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.

We've been told that things will happen really fast from this point and that every visit to the new house will be an adventure. True, but still not fast enough for us - we are so anxious to start living in the new house!

We had a conversation with Mike about the mantle for the fireplace. He's building a custom mantle for us. We shopped for the fireplace accoutrements and we have the firewood ordered, delivered and stacked out back, so we are ready for our first night!


Doors and windowsills are being installed, painting is scheduled to happen this week and the cabinets will arrive next weekend.

I've managed to overcome my shopping exhaustion and burned another $500 on the charge card "furnishing" the bathrooms. Only items left to select are the mirrors. They have to wait until I see the cabinets in place.

We had company on our Sunday tour. The tile company was working away installing the substructure for the tiles.

As usual, the shower caused a lot of discussion. The glass insert in the end of the shower causes a lot of engineering decisions. What looks simple on paper isn't so simple in execution! Isn't that always the way?

The official move in date is October 30th. The movers are on order and we've given notice. If all goes well, the housewarming party will happen the weekend after Thanksgiving, mark your calendars!

Tiles and more shopping

A great part of last Saturday was spent at the showrooms at Classic Tile in Medway. By the time we were done with our selections the entire floor in both showrooms were covered in tiles! The laundry room (which is also the entry from the garage into the kitchen), 3 bathrooms, the shower and the backsplash behind the cooktop all require tiles. Oh, and that funky ledge in the main entry hall, which can only be viewed coming down the stairway from the second floor (but since were are putting plants up there it needs protection from water spillage). We selected a bunch of tiles and Debbie (our consultant - who threatened to flee if I pointed my camera in her direction!) gave us the samples to take home and live with for a while. We went straight to the house and laid everything out to try and imagine how it would look. From our first try we are keeping our choices for the shower, the backsplash and the powder room. The floor tiles for the master bath turned a chalky color in the light of the room and the pale ivory for the guest bath upstairs washed right out. So we'll be back to try again for those rooms. I'll post pics of the chosen tiles later this week once I drag them out of the trunk of the car!

Saturday was an exhausting 10 hour day. Besides the tiles, we shopped, unsuccessfully, for lighting (more on that later), ran to Sears to get one more quote on appliances, met with Mike to discuss the changes to the bathroom. Success, the toilet has a new location, the doorway to the master bath is framed for a pocket window and the kitchen wall will be extended to fit a full sized refridgerator instead of the cabinet-depth fridge I thought I wanted. It amazes me that we have a builder who accepts my ever-changing opinions and says "no problem" and then makes it happen! We straggled home at 7pm then sat up half the night working on the decisions left to make. Tom, who has the serenity and patience of the Dali Lhama, is still patient, but maybe not so serene. We called a hiatus on house decisions on Sunday and tried to catch up on the rest of our lives! These couple of weeks will be the worst of it. I do have to admit, as frustrating as it is, it is also great fun!