Ellie is our girl.  Ellie is a fluffy girl.  Ellie is a white fluffy girl.  Ellie is a white fluffy girl with dirty paws especially in the Spring and Fall.  With combination of wipes at every entrance, towels, and bucket washes, we decided that there is a better way.  Also, looking into the future, with a baby on the way, we were not enthused about the dirty paw prints all over the floor where the baby would be crawling around.  So we decided to reno the reno’ed mud room.  4 years ago, when we did the big new house renovations, we did simple renovations in the mudroom.  Basically just added new cabinets and a pantry, with a countertop and a sink. Nothing mind blowing really.  But now as our needs have changed, we made the call to redo this room with a design that will allow us to have a doggie wash station in it.

We debated over the configuration multiple times. But finally figured out the only to fit a doggie wash station was to vertically stack the washer and dryer. There was no other way to fit it.  I was a bit hesitant as it will be pretty tall, and i won’t be able to reach the top of the dials on the dryer! (My husband says he will get me a stool).

So off to Olympia tile again to pick out the shower tiles for our Ellie girl. We wanted to make it eye catching but nothing too out there. We chose a pretty herringbone subway tile, and a dark grey for the shower floor.  Hand held faucet sprout and a ring to tie the leash to.

The always desired Before and After pics:

the “before”

vs

the “after”

the “after” wide angle

Ellie modeling the new doggie wash station

Renos are officially complete – contractor told us it would take 2 months, and he was spot on.  the last little detail was completed with one lonesome contractor – the rest of the 5 men crew onto another project a few weeks back.  We took tons of pictures along the way, but most requested was a simple before and after picture.  We took down 3 walls, gutted the kitchen, and rebuilt from scratch.  Thrilled with the result!

Before/After Kitchen

the renos are almost done – Sink installed today – love the Fireclay farmhouse double sink.

Farmhouse Double Sink

Wreckage Ball ie. crew of 5 men has come through our house.  kitchen is officially gutted!

Kitchen gutted

another home design debate – tile versus hardwood floors.   As I’m googling like crazy for inspirational pictures on kitchens – almost 90% of the pictures are of kitchen floors with hardwood now – that or tiles that look like hardwood.  So the question is – is it safe to use?

I can imagine lots of scenario with spillages, accidents, things dropping on the floor – apparently if it’s cleaned up fairly quickly, there shouldn’t be any problems.  But what if it’s like that for the day?  is it going to warp the floor?  What if we do get a dog (another debate for another time) – scratches from paws, water spills from bowl etc etc….how bad will my floors look in a few years?

Though I certainly love the look of the hardwood, and been told it’s a lot more comfortable to stand on long periods of time – i’m not 100% convinced.  thoughts?

The decision for a gas stove top was quickly made – we both grew up with gas stoves and definitely wanted it for our new home.  (we’ve been deprived in the condo with the electric stove top). However, the question of the oven became a big question mark – is Gas or Electric ovens better for baking?   It wasn’t a concern until a sales person at an appliance store mentioned that gas ovens may emit moisture into the oven, thus changing the recipe/baking consistency.  woah.  hold the horses.  What’s more precise?  Do most recipes assume we have electric ovens?  In my head, my future chocolate souffles are in danger.

Read through tons of baking forums on this same topic – the count is 50/50 – but the same concern on consistency keeps coming up.

Then there is the ultimate brand battle:

 VS    VS  

Then there is the decision of single or dual ovens…of course in my dreams it would be two – a big regular sized and a small ones for cookies/side dishes etc.  However, there’s this annoying things that looks like $$$ that sways the decisions.

so what will be our decision?