Week 29 And Only 25 Days To Go

Happy New Year!  

Just wanted to let everyone know up front that this post is mostly about the things that need addressing before I close on the house at the end of the month.

At the end of the post will be general pictures and a great one of the house with the yard in.  


Fireplace issues:

Issue 1>  The hearth is not level.  The Bricks were not supposed to be added and they really show how much the hearth is out of line.  The hearth also has some very nasty scratches that are not natural.  Both sides of the hearth are scratched, but I only took a picture of the right side.

Issue 2>  Grout goes from sand color to a dull white about a foot above the mantel corbels. Very noticeable when standing in front of the FP.  The last picture in this string shows where the sand colored grout stops and the lighter buff begins.   

 Kitchen Cabinetry Issue:

The cove for the refrigerator/microwave/oven is not properly dry walled.  My interior designer has another client that has this same model and their cove is perfect and matches the model home.  The cabinetry is supposed to fit flush with the cove ceiling.

Master Bath Light Fixtures:

The mirrors are perfectly placed.  The distance from the walls to the edge is only off by less than and eight of an inch.  However the light fixtures are badly off center from the mirror.  The way the counters are there is no way to center the lights over the actual sink; but I think that is what was attempted.  It looks awful, the lights need to be centered over the mirror.  It just a mess the way it is right now.

Thank you Highland Homes!!!  I truly am looking forward to the end of January.  


Below are some of the pictures taken this last weekend.  The yard and fences are in and I have to admit, I was more than surprised as how big the backyard is.  I have enough room to put in a pool and still have room for lawn.  Having had a postage stamp yard for the last 21 years I don't really know what to do with the space.  Fannin Tree Farm will be sending someone out later this month to determine if the front yard will accommodate a Chinese Pistache tree which is a gorgeous big tree with deep straight roots (I believe it was in a post back in August).  It will offer a lot of shade for the house once it grows.  No clue what the two trees are in the yard currently.  

The front door and it is very pretty; however it seems everyone has the same door.  In a few years I'll get a JenWeld which will have a lot more iron designs to choose from but will keep to the overall design of the current door.   :)

The patio will have pavers once everything is done.  It will look very give the patio a nice finishing touch.  TLS Landscaping was the company that designed the yard for my Plano home.  They don't come out this far normally, but because I sent several people their way, Scott, the owner is going to come out in the spring and design the yard for me with Texas plants that offer more color and texture but still are drought hardy.  Of course I'll skew the effort by putting in St. Augustine grass.       




Some pictures of the interior that are done.  The cardboard that is all throughout the house is protecting the hardwood flooring.  It's pretty torn up by the front door, but I'm told things like that will be corrected before closing.  

Master bathtub and shower; it turned out so gorgeous.  Once we are done with decorating the master bedroom, one wall in the master and the walls in the bath will get a warmer color.  I also have a gorgeous painting that will hang right in that large space over the tub.  It is a bit abstract, but the colors are soothing; perfect for a tub area.  

Aside from the cabinet and dry wall issue, the kitchen has turned out wonderfully.  The island has been raised to accommodate my freakish height but it's not that noticeable when standing in between the two counters.  There is a large pullout trash bin built into the island.  Best of all, I have a gas range; I might actually cook more often.

The long entryway is one of the things that I find most attractive about this house.  It is wide enough to allow for  console tables but not so wide that it's wasted space.  Plus I love having the office immediately off of the entryway hall, where as the guest rooms and media room are each off small sub-hallways

This is the master closet which will have a TCS custom layout.  It's already planned out, just need the installer to come out and confirm the measurements.  It will be installed  the day before I move in.    

Again, Happy New Year and may 2017 bring everyone health and happiness.  

Carole

Family and Fixtures

This week the kids came with me to the house.  My grandson's had a wonderful time playing in the dirt and running through the empty house screaming (because it echoed and was loud).  

I managed to get some great pictures of them, and one of Jeff and Vicky that is very nice.

My lovely daughter-in-law and my son.  Love them both.

The boys had a really good time playing in the dirt.  But then they are boys and don't all boys like dirt time.  :)

I really wish this one had come out clearer.  This is a really good shot of the boys.  

This week at the house, the fixtures are in all the bathrooms and kitchen.  I received an email on Friday from the builder giving me a heads-up that many of the fixtures are wrong.  I order oil-rubbed bronze, and all the sink and bath fixtures are chrome.  They still have not fixed the cabinets where the refrigerator will go but they have finally fixed the lack of outlets in the craft room.  

So looking at the pictures, note that the light fixtures are ORB, but the faucets are all wrong.  
Tile is in and the stone tiles around the master tub are also installed, with one section pulled away due to the faucet issue.  The tiles in the pictures of the shower look like they don't match; however I didn't notice it when we were checking everything out so I believe it is just the photo or the lighting in the photo.  

