"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant."
Robert Louis Stevenson




Monday, February 4, 2013

New Windows! Granite Slab, Kitchen Update


Finally something to post about.

We decided to have new windows and glass doors installed before finishing up the kitchen.  The old ones were original to this house that was built in 1975, aluminum and heavy with lots of drafty areas.  One of the glass doors sounded like scraping metal to metal when you opened it; I won't miss that sound at all.  The first thing I thought about after I used the new door was how quiet they were. My neighbor's dog always heard when I opened the door and would come running down the bank to the fence, looking/waiting for her treat. I don't think I will need to buy as many milk bone for her now, you can barely hear it open.

The install was this last Friday, a big job, 11 windows and 2 glass doors.  Getting ready was not all that bad, I just removed all the drapery and blinds from the windows and doors and moved some furniture.  Moving all my potted plants from around the patios and entrance was the most work!

Windows Delivered
The two tall ones are for our two front windows.  Those were 10 feet wide!

Front window and side window, so weird seeing all the windows in the house out. But the views were great!  I kept expecting birds to fly through the house.  This is one of the installers giving me the high 5.  Not one window broke and they did a fantastic job of cleaning up afterwords.  We had a crew of 5 men.  It took them about 5-6 hours for the entire job. 
Front window before
and After
Kitchen Before
Kitchen After
Inside Kitchen being installed
Patio Door off Kitchen, before
and After
Entrance (dining room window) Before
After (dining room window)
Mexican Patio Before
Mexican Patio After
another view of Mexican Patio
Kitchen window after installation
Kitchen Sliding Glass Door from inside.
 I love the way they look now and hopefully this will save some money on the heating and air conditioning bills. Last month the electric (we have an all electric house) was a whopping $408.00!

On to the kitchen update:

Saturday we found a granite slab that we liked for the kitchen counter.  Here is a photo of that, it is called Cafe Creme, we bought it at Arizona Tile in San Diego.
 
Cafe Creme Granite


This granite is quarried from bedrock in India. It has a lot of tan and brown tones with some garnets, and a bit of gray too. This was our third trip to Arizona Tile, we looked at a few other slab yards but they all were too high priced.  My guess is that Arizona Tile has such a huge slab yard that they have more room to negotiate.  Choosing the granite took me more time than the cabinet color.  Oh, this also has just a slight hint of sage green to it.  I love it and can't wait until I get this on the cabinets.  I still have to have the base cabinet that I moved, secured to the wall and leveled. Then I can have our fabricator out to take measurements, make the template and cut into this beautiful slab!!




11 comments:

  1. I bet it feels good to have those windows in. It is nice to hear that the installers did a good job. I can't wait to see the granite installed. How exciting. Are you going to have a party when it is all done?

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Bonnie. I think once all this is over I will just relax! No party plans yet, but you never know.

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  2. Your new windows are very smart looking. You will enjoy how quiet and warm the house will be. Love the granite. We had granite in the old house and I really want to redo my kitchen. The color you chose is a good one. Can't wait to see the finished kitchen.

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    1. Hi Ann, thank you. We have noticed how much quieter the house is, but then the neighbors didn't have any super bowl parties! We have also noticed that the drafts are gone from the windows. That is a major plus. Our weather has been warmer this week, but later on we should get a little colder nights so we will see if we notice the difference in the heating bill.

      Thanks for visiting!

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  3. Wow Carla those windows are beautiful. We had windows installed last year what a big job.
    Love that granite. Lookin' good. B

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  4. Looks great Carla. We need to do windows and kitchen. Hopefully, we will get started some day soon! xxoo Nancy

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  5. I would love to do what you two have done but then I would feel terrible about losing all my antque windows (1917) and all original glass. Oh well maybe in my next life.

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  6. Gorgeous granite. It looks like some we are going to install around our new fireplace. It's called New Colonial Dream, but looks just like your picture.
    It is so good that you are taking your time and getting what you and your husband want and thinking everything through. We would rather overthink things, at least we know we did our best. We laugh about a rookie mistake we made on measuring the fireplace, resulting in having to use a different fireplace even though we planned backwards and forwards to make sure it was going to go smoothly, but errors can happen. We worked it out and you would never know what we did--unless we told you! We laugh about it and it makes the whole project that much more special. When, if, something comes back to bite you, I hope it is small! Good luck on the rest of your project! I know you will enjoy the results.

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  7. Love the color choice on the granite, it's beautiful. Looking forward to seeing the finished product!

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    1. I do too Charlotte. I am so excited to finally have a nice kitchen.

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Thank you for taking time to visit my blog, I love hearing from you, stay as long as you like, Carla