We’ve spent a bit of time thinking about what we want the front porch, kitchen, and fireplace to look like.  These are the parts of our home that we are most excited about design-wise.

The fireplace and the built-ins flanking it will be the focal point of our living room.  We’re using the fireplaces in these two photos as the design inspiration for our fireplace.  We decided to go with tile because it’ll be cheaper than stone, and we like the look of it better.  I want the raised hearth so that we have somewhere to sit (or put our feet) close to the fire place.  We like the tile and the mantel in the photo on the left and the raised hearth in the photo on the right.  We’re pretty excited about the Carreaux du Nord art tiles (we want the evergreen glaze).  The field tile will be Fire Clay tiles (they’re similar but less expensive than Carreaux du Nord) in matte clover.

photo from Carreaux du Nord

photo from Standout Fireplace Designs

We’ve thought a lot about what we want the columns on our front porch to look like.  We know from talking with our builder that tapered columns are more difficult (and therefore more costly) to build, so we’ve chosen to go with a square footer.  Half of the column will be a square footer in creek rock (Coronado’s southwest blend), and the top half of the column will be a grouping (we’re not sure on the number yet — 2, 3, or 4) of square wood posts.  We really like the look of the columns in this photo.

photo from This Old House

The design inspiration for our kitchen has largely come from the photo below.  We’re hoping to be able to procure the same linoleum flooring that they have (it’s Marmoleum’s Van Gogh tile).  We’re also planning on having soapstone countertops, white walls, lightly stained cabinets, and a green subway tile backsplace (Fire Clay’s Sea Green tile).

photo from New Bungalow Kitchens