OT - Granite Counter tops -

[thumpery]

I've been lurking through this thread and love the pics! Because of you guys I now want new countertops. I was just wondering if anyone here has ever heard of Cambria? Do you have any comments about it or other suggestions to look at. We want to look into all options. Also, what do you guys think about laminate hard wood compared to regular hard wood. Tara, what is your flooring/color? I too have off white cupboards and love your look. Thanks in advance!

 

[hogue123]

I've been lurking through this thread and love the pics! Because of you guys I now want new countertops. I was just wondering if anyone here has ever heard of Cambria? Do you have any comments about it or other suggestions to look at. We want to look into all options. Also, what do you guys think about laminate hard wood compared to regular hard wood. Tara, what is your flooring/color? I too have off white cupboards and love your look. Thanks in advance!

I heard of and have looked at the Cambria. It's quartz. I did not like it as well because I like the look of granite better (less uniform, has movement and character to it). Quartz has a very uniform look to it and most I saw were speckled. It is also really expensive. We did our kitchen in granite for about half the price it was to do quartz. I think it's a personal preference. I can not comment on the laminate flooring. We only have hardwood.

 

[iwannago!!]

Uhmmm, can't see your pic! Please try again.

SORRY! I have to figure this out... I can't seem to post my pics from Flickr or Yahoo??? I have some great granite shots of the Tan Brown in my kitchen and the new bathroom shots (absolute black). I will figure it out soon and post them.

Tara, wanna trade houses??? hmmm???? Your house is GORGEOUS! It kinda reminds me of... a castle!

 

[iwannago!!]

I've been lurking through this thread and love the pics! Because of you guys I now want new countertops. I was just wondering if anyone here has ever heard of Cambria? Do you have any comments about it or other suggestions to look at. We want to look into all options. Also, what do you guys think about laminate hard wood compared to regular hard wood. Tara, what is your flooring/color? I too have off white cupboards and love your look. Thanks in advance!

We explored a couple options before choosing the granite for out kitchen, such as Cambria. IIRC, there wasn't a big price difference between that and the granite, not when you figured in the edges, backsplash etc. I guess it came down to this....... Cambria, and others like it, try real hard to be just like granite. So, if that is the case, why not just get the granite? Nothing is as good as the rock itself, ya know?

 

[TaraPA]

Tara, wanna trade houses??? hmmm???? Your house is GORGEOUS! It kinda reminds me of... a castle!

ROFL - yeah that makes me the PRINCESS!!!! And no one better forget it!

 

[TaraPA]

I've been lurking through this thread and love the pics! Because of you guys I now want new countertops. I was just wondering if anyone here has ever heard of Cambria? Do you have any comments about it or other suggestions to look at. We want to look into all options. Also, what do you guys think about laminate hard wood compared to regular hard wood. Tara, what is your flooring/color? I too have off white cupboards and love your look. Thanks in advance!

Sorry I don't know a thing about Cambria...enlighten me!! I have only ever had real hardwood, so I don't know anything about laminate either. I have regular hardwood in the kitchen. I wanted a much darker color but DH said no way. I think ours is 1 shade darker than the "normal" stain they use for most houses these days. I can't remember the exact stain name but if you said it I'd know it! It's Minwax stain I think, whatever the standard brand is, I think it comes in a yellow can???

 

[iwannago!!]

Tara,
Here is a link that I found on Cambria that has some Q&A. http://www.cambriausa.com/learn_faq.cfm

We have hardwood floors too. This is an old house though, so some things are different... Such as the downstairs is both Cedar (dining/living room) and Oak (entry way). Upstairs is Maple and they are beautiful! Our floor guy that redid our floors for us did an excellent job of mixing the stains to match when on all the different wood types. He actually had to 'trick' the Maple with mineral spirits (IIRC) in order to get it to take the stain.
I think that we used a few different ones, mostly mixed together: Provincal, Early American, Special Walnut, Golden Oak. http://www.minwax.com/products/woodstain/woodfinish-color.cfm

 

[TaraPA]

iwannago - I checked out the site - it looks like a great alternative to granite - no maintenance! But is it much more expensive than granite? I think our stain is Early American but I wanted Dark Walnut. To this day I still wish I just would have done it. With 10-foot ceilings & 3 rooms open to the 2nd floor the darker floor wouldn't have made it seem smaller, I don't think. That was DH's concern, that we'd feel small & dark. Maybe in 10 years when the kids are gone & it's time to get them re-done!

