I Will Never Build A House

Honestly. I won't. Once upon a time, I thought it would be fun to build a house and get to choose everything myself. I would know the quality of what was going in, everything would be to my tastes, and things would work they way I'd want them to. I'd have a planning desk, a pantry, a mud room, a laundry sink, a third garage - all the things I don't have in my current house.

I'm in the process of my first true major remodel, and I realize my foolishness. As much as I someday want a new kitchen, I think I might be moving to a new house to get it. I've been without a master bathroom since October 12, and I am done having all my bathroom items in bins in my bedroom. I don't want to share a small sink and vanity with the wee ones and my husband. I just want my master bathroom back. Granted, it will be soon, but not soon enough.

Today my contractor called me to ask where my tub faucets were. Ummm in the garage with all the other new fixtures I'd bought? No, apparently somehow - although I went over it with the salesgirl ninety-bazillion times - I had neglected to order my tub faucets. They will take at least two weeks to come in. And I groaned at having to give my credit card another workout.

Yesterday? Since the cabinets are to be delivered, my contractor wanted to measure for the cuts in the counter tops. Since I'd picked out my counter tops long ago, I simply handed him the brochure with the circled color on it figuring that I had done well. I got a call from him later saying that a large big box store that happens to be orange was quoting him more than twice was he would pay for a counter top and he wanted me to go talk to a different place he works with as he wasn't comfortable placing the order with that large a discrepancy. Good contractor. Yes, he showed me the quote from that orange store. And it was large.

I went to visit the place he recommended where the near same (slightly different color, same material) counter top would cost me two-thirds what the orange store quoted. After working with him some more, we found another idea for a granite counter top that would be essentially what my contractor had originally quoted me. I then had to go to the distributorship to check out the actual piece of granite and sign off on the colors. I did so, but there went the majority of my day tracking down that issue. On the plus side, they are measuring the counter tops for the cuts on Tuesday.

Don't get me started on lighting. I haven't picked out the lighting yet for around my mirrors. I knew what I wanted, so I went to the big store that specializes in lights. As a guy started to help me, I explained what I wanted and we looked through some books. I need four single fixture lights. Someone walked in who was looking for a six foot chandelier. I pretty much didn't exist from that point. I managed to get the model numbers of six potential lights, but you can bet that I won't ever spend a dime in that store. And I still don't have lights.

That doesn't take into account the difficulties I had choosing tile. Or cabinets. Or a tub. Poor Melisa has a small idea of what I went through with that, trying to find a rectangular tub that has a side drain to avoid having to saw through a rafter. After weeks (literally) of searching, I finally decided on a tub that had a normal front drain and was ready to suck up the extra plumber cost of doing a side drain when another plumbing supply store sent an email with some tubs to look at and miraculously, a tub that was the right size and shape somehow had a side drain. That tub is currently sitting in my slowly taking shape bathroom with the mortar around it drying.

Cabinets? I knew I wanted a clean look. And tall cabinets. And something to somehow hold all my stuff and keep it out of the way. I came up with the idea of a tower in the center of it, but ... that's as far as I got. I was also appalled at how ridiculously expensive cabinets are, so trying to find something that I like that was not ridiculously expensive was time consuming. I finally succeeded. Mostly.

Tile was fun. My big problem - and this is the problem in general - is that I know sort of what I want but not completely. Or I know what I don't want, both of which makes choosing things difficult, especially when more and more options are presented to me and I get overwhelmed. I did choose tile back in April. I loved my floor tile and the shower tile. When I went to finalize the tile order before my contractor started work, I decided I didn't like the wall tile. And so the process began again.

My husband hasn't seen any of the choices yet. He trusts me, and I think this is for the best. If he were involved in some of the nuttiness, I think I'd have driven him insane by now. He's looking forward to the big reveal though, and my contractor has promised that next week I can take a shower come heck or high water. I'm hoping for no high water; I can't take it after this!

And yes, I will show before and after pictures. Assuming there is an after. Once you see some of the before, I think you'll understand why there has to be an after.



Current Giveaways:
Activeion ionator HOM $180RV here
Fiber One Prize Pack including a $25 gift card here
InchBug Bumpy Orbit Labels here
MASTERMIND and Animal Mastermind Towers board games here