Monthly Archives: August 2014
Slow and steady…
I made myself wait a week to visit the house, as I knew there wouldn’t be a tremendous amount of change. But the exterior door hardware was installed, and they prepped for painting this week (yea!). Also, all the exterior wood trim and the deck was stained, and they added more stucco. Frankie hates the yellow color of the house — she also hates the yellow color inside the house. Oh well. I am not building the house to her specifications (her room will be very much her own, thank you very much). I think they will stucco the remainder of the exterior this week. Not sure when the pergola posts go up — that will really change the front of the house.
Hopefully we will see our landscaping plans this week, and get that underway. The staircase is built, although the metal spindles aren’t in yet. This week? Not sure.
We are just over five weeks away from move in — woo hoo! Frustrated that we haven’t sold our current house yet. Had an accepted offer, but that deal fell apart when THEIR buyer walked. Ugh. Have 2 more showings tomorrow. Man, am I tired of cleaning! I am starting to resent this house, which makes me sad. Oh well…
Today I spent too much time dreaming online of furniture. Etsy should come with an OD hotline!
The wood trim has been stained (those decorative pieces under the eaves are called lookouts). Hopefully by this tie next week we won’t see the grey stucco anymore!
Eager to see those two wood beams replaced with the real wood columns!
These master bath shelves will shortly be filled with soap, shampoo, makeup, etc! I am ready!
A door handle. Yes, I know it is boring, but every piece makes the puzzle come together
The deck is stained, and calling out for a glass of wine!
love the view
Watching for squirrels
The stairs from the main level. That post still needs staining!
A side-view of the stairs.
The stairs from the basement looking up
The girl’s room is a mess before she even moves in!
Happy dog in her new domain
Just a giddy girl!
No pictures, but just wanted to share the excitement! The cabinets are done, and teh wood looks so rich and beautiful! Rich was a little stunned when he saw the cabinets that aren’t stained — the pantry cabinets are blue, and the laundry room ones are gun metal grey. Love! He looked at me sideways, but I reminded him he did not want to be involved in the process, so he wisely said they looked great, shut up and walked away.
The landscape proposals are awesome. Do we go classic and linear, or fanciful and curvy? I am looking for a way to merge the two plans. Seriously went old-school paper dolls, and cut and pasted the two together. Jeff from TOPO (the landscape company) will either be horrified or impressed.
The colored stucco is starting to go up. I am a little concerned that it is not bright enough for my tastes. The Brushmasters gals (hi Wendy!) steered me away from colors that turned me on, saying they would be too much in the log run. Should I have listened to them or my instincts? I guess we shall see!
Lucy in the Sky with Cabinetry
Super Bill warned me not to go in, but I couldn’t resist. I had to see the cabinetry being stained. It was so pretty! And the pink elephants I was seeing after I spent 10 minutes in the polyurethane dome agreed with me.
So the deck is up, too, including the railings. We chose ipe wood rather than cedar. It’s super pretty and durable. It will fade to silver like cedar, but at least I won’t get a thousand splinters on my bare feet!
The stone is set for the fireplace, and we have decided to put a sealant on it to intensify the color and sparkle. They also made progress on the outside. All the “lookouts” are in (wood details under the eaves). And remember those old bricks from the previous building? We’ve cut some in half and have placed them decoratively on the outside and the house is showing such personality! Today I met with Wendy from BrushMasters and we finalized outdoor stain choices. I think we finally are done with all those choices!
Also met today with Water Doctors, about water purification. Not sexy, but hey: don’t want rust-colored laundry or eggy-smelling drinking water. Monday hopefully I will a preliminary landscaping plan. They removed trees this week which is sad, but needed. They also decapitated (there really is no other word) my Magnolia tree. Super Bill reassures me it is for the trees good. It better be, or me and the pink elephants are coming after him!
The pickups (wood brackets) above the garage. The little square is part of one of the original bricks.
Another view of the garage detailing
Side of the garage (front of the house)
Hall serving buffet
Entertainment center in basement
Another view of entertainment center and bar
Drawerapalooza
Cabinet in Carter’s bath
Shelves in Frankie’s bath
More drawers — in front of the fireplace (the wood “box” is for the TV)
Deck railing
New deck is now a storage unit!
Baseboards?
A peek at the Ipe deck
A view if the back of the house from our newly created deck (top, right to left: our bedroom, our bath, garage window. Bottom, right to left: guest room, Frankie’s bath, Frankie’s room)
The wall of volkswagons
The kitchen island in foreground, with range area in background. The window to the right is in the stairwell.
A shot of the front hall cabinetry, looking towards the garage.
The front hall looking from the laundry room towards the entry and stairwell.
Our bathroom (the man in the background is making pink elephants)
Cabinet fronts
A little Ado About Everything 