dsjnix
We want to update our kitchen, but have a very moderate budget. Which would be less expensive, granite countertops, travertine tile, or is there something comparable that looks as good? Also, we have just old white cabinets and cannot afford to replace them, is crackling or antiquing hard to do on kitchen cabinets and which would look best. My style is French Country cottage look ?
Answer
Granite tiles can cost from $5.00 per square foot to $15.00 per square foot. Travertine can start around $2.50 per square foot, so it is less expensive.
However, I would never reccomend travertine for a kitchen countertop. It is simply too soft, and will scratch easily. Granite is much harder (will scratch only with very hard things such as diamonds, sand, and concrete.)
Typically granite tiles are more difficult to install than a normal tile because you lay them with a very tight grout joint, and they need to be very flat on a countertop. (Can be very tedious).
An alternative would be a porcelaine tile. It is a very hard and durable material, easier to lay, and won't need to be sealed like the granite or travertine will. Porcelains can also have v-caps or chair rails that coordinate for the front edge of your countertop. You can find good porcelains starting around $2.00 per square foot. The v-caps and chair rails can be pricy (around $10 per linier foot), but worth the finished look they give. You could also use a bullnose with a cut underneath for the face. A porcelain bullnose will probably run around $4 a linier foot.
With a granite you would need to have it polished for the edge, and do a cut for the front face. Although, you may be able to find a chair rail that would look nice with a granite.
Hope this helps!
Granite tiles can cost from $5.00 per square foot to $15.00 per square foot. Travertine can start around $2.50 per square foot, so it is less expensive.
However, I would never reccomend travertine for a kitchen countertop. It is simply too soft, and will scratch easily. Granite is much harder (will scratch only with very hard things such as diamonds, sand, and concrete.)
Typically granite tiles are more difficult to install than a normal tile because you lay them with a very tight grout joint, and they need to be very flat on a countertop. (Can be very tedious).
An alternative would be a porcelaine tile. It is a very hard and durable material, easier to lay, and won't need to be sealed like the granite or travertine will. Porcelains can also have v-caps or chair rails that coordinate for the front edge of your countertop. You can find good porcelains starting around $2.00 per square foot. The v-caps and chair rails can be pricy (around $10 per linier foot), but worth the finished look they give. You could also use a bullnose with a cut underneath for the face. A porcelain bullnose will probably run around $4 a linier foot.
With a granite you would need to have it polished for the edge, and do a cut for the front face. Although, you may be able to find a chair rail that would look nice with a granite.
Hope this helps!
How do I decorate a farm house in modern style?
eliza s
I love mid century modern homes but they are rare in Connecticut. So my husband and I ended up buying a farm house. How do I decorate a farm house when I love 1950s and 1960s decor?
Answer
It depends on what kind of 50's and 60's decor you mean! I grew up then and my parents were obsessed with everything looking "Colonial", so we had lots of fake colonial stuff, that was popular then (those maple tables with captain's chairs and the angled legs--ugh!). It wasn't at ALL what people think of now about "mid-century" style, with atomic wallpaper, boomerangs and bubble chairs!
One of my favorite houses in the neighborhood was modern, but very homey, richly decorated ranch. It looked like a Frank Lloyd Wright design--lots of dark wood, huge glass windows and field stone. The furnishings had clean lines, like an "S-shaped" divan, but upholstered in dark brown wool.
Many people work WITH the farmhouse style and go with Craftsman or Mission style furniture (clean lines, chunky, darker wood) that farmhouses actually DID have often. There are many newer variations on this (I call it "Pseudo-Mission), like the stuff you see in Ikea or Overstock.com--dark, rich colors but w/clean, straight lines.
I wouldn't "fight" the farm house style with lots of furniture that looks like it belongs in a Manhattan penthouse or Stanley Kubrick film, or you'll end up with a "Beetlejuice" house (like the farmhouse in that film after the new couple "modernizes" it). You can go with transitional things, and add a few modern pieces that aren't too glaring.
If you INSIST on doing this, model your kitchen after the one in "Bridges of Madison Country"--a farmhouse with a real 50's touch, right down to the metal and Formica kitchen table. It's not my style, but it's charming. Many people back then didn't just plunge into the latest styles.
Here's a link to the exterior (a real house):
http://www.gather.com/viewImage.action?fileId=3096224744133034
this site shows the kitchen (it's been restored to its original style:
http://www.beardmore.com/Personal/aboutpersonal/Bridges/francescas.htm
Notice that what was considered "modern" for them, even in the 1960's, hardly looks like the slick image we have of glass, chrome and plastic from other films of that era, like "The Graduate" and so on!
Below is an article from a great site (Hooked On Houses), detailing Katherine Hepburn's home in Connecticut. May give you some ideas! Check out houses from fave films, too.
http://hookedonhouses.net/2011/06/28/katharine-hepburns-former-estate-for-sale-in-connecticut/
My point is that mid-century style has many forms and is also regional. You have LOTS of options to choose from!
It depends on what kind of 50's and 60's decor you mean! I grew up then and my parents were obsessed with everything looking "Colonial", so we had lots of fake colonial stuff, that was popular then (those maple tables with captain's chairs and the angled legs--ugh!). It wasn't at ALL what people think of now about "mid-century" style, with atomic wallpaper, boomerangs and bubble chairs!
One of my favorite houses in the neighborhood was modern, but very homey, richly decorated ranch. It looked like a Frank Lloyd Wright design--lots of dark wood, huge glass windows and field stone. The furnishings had clean lines, like an "S-shaped" divan, but upholstered in dark brown wool.
Many people work WITH the farmhouse style and go with Craftsman or Mission style furniture (clean lines, chunky, darker wood) that farmhouses actually DID have often. There are many newer variations on this (I call it "Pseudo-Mission), like the stuff you see in Ikea or Overstock.com--dark, rich colors but w/clean, straight lines.
I wouldn't "fight" the farm house style with lots of furniture that looks like it belongs in a Manhattan penthouse or Stanley Kubrick film, or you'll end up with a "Beetlejuice" house (like the farmhouse in that film after the new couple "modernizes" it). You can go with transitional things, and add a few modern pieces that aren't too glaring.
If you INSIST on doing this, model your kitchen after the one in "Bridges of Madison Country"--a farmhouse with a real 50's touch, right down to the metal and Formica kitchen table. It's not my style, but it's charming. Many people back then didn't just plunge into the latest styles.
Here's a link to the exterior (a real house):
http://www.gather.com/viewImage.action?fileId=3096224744133034
this site shows the kitchen (it's been restored to its original style:
http://www.beardmore.com/Personal/aboutpersonal/Bridges/francescas.htm
Notice that what was considered "modern" for them, even in the 1960's, hardly looks like the slick image we have of glass, chrome and plastic from other films of that era, like "The Graduate" and so on!
Below is an article from a great site (Hooked On Houses), detailing Katherine Hepburn's home in Connecticut. May give you some ideas! Check out houses from fave films, too.
http://hookedonhouses.net/2011/06/28/katharine-hepburns-former-estate-for-sale-in-connecticut/
My point is that mid-century style has many forms and is also regional. You have LOTS of options to choose from!
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