Big White Monster.

We have a propane tank!  It's great news because it will keep me warm and toasty; however, I call it the Big White Monster - for obvious reasons.  I would have put it in the woods if possible; however, the propane company wouldn't be so thrilled about that for installation or at filling time.  So, the guys placed it in the best possible place, hidden from most views, so that's perfect. 

In other news: the entire house is now insulated, both blown and batting.  Bonus: since we changed the ceiling from vaulted to flat, we used that portion of insulation for the garage.  That will be such a luxury, having a less-than-freezing garage!  The gorgeous front door is installed - and is as lovely as I imagined it would be.  Next week, the drywallers come...quite anxious for that!  Consumers has been out and staked out the line to the house-just now need to get it run and we'll be able to get some heat and lights.

The photos of the insulation probably aren't all that exciting except for one thing: the windows and doors now really stand out as the only openings in the walls and you can really see what they'll end up looking like. 

Next week is another travel week for me, so I'll have to depend on my lifeline of texted in-process pictures.  Not only will the drywall be a great surprise to come home to; we meet with the kitchen designer on Friday to finalize kitchen and bath selections - exciting!

Storms and Things.

This week, the electrician wrapped up his work and we passed the electrical inspection, as well as the final framing inspection.  Good news.  Not so good news: we were planning for Consumers to come run electric to the house.  Since there was a major storm here and thousands of people without power, that's where Consumers (rightly) spent their time.  Glad to report everyone is back on track with power; however, we gave up a week to that effort. 

So, looking forward to next week when we'll get the front door installed, the propane tank installed and hopefully Consumers will be able to get to the property.  We'll have insulators start on Monday and, as soon as we have heat, we can have the drywallers start.  That will be an exciting day!

No house photos this week, so I'll put up a few more inspiration shots and some product photos as well. 

We'll start with some color palettes.  For the great room, I'm thinking something like Wickham Gray.  For the mud room and maybe master: Palladian Blue or something close.  For the powder, a darker gray like Classic French.  I think the kids' room will need to be white walls since we'll have alot of color with the bedding.  And that's as far as I've gotten...I'm waiting to get the feeling for what the rest of the rooms should be.

Here's the kitchen sink.  Faucet will be bridge style, but not this exact one.  No pendants; just cans.  The perimeter counters will be similar.

 I LOVE this penny tile and have had it picked out for months...almost first thing. 

This is the stone that will go on the island...Preston Cambria.

This will be the perimeter Cambria.

This is the beauty that will show up on Monday!

These shelves will go at the end of the master bathtub.  My footprint is similar, although the window is opposite the shelves.  Vanity will be in the same place.

  Moving to the outside, I would love to have a garden that looks like this!  Time will tell...

And, finally, this is the newest rendering of the front porch; the facade of the house has changed so much from what I thought it would be originally!  I think cross fences will be the thing to reflect the garage door.  

Inspiration.

This is the start of the time in the building process I've not been looking forward to...the part where time seems to drag and nothing seems to change at the house.  It's not the reality of it, as the electrician was pulling and terminating wires almost all week and outside decking was completed.  It's going to be harder to wait the closer we get, I think.

It did snow this week and the property was so gorgeous...I put in a shot of the trees outside the kitchen windows.  I took snow photos of all areas of the property, but resisted posting them all!  Instead, I've decided to post some inspiration pictures I found for some of the rooms.  It's been fun to use them for the vision of what the house will look like when it's finished.

This is the shortened back deck that we changed last-minute.  I love it!  It seems to fit just perfectly with the screened porch and at the back of the house, without looking out of place or too large.

Snow view from the southern kitchen windows.

OK, now we come to the inspiration photos...these were the wraparound windows that caught my eye.  At one point in time, we had a dutch door in the corner, which I was so taken with.  It didn't end up working out in the space, so we opted for the windows.  Love!

Here's what I think the kids' room will look like.  I did get the white bunks and Ava chose the bedding, which is colorful and similar to what's shown. 

This was what the fireplace wall was patterned after; we didn't have enough space for the double doors, so we opted for single windows with transoms. 

And, last but not least, the pantry!  My pantry is the result of a little redesign once we got our feet in the space.  If it turns out anything like this, it will be true love!

Windows!

This has been a really fun week at the construction site - mostly because the windows were installed.  And, they are gorgeous!  I love them alot.  Here's the list of 'others' that were done this week:  the fireplace was installed, the well was drilled, the septic was finished up, the basement bulkhead was built, the electrical panel was installed, wires run and cans installed, the furnace and water heater were installed, the french doors were hung (also gorgeous) and we met the kitchen designer at the house to walk through the designs for the kitchen and baths. 

The homeowner has been immersed in final lighting selections and researching appliance options.  At this point in time, I have washer and dryer and dishwasher chosen and purchased.  Next up: stove.  As my very wise sister-in-law says: if there were no budget limitations, the choice would be easy - she's right!  The balancing act is to get something that is designed and functions well, without completely blowing the budget. 

I think we'll be ready for dry wall in a week or two - seems like we're flying through this process...although, I think I still have about 16 weeks before move-in.  During drywalling, I think I'll post some inspiration pictures that drove the design for this house...it will be fun to see how close we come to those original photos.

This is the view from the front door - I love that the fireplace will be a focal point when you walk in the door.

Another of those necessaries...

This view is the south side of the kitchen; the stove will be at the break in the windows.  When it's sunny, there is such lovely light in the kitchen from these windows.

Love!

Cans in the kitchen.

This is the front of the house...I can hardly wait until the front door goes in.  The garage door should also be in soon, which is really going to dress up the front of the house.  I think front decking may be going in soon too.



Wrap arounds in the kitchen...delish!

French doors-love the black hardware.

Necessities.

This week was about the yin and yang of building...the beautiful and the not-so-beautiful, but necessary, elements.  The screened porch was framed and the retaining wall was started.  The septic system was put in and the electricians started.  The basement windows were installed and the roof was finished.  Pretty or not, I'm happy to see so much progress being made!!

Mark & Angi helped me capture photos of both ends of the spectrum, below.  

Love this view from the dining room out toward the screened porch.  The roof is high enough that the view is not blocked at all from kitchen windows or french doors.  Love that!



We've done a bit more design-on-the-fly this week.  Originally, a deck was planned for the length of the house in the back.  I think now the deck will end at the living room, which will be enough space but won't run under the master or too far into the yard.