Progress made

I posted some pictures below and they are already outdated!!  Crown molding has been completed and the front and back porch beams have been wrapped in aluminum to match the trim.  The granite folks have been out to prepare templates for the downstairs bath rooms, kitchen, bonus room snack bar and the outside kitchen.  Should have the granite installed soon - cannot wait to see it!  The laminate counter has been installed in the laundry and looks very nice.  Tile work is complete upstairs but is still underway in the master bath.  They have installed  the floor tile in the shower and have framed  our seat and niche for the shower also. 

Lighting estimate is still being worked on.  I think the lighting is probably where I have spent a considerable amount of time on.  I think lighting is like accessories are to an outfit (sorry for the fashion analogy) it just kind of helps pull a room together.  I have been back and forth from catalog to catalog and had to finally just make the decisions.  There are just tons of options out there.  I will be so excited to see them installed.  Ronda at Wholesale Electric was so much fun to work with.  If you live in Bowling Green and have lighting needs, she is your lady!!  Trust me, I've spoken to some of the other folks in town and she was my pick!  She called yesterday with the good news that she was able to get me additional discounts on some of the Craftmade ceiling fans I had selected!!

The paint crew should be coming back this week to paint the second coat on the walls and begin the tedious process of filling in all the nail holes in the trim work and painting the trim.

We will be gone next week for a little trip to Hilton Head Island.  I hope to come back well-rested because I will be spending the next couple of weeks packing our house for the move!!  Have a great day!

Pictures!

Back porch - master bedroom side



Upstairs view from the greatroom




Back porch - view of screen in area




Kitchen/living room - view of ceiling




Kitchen cabinets




Another view of kitchen




Kitchen from the living room




Laundry room




Mud room




Entry into master bath - linen closet to right




Master bath




Master bedroom - sitting area and door to back porch on left

 

Upstairs loft area - built-in desk & bookcases




View of great room from upstairs loft area




Dining room



The Cabinets Have Arrived!

Yesterday my husband and I were out at the new house to discuss placement of our concrete driveway with our builder and the concrete people.  We wanted to add a circular driveway since our lot sits back from the road quite a bit and also add a small square patio off of the back porch.  While we were talking outside, we saw two of the Creative Wood Design trucks coming towards our house.  My husband and I both looked at each other and said "The cabinets are here!"  The men starting taking the cabinetry off the truck and it felt like Christmas!  We didn't want to leave until we saw everything.  They started installing everything immediately.  No messing around!  The house was getting pretty tight with tile people, trim people and the cabinet people there so we left.  They said everything would be installed by the end of the day and when I stopped back by that night, he was right!  The kitchen looks like a kitchen now and everything else I had just seen on paper and in my mind was now real! 

In other news, we got the estimate back on the concrete later that day and will just say we have another budget buster!!  I really need to do a separate post on the budget at some point!

From Floors to Ceilings

I need to post pictures soon, but changes are underway daily and the pictures would quickly be outdated! So, let me update on the changes underway.  Our garage doors have been installed!  Trim work is still going on.  They just finished the chair rail and wainscoting in the dining room.  Additional crown molding to be done in the hall way, powder room, guest bath and guest bedroom.  The coffered ceiling in the kitchen/living room is about half way done and I am so excited about how that will look!  They have also begun the stair work and so far just the hardwood treads have been installed.  The upstairs bathrooms have been completely tiled and grouted and look great.  We went with a "brick" lay pattern which makes it look a little more interesting.  Our downstairs guest bath is completely tiled and grouted.  The downstairs laundry is tiled but not grouted and our master bath floor is tiled but not grouted.  The frame for the tub has been built also.

Next week will be exciting for me.  Our cabinetry should begin arriving on Monday/Tuesday.  Before they will install, they have to have the flooring completed and the first coat of paint, which is pretty much where we are.  (I am thinking the tile people will be completing the grout for our bath and laundry hopefully Monday ASAP:)) I cannot wait to see it! 

The ceilings on the front and back porch are stained.  The stain color was not what I had selected, but I didn't have the heart to tell the painters on Friday evening.  They had been working so hard and he was so excited to show me.  I mean brown stain is brown stain, right?!!  It's all good!

