Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Everything AND the Kitchen Sink

I spent THREE HOURS yesterday at the local plumbing supply place - who knew there were so many choices? I flipped thru half a dozen catalogs, compared products to what I had found on the 'net, and made some FINAL decisions about our new home.

Gotta give Roger some credit, however, as he selected the brick:He is on the home computer right now, researching carpets. The hippie in him would love to go "all green" and "recycled" materials. I wish we could, too, but as we learned during our research of solar-powered hot water heaters, the prices make it infeasible. Maybe the next house will be more "green." Right now, I want energy efficiency.

I finally settled on a kitchen faucet combination - after consulting with various experts. Evidently, the faucets that double as a pull-out sprayer can be a pain, so I went with a traditional setup. I wonder if I'll use the side sprayer. I've never had one before, but I figured it will help for resale purposes. I've been washing dishes by hand for the last 14 years, so it will be nice to have a dishwasher. But let's not rush things. Appliances seem like a huge challenge after yesterday's ordeal. The kitchen sink - you've seen in a previous post. Are you surprised at which one I settled on?This one has 8" deep basins, and with the elongated faucet, I think I'll have plenty of room to manuever large pots for rinsing.

Next is something the plumber dude talked me into. I was ready to go with just regular shower stuff in the master bath, but evidently, side sprayers don't cost that much. Our new shower arrangement will look something like this:And yes, that's me, sampling products in the showroom. And you just thought he talked me into the fixtures.

I had to give up the stainless steel finish because of the product choices, but as the plumber dude explained - showers are usually trimmed in chrome, and the fixtures will be hidden behind glass doors. So no one will really notice that they don't match the finish of the bathroom faucets EXACTLY.

I'm still not sure how I feel about a sprayer that hits me square in the bellybutton. And I learned something new about my husband - I didn't realize before how much he utilizes our current hand sprayer in the shower.

These are the bath faucets - two for our master bath, one for the guest bath, and one for Amber's bath:I had a fancy-schmancy pedestal sink picked out for the guest bath - Roger and I had both agreed on it. Then I saw the fancy-schmancy price, and figured I didn't like my friends THAT much. So we settled on a more reasonable pedestal sink. I figure the stainless fixture pictured above will look much nicer than what is pictured here:Also figured all of the toilets should be the same, so settled on a Kohler "comfort height" model. Wish I had photos of me sitting on all the toilets in the plumbing store - but if you ever replace a toilet, I can tell you that the height of this one is much more comfortable. I wanted to settle in and read a book on it:Our master bath will have a whirlpool tub, mostly for resale purposes since EVERYONE has one. I never have time for a bath. Here is the whirlpool fixture, with the exception that the handles will be brushed stainless, unlike the ones in this photo:And, the whirlpool tub:Who knows, I might actually learn to relax and use it.

Oh, and you boys out there will appreciate this. Roger has joked about wanting a urinal in his music studio, so I decided to go for it. This was a nice one, without all that exposed plumbing:Since Roger is the primary bathroom cleaner, I figured he earned it. (When I get my face close to a toilet, I want to vomit. Must be a reflex from those college partying days.)

I couldn't find a photo of Amber's shower/tub combination, but I picked out a larger than normal one, so that she'd have plenty of room to maneuver.

Okay - more than you wanted to know, but I'm pleased that we've made some DECISIONS! Let me know your thoughts!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like your choices - all very classic. The urinal is a hoot!

Desert Songbird said...

Bwahahahahaha! I can soooooo relate to that gag reflex about toilets. I never equated it with my wild college days, though. Good thought...

Pamela said...

that urinal would make a find flower pot, too. tell that to the hippy boy (:

I'll be axious to hear about that shower. We remodeled our bathrooms a few years ago and made some mistakes... some right choices too.

raffi said...

talk about fancy, schmancy... nice job. the urinal is every man's dream... never, ever have to worry about whether the seat is up or down. what an amazing concept!!

Tiggerlane said...

melissa - I imagine that Roger will brag proudly to every one of his male friends about his urinal.

desert songbird - Roger suspects I made that up - but honestly, it makes me gag! At least I don't have the job of cleaning them anymore!

pamela - will do! LOL!! Okay - so spill - what do I need to be warned about?

raffi - I have a feeling that the urinal is going to be the first thing Roger shows our guests during the house tour. Can't you just see them all standing around it? Maybe I'll just go head and serve some spinach dip out of it for the house-warming.

Tiggerlane said...

"Ahead" - I meant.

JoeinVegas said...

Looks like it will be very pretty. We are in the middle of our master bath redo, nothing big, but the kitchen makeover is to come.
And thanks for that shot of you in the shower.

Anonymous said...

Tiff, color me impressed. This is why I could never BUILD a house--too many dang choices to make...I'd have a meltdown, for sure! Hmmm, if I do, you've done such a nice job here, I'd just hire you instead ;).

ooooo, why not a biday? Why stop at a urinal--ha! I've tried one...once...and it was...interesting ;).

Kila said...

Looks good! I might have to come visit your guest room ;)

With all the males in our house, we should really have urinal. If we ever add on a bathroom, I'm ordering one!

Anonymous said...

I can NOT believe they went ahead and used my picture in the shower advertisement... giggle giggle.
Love your choices. All those decisions make my head spin.

Matthew Mientka said...

On balance, Tigger, I feel that this is a very sexy post!

M@ said...

Tiggerlane, the Real Estate Blogger

Tiggerlane said...

joe - thanks for stopping by! And you're welcome - I aim to please my readers.

robin - I once stayed at a hotel with a bidet, and almost shot my butt right off the toilet. I'm sure housekeeping loved drying off the ceiling! (I haven't melted yet - but I feel the stress.)

kila - I think a urinal would be PERFECT with all your boys! They even have little games you can install, to improve aim.

swampy - what you wouldn't believe is some of the CRAZY stuff in the Kohler/Delta catalogs! People definitely take their bathrooms over the top.

matthew - thanks for stopping by! And you have to read some of the archives, to get the real sexy stuff.

matt - that title would be too boring. BUT...I need to blog more about my work - b/c you guys wouldn't BELIEVE the stuff I endure!

Anonymous said...

Your kitchen faucet looking is so stylish!!