One of the most important parts of home maintenance is to keep up with all of your gas powered appliances as well as have and maintain both carbon monoxide and smoke detectors.  They save lives.  Whether you live in a house, an apartment or an RV make sure you have carbon monoxide detectors that are not expired and that you test them and clean them regularly.

What is in My Home That Produces Carbon Monoxide?

The list is not short and most people have something in their home.  Topping the list according to the EPA are oil and gas furnaces, gas water heaters, gas ranges and ovens, gas dryers, gas or kerosene space heaters, fireplaces, and wood stoves.  CO is also present in all gasoline powered engines – not just your car!  Your lawn mower, weed whacker, snow blower and generator may be powered by gas.

Maintaining (or making sure your landlord maintains) your gas fueled appliances regularly is so important to prevent you from operating something that is not working and could kill you.  Over the next few months I will walk through the maintenance of all these appliances as we build our home maintenance calendars.  In fact, maintenance is even more important than having the CO detector.

What are the Big Carbon Monoxide No Nos?

According to the EPA:

You should never leave a car idling in an enclosed space such as a garage.

You should never use a gas oven to heat your home.

You should never use a charcoal grill indoors anywhere.

You should never sleep in a room with an unvented gas or kerosene space heater.

You should not use portable gas powered appliances in enclosed spaces.

Carbon Monoxide Detectors Save Lives

Only 25 states require that CO detectors be present in residences and the regulations vary widely in those 25 states.  Whether or not you live in one of those states, you should have carbon monoxide detectors in your home.  While the technology is not as advanced as smoke detectors, these units are designed to pick up any dangerous amounts of CO and sound a loud alarm that will alert you and your family.

If you already have carbon monoxide detectors, check them out and make sure that they are not expired and that you test them and vacuum them regularly to ensure they are functioning and that there is no dust buildup that could hurt the alarm’s performance or cause false alarms.  I totally thought we had one installed and I was wrong.  We had only smoke detectors and one old CO detector that I flipped over to find it was more than 10 years old.  Most CO detectors have a life of 5-7 years and they say on the package how long they are good for.

The old one we had did have the Nighthawk technology, which is supposedly the best out there, but it was manufactured in 1999.  In addition to being expired, it was installed downstairs and we had no alarms for CO in the upstairs of our home.

I knew we needed more than one CO detector and I knew we needed new ones.  There are a lot of choices out there.  You can have carbon monoxide detectors hardwired by a professional or do it yourself.  CPI Security wanted $200 to install one for us, but we chose to go with another plug in model.  There are plug in models, battery operated models and combination models available.  Keep in mind that with a battery operated or plug in model you could take it with you on trips to make sure that you and your family are safe in hotel rooms or your RV.

Where Should Carbon Monoxide Detectors be Placed?

Follow all instructions that come with your detector for any restrictions on height or proximity to vents, windows or appliances.

If you only have 1 detector, place it near the bedroom of the house and be sure that the alarm is loud in all sleeping areas.  If you can add detectors, alarms should be placed within 15 feet of any sleeping area and on each level of your home.

I purchased 2 Kidde carbon monoxide alarms at Home Depot and will be purchasing another 2 for the downstairs and basement.  I chose the Kidde alarms after some research and the fact that Kidde is the only manufacturer of CO alarms that meets the standards of both the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) in the U.S. and the Canadian Standards Association (CSA).

The one on the left is the Kidde Tamper Resistant Alarm that alarms when it is removed from the wall.  I put this alarm in the kids’ play area upstairs.  That way, if they remove it or bump it I will know.  It sells for $25.87.

The one on the right is the Kidde Digital Alarm, which I put outside our bedrooms.  All of our doors are within 15 feet of one another so I think this is a good place.  I really like that I can see the digital reading at all times.  (In the picture at the top you saw the lovely 0.) I also like that with this model the plug can be rotated to fit upright or horizontal outlets, be mounted to the wall or placed on a table.  It has a small cord that hides in the back.  This model is $39.97.  Both of these models have battery backup.