I have an appointment with the lighting folks on Tuesday to finalize my lighting order.  Most of my fixtures will be coming from Capital Lighting and a few from Minka-Lavery.  I will also need to order several ceiling fans - 13 to be exact!  I'll have to be careful here with our budget.  Ceiling fans can run from $60 to over $700 and its not always easy to tell which ones are going to be pricey!

On a different note, we attended the annual Parade of Homes put on by our local Builders' Association this past weekend.  I'll just say the homes were amazing!  So much to look at and process.  I really enjoy seeing what the builders and homeowners come up with.  Most of the homes are custom, but there are a few spec houses sprinkled in.  I was seeing a lot of teal paint colors and even black and grey.  There was even a dramatic two story panelled dining room that was just beautiful.  Our house will be on the parade next year and I admit I'll be a little nervous about it.  A lot of the homes have had a decorator's "touch"  and have lots of dramatic furniture, but I'm not a decorator and I'm not really a "dramatic" furniture kind of person.  SO, I hope our home won't be too boring for folks used to seeing the dramatic, it'll just be real!!

Exciting News!!

Over the Labor Day weekend we had some second showings, to two different couples,  on our current house.  We received an offer from one of the couples on Monday!!!  After a couple of days of negotiating, we signed a contract!!  We have 45 days to close and the couple was gracious enough to give us an extra 7 days to move out.  Our new house may or may not be ready, though.  It will be close enough that we can move stuff into the garage and we may be living in a hotel for a week.  Although that will be a pain ( we have a dog), I am so thankful to have that "sale pending" sign in my yard and to NOT have to show the house any more.  Now I can focus on packing!!

More details...

I am getting more and more excited!!  A whole lot of the little details are going on at the new Trussell family home.  Its fun to stop by and see if we can figure out what's new.  I'll see if I can remember it all.

Well, the first coat of paint is on the walls and ceilings and I LOVE it!  I was a bit worried about the main areas because, well, you just don't want to have to repaint any time soon!!  The living room color was going to be a bit dark, but I love it.  It just makes the room feel warm and cozy.  Our powder room is a dark plum and since there is no light in there, it is very hard to see.  It just looks black! 

The tile and stair parts have been delivered!  It was like Christmas when we stopped by the other evening.  When I picked out the stair parts, they didn't have a display for what I wanted, so I picked it sight unseen!  We both really like it though!  It is a wrought iron ballister with a few "butterfly" ballisters thrown in for design interest and the finish will be black with a copper rub through.  We will also have some box newels that will be stained to match the floors.  The boxes of tile are sitting in their respective rooms just waiting for installation.  I picked a larger tile to go on the floor in our master bath - they look huge!

Trim work is still going on but looks close to being done.  I had to stop by the millwork show room to pick out columns for the dining room entry and great room.  They will be square with raised panels.  I think they will be the perfect accent to the entry way.

We should be getting close to having our cabinetry installed.  I can hardly wait!  We did get a message from our builder that the counter top I selected for the utility room would take about six weeks to order and that I should pick another.  There was another brand that was close and "in stock" .  It is a Wilsonart Laminate in "Milano Quartz".  (click on highlight if you want to check it out)

There has been some activity on the outside as well.  The framing for our screened in porch has begun and the 'screen-tite' hardware is being installed.  The columns on the front and back porch have been made.  They will be a cedar-wrapped square column with a "skirt" on the bottom.  The framing for the outdoor kitchen has also begun.  They had to frame the area where the grill will be in steel (?) from a flamability standpoint and the sink area is wood.
 
We still do not have our garage doors on so everything is wide open.  I'm not too keen on this, because we have lots of supplies (paint, trim, tile, doors and stair parts) that I hope won't sprout legs.  I'm hearing too many stories from friends that I probably shouldn't listen to!!

Next week I need to call the lighting people.  I have most stuff picked out but am hoping the consultant will come to the house with me and give me some ideas and make sure what I've picked out will work.  There's more to think about than the appearance, you have to make sure they will give off enough light and are big enough or not too large for the space. That's where I need help!! 

