and kitchen components can be grabbed and put into the plan, though having done GIS (geographic information systems, computer mapping) for a couple of years I could see that there was considerable skill required to really use the program.  My kitchen designer came up with some fantastic ideas, like TWO lazy susan cabinets to utilize all those corner spaces, and a wide cabinet door to make sure I didn't have to be a contortionist to get at my dishes.  Vicki was a master at problem solving and suggested solutions for things I didn't even know might bother me down the road, like too many shallow drawers or too small an over the fridge cupboard.  The real magic comes when she pushes the button that gives you a picture of what your kitchen will look like from different angles, right down to the cabinet style.  The other button gave me a total price and it was right on budget, and my budget was not that big.

But wait, there's more!  One of the best things Vicki helped me with was coordinating all the other things  critical to the look of the cabin.  Once we knew the cabinet style, wood, and stain (American Woodmark, Annapolis collection in hickory with a sheer spice stain), we could think countertops, flooring, and wall colors.  Vicki guided us away from the too red, too dark floors we kept choosing.  Walking around with the Hickory Spice small cabinet door sample, we found some color families that would work.  We didn't love any of the laminate fake wood flooring (a necessity for us in a cabin that we want to be a relaxing place for everyone, including grandkids and a steady stream of dogs).  To my surprise none of the "safe" white paint samples did a thing for the wood cabinets, and Vicki suggested that with all the windows we were going to have something with more color might me nice -- we found a delicious hue in the Freshaire collection named Natural Ginger Root.

We decided to cast a wider net for flooring, checking at another big box home improvement store, but with similarly ho-hum, not-quite-it results.  A last ditch stop at an independent flooring store, THT Flooring presented us with an option that we're thrilled about.  They carry Karndean flooring, flexible virgin vinyl that looks, I kid you not, like hand-crafted wood.  We chose the Aged Kauri style, and it is gorgeous and works perfectly with the hickory cabinets.  We still want a little contrast in the kitchen, so we'll likely use some of their "tile" vinyl flooring in the kitchen and bath.  Unlike conventional floating floors, these floors are impervious to water, so there are zero concerns about using it in a kitchen or bath area, or doorways where folks will track in snow.  The dealer said that it is so durable that both Safeway and Walmart use it in their stores.  I remembered being amazed at the gorgeous wood flooring our local Safeway had put down in the produce section during their remodel three years ago, so yesterday I went back in to have a look and it was still in perfect shape, and still fooled me and everyone else I mentioned it to in that it was vinyl plank flooring and not wood at all.

We had a trip to the lighting store and found a couple of sconces for a little general lighting in the living room and the stairs, and lights for the bathroom.  We're debating kitchen lighting, but as there's a convenient beam above the kitchen counter will likely opt for using track lighting.  After grappling with the need/don't need decision of a ceiling fan, we caved in when the slightly smaller version of the one we love so much in our Tucson living room showed up on sale.  We're being frugal where we can, and splurging just a tiny bit where we think it will pay off.  Frankly, we only want to buy these things once and that this will almost undoubtedly be the only home we build together.

So we're heading back to the Rockies with lots of decisions made (and many of them in the cargo area), but still lots to come.  We can't wait to see the progress on the cabin in the month+ we've been away.  The windows are going in and the siding is going on.  I'd guess the roof is next.  Uh-oh...there's a decision due on the shingles!  The stain for the siding!  Well, gotta go...