October 24 It's really moving now

With the cabinets installed, things are moving really fast.
Outside, the big event was the installation of the sidewalk, which is truly stunning. A small mountain of topsoil was brought in, grading completed and we are ready for landscaping.
It is too late in the season for the hydroseeding, so that will wait for spring. But everything else will be done this week.

With the floors in and the island in place, there are just a few finishing touches to complete the kitchen.

And, of course, we still need the refridgerator to be installed.

The deck is complete - this view is from the sun room.

And the sun room is definitely our favorite place. The sunlight pouring into this room is awesome even on this rainy Saturday morning.

Another look at the floor in the great room. Just georgeous!

The shower is everything we hoped for. No there isn't a window in the shower, just a reflection. Coming from a very large family with one bath, I remember as a little girl looking at the Sears catalog, I always wanted one of those massive bathrooms all to myself, and now I've got it! OK, not all to myself, I suppose I'll have to share with Tom. He can have one drawer and a towel rack, but the rest is mine!!

A view across from the shower to the rest of the bath.

And the guest bath. No the wall isn't blue, just another case of my poor photography skills and no time to manipulate the photo.

Upstairs bath was such an odd shape that we had trouble visualizing it early in the process. It turned out wonderful. I was nervous about this dark terra cotta floor, but it looks just great.

Closing is planned for November 6th and we should have the occupancy permit this week. The apartment is nearly packed, notices have gone out to everyone and we are more than ready to move in! Less than two weeks remaining...

The whole month of October at once

A frantically busy month on all fronts left no time to journal our progress. So here is the month of October all in one shot!


OCT 3 - Good thing Mike warned us before we got here - every room was jam packed with boxes, ladders, saws, floodlights and all manner of "stuff." The cabinets had arrived, lighting was going in and the painters were adding finishing touches all at once. It was exciting to see and hard not to show up daily to watch the progress!



All kinds of problems with the lighting as we drove poor John to distraction.


The ceiling fans did not have the 4' extension poles as promised. A quick run back to Loewe's fixed that one easily.


The kitchen lights, special ordered months ago, fit poorly and had a broken joint. We'd checked the glass parts when they came in, but there was no way to see these flaws in the units themselves until they were installed - too late for a return. Fortunately, "Lights and Leisure" opened a new store nearby and was running a sale. We got some lights that "will do" for now and we will worry about replacing them later.


The big track light for the entry way had a stripped out part so the arm of the track would not remain in place. I'd spent weeks looking at track lighting and I was near tears over this one! Tom, indominable and unshakable as ever, merely shrugged and said he could fix it - once he got his tools unpacked. So a simple bare light bulb hangs there now (no I didn't take a picture...) Missing parts in two other lights meant a couple more trips back to the store but were easily fixable problems. A very stressful week - but this was the worst of it. On the upside, it gave us an excuse to stop by the house regularly and I got to check what the traffic will be like in the early morning and evening (pretty decent, I'll have about a 40 minute commute).


OCT 10 - and the kitchen and bathroom cabinets are installed. The cabinets are beautiful, very solid and well made and we love the look of the countertops. We went with a high-end laminate instead of granite, and it has the look of oiled leather. I'll be posting more pics of the whole completed kitchen in the next post.

We were however, a bit disappointed in the layout. In fear of not planning enough storage, I moved too far from my vision of a kitchen with a lot of open space. The dark cabinets going nearly 10' up look heavier and more imposing than I like. This corner was originally planned to not have upper cabinets, until I worried about keeping the dishes stored near the dishwasher. We will wait until everything is done to be sure, but there may be a remodel in the not-to-distant future.

The tiles are installed on all the floors and they are more beautiful than we imagined. This is the floor for the master bath and we were there while it was being installed. It was interesting to watch him lay it out dry to get the color variations to look natural. Hard to see here but there are several colors of grey, green and browns, and the installer was absolutely artistic in the care he took in placing every tile.

