New floor and counters

It was a busy week in the kitchen remodeling, and the end is in sight. I took this picture yesterday morning, but the counters were finished yesterday. The floor turned out great, and I really like the feel of the VCT tile. 

Partway through the process, the contractor suggested that we do the bathroom (through that door) and the back hallway (behind me from where I took the picture). I ordered the tile (boxes of 45 pieces) thinking I'd do the bathroom in blue and green and have mostly tan in the kitchen. 

After placing tiles in various patterns, it was clear that I needed to have the white in the mix, otherwise it would be too dark. Further, it looked better if the white and tan ran diagonally across the floor. It kind of evened things out. I also decided I wanted the option of having the bathroom different colors, so had them do alternating stripes of white and tan. 

The back hallway was supposed to be all white, to match with the orange-yellow walls that I had recently painted. Since I used so much white, they popped in a few tan and a couple of green tiles in random spots and it looks great (fun but not overwhelming). 

When I first saw the finished kitchen floor, I thought "I love it!" Then I thought, "when it comes time to sell, will this be a bad thing?" Then I remembered seeing several pins on Pinterest showing how to paint vinyl floors. This covers all the bases for me - I can enjoy my busy colorful floor, and if I get tired of it, or if I ever sell the house and the buyers want it changed, I can paint it tan (or whatever). 

The speed and ease with which they did the floors (one day to tear out and put down new subfloor, one day to lay the new tiles) makes me very glad I had them do the bathroom and back hallway. It's so solid, and it is DONE. The new floors will serve for a long time. I had been intending to tear up the carpet in the back hallway for months, and had managed to rip up the edges, but that's about it. They had it, as well as the indoor/outdoor carpet underneath that, out in about an hour. I know this because I went to work that day, came back to the house 90 minutes later, and it was done.

The rest of the pieces should come together next week. Appliances delivered, sink and faucet hooked up, trim put back. 

Mr W asked what I was going to put in the space between the tops of the cupboards and ceiling. I don't know yet, so he's taken it upon himself to make some color-coordinated action figures out of the many Bionicle pieces he's got in his collection. So I'll have several kitchen guardians in place, and he gets to feel like he's contributed a little something to the process. Yes, I'll take pictures.