There is no reason not to have a CO detector in your home.  It is as simple as plugging it in, writing the date on the side and testing it regularly.  The units have a simple test button to push and the instructions will tell you what should happen.

What to Do If Carbon Monoxide Detector Alarms or Poisoning is Suspected

Even with an alarm, you should know the symptoms of CO poisoning and react immediately if you experience them.  If your alarm goes off, check with every one in the house to see if they are experiencing any of these symptoms.   They include severe headaches, dizziness, confusion, nausea, and feeling faint.  Even low levels of CO can cause shortness of breath, mild nausea, headaches, and can affect your health.

If you experience these symptoms and your alarm sounds, leave the house immediately and get medical attention.  Your hospital can test for CO levels.  If no one is experiencing symptoms make sure you ventilate the home and turn off all gas fueled appliances.  Then call a technician to inspect your appliances and test for CO emissions and that there is nothing blocking these appliances from venting properly.

Please check your detectors and if you don’t have these in your home, install them.  Having a CO detector could save lives.

Please consider sharing this post using the buttons on the left and helping spread the word on Carbon Monoxide safety.  Let me know if you have any questions and I will try to answer them!

Also, get ready for more Tip Top Tuesday, where we tackle home maintenance one week at a time!  Subscribe by email to get tips right in your inbox!

The nooks in my laundry room covered every wall and after just months I felt like they were yelling at me.  Yes, I have an active imagination.  Whatever, I’m the girl who talks to houses.  That’s not the worst thing in the world, right?

I showed you how I added a laundry room to one wall and a home office under the staircase wall.  That’s two strange walls.  The third wall is a door and the last, well, it is all nooks.  Now that I am counting all the nooks for you, it might be time to simply show you the floor plan before. See the wall with two nooks around the back of the living room fireplace? Those nooks cried out for carpentry!

Two New Love (Stuff) Filled Nooks

These days, I would totally do this myself, as the carpentry skills are fairly straight forward with patience and a few tools.  Most built-ins are a box or combination of boxes with trim.  For this project, I had the small nook built in put in at the same time as my kitchen banquette and I built the larger nook built in with my handyman / carpenter Bruce.

So, we went over how we needed a place to do laundry and a home office.  We also needed a mudroom and a place for larger books.  Well, we had the nooks for those!

I love how they turned out and filled the space.  Yes, the fireplace still makes for a funny wall bump, but we’ll just call that character and move on, okay?  It is darn near impossible to get a picture of any one wall in this room given how small it is, so bear with me.  I’ll give a few angles.

The Mudroom

One nook had something built in already.  Something lavender with no trim. Something that the nook and I hated.  It had to go.  For so many reasons.  Most importantly, to be my mud room!

We gutted the old shelves and boy was I glad I had help.  These were all solid sheets of plywood attached to a solid back of plywood with screws everywhere and glue everywhere.  It took a lot of muscle and a little sawzall to get through it all.  {A sawzall is basically a demo saw that rips through wood and nails and stuff.  They totally rock.} I will give you a blow by blow of how to transform a nook into something like this soon.  I just wanted to show you what a little elbow grease can bring you.

I am determined to show you how things actually look.  You know, with all the stuff that FILLS it to the brim.  It would probably be prettier almost empty, but that is not how we roll with 3 kids 5 and under. There are upper and lower hooks and baskets for shoes and hats and mittens on the bottom.  The uppers are filled with beach stuff and car stuff and stuff we just need to have near the car.  In a sense, this is just one part of our WE HAVE NO GARAGE plan.  We make up little pieces of garage here and there. We totally planned to make a box cushion for the seat but who are we kidding?  There may never be room to sit there.  It is pretty and functional and that is what matters!

