I’m just gonna state the obvious. This week’s blog post is combining the activity for One Room Challenge Week 3 and Week 4. Last week was a little crazy and not gonna lie, this week was even crazier. Renovations this large and intricate are never, ever, easy. We have had delay after delay and we finally thought we could see the end! Yeah, gotta stop saying that because every time I do, something else happens. But before we get into that lets see what HAS happened because you all, it’s good, real good!

Creating Color and Texture with Polycor Stone

When I sat down with Polycor to discuss types of stone and colors I envisioned for our patio renovation, I knew, like my home, I wanted it to be full of surprising color and textures. They came back with lots of options and we decided to move forward with Woodbury Gray and Carolina Coral Granites and compliment those with Indiana Limestone.

Here’s what I love about these three options beyond their obvious beauty. I love the history behind the stone. All three of these stone options come from iconic quarries that built American history to include the US Capitol building, the Lincoln Memorial, Smithsonian Buildings and so many more buildings that play a part of our American history. Using these choices for OUR patio renovation made it even more meaningful because our home is in Mount Vernon and is on George Washington’s original farm. HIstory meets history! It’s been a pretty amazing pinch me moment.

It was so hard to decide what stone to use for what part of the patio but in the end I decided to use the Carolina Coral as the paver, the Woodbury Gray for the caps and then use the Indiana Limestone for all of the vertical elements such as the fire pit walls, firepit itself and then the outdoor kitchen. Can we talk about how good the three look together?

Outdoor Kitchen Countertops

Okay you all, this might be my FAVORITE part of this whole renovations! Originally we had planned to use the Woodbury Gray granite for the two countertops in the outdoor kitchen but when Polycor came back to me and asked if I would be open to looking some slabs of marble instead I jumped at the chance! I headed to Gramaco Stone Solutions in Savage, Maryland. You all, I was floored by their beautiful stone options! Peruse through their website and see for yourself!

Gramaco, a supplier for Polycor, had two slabs of honed Georgia Marble in Solar Grey and man they did NOT dissapoint. Pictures do not do it justice. The dark veining is beautiful and is going to play off so nicely with the colors we already have in the patio. Here’s some more amazing historical background for you. Ready? These slabs come from the same quarry where the Georgia Marble used for the Lincoln Memorial sculpture, The Rayburn building, Folger Shakespeare Theater, the Corcoran and the US Capitol Building is from! I totally have goosebumps having a little bit of that history in my own backyard!

Though marble is known to be more porous and all around a softer stone, it will hold up so well in the natural elements. We opted for the honed finish instead of the polished finish which will make it naturally beautiful. Though it’s soft, its super super heavy so we needed to make sure we had strong supports built into the outdoor kitchen to hold it up. We ended up using remnants of our Woodbury Gray granite and set it in concrete across the bar side of the kitchen to safely hold the countertop in place. When it gets installed it’s not going anywhere! I can’t wait to sit here with a drink in my hand, listening to music and watching Paul grill.

The Latest, But Hopefully Last, Hiccup

Last Friday it was time to hook up the gas to the firepit so we took full advantage and had a family firepit night. The firepit throws off some heat y’all! It was such a great night and I could finally envision the final finished product. Unfortunately the joy and excitement was short lived.

Sunday we forgot to tarp the firepit and then it rained so we turned it on to make sure it was good and when we did, we noticed the flame wasn’t as high as it had been on Friday. Then, early Monday morning when I was in our front yard with the dogs, I could smell gas coming from the backyard. When we lifted off the tarp from the firepit there was an even stronger gas smell which was definitely not normal

We immediately called our plumber but were confused as to how there could be a leak since it had passed inspection when it was originally placed earlier in the summer.

Fast forward to today (Thursday) and we finally figured out where the leak was and tomorrow they should be able to finish fixing it. Working in the rain is no bueno but especially when you’re working in holes that are filling up with water underground AND above ground. Turns out the gas line was punctured when the guys were prepping for the cement pour for the firepit. One of the stakes they put into the ground to hold the form for the cement went straight through the line. Sigh. A huge thank you to Kesterson Plumbing for tackling this right away and working through the rain to fix it asap. They are amazing and if you’re in the DC metro area we highly recommend them! Good people through and through.

All that to say, I’m hoping this is our last hurdle and we can wrap this bad boy up next week so I can have a kickass reveal for you all because I PROMISE it’s going to be awesome! I’m so excited and hope you all are too! Until next week!