One thing I didn't really think about before this project began was the fact that when you're done, you find that a lot of your old accessories, furniture, etc. don't match anymore. There were a bunch of things I needed to replace or buy, from minor things like the toaster and the paper towel holder, to more expensive things like the garbage can, the outlet wall plates and chairs for the new breakfast bar.

The minor items were relatively easy to obtain - it's not that hard to find a stainless steel toaster or paper towel holder. It's not that hard to find a stainless steel garbage can either, but they can be on the pricey side, and I have additional issues in terms of where I want to put it. Both locations that I'm considering require that the can be oriented so that it is narrow and doesn't need a lot of clearance for the lid. Cans like that are expensive. I still haven't found one that isn't either too big, too small or too wide.

The outlet wall plates presented an interesting problem. The old plates, and most of the outlets they covered, were ivory, to match the old wall paper. The new tile, on the other hand, is gray. Gray and ivory do not go well together. So the trick was to find a wall plate that both matched the new tile, and didn't look bad with the outlets, three of which were ivory and one of which was white. Replacing the outlets was not an appealing option, since it would involve a certain amount of tricky wiring - all of the outlets are GFCI, and one is a combination GFCI and switch. The good news is I managed to find a design I liked at Lowes. Unfortunately, they only had two of the four configurations I needed in stock, so I had to special order the other two. Naturally, the price of special ordering them, plus the shipping, made them cost three times as much as the two I found at Lowes.

And then there's the chairs for the breakfast bar. I've discovered that chairs generally come in two heights beyond the standard: 24" and 30". Given that the bottom of the breakfast bar is 30.5" from the floor, clearly 30" chairs are too tall. Unfortunately, 24" chairs appear to be designed for surfaces around 34" off of the ground. The top of the breakfast bar is 32". Figures. My options appear to be to custom order chairs to the right height (expensive), saw an inch or so off the bottom of a set of 24" chairs (requires borrowing the right kind of saw from someone or taking them someplace to have it done) or get used to the plate feeling a little too far away when eating (easiest). I'm currently torn between the second and third option.

The current chairs for the breakfast bar. I like them because they're comfortable, but I'm afraid they look too big for the space. They're also an inch or so too high for the table.	This is what my old outlet wall covers looked like with the new tile.
The replacement wall covers.

<---Day Thirteen     Still to Come--->