The Library

The other tiny nook was by the door to the hallway.  We moved that door and the one in the kitchen so they would be directly across from each other and stuck a little mini library in the corner look left behind.  What I love about this is that it is 18 inches deep with adjustable shelves so it can hold any size book.  Huge cookbooks, giant construction how-to’s, photo albums, sheet music…it all fits!  I still need to do a little cleaning out because I would love to make room for the kids’ coloring books.  Still, for now it totally works and it is ideally placed right across from the desk.

The Catch All

Where there is a nook there is an outer wall, right?  Here I just needed more storage so I hit Ikea for the ever popular Expedit shelving.  It is always cheap at $69.99 but we got it on special for $49.99 I believe.  Incredible, right?  It was easy to screw on some Capita legs (also from Ikea) and then we chose to add 2 sets of drawer inserts from Ikea a few months later for all those car cords and kids gaming stuff. The baskets are the Nasum, also from Ikea, and they hold all of Ross’ work papers that are ugly sitting on top of counters and all of the photography stuff that I want to grab as I run out the door.  So yeah, the accessories cost WAY more than the dresser, but this little work horse was certainly worth the $167 to add all that storage.

I totally know it looks like it overhangs.  It doesn’t.  It is just flipping impossible to get a photo of anything as a whole unit in this darn room. Also, your eyes are not deceiving you.  On the bottom shelf you are totally looking at cereal boxes.  I make them into awesome magazine / file storage boxes with a little paper and a little Mod Podge.   Those babies are just waiting to be made beautiful!

I said it before…I really want to lighten up the colors in this room and display family photos and kids art.  While I like the Peter Max print, I don’t love primary colors and would have gotten rid of it had he not signed it for my husband and was it not my graduation present to him.  Maybe it will look okay with a bunch of kid art around it?  Who knows.  What do you think? Maybe I could re frame and somehow tone it down?

The Everything Room

This is the final chapter (for now) on how this little room off our driveway and under the stairs became the laundry room, the office, the library, the mudroom and part of the garage.  I think we have stretched the square feet in here about as far as we can.  We still have a lot of decorating and painting to do to brighten things up, but for now, it works.  From one tiny and awkward space we made a multipurpose room for our family.  We had no mudroom or laundry room or office and now we have all three!

Do you have things you wish you had in your home?  Maybe you have a room that doesn’t work well now and could be transformed using small projects into a room that does double or triple duty!  You don’t always need a bigger house, you might just need a little creativity.  Multipurpose spaces are great for apartment / loft dwellers as well.  It’s all about making the most with what you have.  If you have a space you want to transform, feel free to leave a comment or send me an email!  I am happy to help you brainstorm ideas!  And of course, I would love to see your pics!  Post them to the Tip Top Nest Facebook page so we can all enjoy your transformations!

]]> http://www.tiptopnest.com/2012/02/the-nooks-just-keep-on-coming/feed/ 2 http://www.tiptopnest.com/2012/01/working-with-a-staircase-nook/ http://www.tiptopnest.com/2012/01/working-with-a-staircase-nook/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:03:15 +0000 Brittany http://www.tiptopnest.com/?p=198 In small houses, it is important to use every inch of space.  Important, heck, in our home it is imperative!  We happen to have a hideous staircase looming in the middle of a room. You know, I already started to tell you about our laundry room transformation.  We really decked out those machines.  Well, we had an awkward room and a lot of needs to address.  In addition to laundry I needed a family organization spot, so I decided to stick it under the hideous stairway.

The thing about our staircase (and most I assume) was that it went almost to the floor in this one room, leaving a tiny corner nook that I was determined to use.  What’s short and stocky and needed for family organization? Oh yeah, those bajillions of files holding contracts, medical records and all those official documents you need to pull out at a moments notice.  I totally felt like a genius when I asked the carpenter to put the file cabinets under the desk and the stairs.  What was originally going to be a panel concealing empty space now holds all those pesky files we need.

