Go grab a beverage - this is a long one!

So much to tell you about - and so little time!

I might just have to leave you with photo updates. 

These last two weeks have been insane! 

I run from store to store, all day long - and I am NOT a shopper!

We have needed everything. 

I could just let the builder install his standard choices as he goes along - but, that would completely go against my nature. 

So...I have been running around Richmond like a lunatic.

Here is the granite that I found for the master vanities. 

 We ran into trouble here because we had an allowance for the  granite vanity top - and then changed the bathroom plan to include two separate vanities. 
Needless to say...the original allowance for one, was not enough for two. 

After searching tirelessly - I had almost given up when I found this one at Home Depot. 
It's nothing fancy, but I do think it looks better than the cultured marble alternative. 
I had to order a 61" one to match for my vanity, and we ran $200 over the allowance, but hopefully we can save somewhere else.

 Here is a shot of the leather finished black granite in the kitchen. 
The sink is a single bowl 32"L , 10" deep  rectangle. I have wanted the single bowl for a while now - so I hope that I am going to like it.

All of the kids bedrooms have ceiling fans & lights installed now. 

I personally hate light kits on fans, but, the kids all wanted them. 

I've started to give up & give in - because I am tired of making decisions!

This also gives you a good idea of the wall color.

 I had to choose one color for the whole house (walls) and one color for all of the ceilings. 

Of  course I could have chosen different colors for each room for an additional cost. 

At this point, I am working hard to stick with the budget. 

If we have to sell this little house - I don't want to have paid for too many extras like  custom paint. 

Walls - Ben Moore - Wickham Gray

Ceilings - Ben Moore - Glass Slipper

The Range, the Oven, or whatever you want to call it.

Not installed yet. This was a long story - that ended on a very positive note. 
Not sure that I can fill you in on the whole thing now , but the general idea is...

The order that I placed for a range was cancelled - a full week after I made the order. 

The electricians & plumbers were ready for the range and expecting it yesterday. I had to scramble to find something locally - but so few stores offer cash & carry options on appliances anymore!

Anyway...after searching online, and making a million calls, I found out that Sears Dept. stores were clearing their Kenmore Pro line off their appliance floors. The story I heard was - "They are so big, and so much more expensive than our other lines, we sell so few each year..."

I found this beauty about an hour & a half outside of Richmond. It had just been put on clearance - and according to the salesman (Devon - who was truly a gem!) I was one of three calls about it yesterday.

The range is normally about $4100 - and was marked down to $1259 to get it off the floor.

Woo Hoo! 

I called my husband off the sidelines of a pee wee football practice @ 7pm. He had to race to make it to Chesapeake by 8:55pm before the store closed.

While he was on the road, I called Devon back to see if they had any of the other Kenmore Pro pieces from the floor on clearance...

As luck would have it...

they had the dishwasher too! Just what I needed. This too is usually much more than I would consider for a dishwasher, but when he got back to me with the price, it was less than 1/3 of the original price - and well below the allowance set by the builder!

I could not be happier with the way this turned out! 
( Okay maybe I could - the 3 hour trip , racing down the highway to some unknown mall in Chesapeake VA , only to turn around and head back to Richmond, did not make for a happy husband! But now that he has had some sleep - he's happy too!)

We are at that point in the project where we both feel as if we are bleeding money - so every little bit that we can save makes a difference.

Here is a wide shot of the kitchen - obviously still a work in progress, but it's getting there.

You can see some of the cabinet lights have been installed.

These were carriage lights that I had picked up for outside the front door. They were too small for outside, but I've decided to use them inside , instead of the sconces that I had originally planned.

Here is a shot of the larger version that I found for either side of the front door.

And here we have.....(drum roll please).....the toilets! 
I honestly struggled with these. I searched all of the different styles & shapes for hours.
 Until, finally, I found the perfect fit. 
A toilet that had the older look I was hoping for - and was not ridiculously priced. 
These are from the Kohler memoirs series. 
I decided to stick with the round bowl front - to be more traditional - but they come in an elongated version too.  
I really liked this one site (Build.com) for fixtures. When they arrived they came directly from Ferguson, in a ferguson truck - so why not pay a little less!

