500 Lucas

Whoops! Forgot all about those pictures I was going to post. Will try and remember to do that tomorrow.

In the meanwhile... It has been a pretty strange weekend here weather-wise, and so we've had loads of time indoors to contemplate life and the universe so to speak. Anyway... with all this time on my hands I have been looking at houses in Palacios again and revisited 500 Lucas' slideshow online.

What do you guys think? OK, OK... I know it's VERY rough and ready. But it LOOKS to me like mostly cosmetic and updating. Like fresh paint, carpet and light fixtures would make a world of difference. OK, the bathrooms and kitchen could use some serious renovating... especially the one with the shower... it doesn't appear to have any floor even. But the bathroom with the tub doesn't look awful awful... I would strip the wallpaper and just paint and probably do the floor and voila. The kitchen on the other hand... ugh... it clearly needs some serious work doesn't it? Although the first thing I would do is explode a couple of bottles of bleach in there to clean and disinfect it... but eventually those panels would have to come down, and those cabinets would -- at the very least -- need refinishing and fresh handles.

I've been thinking a lot of about my kitchen this weekend. Inspired by Nicole from Pink Loves Brown over at Making it Lovely and her incredible feeler boards for her home makeover. (Also her cabinets and hardware and incredible floors... sheesh... pretty much every thing Nicole has done with her home is an inspiration and totally amazing). Anyway... inspired by Nicole, I decided to make a mock-up of my dream kitchen. See below.

I am happy with everything but the wall color... I initially wanted it to be a grey-green color, but then I found those amazing recycled glass tiles and decided it would be too much green. Then I decided to try just plain grey, but with the grey counter tops that might also be too much. I really like the idea of sticking to a very plain palette on the main elements and then bringing color in in the accessories. I am fickle when it comes to color, so I need to be able to change it on the cheap when the mood strikes me.

What do you think of the counter tops? I have had this thing for ages for concrete counters... but my mother informs me (after a horribly botched experiment in their home) that it's tough to pull of and she would advise against it. I really like that look so when I found this quartz that looks so similar, you can imagine how excited I was. However... after doing some more research into green renovations, I also found a company... rats, I can't find the link now.. but anyway... on Domino's site they have a link to this company that make countertops out of recycled plastic and they have one that looks almost identical to the quartz. Score!

Also, IF we were to take this house... it's another month before we feel like we can go for the mortgage, but let's suppose that when we do, this house is still available and we decide to go for it... that kitchen doesn't seem to have any windows... ugh... less than ideal... but then neither does the one we are in now and one thing I know for sure... anything I put in there will need to be light and bright.

Anyone have suggestions/thoughts/ideas?