Its All in the Details

I met with the Color Consultant at our local Porter Paints store the other day.  I didn't feel prepared AT ALL to pick out wall and trim colors for my entire house.  In fact, I was feeling pretty anxious about it.  I almost called to reschedule, but I found out from our builder that I didn't have as much time as I thought I did. So I put my big girl pants on and trudged down to the store not expecting to get much accomplished. The consultant had suggested that I bring tile, fabric, rug samples or any kind of color "inspiration" that I had.  So I brought my box of stuff and we used those to select our color scheme.  It was quite an interesting process and not as hard as I thought.  I had the PPG paint deck at home and had been stressing myself in thinking I had to do this alone.  It is so much easier when you have a professional to help you!!  The colors I picked are trim: White Umber, Interior walls:  Spiced Vinegar, Jute, Heavy Cream, Woodbridge, Tempered Steel and Phantom Hue.  Cannot wait to see them on the walls which should be soon!!


In other news, the gas line has been installed.  We will be having a gas range in the kitchen and a gas grill on the back porch.  No more half-cooked burgers/steaks when we run out of propane!!

I selected the stain for the tongue and groove wood ceiling for the front and back covered porches.  It is MinWax Provincial.  I think it will look great! 
The wood floors are being installed on the first floor and should be done this week. The fella has been working late into the evening!.  It is a #2 common white oak, 3 1/4" wide.  We will have it in all rooms and stairs on the first floor except for the bedrooms, baths and utility room.

The trim work has begun on the second floor and the interior doors are being installed.  We will also have a few pocket doors and those have been installed as well.  My 5 year old son thought those were cool!  Hope they're sturdy!!

Also, this week we should have our garage doors installed.  Our builder said he will probably put temporary locks on the exterior doors as well. 

My husband has purchased our grill for the outdoor kitchen.  It is a Napoleon gas grill and currently lives in my home office!!  It's a nice big box:)  Hopefully they can install it soon!

Well, that's all for now!  I'll try to take pictures this weekend but now need to start cleaning my house. We have a showing for a prospective buyer tomorrow!  Got my fingers crossed!  Hope everyone has a great week!!

Tile Selection

I had so much fun picking out tile the other day!  I have to admit I was kind of dreading it.  I was afraid I would walk in and be overwhelmed with choices.  You could very easily!!  I had a couple of pages from magazines of bathrooms and kitchens that I liked and brought them with me.  The designer I worked with was wonderful and just made it completely stress free.  I had no problem picking out everything including grout in under an hour!!  I knew I wanted to stay fairly neutral in the tile color but wanted a pattern/texture.  She let me bring home samples to show my husband and to help with paint selection.  If you click on the pictures below it should give you an enlarged view.   I hope it will be within my budget!

I must say that I have always heard how stressful it is building your own home and we have not found that to be the case.  I think it helps to do your homework and have an idea of what you like.  I think so far the hardest part for us has been deciding on a floor plan and the exterior brick. I hope I'm not jinxing myself!

Kitchen backsplash and granite counters

Bathroom floor/shower tile, accent tile and granite counters

Close up view of accent tile

Guest Bath floor tile and granite counters

Drywall - Part 2

Sometimes "Blogger" can be fun and easy to use and sometimes it can be very frustrating!  Hopefully the pictures I posted make sense.  The ones I couldn't put a caption on were another view of the Great Room to the second floor and the other one was a view from the Kitchen into the Living Room with a peak of the outside fireplace.

I believe the drywall is mostly complete.  There may be a little more "mudding" going on and I say that only because there is a bunch of the stuff still in the garage, not because I know for sure!!

I cannot wait for the cabinetry to be installed!  They had said it could take 6 to 8 weeks for them all to be built.  We will have a little snack bar area where you walk into the bonus room which will have a small refrigerator and a microwave built in.  We will also have a built in desk with bookcases in the upstairs loft area.  I have agonized over the kitchen layout and sometimes I think you just have to let go and tell yourself "It will be fine!!".  Can't wait to share!

Drywall

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Great Room - View from Kitchen

Master Bedroom

Bonus Room

Brick and drywall

Long time no post, but that doesn't mean things have been slow! On the contrary!! With the kids home this summer and all the running around that entails there hasn't been much time to sit at the computer.

Our new house is coming along nicely and we get more excited each day. The brick has gone up quickly and the front and back porch have been poured. The wiring is nearly completed and the dry wall is going up as I write this. They anticipate the dry wall to be completed next week. It was such a shock to have walls up! No longer can we just walk between the walls and "see" each other through the house. The fireplace has also been installed in the great room and on the back porch.