I see you were at The Dolphin in '05 with just one DD - wasn't that great? I just got back last month from the Dolphin with just one son, DS7, and it was one of the best trips ever. I had taken my other DS (10 now, 6 then) a few years back.

Ok off to get those master baths pics ready to post....warning I'm hijacking the thread again! Sorry SoulSearching!

 

[Soulsearching]

iwannago - I checked out the site - it looks like a great alternative to granite - no maintenance! But is it much more expensive than granite? I think our stain is Early American but I wanted Dark Walnut. To this day I still wish I just would have done it. With 10-foot ceilings & 3 rooms open to the 2nd floor the darker floor wouldn't have made it seem smaller, I don't think. That was DH's concern, that we'd feel small & dark. Maybe in 10 years when the kids are gone & it's time to get them re-done!

I see you were at The Dolphin in '05 with just one DD - wasn't that great? I just got back last month from the Dolphin with just one son, DS7, and it was one of the best trips ever. I had taken my other DS (10 now, 6 then) a few years back.

Ok off to get those master baths pics ready to post....warning I'm hijacking the thread again! Sorry SoulSearching!

Tara: Hijack away! love seeing the pics.

No need to be sorry, I really am enjoying the thread.

So anytime you want to hijack you have my permission. Enjoy! that goes for other also.

Post your pics!

 

[TaraPA]

Ok here are master bath pics. I'm not the best photographer, sorry!

sorry, everything reflecting in the mirrors on that last one makes it very BUSY...

 

[hogue123]

iwannago - I checked out the site - it looks like a great alternative to granite - no maintenance! But is it much more expensive than granite?

Tara - We priced a few of the black Cambria colors for our kitchen and we were getting price quotes close to $90 or more per sq.ft. The price we got on the absolute black granite was closer to $50. Almost half. Of course we went with the granite. This is in Cincinnati Ohio. Not sure how much it is elsewhere. We also saw the product in showrooms and the seams looked terrible. It could be partly due to the person who installed it, or the perfectly uniform look of the Cambria. Our New Venetian Gold has 4 seams in the island (due to it's size) and you can barely see them. If you didn't know they were there, you may not even notice it.

Your bathroom pictures are great! Can you come to Ohio and design a bathroom for me????? Please???!!! You have great taste. We are eventually going to remodel our master bath (do the things we couldn't afford to do when we built the house 7 yrs ago) Your colors are just what I like

 

[TaraPA]

Hey Ohio's not that far....LOL...the best thing we did in the bathroom is to install radiant heat under the tile floor. OMG, I wish we would have done that in every room. There is nothing like stepping out of the shower onto a hot floor (I lay my towel there too while I'm showering so it's nice & toasty when I get out), or getting up in the middle of the night (especially lately around here, it's been freezing cold) and walking on a warm floor. The other thing I love is the shower jets - we installed 3 body jets, a rainhead & a hand held jet - nothing like it! So keep those in mind when you do your re-model. Worth every penny. I didn't paint the bathroom, it's contractor grade off white. I like simple colors - very earthy, I have a little sage green in the towels & accents in there, that's it. One day I might paint the walls a deeper ivory, not sure. I'm taking a paint break for a few months. In the last 2 years I did almost every room in the house & I'm DONE. Sick of it. The most daring room I did was terra cotta - LOVE IT when it's dim outside, but when it's very bright & sunny it's a basketball color. Blech. I keep putting dark wood & dark furniture in there to calm it down but nothing works. I call it the Campbells Tomato Soup room!