With all the technology these days, I have not found a way to eliminate the command central in a modern household. I’m totally trying to design something to disguise all the lights and cords and modems and such. Of course, if and when I do I will totally share it with you. You know when you see those home magazines and there’s no electronics anywhere to be seen? I think they put them in a closet to make their desks look nicer. Either that, or these million dollar homes have million dollar technology that requires no cords. I totally want that technology too, but I can only pay about 50 bucks. Yeah, we’re living with the cords. Cords I will show you so we can keep it real.

You can also see in this picture that the stairway is open.  Yep, you can look over the stairs into the laundry room / office.  This is so not the gorgeous craftsman staircase of my dreams, but hey, it gets us up and down.

We still have a lot of work to do on this room, but at least our files are no longer stuffed in closets or stacked in plastic boxes in the corner.  This is a huge improvement.

And this is the before we moved in, so I think we have come a long way.

So What is Left?

I need to finish off the trim and underside of the desk.  The trim is all sorts of beat up from the installation and while you can’t see the underside of the desk, it is unfinished and it bothers me.  No big deal, I know, but I am who I am and little things like this eat at me.

We need better lighting under the stairs.  Right now the whole room gets very dark and has a very contractor grade white ceiling fan with lights that must go.  On the desk I just have a modern rectangular IKEA lamp that needs to find a new home.  I just have to find a great under the stairs desk lamp.  Not so easy, let me tell you, especially on a budget.

You can see the glowing rectangle lamp in this photo and the opening to the stairs.  To me, it looks like the side of an escalator.  To the kids, it looks like a great place to launch things at mom while she folds laundry.  I suppose it is worth the time out risk.

I really like how the whole laundry cabinet and desk flow together and eliminate the entire awkward corner under the stairs.  We simply carried the laundry counter height over as a little ledge above the desk. I think I could make the trim here a little more seamless too, but that isn’t happening any time soon!

I am looking for a lighter paint color in here too.  I just feel like it needs to be a little brighter and this khaki color doesn’t suit me anymore.  I have such a hard time finalizing paint colors but as soon as I do this baby is getting a makeover.  It’s a tough room with very strange light and shadows.

There you have it.  Our little office under the stairs.  Getting creative with small and awkward spaces can make a huge difference!  This desk could easily be built with stock cabinetry and the counter top of your choice.  I have seen some great use of this space recently on Pinterest and might just share some of those ideas with you soon!

So tell me please, what strange spots do you have in your home?  Have you transformed them or have any great ideas?  I would love to hear them and share them if you have pictures.  Let’s all show what we can do to turn the awkward into awesome!  Oh, if you have a nook and need ideas, I have a knack for space planning.  Feel free to send me an email and maybe we can figure something out!

I looked at my home under the purplish pink glow and I felt the magic that is a home.   Any home, filled with love, holds power and magic and inspiration.  It does not have to be perfect.  It just has to hold love.  Sophia is pretty sure fairies live here.  Looking at this sky, I might just believe her.

It is a home through rose colored glasses.  I hope we can all remember what makes a house a home is not it’s decor, but the love inside.

I am not going to overwhelm you with this whole room at once, because boy did we pack a lot into this baby.  This odd room is now an everything room.  I’ll start with the laundry area because it is where I spend a lot of time.  Way too much time.

When this sort of house issue happens, get our your measuring tape and draw your room or your area.  Then get all sorts of creative and sit in there and think of what you need and what you want.  There are also online room designers that really rock, but it is simplest for me to start with pencil and paper.  I always think about doors and windows and whether their position in the room is right.  You know why?  They are moveable and it is not that expensive to do it.  In this case, there was a giant double door leading to the outside that was not necessary and we could really use a little extra wall space.  Changing this door to a single with small sidelights allowed me to have my laundry room wall.

