Nashville – Take 3

I was hoping to get our plans finished this week, but no such luck.  I emailed the draftsman telling him we wanted them done this week or next week, at the latest.  He said he’d get right on it.  Haven’t heard anything from him since despite sending him a couple more emails.  We may have to give him an ultimatum this week if we are ever going to get them completed.

The granite fabricator called me this week.  He had talked to a couple Cambria suppliers and confirmed what I already knew – the slabs only come 4’6″ x 10′.  Our island is currently drawn at 5’6″ x 12’6″.  We could make it a little shorter, but I don’t really want to reduce the width because the room is so wide.  If it’s much narrower, it’s going to look weird.  Plus, I want the width for a variety of reasons.  To use the Cambria, we’d have to buy 3 slabs and have at least 2 seams.  I was planning on 2 slabs which is far from cheap, but I don’t think we can justify buying 3.  Having 2 seams in a surface that large and flat is also less than ideal.  So, now what?  I’ve been planning the kitchen around that island and have had the cabinets and counters pretty much picked out for a couple months now.  There are a couple other quartz companies that make “jumbo” slabs, but neither has anything remotely similar or anything that I’d rather use instead of the Praa Sands.

We saw several gorgeous slabs on our first trip to Nashville, but I wasn’t thinking about the island when we were there.  David was off Thursday, so we ran back up there again.  I wanted to take a second look while actually considering the island this time.  I was also hoping to get samples of the ones I really liked, but they ended up only having 1 which isn’t at the top of my list.  I took my “big” camera with us this time so I could get better pictures although it’s still a warehouse with lousy lighting.  This first one is what I got a sample of.  It may be a possibility for the bathrooms – Bianco Antico.

Here’s another slab of it at the second warehouse we went to.  This slab has a lot less white and I don’t care for it as well.  This is a good example of why it’s important to pick the exact slab that’s going to be used.

Crema Antartica is another pretty white with some sparkle.

I believe River White is a more common granite that might be easy to find remnants of:

“Summer Yellow” looks like strawberry ice cream.  It would be cute in a little girl’s bathroom.

Gray Soapstone:

I had seen this online and thought it might be a possibility for the island, but I didn’t like it as well in person – Angelus.

“Taupe Gold” is another one we could use in other areas of the house.

I’m not sure where I would use it, but Earth Glitter is pretty neat with lots of silver flecks.

This was a gorgeous slab that would be impressive on an island, but I’m not sure if it’s what I’m looking for.  I also think it’s a marble so the durability would be a concern for me – Typhoon Royale.

This had some beautiful blue in it, but I didn’t care for the yellow in it or the splotchiness – Barricato.

Verde Waves:

This would be high on my list if I wanted marble – Vermont White Extra.

This was a gorgeous slab – Shell Reef Beige Leathered.

Renoir Quartzite:

We had seen slabs of this on our first trip, but they were gone this time.  This sample looks like a satellite picture to me.  It’s called Mari Blue.  I really like it, but it’s probably too dark for the island.  Powder room possibility?

I took this picture for my new online pen pal who is also building 🙂  It’s Frosty Carrina Caesarstone (quartz).

This is what The Kid picked out for his bathroom – Red Shimmer Caesarstone.  We hate to tell him, but it’s not going to happen.  Maybe if we could find a super cheap piece that could be easily replaced later . . .

We still love the Metallic granite in the leathered finish.  Again, I don’t think it’s what I want for the island, but it would be nice to put it somewhere.

Like the name, it’s full of metallic silver.

Kosmus Leathered was also similar and they still had a couple remnants of it.

I’m still planning on using Marron Cohiba (Brown Antique) or Marron Labrador for the kitchen perimeter.  I think I want it to either have a honed or leathered finish.  This slab is honed.

It is a good combination of brown and gray.

I love this marble.  White, blue and sparkles.  It’s beautiful.  I just not crazy about using marble in our kitchen – Damasco White.

White Ice granite has the same colors as the Cambria Praa Sands, but it’s less white.  It has the blues, taupes and some sparkle.  This might work for the island if we found the right slab.

We also saw a honed slab of it:

Here is a close up of the polished slabs.

I overlooked this on the first trip, but saw it online before our last trip, so I knew to look for it.  It also has the same colors as the Praa Sands and is another possibility for the island – New Azul Aran.

Above is “New Azul Aran” and below is “Azul Aran”.  This was the main one I wanted to see again as an option for the island.  I really loved it when we saw it the first time.  It’s a lot more blue than I was wanting, but it’s beautiful.  Blue, white and sparkling silver.  This first slab is a leathered finish which I also love.  I was concerned about having the leathered finish on the main work surface, but after doing some research, I don’t think it would be a problem.

Here are polished slabs.

This slab was larger than the others, but it was the prettiest one they had.

This was a normal sized slab, but it was also one of the prettiest ones they had.  They had a surprisingly large number of them.

We could have loaded up this stack of slabs and taken it with us since it was some of my favorites.

The second stone warehouse also had a lot of tile.  This one is what I’ve been looking for to use in the mudroom and laundry – Emser Eurasia Cafe.

I’d love to use this for the backsplash, but it’s expensive and too “frilly” for David – Artistic Tile Claridges.

Artistic Tile Toledo Lucido Glass & Stone:

This would be an awesome focal point above the cooktop – Artistic Tile Seville Bianco.

I haven’t really jumped on the current herringbone trend, but I like this tile and the combination of textures –

This tile pattern was neat.  The brown tiles looked like wood.  I think it would be neat with a glass accent tile.  A variation of this might be an option for our shower walls.

Here was their display bathroom with an infinity tub.

Our shower will be curbless like this (but much larger).  We may also do a trough drain like this but it will be far from the shower entrance.

We also stopped at an appliance store.  I noticed something interesting shortly after we walked in the door.  On the left was a Jenn Air display kitchen which we walked around first.  To the right of the entrance was a Kitchenaid display.  I stopped when I walked up to the Kitchenaid fridge.  I looked at it, back at the Jenn Air, back at the Kitchenaid.  The ice/water dispensers were identical.

I opened the doors and the interiors were also the same.  As you can see, the prices were not.  Good to know.  Unfortunately, they hardly had any Thermador appliances or anything else I was hoping to see, so we didn’t spend much time there.

I emailed the stone fabricator with the names of my favorite stones so he can get some prices and we might be able to compare.  He was trying to get an estimate together for the builder.  David is off Wednesday, so we may need to meet with the builder and/or draftsman to go over where everything stands.  I would like to be able to submit the plans and contract to the bank within the next couple weeks so we can proceed with our loan.