A Few More Upgrades to the Kitchen and Bath

Another busy week as we have continued with the kitchen and bath prep.  Take a look at our progress.

I removed the plastic shower curtain rings that we started with and installed these much nicer looking rings in a hammered chrome finish.  A much nicer look.

Excuse the dust on the shower curtain rod.  The apartment has not been thoroughly cleaned yet.

Here, a closer look at the shower curtain ring design and finish.  Very nice.  I was drawn to the simplicity of the original plastic hooks, … and I thought the design was nice.  But they just didn't work.  I like these much better.

 

A new hand soap dispenser and cup for the vanity.  Clean, simple lines with a little "bling" on the tray.  It doesn't get much better than that.  Can one ever have too much bling?

Anything from the Hotel Collection is superb in quality.

I needed new towels.  Black and gray bath towels were the theme at Crest Avenue to match the black tile in the bathroom.  I no longer have black tile, so I decided to go with plain white, 100% cotton bath towels and wash cloths.  You can never go wrong with white towels in the bath.  I know what you are thinking; they show every little stain.  I had a friend who was nearly apoplectic when I told her I bought white towels.  She said she just didn't understand white towels for the bathroom because she would ruin them removing her makeup.  And she is right.  That would never work.  So you keep some of your black and gray towels from before and use those to remove makeup - or to wipe down the dog - or to clean up a mess on the floor.  Use the white towels for just what they were intended.  Bath time.

Here, white hand towels in a basket on the vanity.  Granted, these do stand a chance of becoming a little stained over time.  However, these are out mainly for guests.  During the course of the week, it will just be me and Baxter and I will likely use one of the black or gray hand towels from Crest Avenue, so these will receive very little use.

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A tip:  I do not use regular, chlorine bleach on white laundry.  It turns fabrics yellow.

 



I use this Clorox UltimateCare Bleach which is wonderful.  It is thick, like laundry detergent, and does a superb job of cleaning and removing stains from white fabrics.

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Now, into the kitchen.  The sink in the kitchen is your standard single bowl, stainless steel sink with an Insinkerator garbage disposal.  I had the same in the kitchen at Crest Avenue except I eventually replaced the Insinkerator with a Frigidaire garbage disposal, which was very nice.



I like to have a mat in the kitchen sink.  It could save a favorite piece of crystal if dropped by a set of soapy, slippery hands.  It also helps to "deaden" the sound of "clanging" flatware and other serving pieces on the stainless steel.  This may not bother everyone, but it bothers me.  I liked the stone design and color of this sink mat, and the size was right, so I bought it.

Very simple to install.  Just lay it down in your sink and position it where you want it, making certain that it is centered on all sides.





I actually left it in the sink and, using a very sharp utility knife (install a new blade if necessary), I went around the outline of the stone design in the center of the mat and removed that section.



 

And this is how the kitchen sink looks now.  Full access to the garbage disposal and a lovely gray stone design mat which adds a level of protection for delicate serveware and is aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

So there you have it.  More of the recent upgrades as we proceed closer and closer to our official move-in date.