Laundry Needs: I needed a new place to do the bajillion loads of laundry this family produces.  I needed some extra storage in the house, particularly since we don’t have a garage or any real linen closets.  Basically, I needed a big old cabinet to hold everything I use all the time.

Laundry Wants: I wanted something that looked good and filled the whole strange space on the wall and not just my big ol’ machines sitting in the room.

I decided to use the whole wall and designed a built in that would hold the machines and the storage and mask the stair issue.  I used every inch from the stairs to the outside wall. I hired a local carpenter to build the unit because in this case, the pieces were huge, the wall was old plaster and very uneven and I wanted it professionally painted for a super smooth finish.  The whole thing cost me less than $1000.  the room is actually too small to get a picture of the whole thing.  Here is the width of the laundry unit from wall to wall.  The angle is strange but there is a matching cabinet on the right side of the machines.  You just can’t see it in this photo.

Before we came, the previous owners had a couch here.  And the door was bigger.  We have living room and a den (now our music room to be) so we totally did not need(or have) another couch.

I ended up with laundry underneath and a huge folding area on top with lots of storage for cleaning supplies and laundry stuff.  There is also room on the side of the washer for a small folding rack or collapsible laundry basket.

Even the lonely socks have a place!  The small bin on the other side is for diapers.  We have to keep them up high so Violet doesn’t put them all on her babies.  And those darn water valves.  That whole top shelf came about because I did not think about where the water valves would go when I planned my wall and I couldn’t imagine how much space there would be on the counter top going back or from the top of the counter to the 10′ ceiling!  If you disguise your laundry, it is a good idea to put something on the back to disguise how deep a laundry cabinet is.  This little shelf tricks the eye and covers the plumbing.  Nifty, eh?  We also bumped out the cabinet just a few inches where the machines are so that our storage cabinets are more normal sized.  I am so glad we did this!

Of course, we had to have the plumbing moved to do this.  It was not nearly as hard as I expected for the guys to do it.  The lines were moving about 15 feet.  No problemo, but this is how they left my wall.

With my cabinets coming, I learned how to drywall this pretty fast and will totally show you how soon.  It is much cheaper to drywall yourself than to hire someone but it is also much harder to drywall with plaster walls surrounding than to hang drywall on studs or patch a wall that is already drywall.  Boy they left a big hole didn’t they?

I would love to hear what you have done to make your laundry life easier and prettier if possible!  Stay tuned because this room has more to reveal and there is still a lot more to do.

Tip Top Nest is a brand new blog.  If you like these posts, please consider sharing with your friends on Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest and subscribing in your reader of by email!  Emails will be weekly so you will not be overwhelmed!  Thank you!

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Materials:

1 piece of vintage sheet music that makes your heart sing.  We will review where to procure yourself a copy for very little moolah.  Of course if something other than sheet music sets your heart o  flutter you can do this with anything!

1 piece of wood or plywood or mdf (preferably 1/4″) to act as your canvas.  I used 1/4″ plywood because I had scrap in my tool shed.  You can get this cut to size at your local Home Depot or Lowes and they do sell 24″x48″ sheets so if your music fits on that you can avoid buying a full sheet!

Enough 1×2 wood to create depth for your frame if you want depth.  It does make it easier to hang and a bit more dramatic, so I would go with this.  These are cheap at the Home Depot and can be cut to size with a miter saw or a simple hand saw and miter box.  Nothing fancy here people!

Matte Mod Podge for all surfaces (not just paper since you are attaching to wood)

Glue (Gorilla Glue is awesome) and / or screws to attach your pieces together

Paint and / or stain for additional distressing if desired

Picture hangers of whatever sort you choose

Tutorial

Step 1: Find your art.