I have been busy too! I was so worried about our brick selection but now love it more than my original selection. I have also finalized our kitchen and bath cabinetry and other built-ins. I have selected cabinet pulls and knobs and picked out granite and vanity tops. I had to select a stain for the front door and have continued to look at lighting fixtures. I have also picked out stair parts and trim work. My next decision is selecting tile for the kitchen back splash and tile for the bathrooms.

Meanwhile, we are continuing to show our existing house but have not yet had our first offer. It will come I know, just a matter of when!! The kids are back in school, so that does make keeping the house clean and ready to show a little easier. Our new house should be completed some time in October. I have a feeling the next couple of months will fly by!!

Getting wired!

The electricians began the process of getting our house wired on Thursday. We stopped by after work and saw receptacle boxes in all the rooms. The guy was still hard at work when we were there and it was steamy hot!

We also have tub/shower units installed in the guest bath and the kids' baths upstairs. Not sure how they got them in there though with all the framing....magic wand maybe? I probably don't want to know!

Our house showings on our current house have picked up a bit. We had two this past week after almost a month of zero showings! That's definitely encouraging! We would really like to not have two mortgages!! I get a little nuts when I know someone is going to look at the house - I feel like everything has to be perfect. With the kids home and their summer activities, I feel like I should be spending more time making decisions like what type of baseboards/crown moulding and others coming up and less time at the pool and in my car!! It will all get done in time!

Brick and Built-Ins

We had selected our exterior brick some time ago but recently found out it was way expensive. Something about the color, which I understand normally doesn't factor in, and where it will be shipped from (extra freight). Really loved that brick, though, especially since I can't have it now!! So, went and met with the brick people and tentatively picked another. Since it was a new color, he only had a floor sample, which is only about 2 feet, to look at. Quite difficult to pick your brick with such a small sample and no house to see it on. The brick people did offer to make me a sample "wall" at the house so that I might get a better feel for what it would look like. I am so amazed at how different a brick color can look with different mortar colors!! Huge difference. The brick we have selected is "Brentwood" with a buff mortar and I believe it is made by Lawrenceville. The brick I originally selected was called "Virginia's Finest" - ironic because we lived in Virginia prior to moving to KY!!

I also met with the folks who will be doing our cabinetry and built-ins yesterday. We discussed kitchen layout and walked through the rest of the house where we will have built-ins. The husband/wife team were so nice and had such great ideas. I had brought lots of pictures and probably didn't need them because it was as if they were reading my mind as to what I wanted. That's what is so nice with working with people who are experienced!! I am getting so excited about the house!!

Windows and Roof

Summer has arrived and things have been pretty busy at our current home and our new house! We are back from vacation and had to stop by our property to see if we had any progress. The roof is on and roofing paper has been added and the windows are installed. The framers are done as well. Since these pictures were taken, the roofers have begun adding the shingles.

We met with the electrician the other night and did a walk through of the house to determine where we want all lighting/switches and tv/computer receptacles to go. It took about two hours!! Because we will be having several built-ins, we are going to need to revisit certain areas once those areas have been designed.

Our builder and my husband also met with the HV/AC person and home theater guy to determine where the returns will be placed and where the speakers will be installed.

The next step will be to have plumbing installed. We had to go meet and pick out shower/tub combos and we also picked out bath and kitchen faucets. This really wasn't too difficult since we already knew what we wanted. We should get an estimate soon and hopefully it will be within our budgeted allowance!!

After the plumbing is installed, the wiring will begin.

Our builder also gave as a list of people we need to begin meeting with. I had a "slight" panic at how many decisions we will be making in the next few weeks/months!!

The Second Floor

The framers are still hard at work. I don't know how they do what they do in the heat!! Bless them! I felt so sorry for them that I brought a cooler full of drinks and some snacks last night. Hopefully the ice didn't melt too quickly - that was one of the first things I thought of this morning when I woke up!!

The second floor is taking shape! We had a minor issue in the bonus room that had to be resolved. We met our builder over at the site yesterday to discuss options. We had agreed to drop the ceiling in the garage (bonus is right above) to provide extra height in the bonus. Although that part looks great, we had to have a step down into the bonus that didn't look quite right. In talking to the framer and our builder, we were able to resolve it - yeah!!

