Christmas Card Picture 2010

Picture Overload

The blown insulation in the exterior walls is finished. J has finished the interior walls and is working on the upstairs/attic space. Drywall is up in the garage. We had some delays with brick and siding this week, so all the workers should be there bright and early Monday morning- brick, siding, drywall, heat and air and hopefully they will all stay out of each other's way.


kitchen ceiling/attic space:



breakfast nook:


master bath:


master bedroom:


great room:


hallway to kids' bedrooms:



dining room:


great room/foyer:


kitchen/great room:


playroom:


3/4 bathroom/shower:


garage:


garage:


mudroom:

Fireplace Inspiration

About a year before we moved from our old house, we renovated our fireplace. It was a typical 1980's-1990's brick fireplace. It was dark and dingy, just very outdated, and it wasn't "us".


I drew a picture of what I wanted the fireplace to look like....added some trim detailing, some crown, corbels, tiles, hardware, and of course white paint...lots of it! J worked hard to make my vision come to life.


It was a simple fireplace, very traditional, and very "us". We loved the white built-ins...all the decor just popped off of the white paint. We loved the "new" fireplace so much. When we put our house up for sale, other than moving from our babies first home, I was saddened to be leaving my fireplace.

So- when choosing a fireplace and built-in style for the house we are building, we are drawn to pictures of fireplaces just like the one we did in our old house. I had to find a fireplace picture for the contractor/carpenter last week and this is what we found.


It is a little different in that instead of corbels, the sides of the mantle go to the floor and it is "beefier". We will have sconces on either side of a picture above the mantle. And on the right side there will be a large opening for the t.v. It will be on a little platform that slides out and swivels to make t.v. viewing a little easier from all angles and will slide back in when not being watched. I like the cream color of the cabinetry/mantle. It will match some cabinetry that we will do in the kitchen, since it is all one space, but we are not distressing them. While I like that look, it is probably not here to stay for much longer and I don't want to re-do my cabinetry anytime soon.

While doing the electric, I had the electrician put a plug on the mantle and a plug on either side of the fireplace box...purely for Christmas decor. That was a downside of our last fireplace. Running extension cords from the prelit trees kinda took away from the beauty. Not next year!

Appliances

I try to check Lowes, Home Depot, and Sears every couple of days to see if they're having any good deals on appliances. I got on today and Home Depot was having some great sales. We are going to call to place our order tomorrow.

This is our dishwasher. It is a Maytag, nothing extra special, just stainless with the hidden buttons. It is $200 off the regular price.



And these are what I am ECSTATIC about.....I didn't think I would be able to get this washer and dryer because we didn't put a new washer and dryer in our budget. I passed by them at h.d. a few months back and fell in love with the color (graphite) and the bells and whistles. Well, they are 40% off! We haven't had a matching set since we've been married (I know, only 5 years but still...) I am very excited to be getting these.



All we have left to find is our fridge and microwave. Whew!

My (Future) Stress Reliever

We have looked at jacuzzi tub after jacuzzi tub after jacuzzi tub and I think we are going to go with the drop-in American Standard 6 ft whirlpool tub at Home Depot. We are staying within our budget on the tub, but may go a tiny bit over after getting a heater for it. I just can't see getting a jetted tub without having a heater. It'll be well worth it....and if only I had it right now...I would be M.I.A. every evening!!! ;)

My honey worked hard all weekend putting up insulation in the interior walls and he had some good help today from his parents. Thank you- we are very appreciative. The other insulation guys should be coming mid-week to blow in exterior walls.

Brick and siding guys are suppose to start tomorrow! :)

Bulleted Update

*The electrician is staying busy. We have walked through the house several times, adding lights, checking positions on lights, pretending to walk through hallways flipping switches. Everything seems to make sense to us....atleast right now.

*The heat and air guy is still working. He marked where air vents will go in the floor. We walked through Tuesday afternoon to make sure built-ins and furniture were not going to be on a vent. We only had to change a few.

*The bricks were delivered yesterday and we hired a brick layer. I'm not quite sure when they are beginning.

*We hired someone to do siding/trim/cedar shakes and he has placed the order on everything we have chosen. He will begin asap!

*We picked up the fireplace last week and the carpenters have built the box and set it in place. I've also picked out a mantel/built-in shelving design and can't wait to see it finished. I am so excited to get my kids' picture above the mantel and am real excited about hanging stockings from the mantel....next year. ;)

*There will be a pocket door in the 3/4 bathroom by the kids' playroom. We had to have it to save space and honestly, I love character in a house so I was definitely for it! Anyway, the pocket area and slider things (excuse my improper building lingo) were built this week....or was it last week?

*We are getting bids on insulation and dry wall.

*We are trying to pick out our jacuzzi tub for the master bathroom so they can build the box for it.

*I have drawn out the cubby design for the mudroom and have made the kitchen layout, designating drawers, doors, pull-out shelving, etc.

Surely there can't be many more decisions to make??! Our brains hurt. ;)

It's Hard to Stop a Trane....

Our heat and air guy is coming tomorrow! So stinkin' excited!!

Electrician Update

Our electrician has been working so hard- running wires, installing little blue boxes everywhere for outlets, putting up can lights. J and I had to stop by the house after work today and narrow down the exact placement of lights. We are very OCD, so it took us a while to make some decisions. ;) One of my fears is that the ceiling will look overwhelmed with canned lights. Our builder's son assured us that it won't look that way and that they are needed. I am getting anxious to choose our lighting. I have picked out a few lights, but not all.

This is the light that will go over the kitchen island. There will be two of them.



And this is the foyer chandelier.



This will be the mudroom light, but the drum shade will be black and white check. It has an adapter that screws into a can light. The mudroom will get 4 other regular canned lights and this pendant will be hanging in the center of the room.



I like to mix lighting styles. The lights over the island are kind of rustic (or dungeon like, as my husband called them. Very funny J!) The foyer chandelier is traditional and the mudroom pendant is a little on the contemporary side. I think lighting can be so much fun and I really don't want to choose just one finish and brand. I do hope it all comes together like I have been envisioning it.

Our electrician's bid was a little under budget and it includes him hanging/installing all of our lights! This is something that we planned to do ourselves (We, as in J and our dads!) It will save us a lot of time- I am thrilled about that!!