Let me vent a little about Houzz
I used to write for Houzz . I'll be forever grateful for the exposure and dealing with the editorial side of that site was nothing but a pleasure. Would that all online forums were as well-run as Houzz. That's due almost exclusively to the hard work of editor Sheila Schmitz by the way.
There are few editors I've labored with who have made actual assignments, appraised added paintings and provided plenty needed path as well as she did. All hail Sheila Schmitz!
Houzz.com started out just a couple of years ago and has since grown into one of the go to places on the internet for designers and Architects to show their work. At the same time, it's become a place for homeowners and potential customers to interact.
This is first-rate.
However, it's been nearly two years since I stopped writing for Houzz. Yet every day I get at least one e-mail from a Houzz reader who's asking a question about something he or she saw in one of my Houzz posts.
When I actually have time I answer those e-mails however as regularly as no longer I ignore them due to the fact they're moronic questions.
As I repeated constantly on my blog and on Houzz, there are no standard names for granite slabs. What's Uba Tuba in Florida is called Labrador in New York. Natural stone is a natural product and even stones that come from the same quarry change radically over time. You cannot order a natural stone counter out of a catalog and you have to pick the slabs your counters will be made from in person. Deal with it.
If you want a stone that's gray-ish brown with little movement or if you want a schizophrenic blue, just describe what you're looking for to your salesperson. He or she will set you up with the stone you're looking for.
Contrary to what you may believe, sales people in kitchen and bath showrooms don't exist to extort money from you. It may sound counter intuitive, but these people will actually save you money. The budget you have set for yourself shouldn't be a secret. Walk up to someone in a showroom and say something along the lines of "I have $25,000 to re-do my kitchen, go!" That's a much better use of your time and their time than leaving them to guess how much money you have to spend.
The idea of getting three bids is crap too. Find someone you trust and who can work with your budget. If he or she has a good reputation you're done. Except for writing checks of course. Be sure that anybody you hire is licensed in the state where you live.
If you are worried about staining, do not get counters made from natural stone. Granite will stain and marble a good deal extra so. In my mind the ones stains are just like the wrinkles around my eyes. Stained counters and my wrinkled face display the world that we've got lived a complete life. One of my favourite tales about marble includes a fantastic, former consumer named Margaret. Margaret had triplets who had been ten whilst we re-did her kitchen. I designed a bar on the give up of her counter so her youngsters should do their homework as she placed dinner collectively,
I went to look her a year after we re-did her kitchen I saw that her bar become included with crayon and smudge marks. When I mentioned it she stated "For the rest of our lives, my youngsters will constantly be ten after I see the marks they left in my kitchen."
That's why humans get natural stone counters. If you are now not prepared in your kids' crayons or your very own dough kneading to go away a mark, than don't get a natural stone counter.
Beware the yahoos who claim that they can put a granite counter in your kitchen for $20/ sq.ft. That's an impossibility and it guarantees you a miserable experience.
When a cabinet's billed as "cherry-stained" it's not cherry. The people who make wood stains use the colors and tones of natural wood as model when they formulate their stains. Oak called "walnut" isn't walnut and heaven protect anybody who puts a stain on actual walnut. Maple is naturally blond, cherry runs between blond and brown, hickory has nearly black streaks on a blond background, birch is an iridescent gold and oak is oak.
Finally, colorings to your laptop screen aren't actual. Between the distortion of your non-calibrated display and the non-calibrated digital camera of the source, nothing seems similar to the image you see on the internet. Don't ask what the wall coloration of a picture you spot on Houzz or Pinterest is. Whatever colour it's miles for real may not appearance whatever like what you see on a website.
The clever component to ask for (ideally from a clothier) is a colour that approximates what you see in a web picture.
I loved my studies at Houzz.Com and operating with Sheila was a deal with, but the various questions I discipline will be answered with the aid of a) questioning and b) clicking on the "extra statistics" tag on each one in all Houzz's pictures.
Think people, think!