The dining room. 

No light fixture yet. 

I am waiting to choose the kitchen pendants before choosing the breakfast area & the dining room fixtures.

I do love the way the bead board looks in the recessed ceiling. Although all of the other ceilings are Glass slipper (pale blue), I decided to make this area white.

Don't take your Granite for granted!

Once the last piece split in half, I had to find another. 
This is what I came up with. 
It has a bit less drama & movement, but it was the closest that I could find to my last choice.
 The biggest difference now is the finish. 
The perimeter counters were always going to have a leather finish, with a high polished island. 
Now that I had to choose another piece, I have opted for the leather finish for the island too. 
I love the look - but...I hope it's not too hard to keep clean. 
The texture may make it harder to get goo off after my crew makes a mess.

I see an owl - what about you?

Give me a sign - any sign!

I am getting to that point - the one that I knew would come - where I am ready to pull my hair out! 

I have pretty much been unpleasant to everyone that I encountered today! 

Ugh!

All of this internet searching, and review reading, and shopping, is making me very cranky!

I am really wondering what I was ever thinking!

So - in my chaotic state, I have started to question my choices. Looking for direction - wishing I had never started this nightmare of a project, I decided to ask for a sign.

Hmmm - well this was not exactly what I was looking for - but it's a sign all right!

This beautiful piece of granite was going to be my 8 ft island. I was very pleased with its large dynamic design. I even chose the perimeter countertops specifically to match, but not compete with, this piece.

Oh well.

Looks like I'll be back at the granite shop tomorrow!

The Soap Dish Saga

Sounds interesting doesn't it?

Well - if you were a soap dish, where would you want to be? 

Right in the middle of the tub, constantly getting wet?

Imagine the stress...

 There you are - a simple ceramic shelf, who's only purpose is to house and protect a bar of soap...

Sadly - you are placed in a position that leaves you exposed - unable to do the one thing you were created for...which ultimately makes you useless.

I just couldn't, in good conscience, set my soap dishes up for this. 

I had to make a change.

Soap dish placement gets added to my running list of things that we do - not because they make good practical sense, but simply out of habit. 

We expect to see a soap dish in the middle of the tub wall - so we continue to put them there.

No more!

I will not continue this ridiculous practice!

So...my soap dishes will be up high and as far away from the shower stream as possible.

I spent a lot of time relaying my concern for my soap, and wishes to break from the conventional placement of the dish, to my builder. He listened intently - then asked that I speak directly to the tile installer - to avoid confusion.

After going through the explanation a second time - everyone seemed to be on board. We drew the dish on the durock wall - so we could be absolutely certain that my soap could be guaranteed the safe haven, that it's dish was intended to provide.

Unfortunately...

That tile installer tiled the walls from bath to ceiling without adding the dish.

Not to worry - he said, we will add the soap dishes after the tile has set. "It will be better to add it later"

Hmmm....

I was skeptical, but, willing to trust his plan. After all - he had been so understanding about my soggy soap worries.

I am sure that he had every intention of placing the dishes right where I had drawn them in  - but, the next day he was not in. Another installer came in, saw the two dishes (one in each bathroom) sitting beside the tubs. He saw that they had not yet been installed - and got right to work.

By the time I arrived to check in - both of the kid's baths had already been done. 

In some ways - I wish that the details did not matter to me, but they do. I considered keeping my mouth shut, but then thought better of the idea.

Every time I had a soggy, soupy, soap mess in the flooded soap dish, I would have cursed that tile guy. It would have made me crazy - so, I had to ask him to fix it.

I can't say that he was happy about it, but he willingly repaired the holes he had made, and placed the dishes where they needed to go.

My soap dishes will now accomplish everything that they were created to accomplish  - and as a result will be very satisfied.

Happy Soap dishes - what more could I ask for?!