Week 40

Yep, forty weeks.  I could've had a baby by now... not that having a baby is in the cards, but I could have grown a whole person.

Just sayin'. :)

 There was quite a bit of activity on Christmas week which was surprising, but exciting!  More painting and masonry (we're very close to being done with the rock outside), but the biggest change - countertops! First up - the soapstone in the kitchen.  I LOVE how it turned out - I'm giddy!  I can't wait until the fixtures and backsplash are in.. oh my. :)  

It's so exciting to see the sink in - I think it's the prettiest kitchen sink I've ever seen. :)

The pantry work area

The beverage bar

 A close up of the soapstone. 

Dining room hutch

The mud room counter

The boys bathroom

 On to the master bath.  The marble is beautiful! It is exactly the look I wanted.  When the faucet and backsplash gets put it, it's going to look SHARP.  I'm pumped.

Brian's sink-

My sink

The vanity in my closet

 Upstairs, we went with granite.  We weren't picky about it, so we got some granite that Miguel already had and got a good deal on it.  The upstairs bath...

We used the same in the craft room.

The theater room.  Brian chose a darker granite in here and although I wouldn't put it anywhere else in the house, it works in there and I really like it.

We also got the garage doors in...  They've been rolled up, so I can't see what they look like, but it's one more thing off the list.  :)

Flooring should be up next!

Week 38

Lots of painting this week!  

Starting with the rest of the exterior.

I was able to get down to the house when it was still light and I think you can really see the color of the paint.  This is a pic of the garage - it has the best natural light as of right now since all the windows are masked off for painting.  I LOVE this color.

Most of the wall color is up, so they're working on the trim and cabinets.  I am so glad that we did this little detail up the stairs.  Simple, but lots of impact.

The half bath isn't painted - I picked out a blue/green color that will only be in there.  I wanted a light and bright bathroom with thick white trim.  Add in the hand crank window and it just seems so farmhousy to me. :)

The master bathroom cabinets

The most exciting development - my kitchen island! 

I imagine this will be THE gathering place of our home.  

Farmhouse doors. Eeeeek! :) 

The paint in the living room.  I really like the color with the stain on the beams and woodwork.

The view from the other end of the room.

Everything is looking great.

Week 37

We have paint! Hallelujah.   

 Not a whole lot is painted (masking off has taken a while), but it's exciting to see what is done and what the colors look like up on the walls. There's just something about fresh paint. :)  Especially when that fresh paint is in my new closet! 

Sigh...

The white that we are using for all the trim and cabinets is called Snowbound by Sherwin Williams. Picking a white paint is hard.  There are approximately 4,586,203 shades of white.  I did some research and decided to go with a white that had a gray undertone instead of a cream since we have so much gray in the house. I have no idea if that was a good move or not designwise, but I like it so fingers crossed. :)

The mud room bench.  It's going to look awesome with a knotty, stained seat.

The (still wet) ceiling in the kitchen

The theater room - I LOVE this color (Gauntlet Gray by SW). 

For most of the house (everything but the trim, theater room and the guest bathroom) I chose Mindful Gray by SW.  It's what they call a "greige" - a cross between gray and beige. I. LOVE. IT.  It changes with the light and sometimes almost has green undertones to it. The walls are finished in our bedroom, so they took the masking paper off the woodwork and I love it together.  I wanted to make sure to pick a color that complimented the brown stain and the gray stone of the fireplace.  The fireplace isn't done yet, but I think it will look great!

I only picked 5 colors for the whole house (and that includes the color for the kitchen island).  Our painter was shocked I chose so few - we have some friends that built a house a couple of years back and they picked around 12 colors for their house. Yowzers.  Picking paint is not fun for me, so I just assume find one color that's good and slap it on almost everywhere. :)

The living room and boys rooms are all masked off, so next week we'll get some paint on that side of the house.

 I cannot express how ready I am for this house to be done.  As far as the 30 year old house we live in now, things are just starting to give up and go on strike.

• The hot water heater has issues.  Thirty minutes before you want to take a shower (or have hot water for any purpose) you have to go make sure the hot water heater is lit.  If the pilot light isn't on, you have to light it (which is probably 9 times out of 10).  We do this multiple times a day.
• The kitchen ovens have a slightly better track record than the hot water heater, but not by much.
• We have had vice grips for a hot water handle in the master shower for months now. Something is broken in the wall it would take time and money to fix that we just don't want to spend.
• The boys shower has a slow leak into Hudson's closet. Kinda smells sometimes. 

I'm sure I could think of more, but it's kinds depressing.  We're limping along over here people.  At this point we just feel it's just not worth spending money to fix these things when we are so close to moving.

So. Close.  :)