A Road-trip with Karen

Karen drove with us today to Condor Fireplace in Spring Lake Park to look at the choice of brick we're pondering for our gas fireplace insert. We brought along several tile samples of the flooring we're considering to see which ones if any worked best. We did find one that stood out. It was also nice to know that after going through the entire 10,000 sq ft showroom and looking at all of the brick displays, Karen felt that the choice we made was a good one.

The tile we're considering can be seen in the photos here on the floor just in front of the hearth. It's a brown with some hints of blue. It works well with the brick and grout. It will also make for a nice transition between the hardwood floors of our kitchen and dining area into the porch.

We still have a few decisions to make with respect to the fireplace. How high we'd like the hearth and what color stone to cap it off being among those decisions. We have two choices for the capstones and you can see them both in the photos. The lighter color topping the hearth in the display fireplace or the darker color we've placed on top of it. I think we're leaning toward the lighter color.

Our thinking right now is to have a hearth that doesn't sit quite so high as the one pictured and one that is also a couple inches less in width. We're still not sure which look we want.

We came to one other consensus today and that had to do with the flat-panel screen above the fireplace. There's not going to be one. Rather than mount it above the fireplace where it will be obscuring the beautiful stone, we're going to have it built into the shelving or cabinetry that Keith builds for us. I was never keen on the idea of mounting it directly above the fireplace but that's the way I seem to see it done so often. I'd really rather not have it there taking away from the beauty of what will be a focal point of the room.

We got the readjusted bid from Joe for the pergola and it wasn't quite what I was hoping to see. It was probably twice what I was figuring but then I'm not experienced with what this sort of thing should cost. We need to meet with Joe next week to go over some of the dimension of the materials being used on the pergola. I'm concerned that some of the pieces in the list of materials will cause it to have a heavier look to it than I've been envisioning in my mind's eye.

There's a part of me that really wants to put the entire project on hold until after I see what the fallout from the sequester and soon to be realized furlough days will be at work. The fact that loans are quite cheap now keeps us pressing forward.

Joe figures he will be on site next week to begin work.