Sunday 1 February 2015

Chance not choice

This apartment is the second pre-owned property we have bought, all our other homes have been rented or new builds.  So we inherited lots of choices here that we wouldn't have made but I am pleased to say that mostly we like them 
Our bedroom fitted wardrobes
and when finishes are fairly bland and neutral there is nothing to fall out with.

Our bedroom Roman blinds
All the walls are white the carpets cream and generally everything is easy to live with although some of the finishes are completely beyond anything I would ever have considered.
Take the kitchen floor as an example, large shiny black ceramic tiles with lots of sparkly bits in them that glitter in the sunlight or when the lights are on.
My last kitchen floor of choice was white Amtico vinyl tiles that wore really well but in addition to regular washing had to be stripped of finish with a special cleaner every 6 months or so and re-varnished twice, once in one direction again at right angles to the first, it was half a days work and the products were expensive. 
These black tiles are simple to wash with just water or a weak detergent mix and a quick run round with the vacuum keeps them smart in between.
The stone kitchen worktops are almost as sparkly, some type of composite quartz I believe, pale grey with darker grey flecks and twinkles of silver. Though I find them a bit noisy when I put things down they look lovely and are simple to keep clean, unlike the matt black Corian worktops I had previously that always looked smeary and soon showed signs of wear.
I certainly wouldn't have chosen orange for my kitchen wall tiles but these are acceptable, are extremely well fitted and like everything else in the kitchen shiny shiny.
However, the second bathroom continues to freak me out.  I dislike the black counter top wash basin and the black free standing bath with its ornate silver feet is definitely going.  I've only used it once, it took a huge amount of water and I found having the position of the tap, halfway down one side, annoying when I needed to top up with hot water.

 Having other people's choices forced on you can be a good opportunity opening your eyes to different possibilities and actually making your life better but this bathroom is just too much for me.
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8 comments:

  1. josiekitten2 February 2015 at 17:30

    Crikey, that is a scary bathroom!! We stayed in a hotel with a basin like that over the New Year and I hated it!! There was nowhere to put anything and every single water splash left a mark. It must have been a nightmare to clean.

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  2. Caroline2 February 2015 at 18:37

    I love the kitchen floor tiles and work top, Jenny - in fact, when we do our kitchen, I'm hoping to get a work top almost identical to that one! As for a black bath, though - it's a no from me!

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  3. Anonymous2 February 2015 at 19:48

    The bathroom is scary isn't it? Black is not something I would want in mine either.

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  4. frayed at the edge2 February 2015 at 20:21

    I wouldn't want a black bath, although it is better than the one in the house we bought in 1990 - I described the colour as dog-dirt brwon, it was so awful (it was soon replaced with a white bath!)

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  5. Justine3 February 2015 at 13:47

    Love the sparkly kitchen floor tiles - very disco diva. But the bathroom is a bit too 'Footballers' Wives' for my taste. Is the bath black inside as well, or just painted on the outside? I bet you could sell it on eBay; there's sure to be someone who would love it.

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  6. love those cupcakes5 February 2015 at 12:17

    Ooh, I do like a bit of sparkle and shine. I also like black (our kitchen cupboards are shiny and black). But yes, a black bath is maybe a step too far.

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  7. Mac n' Janet6 February 2015 at 17:19

    That bathroom is definitely different, I like vessel sinks, but I always worry that I'll bang my head on the edge.
    We have tile kitchen floor and it is my dream to rip it out and put in wood to match the rest of the house. The tile is hard on my feet and back.

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  8. Angella Frasier25 May 2016 at 03:31

    I feel that fitted wardrobes really make a bedroom feel special, as well as saving much needed space. We recently used a local wardrobe specialist who helped us to both design and fit the wardrobes for us. They were well worth the money. As they were specifically designed for me, they also feel truly personal.Good luck to you.

    Angella Frasier @ 4 Wardrobe

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