Answers to your questions, a giveaway and results from which would you choose!

Good morning.......I am so excited, FINALLY went to mark the slabs yesterday for my countertops which start fabrication today and they start getting installed next Monday!! We are however, still very much still on the prowl for a big enough piece for my island, which is proving to be a daunting task though everyone is confident we will find it. Good things come to those who wait, right? First in case you missed it yesterday, here is the low down on the amazing giveaway....








This giveaway is AMAZING with a capital A! Thanks to the generosity of

Safavieh Home 

It is for a stunning painted black French end table with an antiqued wood top! How beautiful is this? I cannot think of any room that wouldn't look simply incredible with this wonderful side table!!

So...how to win this amazing giveaway? Simple! You must leave a comment on Safaviehs Facebook page indicating which item you love from their website. 

FIRST.......Click here for their website and then here for theirFacebook page. Good luck and thank you Safavieh!

TO BE CLEAR......

 YOU MUST LEAVE A FACEBOOK COMMENT FOR SAFAVIEH TO BE ELIGIBLE. ONLY THOSE WHO LEAVE A COMMENT ON THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE SAYING THEY CAME FROM THE ENCHANTED HOME WILL BE ENTERED IN THE DRAWING.

Now onto my post.....

 Remember the post on "which would you choose" showcasing 12 living rooms? Many of you thought it would be fun to know which were the top picks. I think from now on, I will post the results as it is interesting to see which was the most popular. So below are the top 5 "winners"! Though in my eyes, they were ALL winners.....

1st place with 27 votes

2nd place with 26 votes (razor thin margin)

3rd place with 20 votes

4th place  with 14 votes

5th place with 12 votes

Funny thing happened yesterday, my kitchen guy and I both noticed AFTER the fact of course, that the wrong kitchen knob was installed (the backplate/escutcheon was correct), not a huge deal as its a small knob but the one I ordered had a little more detail so they all came off today and we are now awaiting for the right ones to come in. To most, there would be no difference but to me, a stickler for all details, this would gnaw away at me like a chipmunk on an acorn so I know I did the right thing! Oh well, in the scheme of things......anywho got me thinking and.......

Last night at about 2 am when I couldn't sleep I started thinking it was high time to do a post acknowledging many of the questions I have been asked over the last few months, some more than once. I do try to personally acknowledge all emails that come through but lets face it, its impossible to catch every one of them. So today while impossible to address every question, I will answer some and promise to follow up with subsequent posts on others, so keep em coming. I am happy to help and answer in any way that I can!
Here we go......


1. Are we building a new house or is this a house restoration? For those of you who asked, thank you, this is the highest compliment. When I told my architect this, he was thrilled as well. This is a brand new construction. (meant to look like its been there a long time when we are said and done)


2. Was there a house on this property? Yes, it was a charming older home. From the outside it was storybook, a beautiful semi small French home, not huge and unfortunately very chopped up. It had a very unusual "butterfly plan" and after spending 5 months at the drawing board trying to figure out a time and cost effective way to working around this, it was agreed with everyone involved, the house should come down and we should start from scratch. Not what I had in mind, I had not interest in building again and putting over three years of my life on hold, but fast forward to fall of 2011 and here we are. Glad the end is near!!

3.How tall are the ceilings? On the first floor they are 12 feet and on the second floor, they are 10 feet.

4. Who made our kitchen and all the woodworking? We did not use a company but  private woodworkers who are truly  master craftsmen. Don and Gary are responsible for all the beautiful woodworking and cabinetry you see. I could not be any happier with the result.

5.What paint colors have you used? For upstairs, the only floor we have painted, we toned down Linen White so its actually a mix (took a little of the yellow out) and used White dove on the trim. Still working on downstairs.....

6. Do you have any good resources that are reasonable for Carerra and Calcutta gold marble? (got this a lot too)  YES! I have been anxious to share these resources with you! I went through New Ravenna (www.newravenna.com) for most of our bathrooms for all the custom work,  but it didn't make sense to use them for simple things like carerra subways or hexagons (for showers/walls in the boys room) ,chair rails and pencil moldings where New Ravenna charges a premium. If you want seriously gorgeous waterjet marble or mosaics, then it doesn't get better than New Ravenna. But for simple marbles...there are many other great and affordable options!  I found three especially great resources who deliver a top product at unbelievable prices. I was thrilled with the customer service and deliver and quality and even happier with the prices! They cannot be beat, trust me I have looked EVERYWHERE!! Always have a sample shipped to you first so you can see what the lot looks like, lots vary considerably, but I must say Stone Centers Calacutta Gold was especially hard to find, then to find such high quality at a reasonable price was incredible!

