Home Addition: Cabinets and final granite pick.

Another big step; the cabinets were installed last Thursday.  They look really nice.  Here is the fridge and range wall.

Here is the sink wall with the ultra cool farmhouse apron front sink set in.

Here you can sort of see the cool dentil moulding we added to the crown.

Cabinet maker JP Cabinets from Heber, Utah will come back to put the doors on after the countertops go in next week.  Then they'll really look fabulous.

And did I mention countertops?  Yes! We finally made a decision on the granite: Volcano.  This was by far and away the most important and angsted decision of this remodel.  I am, after all, a geologist. Rocks matter.  Finally, after 3 or 4 trips to each of three different slab yards, countless picture views on my computer, lots of discussions with friends and blog-o-sphere companions, and one failed attempt to put a hold on the Specrtus slab that I liked almost as well but that was a bit cheaper but that someone had secured one day earlier than my phone call, we made a decision.  We chose the very first one that I liked and the one Drew instantly liked as well.  The problem was, we wanted 2 cm thickness (for aesthetic reasons regarding the farmhouse sink and height restrictions under the kitchen windows), but the only supplier that carries this rock in Utah was Arizona Tile, who only carries 3 cm.  They did however have some slabs at their Anaheim, California showroom.  Great! They sent me a picture of the slab, and it was nice.  After consulting with our installer Matt at Center Point Stone for about a week, we decided that Anaheim slab would work.  I called up to have it sent in, but wouldn'tcha know it, that slab was gone.  No worries, they had a few more at their Anaheim stone yard, and, bonus, they were bigger and looked even more beautiful in the picture.  That was it! Let's get it to Utah.

Last week we went to view the slab.  Oh my heck, it is amazing!!!!!!!  The slab manager said this slab was the talk of the showroom when they brought it in.  It is really a very beautiful slice of the earth. Here I am in front of the slab that will be in our kitchen.  I am loving it so much I am hugging a chunk of it.

Here is a picture of it in a show kitchen.

If I were a better petrologist, I could tell you the specific rock classification. It is from Brazil and has lots of biotite mica, plagioclase feldspar, quartz, and a fair amount of pyrite. It looks to me like a gneiss because of the banding.  I'll have to have some rock geek friends over to analyze it.  If you can't tell, I'm excited about this part of the remodel.

We've also settled on some natural slate tile for the upstairs fireplace

and the master bathroom floor tile.

So things are really happening around here and I just keep trying to believe that soon all this mess will be just a horrible memory.