I do not have in my possession any large pieces of vintage music and if I had an original Mozart piece I doubt I would be glopping Mod Podge on it anyway!  After much searching I found that there are libraries that scan original sheet music and make it publicly available!  I knew I wanted something for the piano and by Mozart.  I am just inspired by a kid who writes a symphony, you know?  I love to tell my kids how much they can accomplish and this is perfect! Here is the link to the piece of music I selected from Harvard’s library but have fun and choose anything!  I am thinking about doing this gorgeous cover page (the link goes here) too for a little set!

The great thing about images from this source is they are giant already so you will not lose any quality by having to blow them up from some tiny image online.  I simply saved my image to my zip drive and headed to Staples.  The picture is about 20″ x 26″ and it cost about $25 to print on the colored paper.  If you want to go the black and white route for about $2.50 you can have the same image (on thinner paper) by having it printed on the architectural printer.  You will then need to add some color with a tinted glaze to get the yellowed and aged look.

Note that the page comes with a border.  I cut it off with a scissors after I cut my wood and left a little extra that the sander easily took off once it was on the board.

Step 2: Find a board big enough and make it the right size.

I had some scrap but measure your picture and head to your local home improvement store for a piece of 1/4″ thick plywood or mdf.  Have them cut it for you but recognize that their giant saw is not exactly great with tiny measurements so make sure to go on the slightly larger side and sand down excess if needed.  I used my circular saw to cut my board.  It is a great tool to have around!

Step 3: Attach the frame back.

I used 1×2′s and measured the full length from top to bottom and then measured in between when they were laid out for the lengthwise pieces.  Be careful here because you want the back to be as precise as possible and not hang over or be inside your art.  I attached the frame using screws and filled the screw holes with Elmer’s Wood Filler.  Then, because I wanted no screw holes on the face of the art I glued it to the frame using Gorilla Glue.  It will hold just fine, particularly because it is so light.

Step 3: The Mod Podge.

Apply Mod Podge to your board and quickly but carefully lay your art on the board, attempting to smooth out any bubbles.  I used the straight edge of a ruler but just make sure there are no big bubbles and that your art is as straight as possible.

Step 4: Pretty up the frame and picture.

This is pretty simple.  Sand your edges until smooth and paintable.  I also rounded my corners a little bit so I could stain them.  I had some random beige colored paint that I added craft paint to in order to get the right color.  You can use cheap craft paints from any art store like Michael’s or Hobby Lobby and mix up your perfect color.  It will be a mix of white, brown and yellow to achieve the antiquey yellowish brown look.

I chose to add some brown stain to my sides and then wipe it off.  I also realized that a little on the front didn’t look so bad so I allowed it to come  a little over the edges in places.  This is the point where you can make things as dingy as you desire.  I only wanted a little depth in my edges.  It was as simple as wiping on the stain and immediately wiping it off.

Step 5: Mod Podge your top

I added a layer of Mod Podge over top of the entire piece including the frame.  This is not entirely necessary but it will add protection.  Even the matte Mod Podge will also add a bit of sheen so I hit it with 220 sand paper after it was dry and liked how it took off the shiny and added a little distress.

Step 6: Add your picture hangers

I went with little screw in ones so the picture would lay flush against the wall and then the only wire I could find in my home.  I used mirror wire but really you can use the basic picture hanging wire since this thing is no where close needing heavy weight support.

Final Step! Hang that baby!

Okay so I hung this a little high so you could see the size of it and the guitars and because when we get to it this will actually be in a different location near the piano we are planning on adding.  I have been busy cleaning massive baby toys out of our den so we can have a game and music room.  See?  The guitars are your first clue and this art just tells you we mean music!  Now that it is on the wall I may actually distress a little more. I still love it!

Final Project Thoughts

This is a fabulous beginner level project that is fast, easy and adds something really special to your home.  It requires no special tools or anything expensive.  You could find a special piece of music or what you walked down the aisle to or something that inspires you.  I love how unique you can make it.   Be careful with the Mod Podge and move quickly to avoid the bumpies and get a smooth finish.  If it is not perfect, don’t worry!  This is vintage so just call it extra distressed and enjoy it!