For Calacutta Gold hex's and subways I used Stone Center online:  (He had what I couldn't find anywhere, which was Calacutta gold chair rails...when I finally found one source it was 39.99 a linear foot and the quality was horrible, the quality at Stone Center was AMAZING)-

 http://www.stonecenteronline.com/calacatta-gold-c-3.html?zenid=f2787629874cfd45c71edb1a3b0bc3d5   (STONE CENTER)


And for great quality Bianca Carerra (the whiter Carerra) here are two-

http://www.basketweavemosaics.com/bicawcaco.html   (BASKETWEAVE MOSAICS)


http://www.buildersdepotdirect.com/category/56219922421/1/BIANCO-CARRARA-MARBLE-MOSAICS-TILE.htm  (BUILDERS DEPOT DIRECT)

7. Do I ever sleep? YES! Well, not as much as I would like if truth be told, I am a light sleeper to begin with,and  a pretty high energy person and those two don't mix so well. I don't like taking medication, otherwise I could probably benefit from a sleep aid. Most nights I get to bed around 11:30 and am up between 5:30-6:30, coffee of course helps to sustain me throughout my day, I am really addicted to Peet's coffee..have you tried it? If you love coffee, you MUST, its AMAZING!

8. This was a good one....Does anyone help or write for me on my blog? As in an assistant? Thats funny, but no and no. Its yours truly doing it all. It is a labor of love, the day I stop loving it is the day I will take a small break until I feel the love coming back. This is not an "operation or undercover blog headquarters" just little old me having fun with my little old blog. Nothing more and nothing less. Sorry I cant make it sound more glamorous:)

9. What are the color of our kitchen cabinets? (I got this a lot) It was a custom color with the base being Powder Sand by Benjamin Moore and then it was slightly toned down, then we played around with very subtle glazes. I wanted no red/orange in the glaze, so it has a bit more brown/gray, its very very subtle. The island is full on black. The butlers pantry is the darkest Java stain, looks black but its actually a stain and in the sunlight you can see the grain of the wood come through.

10. What color did we paint the bathrooms with the white marble? We went with White Dove for all the bathrooms besides mine and the powder rooms. (Which will get wallpaper) Its a nice clean white that is not too creamy. Since we used white and pale gray marble in these, we needed a neutral white on the cool side.

11. What are my favorite wallpaper companies? I like many, but Schumacher, Scalamandre and Zoffany are three that I seem to have a lot of success with. For chinoiserie, Paul Montgomery, Stark, De Gournay and Gracie all make incredible products.

12. Why haven't I posted plans of the house online? Our contract with our architect does not allow it. But I will try to do a walk through when we move or maybe get really ambitious and make, as suggested a short video.

13. What is the name/manufacturer of the kitchen hardware you chose? RK International

14. How old am I? Lets go with "mid forties" or I think I like "over 30 and under 50 better"!

15. What finish did you use on the kitchen hardware and all the bath hardware? What brand is the bath hardware? I used all polished nickel in the baths and its all from Perrin and Rowe/Rohl and in the kitchen its oil rubbed bronze.

16. Were the beams in the kitchen, breakfast and living room antique/reclaimed or new made to look old? They are new beams which were successfully completed to look old/aged. Thanks again to Don and our master finisher, Rocco.

17. What color did I paint my closet? I painted it Benjamin Moores Silver Crest.... I love it, its the perfect really muted gray/blue/green.

18. What color is our brick? I get asked this a lot. The rep from the brick company, is away in Italy for a month (I know lucky him) so when he gets back, I will be asking and promise to post this information. We searched high and low, until we found it..and could not be happier with our choice.

OK, so that's it for today, I have lots of other questions to answer but will post those next round!
Wishing you a wonderful day.....until next time!! Don't forget to visit Safaviehs Home page to enter the contest for the amazing French table....click here. Enjoy your day!