Real v. Fake

Get your mind out of the gutter!  I'm not referring to boobs.  I'm referring to grass.  In an earlier post, I mentioned that we were having another contractor come out to give us a quote on synthetic grass.  Well, we only had to have two quotes to know that there was no way were going to pay what they were asking for 350 square feet of grass.

The first company came in at a cool $4,200 (give or take).  The second company came in at $5,050, but were having a special and would not charge the $931 installation fee, so it came to $4,119.  So, just a scosh (yes, I just said scosh) under company numero uno.  We could probably pour a very nice entertaining patio for $4,000, so we weren't going to shell that out for just 350 square feet of fake grass. BUT, if we had decided to go with the fake stuff, here's why I would have gone with company number 1.

1). I didn't feel like their sales guy was smarmy....it really does make a difference.
2). They don't use infill.  Most companies use some sort of infill to make the grass stay down.  This company completely nailed it down all throughout the yard, so no need for infill.  Why do I like this....well, for starters, it doesn't make the grass so stinkin' hot!  If a company used a rubber infill, imagine how hot that would get!  Ouch on the feeties!
3). Their Bermuda style grass didn't get has hot as the others (the actual blades of grass).
4). He didn't try to sell me on a bunch of extra crap to spray on it to keep the urine smell down.  There is this stuff, not recalling the name right now, you can spray on the grass every once in a while, to deodorize the dog urine smell.  He explained that he has the same grass, has a large dog, and has never used the stuff, didn't think we needed it, but if we did, we could get it for cheap at the local hardware or garden store.  Cha Ching...just saved us money.

I won't go into everything about sales guy #2, but I just felt that he was lying.  They used a rubber infill, no thanks.  And when he left his samples of grass out in the sun for only about 10-15 minutes, it was hotter then the concrete patio!  It was seriously scorching hot!

I am sad about not being able to go for the synthetic grass, but when it comes to home improvement, you have to roll with the punches.  But, we still really needed a remedy for the backyard.

Enter Lynn; we've actually known Lynn for many years, as she's our close friends mom.  She is a landscape designer.  She came out and gave us a quote last night for a very sturdy grass (for So. Cal) called St. Augustine, plus irrigation (a.k.a. sprinklers).  St. Augustine is a self regenerating lawn (holla!), so Zoe's atomic pee won't be staining this hardy grass.  It does die out in the summer, so it will get to be a "golden" color...(a.k.a it will look dead), but it will come back as soon as it warms up.  She was also nice enough to confirm that NO!, we hadn't killed our Japanese Maple and to not replace it!  Whew!  She gave us some tips for what to do with our side yard, and planter box (which is nothing, since our silver sheens will get so big, putting anything in there will just get covered up soon anyway...womp, womp, womp :(

I really wanted to incorporate some color in the back yard, so I'm contemplating staining the planter box, and of course, bringing in some potted plants (I just have to figure out if the dogs are going to eat the flowers).

In my next post, I'll give you before and afters.  I really have avoided showing you the before, it's very embarrassing!  But, I'll do it for just for you ;)

Until then...

Guest Bathroom

I'm having serious panic attacks about the guest bathroom.  I really cannot figure out what I want to do with it.  I could care less about the master bathroom right now, because only hubby and I use that one.  I've contemplated just painting the cabinets and framing out the mirror, painting the walls and adding some artwork.  But, I just cannot get over the nasty marble counter top.  It's yellowed and stained and has a rough feel to it, which I think is odd.  I found this great desk table yesterday on craigslist for $150:

 I adore it!  It will look great white washed. It is the perfect height, width and depth!  I'm envisioning something like this antique table turned bathroom vanity. But, I haven't pulled the trigger on it yet, mainly because, ripping out the existing vanity means I'll have to re-do the flooring.  "Yay!" on one hand, "boo" on the other.  Yay, because I can control what flooring I want in there, boo on having to have someone install it.  So, my next big feat....installing tile floors myself.  My vision is a hex tile, in either carrera marble or just plain ol' white, or a nice penny tile.  Some tile visions floating in my head are:



Then I was thinking of painting the walls a darker color then I had originally ever thought...being a small bathroom, I wanted something very light, to make it look bigger, but the more I search, the more I see designers painting small bathrooms dark colors.  I'm thinking something like Thousand Oceans by Benjamin Moore.  Thoughts?  If you've run across the same color issue in a small bathroom, which way did you go?