Slate Tile

Today we got samples in the mail of a slate tile we found on the internet. It's called Summer Buff, and it's from stonelocator.com. Here's a picture:


Their description: "A beautiful, earthy slate with an abundant movement of brown, gold and olive. "

We love it! It's just like the description says. It's a little lighter and more olive in the sample, but that could just be the two pieces we got, since there is quite a variation in the material.

It goes nicely with the warm wood floors throughout our house, and the warm wood of our cabin-like porch. We think it will match nicely with maple cabinents and laminate countertops in a honed slate, almost black finish.

It costs $2.40 per square foot and there is a minimum order of about 400 square feet. We're planning to use it in the kitchen and eventually in the porch.

Shipping ends up being almost $500 -- which brings the square foot price up around $4/square foot. Even including shipping, we think that's still way cheaper than anything comparible that we've found locally. Plus, the sales guy at StoneLocator.com said we may be able to get a better deal on shipping -- I need to call him about that.

House Pictures :Exterior, Before

Our house is a 1920s craftsman style bungalow -- with a total of 820 square feet. One story, 2 bedroom, one bath. We bought the house just over 2 years ago. Here is what it looked like when we bought it:



We've since redone the front yard, with the help of Chad's landscaping skills ( www.diggitlandscaping.com). I'll post after pictures if I can find them on my computer.

Here's a detail of the front step before:

The front yard is totally redone and looks awesome! I hope that I can find some pictures so that I don't have to wait until the spring to post them.

Our next project: THE KITCHEN!

My First Blog Entry

It's the day after Thanksgiving. It's snowing outside for the first time this year. 2 inches in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I started this blog to write about our kitchen remodeling project. More soon.