[TSund]

We are redoing a gutted lake cabin, and have chosen Adel birch kitchen cabs. It's basically a one large room cabin (octagonal) with kitchen/living space all in one and a side BR. Currently having tape/bed/texture done, and I'm told the next step is either paint/trim or trim/paint. Will do the walls in some shade of green, and probably black countertops. Planning on PAX sliding Stordal door hack to separate bedroom area. Thinking Hemse Beech floors (any opinions?)

HELP! We thought it would be cool to have birch trim rather than painted. Is this practical? Does Ikea sell products that would work, do I special order from Lowes, or what? Or should we do painted trim? We are not doing the work ourselves, hiring out.

Any advice appreciated!

Thanks

Terri

[dafogle]

I used pine for the window sill and trim around my window in the kitchen - I'm pretty sure it's got a matt polyurethane on it ... I think it blends in very nicely with the adel birch cabinets - you can see some photos in my blog - I hope that will help you make up your mind about what you want to do.

Doreen

[TSund]

Wow, I love so much of what you've done!

I was afraid that pine would look too different as far as grain, but from your pic it looks good. Is there a "name" of that trim? Can I buy it Lowes? It's got great narrow lines, I love the look.

Is that pine also on the inside of the windows too? Looks slightly darker?

Also, what is your black countertop?

And is that paint or wood on the wall to the right of sink?

FABULOUS! I could only hope ours will be 1/2 as nice.

Terri

PS Is that a Slate backsplash?

[dafogle]

Terri - the pine boards were bought at either Home Depot or Lowes ... not sure which - the pine frames out the window - you're probably thinking it looks a bit darker due to shadows in the photo ... the window and the grids are a darker stained wood - those were originally there and are that finish throughout the house.

The black countertop is soapstone .. I love it ... I really didn't want a shiney surface in the kitchen since my house is a log house and kinda rustic.

I've got a cover panel on the side of the fridge to the right of the sink and on the right side of the fridge you're seeing the logs which are the wall.

the backsplash is slate tiles ... I couldn't find tiles in the size I wanted so I bought 12x12 tiles and had them each cut into 4 pieces. There are many varieties of slate - most of what you'll see in the tile stores is much darker - I bought mine from a place that only sells slate.

I'm sure your lake house will be wonderful ...

Keep us posted with your progress and decisions ... many of us here are TKO and love to keep it going by following others' remodels!!

Doreen

[TSund]

Hi Doreen,

Thanks again. Did you have a capenter do your trim? Was this pine already "cut" for this trim in a certain style or did he do from scratch>?

Can you tell me what thickness of the window trim boards?

What did you do for base boards?

Sorry to sound so ignoramous...(grin)

TRS

[dafogle]

Hi again Terri - I'm pretty sure that they bought boards and built the trim from those boards ... I just tried to measure - and it's difficult to measure since it's ackward to get at and see accurately - the trim is almost an inch but not quite. I had two guys who did my entire remodel ... they are contractors - and know how to do electric, plumbing, flooring, carpentry ... and paid lots of attention to detail and did a fabulous job.

for baseboards I chose to use quarter round treated with linseed oil in most places ... where the bamboo meets the logs.

ask as many questions as you'd like ... that's what we're here for!

Doreen

[TSund]

Bamboo floors then...hmm...laminate, veneer, or solid?

We have a small dog and I'm trying to figure out what would be best on floor.

[dafogle]

I used strand bamboo and really really like it. I don't have indoor dogs though - the strand bamboo is really hard - I'd suggest getting some samples and doing some testing of it to see what will be durable enough and whether you like the look/feel of it.

I soaked a sample of the strand bamboo in a bucket of water for 24 hours and was really surprised that it didn't seem to do much to the bamboo - there were a few areas that got a bit darker ... the guys thought it would "explode". Made me feel great that if I ever have a bad water leak that my flooring should be ok.

I found a great supplier for the strand bamboo online - they sent samples very quickly and the price was great!

Doreen

[kirsty]

We used maple with a clear laquer on it in a couple places and its a perfect match for the birch. Probably pricer than pine, but another option!

[TSund]

I don't even know what strand bamboo is, but guess I'll find out!

Can you send the name of your flooring company? Doens't hurt to compare prices and such.

Thanks much

TRS