Wednesday, March 13, 2013

day 128

Not much has changed on the house this past week.  The backhoe returned last Thursday (day 123) and started digging up the front yard.  After racking our brains a bit, we realized they were hooking up the sewer and water lines.


At some point on Friday or Saturday they hit the underground electrical lines and we were without power until the utility company was able to come out yesterday morning.  Everything is back up and running now, though.

The big news is that the granite was installed in the kitchen today (day 128)!  The stone is Kashmir White and it looks amazing.  They still need to finish some caulking, drill the faucet holes, and cut out the area for the cooktop, but that's easy enough (says the person who doesn't have a clue how to do any of that).






They also put in the granite for the drop zone today, but my camera battery died before I could grab a photo.  I like it but I'm struggling with the 3" backsplash that was installed with the counter.  It's a small space so the backsplash seems a bit excessive.  Plus, it's totally unnecessary since there won't be water in the area.  On the plus side, it covers up the gaps between the countertop and the drywall.  Apparently the drywall is slightly bowed in the drop zone nook, which was their reasoning for installing the backsplashes in the first place.  I think I'm just going to live with them for now and if I still don't like them down the road, I can always do some demolition.

This whole backsplash discussion with the granite folks tonight got me thinking about the bathrooms, as well.  In the main bath, we'll definitely add the granite backsplash.  The bathroom will primarily be used by kids and it makes complete sense from a practical standpoint.  In the master bath, though, I really prefer the look of not having a backsplash.  But I don't want to ruin my drywall.  And I don't think I want to add tile.  Another decision that will need to be made soon.

Well, I'm kind of hoping soon.  Because that will mean the carpenters and tile guy showed up again.  I'm anxious to see the master bath vanity put together and also can't wait to see the tiled shower in the master bath.  Patience is becoming less and less of my strong suit these days.  I'm not sure if I blame the house construction or the two year old?

This past weekend, Hubby and I were able to escape the chaos for a bit.  We dropped E off with a sitter Sunday morning and spent the day shopping, browsing and even sitting down for lunch, without the interruptions of a certain little guy.  It was bliss.  But we were both missing E like crazy by the end of the afternoon.  It's funny how that works.


I also ran by the house on Saturday, during E's naptime, to grab some photos of the cabinets and trimwork on my big girl camera, in the daylight.  Since the last update, doors have finished being installed and most of the trimwork is complete.  Everything is really coming together and starting to get that almost-finished look.





Hopefully the next update will include a gorgeous master bath vanity.  Crossing my fingers. And toes.  And arms.  And legs.  And whatever else I can think of.

9 comments:

  1. Hi Amy

    Loving the blog and I'm not ashamed to admit I am green with envy. I would love to be able to do this for myself but over here its just not realistic as it would be far to expensive and unfortunately there isn't the land easily available.

    I cannot wait to see the final one with everything complete.

    Aimee

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    1. Hey you! Last time I was on your side of the pond, I had a conversation with one of my co-workers about real estate and the housing market in the UK. Pure craziness! But, the US is severely lacking in all of the old world charm and historical buildings/houses that you guys have.

      To remedy your envy, you should probably just move to the US. Then, you can build on one of the empty lots next to me and be my neighbor. :) My office is currently hiring a corporate catering and event planner. It's meant to be!

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  2. Amy -

    Love the way everything is turning out! We just finished our house build in December. I've been reading your blog since Day 1 and have enjoyed watching the progress! Love the selections that you have made. This is the point in our house build that I could hardly wait to move in. Everything starts coming together and it starts becoming your home. Looking forward to see the end result.

    Amy

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    1. Can I first say that I'm loving the invasion of Amys/Aimees on this post?

      And secondly - thank you!! I am definitely with you on hardly being able to wait to move in. Any small delay makes it that much harder becuase I'm so incredibly excited. Up until recently, this almost felt like a project that I'd be handing over to someone else at the end. But it's finally feeling like our home. And I love it!

      I'd love to see photos of your house! Do you have them online anywhere? And any suggestions or tips as we get close to the end? Things we should be asking our construction manager about? Items we need to double check?

      Thanks for following our journey :)

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  3. Hate to crash the Amy/Aimee party, but the granite countertops look great! I like the paint color in the kitchen as well. Goes together very well with everything. We are already at each others throats over all of the paint color choices, new furniture purchases, lighting fixtures, etc. We have discovered that first of all, neither of us has any interior decorating skill and also, we have huge differences in decorating styles. I think to avoid any more arguing, I am going to let her do what she wants throughout the house as long as she leaves the basement in my hands!

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    1. The Amy party was bound to end at some point :)

      And thanks for the kind words! I can't wait to have some decent daylight to take better photos. The ones above really aren't doing the granite justice.

      Also - completely understand the pain in making decorating decisions. Between compromising on style (we're lucky that our taste is somewhat similar), staying within budget, trekking all over town and the interwebs for the best and cheapest options and still maintaining normal life, I feel like I'm going to pull my hair out most days. We're just now starting to get over that hump. I'm happy with the paint colors, we've picked out everything required to complete the actual construction (well, except for two mirrors and hardware for one bathroom vanity) and we're starting to find relief that everything we've been picking out since last May is starting to come together somewhat cohesively and, so far, without any major surprises or disappointments. I promise it gets better!

      And, if your wife is anything like me, she'll ultimately want to make the decision, but she'll need to know she has your buy-in. And will want your honest opinion if you're going to hate it. I often found myself narrowing decisions down to one or two items and then asking him to make the final choice. So long as I was okay with both, it saved me from making all the decisions, but still left me happy with the final decision.

      Looking forward to seeing what you guys have been pondering over!

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  4. Hey,

    I figured I'd check your blog since I hadn't looked in a couple weeks and can't beleive how much progress has been made!! It is looking great and very much "you". I usually dislike newer homes, but I love all of the classic designs like the light pendents and 3 panel doors (love love) I can't wait to see it in person and see how you decorate! ;)

    Emily G

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    1. Hi Emily! It's been so hard trying to balance 'old' with 'new'. When we first started working with the designer, he was constantly poking fun at me for building a new house when I wanted everything to look old and timeless. We're so anxious to get in and I can't wait to give you the tour!

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  5. CRAZY jealous of your doors. Crazy. We went hunting for them at Lowes the other week. And guess what? They were all sold out. I blame you ;-)

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