The framers are expected to be completed in another week and a half - right before we go on vacation!

Taking shape

We stopped by yesterday and were excited to see the beams where the ceiling will be. They have started to put subfloors where my daughters room will be upstairs. They also had most of the exterior walls up on the first floor and the framing for the front covered porch and the back covered porch. We will have a covered porch running the width of the back of the house. Part of it will be screened and we will eventually have an outdoor fireplace. I can't wait to enjoy it!!

My son is so funny! He found a plastic grocery bag lying around and started to collect "trash" he found - mostly plastic soda bottles - and climbed up the huge dumpster to throw it away! I wonder where he gets that from?! I'm NOT complaining though!!

More framing

Luckily our new house is not too far from where we are currently living. It makes it almost too easy to go check on it every day. This picture is from this past Sunday - I just haven't gotten around to posting.

We are being framed!

I took this picture this afternoon. It started raining around lunch time and hasn't really let up much. They have put in our sub-floors and began framing the right side of our house. This is the side where our master suite and study/guest room will be. It is supposed to rain tomorrow as well, but next week looks promising!

Pest Control

Not much happened at the site yesterday. The electric meter was supposed to be set and framing to begin but all we saw were some framing materials and the pest control guy treating the foundation and gravel where the garage, front porch and back porch will be. It did rain a little off and on - hoping for good weather the rest of the week!!

We did approve the window order and selected the exterior window/door color. We also selected our exterior door and type of glass insert.

Ready for Framing

Stopped by the property on Saturday and this is what we saw. You can see the gravel space is our three car garage. They should be ready to begin framing on Monday. Sunday we had lots of rain and could possibly have some on Monday as well. Could see some delays, but the rest of the week should be great!!

We went and looked at appliances for the kitchen and "think" we know what we want. We are currently looking at a KitchenAid gas slide in range and a Sharp Insight microwave drawer oven which is very cool and a KitchenAid diswasher in stainless. Nothing has been picked out but we thought we would get some ideas.

Our builder wanted us to go look at front doors but the showroom was closed on Saturday. We have a brochure and have one in mind but would like to see it in person. The one we like is a double entry wood with arch top. We also need to determine the style of windows so that he can place our order.

Footers have been poured

Footers have been poured

Yesterday evening we drove by the site and saw that the footers had been poured. Its really looking like a construction site now! We had fun "walking" through our house and figuring out what was what. Our builder just e-mailed us that the framing can begin on Monday!

I also visited another lighting fixture store yesterday and got MORE lighting catalogs. I am really liking the Wilmette Lighting Company and Minka-Lavery. Wilmette has a more vintage/classic look which I love and Minka has a more traditional look which I like as well. Its a little overwhelming with so many choices but I think this is the fun part! I can definitely see this could take a while, so I think its smart to get an early start so as not to feel rushed.

There's a house in another neighborhood that I want to take a picture of today. It has the brick that we both agree we like. Whew!! I was beginning to wonder if such brick existed!!:-) I hope the people that live there aren't home - I don't want them to think I'm stalking them by taking pictures!!

First dig!

Something is Happening!

It's hard to believe just two months ago we made our initial contact with our builder to discuss building our home. We had already researched plans and had narrowed it down to a few we really liked. We had also looked at some lots that were available in the subdivision we wanted.

Within the past two months, we have purchased our land with some guidance from our builder. You definitely want to consult with him to make sure your home will fit!! We have also met with our real estate agent and decided to go ahead and put our house on the market the first part of April. He told us the average days on the market right now is approximately 150 days, so we thought it wise to go ahead and list it. Although we are getting regular traffic, positive feedback and a couple of "nibbles", we have not had any offers yet. I'm not really worried yet, we didn't really want to move twice but I think the stress of having my home on the market is something I'm going to have to get used to.

We have met with our builder several times to go over the plans and make "tweaks" here and there to hopefully get it just right. We've met with banks to obtain a construction loan and insurance companies to obtain a "builder's risk policy". Everything is falling into place. He told us last week he would get the building permit and hopefully break ground the following week. I guess with all the horror stories we've heard about building, I just have low expectations about things happening when they are supposed to. SO imagine my surprise when I drive out to our property today and actually see construction vehicles parked there! It was early so nothing was going on yet, but I did take some pictures. I'm getting excited!!