Marvellous Marble

Ok. So this might be getting ahead of myself here, but I went to have a look at some marble today. I was surfing the web about 2 months ago wondering what benchtop to specify in the kitchen. I have designed a big island bench, with a lovely enormous & fat butcher block at one end for all the hard work and school lunch making etc. No point dragging out a chopping board every time I say. Let's just have a permanent one with, and this is the 'pièce de résistance', a hole down to the compost bin to just wipe it all away!

a rough plan of the kitchen by the Amazing Alex Vega

The rest of the island, and also another wall where the main sink will be, will be a stone of some description. I had been looking around and love all the carrara marble around but I think it's too grey and cold for my home. I'm usually drawn to oranges, greens and reds.

Back to the web surfing, as I was...I came across an arabescato pano marble at Baltic Stone, in Dandenong. I was immediately frozen. It had the most beautiful mix of the grey veining similar to a light carrara, a very white base colour and lots of gold threads through it. It was exactly what I thought I would never find. A warmer version of carrara. I contacted them to see if a) it was still available b) if they usually have that colour in stock and c) if I could hold it there for a year until I need it! Turns out they won't get it in again, so if I wanted it I needed to move fast. Discussions with my husband proved futile. I was NOT to be depositing on a kitchen benchtop when we hadn't even signed the building contract, or got a quote... words like sensible or logical come to mind. So I've been putting off going to see it for a while now. But I keep thinking about it, I just know it's the one. So I dragged my poor 5 year old there today for some moral support. Surely if SHE liked it I had reason enough to reserve it?

at Baltic Stone

You want to see it close up don't you?

And in detail

Ooh isn't it heartwarming? Lo and behold Miss 5 liked it. Whether she was just trying to please Mummy I do not care. Now 3 lovely slabs have my name stickered on them til the end of next week. Hopefully by then we will have a quote at least and I will have enough ammo to convince that far too sensible husband of mine to deposit on them. Exciting!

Pinterest!

Pinterest has been a life saver for me this past year. I've been a Pinterest zombie once the kids are in bed at night. My poor husband! Thanks to my addiction I've managed to collect thousands of pics which is proving so useful when I'm designing, think all the little details in the kitchen cabinetry. I now have a clear vision of what I want, and I keep finding ways to tweak & improve the plans, much to the dismay of the builder currently quoting for us! 

Here are some of the key images I'm salivating over...(all from my Pinterest here)

One of the main reasons we are renovating is to address the entrance to our house. It was built on a corner with its main facade and front door facing the views, but there's no parking or garage anywhere near there. We're moving the entrance to the side of the house and the skill lies in making the side now look like the front facade. This involves unifying and beautifying all the windows and accenting the front door somehow where it will take the place of a window. This is a simple and sweet way to do it!

This has our family stamped all over it. We are not tidy people, and this room feels to have the right amount of clutter and lived in feel. I love the sofa colour and texture, and the warm colour scheme throughout.

I've just changed our engineering design to allow for a pitched ceiling in the master bed. I keep being drawn to these images so had to do it! Ours will have a collar tie near the top, which means it will have a little flat bit, and then pitch down. We'll clad it in shiplap of course!

We have been holidaying in Port Douglas for the last 3 years and the gardens at the Sheraton Mirage were sublime. Unfortunately most of it wouldn't survive down here in Melbs, but there are tricks! I also figured the tropical feel would gel with the brass accents I'll use.

The British Colonial or 'Glam Beach House' vibe with a touch of brass.

Artwork by Kolene Spicher. Love a bit of whimsy.

Kitchen by Jim Howard. There's such a trend for white shaker kitchens with cararra or calacatta marble at the moment. I love the look, but think it's too cold for our house. I want to use something still pale but warmer on the benchtops. We will have the back wall of our kitchen white, and the island I want to be stained timber like this. A walnut colour so it looks aged and like a piece of furniture. We will mimic the panelling in our hallway and somewhere I want to use shiplap....hmmm.