 

[pamjb]

Now that's the bathroom of a coffee addict.....a coffee pot in the bathroom

 

[hogue123]

Hey Ohio's not that far....LOL...the best thing we did in the bathroom is to install radiant heat under the tile floor. OMG, I wish we would have done that in every room. There is nothing like stepping out of the shower onto a hot floor (I lay my towel there too while I'm showering so it's nice & toasty when I get out), or getting up in the middle of the night (especially lately around here, it's been freezing cold) and walking on a warm floor. The other thing I love is the shower jets - we installed 3 body jets, a rainhead & a hand held jet - nothing like it! So keep those in mind when you do your re-model. Worth every penny. I didn't paint the bathroom, it's contractor grade off white. I like simple colors - very earthy, I have a little sage green in the towels & accents in there, that's it. One day I might paint the walls a deeper ivory, not sure. I'm taking a paint break for a few months. In the last 2 years I did almost every room in the house & I'm DONE. Sick of it. The most daring room I did was terra cotta - LOVE IT when it's dim outside, but when it's very bright & sunny it's a basketball color. Blech. I keep putting dark wood & dark furniture in there to calm it down but nothing works. I call it the Campbells Tomato Soup room!

Thanks for the tip on the radient heat in the floor. That sounds like a definite MUST! Got pics of the Campbells Tomato Soup room??? Sounds interesting. I like darker colors. I just did a color similar to that in my 1/2 bathroom. It's more red than orange though.

 

[TaraPA]

Now that's the bathroom of a coffee addict.....a coffee pot in the bathroom

ROFL - you betcha!!!!! DH's office is through that door so technically it's his - he has his offce, a fridge in his office and the coffee pot - and the bathroom - what more could he want? We could literally not see him for days at a time!

 

[TaraPA]

Got pics of the Campbells Tomato Soup room??? Sounds interesting. I like darker colors. I just did a color similar to that in my 1/2 bathroom. It's more red than orange though.

This is turning into a thread I subscribe to on the Theme Parks & Attractions board - "Show Me A Picture Of....." then someone posts that, and requests another pic....

Ok I'll go take a pic of the Campbell's Tomato Soup room if you post one of your 1/2 bath so we can compare terra cottas...

Now the thread is "I'll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours!!" ROFL!!

 

[hogue123]

Ok I'll go take a pic of the Campbell's Tomato Soup room if you post one of your 1/2 bath so we can compare terra cottas...

Now the thread is "I'll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours!!" ROFL!!

Wow. I didn't realize how ORANGE mine looked until I downloaded these pictures! The 1/2 bath doesn't get a lot of light. We have a window in there but it's in the back of the house where it's not as bright so it never looked orange until the flash brought it out in the pictures. It was difficult to take pictures since it's a small area. I had to try to wedge myself between the wall and the side of the toilet for one of the pictures I couldn't get back far enough to get a floor to ceiling picture. I took a picture at the new mirror I put up (it use to be a plain frame less oval mirror over the sink). We still have work to do. We are going to get either black or oil rubbed bronze light, towel ring and faucet and we need to put up crown molding. The reflection in the mirror shows the cabinet above the toilet on the opposite wall.

 

[TaraPA]

OMG same here! I took about 8 pics because in one it looked bright orange, then then next it looked brown. I had to laugh out loud when you said you were wedging yourself between things - I was on the piano bench, on the settee, sitting on the floor, etc. doing the same thing. I took one pic where I think I got 5 or 6 rooms in 1 pic - all different colors. Looks like a circus! Thank God I stay neutral in my colors. I LOVE your terra cotta. It's much more orange-red than mine. Mine is orange-orange! Yours is deeper I think. More reddish brown than bright orange, be happy about that! Love it. I think black or oil rubbed bronze would be stunning in there. What paint is it, do you remember?

 

[hogue123]

The paint is from Eddie Bauer Home, Ridgeline Cabin collection and the color is called SIENNA (EB37-1).

 

[TaraPA]

Here's the Campbell's Tomato Soup Room....

Here's the one where you can actually see 6 different paint colors - the gold/green DR, the medium brown foyer & up the stairs, the Campbell's Tomato Soup room, the tan Family Room, the red that starts the hall into the kitchen, and the gold/yellow in the breakfast room. Whew.