Steve_

People in Alberta are old-fashioned. I call the interior of most houses I've been in here: "suicide brown". How anyone can cope being in such dark houses during the winter is beyond my comprehension.

Steve_

Can anyone actually recommend to me a decent contractor in Calgary who I can buy countertops off and have them installed properly? All the places I've been so far they seem way too half-soaked to trust them.

Oink

Luckily we don't have much of an issue with that sort of thing in our urban paradise. I suspect they're probably Canadian chavs and I bet they don't have wine bars, don't you know.

mandymoochops

Hmmmmm this may be well out of the way for him (and you) but the guy we are geting to do our bathroom is a stonemason from Germany and lives in Ponoka. We waited for a very long time to get him (have seen him in action and some of his work and its incredible). He does travertine / marble / granite etc - he's $55 an hour so not cheap but if you want to pay the money for a top notch skilled craftsman this guy is definitely worth the wait.

lf1

I got my granite countertops and subway tiles from Porter Tile in Calgary and I was very pleased with the outcome. I agree with you on the dark cabinets, they are not my cup of tea. We had a blond oak which I had lacquered in a nice creamy colour and I still love the finished effect, even 9 years later. If you want to see the finished job I can PM you a pic, but it may not be detailed enough to judge the quality of the work.

MillieF

I don't know how they can be in such dark houses in the summer either....so many of the houses in Canada (and here) have profoundly dark kitchen units, work tops and walls...you'd have to grope your way round... it can't be good for the psyche being stuck in such gloom.

FriendlyManitoba

Agree, Millie. This is why I like off-white cabinets, dark arborite fake granite countertops, and medium-toned flooring. Put a beautiful colour on the walls and you have a classic look that will not drive you to the looney-bin.

Steve_

Well when I bought my home, the show house was finished in dark brown (most people would call it off-black) and dark maroon. It was absolutely appalling. Having worked in construction though I was more interested in the layout and the build quality. When it was finished the sales agent was astonished by it, "wow this colour scheme is much better than the show house."

A blind man with a paintball gun could have achieved a better colour scheme than in the show house.

The other thing that puzzles me is the use of wood floors, they were super keen to try and get me to have various types of wood put in and I had carpet instead. I don't care if wood floors are easier to look after, in -20 they just don't make sense.

Anyway, my basic problem is the only thing I wasn't allowed to spec were the countertops which are a horrible grey/black colour and I've been wanting to change them for ages.

Steve_

Yeah, I think that's a bit far.

Steve_

My cabinets are okay, the countertops aren't though. But I'll check with them, thanks.

FriendlyManitoba

I want to know what is the trend in Britain. I always think you are ahead of us in design. Would love to know!

mandymoochops

I don't think trend should play a part unless you want to be a Jones to keep up with. Just go with what works for your situation and budget.

You always see on the home shows here (and the ones in Merca) people flapping on about "stainless steel appliances" "granite countertops" "hardwood floors" and "feature walls" that "pop"


Polished concrete looks awesome, however if i'm totally honest I like the butcher block counter tops. But then i'm an untrendy rural redneck girl with no tatse.

Piff Poff

I think we are going for....Wait for it... Butcher Block Our contractor thinks he can cut it, doesn`t even know what it is, but that should be fine

Steve_

I don't think Britain is ahead of Canada in kitchen design, I read some of the home improvement magazines here occasionally and the stuff in them looks fine to me, the problem is like Oink points out there is a Canadian chav mentality where everyone fills their house up with cheap crap they get at The Brick. ("Buy some Chinese-made crap from us now and we'll give you a crap Chinese-made TV for FREE.")

I notice when I go into Ikea that everyone is looking at stuff with the darkest finish possible, which wouldn't get a second look in most parts of Europe.

Basically if you can wipe your ass on any given part of the interior of your house and no-one would ever notice, then it's probably a bit on the old-fashioned end of the scale (but not always, I'm sure there are perfectly trendy houses with various dark bits of interior - just not the whole damn thing).

http://www.habitat.co.uk
http://www.conranshop.co.uk

mandymoochops

Awesome I love it