Backsplash, table and more decorating

This blog chronicles my entire kitchen renovation from start to finish. Greentea Design has provided me with their solid wood kitchen cabinets, and I'm taking care of the rest.

If you'd like to be brought up to date, check out my kitchen remodel blog for an archive of previous posts. I posted recently about a few more completed items and some finishing touches, and now for the backsplash, dining table and yet more decorating.

Last Friday the backsplash was installed. I was excited to not have to see the unfinished edge of the countertop finally, but the result was very disappointing. I decided to use the quartz of the countertop and have about a 4" high piece installed along the back of the countertop. The guy that installed it showed up and started bringing in these really short pieces of the quartz which had me a tad confused. They were not the length of each cabinet section. Turns out there were 6 pieces, each one exactly half the length of each cabinet section. Meaning there was a seam down the center of section. Then I watched him silicone everything in place, and then tell me he was all done. I said "HUH? You aren't going to fill in those seams??" He says nope, they just silicone backsplashes. ALLRIGHTY THEN. He left and I called the shop and was told that they had told me they were going to use offcuts. I wasn't told the whole story then if that was the case. I said it looked totally unfinished and the seams weren't filled in. Turns out in the new year they will order a slab of the 3/4" (which is what I had wanted but they didn't have enough of so they used the 1 1/4"), and redo it. I can live with it for now and hope to see a proper backsplash next month. So these photos show the seam, and hopefully one day soon I can show you what it SHOULD look like. (Luckily with the kitchen counters dressed, it's not as noticeable).

It's just before Christmas and I finally have a dining table. It's actually not completed yet but it's useable and I'm very excited about that. I can now eat meals not hunched over my small marble table that was WAY too short to eat at. Also, the kitchen was designed so that I could use it as a second office because the office at the back of the house is cold in the winter and I wanted to be able to work at the dining table and watch the TV in the living room. My contractor built it, and suggested a pedestal base, which was a BRILLIANT idea because you don't see legs from the living room and the top looks like it's floating. It still needs a couple pieces to make it more sturdy because it's quite tippy right now, especially when the porkier of the cats jump from the counter onto it. YIKES! (I should mention as I'm sure some will notice, that the table is warped. My contractor made it in a hurry and then brought it over and it warped quite a bit in the cold/heat. As a result he won't charge me for it...but I'll give him something because it is usable).

Click HERE to see more photos of some decor items I purchased, the completed basement hatch and more.