Mike had recommended Classic Tile to us when we went looking for tiles. I'd complained about their prices but Mike said they were worth the expense and, if I've learned anything over the past 8 months it is to trust Mike! He was right, of course. I really appreciate the care they took with everything they did.

OCT 17 The outside was not to be ignored this week either. Truckloads of topsoil were brought in, the driveway was completed and the deck installation was begun.


Beautiful inside and out!

Another masterpiece in tile - the shower in the master bath.

And the kitchen is a few steps closer to completion.

October 22- an early morning phone call from the tile installer sent us both to the house over lunch time. He'd put the backsplash up as we'd requested and he didn't like it. The original plan had the tiles only over the stove and under the fan. He felt it looked incomplete. We both stood in the kitchen staring for half an hour trying to decide if it would look better finished across or not. Since we couldn't make up our minds we decided to trust his expert opinion and told him finish off the wall. (the vent fan isn't finished, there is a large brushed aluminum cover going over this part). He was right of course. I really love this stone. When I first saw it, I knew I had to have it somewhere in the house!

Even more excitement - the hardwood floors were installed. I haven't yet seen this. Tom took these pics on his way home from work. It was the most excited I've seen him! Our old house had beautiful hardwood in the living room which he's missed. Hardwood throughout the public rooms on the first floor was the first thing he put on our wish list when we began to plan the house. The hardwood extends through the great room, sun room, kitchen and library. This is a red oak with color variations from light to dark. What do you think of it?

Outside, the cobblestone sidewalk was installed. This was a last minute upgrade. We "found" a bit more money for the budget and asked Mike to decide where best to use it outside. This was what he came up with and we couldn't be happier!

The front entry is almost complete. The stairs are quite grand and deep enough for seating and planters. Guess I'll be going shopping!

Our closing is planned for the first week in November. Only a week later than schedule in spite of the 5 week delay for the spring rains. That is only 2 weeks away! The movers are scheduled, the apartment is nearly packed up, notices are given, the bank is drawing up the paperwork. We vacilate between being anxious to have moving day arrive and panicking that there isn't enough time to get everything done.

9/26 Getting Busy

We pulled up to the house to see a big truck in the yard again. The septic system is being installed. Mike is excited to be getting to the landscaping soon. We've decided on one last upgrade. We asked Mike what we could do to make the landscaping really stunning. He said it was already going to be stunning! Then he thought a minute and suggested a cobblestone sidewalk. I've always liked flagstone and hesitated a moment, but as he talked, I began to visualize it and realized it would be a perfect compliment to the front of the house. Tom, as always, said if that is what I want, that is what we will have. I do so like that attitude!
A lot of changes inside, but not great photo opportunities, especially since the painter was covering everything up to prepare to paint.

Trim, sills, molding and frames are all completed as is the subflooring where tiles will be going. That includes the master shower, which now looks like a great gray box.

Permanent stairs are now installed in the basement and main living area. Aren't these just georgous! This bannister is stunning!

We wandered the rooms for about an hour, measuring for blinds and trying to place furniture.

A phone call from George - the kitchen guy - tells us that the cabinets have finally arrived and will begin installation next week.

Mike made a mantle for us that we really liked. Perspective here is tough, this stands about shoulder high on Tom. We started looking at glass doors for the fireplace and went into serious sticker shock! Starting at around $850, they can go up to $3-4,000!
As we were getting ready to leave, Tom noticed something we'd missed all along. There wasn't a cap on the chimney. It just hadn't occured to us sooner, but having chased critters out of the fireplace in the past, we knew it was important. The fireplace guy will now be coming back, once the deck is in place so he doesn't have to rebuild his staging, to add on a chimney cap. It is really important to read the specs as you are going along to be sure you fully understand if all your wants and needs are understood.

So now we are nearing the finish and both Tom and I have long lists of things to get done. My job is to get notices of the move out to everyone, the apartment, movers, storage company, post office, new furniture delivery and so on. Tom will arrange for all of the new services and finish up with the mortgage requirements. Busy, busy!