I hope you like this and please let me know if you have any questions at all!  If you do like it, consider using the buttons on the left side to pin it or add it to your social network of choice.  This is a new blog and I need help to grow.  Thank you!

We ended up ditching the contractor towards the end of the project for everything from the tile to the counter tops to the built-ins and we ended up with a kitchen we love!

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I will share a lot with you about doing your own kitchen remodel, but for now, know that this renovation gave me the DIY bug and made me the tool girl I am today.  So in that way, I am thankful for the contractors that made me cry and doubt what I knew I wanted.

Before we could actually do anything in the kitchen, we had to support the ceiling with a wall that had been removed and support the floor with a new staircase and beams in the basement.  That was a whole bunch of fun times on the wallet!  Sophia was a huge fan of the giant piles of drywall in our new framed opening.

Not only did we need to add a wall, but because we decided to extend the kitchen past where the original wall was, we actually removed a window.  That gave us room for a banquette where we spend a lot of time eating and doing projects. I still need to build a trestle table to make it easier to get in and out, but this work for now and no one cares how beat up it gets.  I love books in any room and the kitchen is a great place to show off some vases and of course, keep the cookbooks.  This bookcase and bench was built by a carpenter here in Charlotte for 10% of what contracting firms quoted us.  The entire bench has storage inside.  Much needed in an old house with limited closets and no real pantry.

It always stinks to remove light but here it was just the right move.  Besides, we still have 1 window with a fabulous window treatment that I absolutely adore! Yeah baby, it is a linen with an orange velvet damask.  Bonus…it was salvage from someone’s large order and was remnant fabric!

The window is not missed and you can see here we gained about 4 feet in the kitchen.  We did have to re-do the floors in the kitchen (you can see they run different ways) but they were original to the house and had been sanded so many times that they were too thin to sand again.

In the extra space we gained across from the table we added a bar / storage area.  We also moved the door to the kitchen so that it was directly across from the door on the other side of the hallway.  Small change but it made a huge difference!  You can see how the door now looks straight across into what is now our laundry and mud room.  Before it was off by about 2 feet.

Here are a few pics of the renovation.

We ditched the contractors after the cabinets and electrical were in so we went out and found an awesome granite installer and chose a gorgeous piece of white Carrera marble. When they got it off the truck it was cracked right where the sink hole was.  I was devastated.  I searched high and low for another piece that large with very few grey veins and came up empty handed.  All of the warehouses said it would be months before he next quarry deliveries to the Southeast.  With my second child Miles due any day, I had to make another choice.  We went with black honed granite and we are very happy.  It is perfect because I am not a huge fan of the shiny stones and like the marble I wanted, this has no sheen.  It is smooth and simple and elegant.  As a bonus, it happens to come in HUGE pieces so we have only 1 seam in the whole kitchen and it is not on the island.  Wahoo!

I did finally get my white Carerra too.  It went on the back splash in subway tile form.  Subway tiles are perfect for a craftsman house and white marble is perfect for me!

Our kitchen shows off 3 of the main colors in our home.  We definitely have a mood board that is helping us to make decisions around here.  Grey and black are my neutrals and one my punches is orange! It is so bright and sunny and little pops of it just make me happy.

I hope you like the kitchen, but remember, your house is all about you so I won’t worry if it is not your thing.  What we want to do is find ways to make our homes a reflection of us.

I will share all of my kitchen knowledge but please go ahead and share your renovation stories too.  Good or bad.  Kitchen renovations are hard but worth it.  We had some sort of makeshift counter I made from one of the old cupboards in the dining room, a hot plate and a microwave for MONTHS!  Misery loves company, so share away!

Oh, this is the very first post here at Tip Top Nest so thank you for stopping by.  I would love to share more home renovations but this site will also have home maintenance tips, tutorials and design advice.  Please consider subscribing and start to get your home in Tip Top shape this year!