Question along with update.

Taj Mahal has become the most sought after stone and I’m coming across the following issue - slabs are always on hold that I’m interested in…and/or the Taj available now is really not good quality anymore. It’s actually kind of weird at this point but a fabricator told me they’re going deeper and deeper into the stone quarry’s that the quality is degrading.

So I’m still searching for the right stone.

With that being said…can you tell me which option you prefer?

Option 1 - keep searching for Taj only (leathered or honed preference)
Option 2 - put kitchen back together the way it was with our original Taj and hood photo attached
Option 3 - original Taj but do a tiled backsplash so it’s full height. I know @jan_moyer hates this option so I’m afraid to even ask!
Option 4 - consider a different kind of stone - if so, any suggestions? I’m reconsidering this Volakas marble we saw. It’s stunning in person and may be a bit on the cool side but could work in our kitchen

@jan_moyer - would you love your input since this is your kitchen too 😊

I know you gave the green light on honed/leathered Taj but what are your thoughts on the options in the comment above?

And with a full height backsplash option - do you have a preferred hood shape?

Thank you!!

The hardwood looks like it could potentially the Bruce prefinished floors - those can’t be sanded down. So it’s more a question of if the hardwood can actually be sanded down or not.

Still need the plan

😂😂😂

When we showed the owner of the carpet store how we're planning to have the rug cut, it was like you could hear brakes screeching. Stopped her in her tracks. She immediately said wait you can't do this, it will look "really weird" and "really bad" to leave that large strip of flooring exposed on the window / entry side of the room:

Her suggestion was to cut around the woodstove platform and keep the flooring border more equal / balanced with the other side of the rug. I didn't get this exactly as she would probably do it but you get the general idea:

When I explained it's a rental home, and as she looked at how the cut carpet would come out, she had second thoughts about cutting to wrap around the woodstove platform.

I told her the only other work-around for the platform I had thought of was an octagon shape. She thought that was the best solution for this room, she said better than her idea of cutting around the platform and much better than the long narrow rug that leaves lopsided flooring exposure. I said I was advised not to do an octagon because it's contrived. She said some rooms call for an octagon and this seems like it might be one of them and as to it being contrived - "don't overthink it, if an octagon works, it works."

Still planning to do this below, heeding Jan's warning about contrived rug shapes. But do you think the carpet store owner is right and it'll look too weird to have the large section of bare floor?

We just now tried it again with dropcloths and had the same reaction as the first time, the long rectangle shape does look very shoved to one side of the room. The octagon looks balanced and pleasant to be honest...

Maybe you can imagine how it looks / feels sitting in the chair nearest the window, with the rug "missing" to your right. It does look wrong from that perspective. I wouldn't be able to truly picture this effect if someone told me to imagine it, I had to test it to see it. From that seat, looking toward the tv it really is strange. Darn platform.

So we'll think more about the octagon rug...

Could be an interesting experiment: can a room turn out well when every individual decision and purchase is a disastrous mistake. Like those dogs that are so ugly they're cute.

Are the Stressless chairs GLUED to the rug?!

Is this house a 3 - 4 year stay, or is THIRTY of forty year stay?

"The last renters had this.... just a two seat sofa facing a tv" Yeah, because it was a rental. Because they were not staying, Because it was for whatever reason, all they needed.......and what do they have to do with YOU, she asks rhetorically....

If you need a contrived rug, do a contrived rug, no different than needing a headrest on a sofa.

Whatever...........walk on and move on