Photo updates....

The Island has arrived - and in one piece!

 It's dusty in these pictures, and I took them with my phone - so it looks a bit flatter than it really is. Once it is all cleaned up - I think it will look more exciting.

This shot shows the Bamboo on the first floor. I really miss the concrete - but I think the bamboo warms up the room. 

Besides...if we have to sell the house, I think most buyers would prefer the bamboo to the concrete.

This is a shot of the front hall/foyer. 

On the door you can see color samples. I was tempted to just stick with black - to match the shutters. 

(The hypothetical shutters - since I can't seem to find anyone to make shutters that I can afford!)

My husband gave me a hard time about the black - and reminded me that part of the reason I wanted to choose the neutral siding color, was so that I could have a fun door color.

So....I called my trusted color Guru, Sunny. 

She recommended this "Peacock Blue" - and (sight unseen) I decided to take the leap.

The kids are thrilled - they love the color!

In my continued effort to avoid bland and boring choices...

I asked the painter to redo the stain on the railings. I asked for the darkest stain - that would still show the wood grain. 

He switched to ebony, and rubbed the edges so that some areas are more "worn" looking and show more of the oak. 

I think ot adds a bit of Umph

These are the Calen knobs that the builder helped me find. He knew I was looking for a basic, traditional looking knob - and these were a good price. 

Someday - if I get to live in this house - I think I will switch out to glass knobs. In the mean time - I like these.

This is a terrible picture - but I wanted to get a shot of the pantry. 

What defines a farmhouse better than a great big pantry? 

Can't you just see my jars of jam & pickled cucumbers lining these shelves?

(I know ... I should probably start cooking dinner more often, before I make grand plans to start canning, but... I like the idea of it. Who knows - maybe I will start spending my days in my new kitchen, over a hot stove, cooking, baking, canning, singing as I work....stop giggling - it could happen!)

Metal roof is going up - and we are bickering with the city about the driveway - but other than that, nothing more to report at the moment.

I'll get the pictures of the door up soon.

It is sure to make a stir in the neighborhood!

Take care.

Pinterest - it's a beautiful thing!

For those of us that are limited in the memory department, 

Pinterest is a beautiful thing.

For months now I have been able to gather ideas and inspiration from multiple online (and print) sources, and gather all of them on my...

Little House Ideas board.

I don't know how I would have gotten by without this wonderful resource.

In fact, you really could gather all kinds of ideas right off the Pinterest site - without ever venturing out into the wilderness of the WORLD WIDE WEB

(Funny ... Do you remember how they used to talk about that vast abyss on the news - and just the mention of it was confusing and intimidating? Oh my  - what a difference 20 years has made. For better , or worse, things sure have changed! Pinterest is one of those positive changes for me. It sure made the slelctions process easier for this project. I think all builders would be silly not to use it for their clients)

The greatest part, for me, was that I could gather ideas - or style ideas- and save the images as reminders. Once I had the idea, I could scour the internet for an inexpensive way to accomplish  the same look.

One of the great examples of this is the Boy's bathroom. I love the look of the Brockway sink, by Kohler - but that is going to have to wait. In the mean time - I was able to find a great alternative to the vanity lights shown with the sink.

I found these at the Lowes.com site.

I had a wonderful experience ordering from there. The site was down, so I had to call in to the 1-800 #

The gentleman I dealt with could not have been any nicer - or more helpful. I ordered (8) lights - knowing that I only needed (4), but wanting to see them in person before making a final decision.

They were delivered to my local Lowes in about 4 days (no shipping charge)

Here are a couple of the others that I ordered for the kitchen.

I love these too, but now that I have "lived" with them for a few days, I think they are too small for the island. We have plenty of other spots that I can use them around the house though - (mud room & at the top of the stairs would be a couple of the options)

The one thing that I would mention here is that all of the fixtures that I found were in the outdoor lighting section. So consider checking there - on any of the sites - to make sure that you are getting a chance to see all of the styles offered.

We are still shooting for that semi farmhouse/rustic (ish) look - so outdoor lighting works well.

I need to head off to the house to check in before work, but...before I go, I want to add a couple more pictures.

They put the bamboo in this week... 

And the carpet on the 3rd floor...

It's hard to tell from the photos - but it does look nice.

Have a good day!

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?!

Don't be such a SQUARE!

When I asked for square balusters, you would have thought that I had asked for them to me constructed out of jello! 

The reaction was far from accommodating! 

"Where will we get them, who makes them, how will they attach?"

Since I had already used them on two addition projects over the years, I knew that, if they could not be found, they could easily be made.

("Easily" -  I guess I shouldn't comment on how easy it would be, but...If you could see these trim carpenters, Whew! Once they get going, it's incredible to watch. I can't imagine anything that they couldn't whip up in 3 minutes! They are craftsmen (and women) - and for them, making these balusters was easy!)

I am glad that I stuck to my guns. 

If these were the usual turned balusters (That are included in the contracted price) - I know that I would have been disappointed.

These square balusters (or... as I incorrectly call them, Pickets) are exactly what I was looking for!

I think that they make all of the difference. 

 Siding almost done!

This part has been a bit stressful. 

I really wanted to use the pre colored Hardiplank - because they guarantee the color & finish for 25 years. That seemed worth it to me,(@$3k more than the unfinished hardi) since getting the house painted once would cost at least $5000

I must admit...

I have had moments of doubt as it has gone up. 

Mostly because my husband keeps commenting about how it looks like "primer gray" 

Maybe, once the white corner boards and gutters are up, it will look less "primer-ish"

(Fingers crossed!)

Decisions - decisions...

The laundry cabinet color...

 I wish I had known how much I would like this gray. I probably would have used it in at least one of the bathrooms. Oh well. It will be the upper & lower cabinets in the laundry - with the B & W floor 

Of course - the floor is going to take a bit of fixing. Apparently there were two tile guys working at the same time. Here is where they came together. More tile on order to fix this up!

 I am trying to find an interesting, lighter granite for the island - and a honed or leather finish, darker granite for the other countertops.

Here is a piece that I found. It looks boring here - but, in person it is pretty cool looking.

Both kids baths will have basic white subway. I am just going to try to add a bit of interest with some accent tiles. These are for my daughter's bath.

Boy's bath - looks like the tile guy put the glass pennys on backward - I hope that comes off!

 Tub wall - pre grout...

Things are really coming along. I dropped the price of our current house today. I hope that will do the trick - and we can finally move forward toward living in our little house!