The half bath is almost done with the exception of the base board trim and the correct faucet.  The floor will need to be scrubbed, but they bring in a cleaning crew before the first walk-through and also touch up the paint in areas that are roughed up.

This bathroom is going to get a lovely Ralph Lauren wall treatment.  He has some wonderful paint techniques that include metallic finishes and since this is a completely enclosed room, having a shimmer on the wall will spread the limited light.  

The lights fixtures are all standard and the fans they have installed do not have lighting.  I have already found replacement and will order them in December.  I have yet to see that fixture they have for the entry, but I hope its a simple piece like I had in the Plano house.  I really liked that one as it gave off great light and the design went well with my style. 

The kitchen looks wonderful, I am so glad I went with recessed lighting over the island.  The more I see kitchens with the pennants hanging down, the less I like them.  Dust catchers is all they are.

The exterior up-lighting is in and has a nice dark finish that looks good against the dark brick.   

This week I need to go over to the storage place and take a look at the coffee and sofa tables.  My interior designer (Kim Wofford at Ethan Allen Frisco) thinks the counter stools I love will do just fine with all the ORB because I already have the iron worked into the existing furniture, and the Plano house was filled with ORB and it never looked odd.    

The table for the entry way will be delivered on the 20th of this month and the bookcases for the study will be here in December.  It will be a challenge to store these new pieces in that tiny apartment.  

The plan is to have as many workers as possible out at the house that first weekend after I sign the papers.  The carpet is already scheduled to be installed that Saturday.  If I can swing it, I'll see if I can get the ceiling fans installed that same Friday in the afternoon.  

WOW... 10pm, where did the evening go.  

Week 22: Primer, Pavers and a Close Date

The close date has been scheduled for January 27th.  I'm thrilled to have a date for closing, but unfortunately it puts me on month-to-month at this apartment complex and the rent is ridiculous once I hit that point.  I looked at the numbers, and it would cost me more to get another storage unit and move out, then it would to just suck it up and pay the rent.  

With closing at the end of the month, I won't be able to move in right away due to Month End Close at work.  However I have already requested 2 weeks in February immediately after we are finished with closing the books and submitting the reports.  I do not want to move into the new house the way I moved out of the Plano house, piecemeal.  That was too stressful.

Waiting a few weeks to officially move in will allow for the carpet to be replaced and maybe some paint work.  

A lot of new changes at the house today.  All the primer paint for the walls appears to be done as well as the high gloss painting for the doors, trim, shelving in the pantries and the bathroom cabinets.  

Today I picked out the pavers that will be on the back porch.  The picture below is from the model, the paver I selected is darker and compliments the darker brick on my home.  I also met with my interior designer this afternoon and we completed the various room designs and furniture layouts.  Before the end of the month we will go out there and measure all the windows so the order for shutters can be placed.  We are trying to time this so that the window treatments and new furniture purchases come in right at the time of the closing.  That way things like window treatments can go in before the actual move in.  

Todays Pictures:

It was a rainy day today and I really liked how nice the brick looked in this weather.  I love rainy days like this, even stormy days for that matter.   

Constructions workers are SLOBS!!!

YAY!  The kitchen counter tops are in.  They are covered in plastic right now which is why I could not get a clean picture.

They did a great job making sure every inch of the cabinets were covered for painting the walls.  

Everywhere they painted with the high-gloss paints, they covered the floor and the area's around it.  This is the master bathroom cabinets.  I love all the graduated drawers.  The center area is the "vanity".  I won't ever use it but it looks nice.

All the drawers for the master bath cabinets.

These are the study doors, but they will be replaced with the correct doors; hopefully soon.  The only light in the main hallway comes from the front door, so I decided to make the study door glass pane.  Not sure if they will have to tear out the whole door frame, or just replace the doors.  

This is a picture of the model home back porch.  The pavers really add a nice finishing touch.  The pavers I selected are darker, I'll try and remember to take a picture next week.  

PS:  Love this model.  Unfortunately it was a higher price and it would have forced me to work for another 10 years to pay it off.  I want to retire in 5 years and the model I selected will allow me to meet that goal.  Plus it is over 3000 sq ft; I don't need that kind of space, I'd just clutter it up.  LOL    

I'm off to bed.

Week 21: Moving Along

Week 21 and all the interior doors have been installed and the base boards in the bedrooms, office and media room is done. The closets and both pantries have shelving, and the shelf over the W&D in the laundry room is in.  

Speaking of, they must have been working in there yesterday because there is a river of water in the laundry room that has flowed into the media room, master closet, hallway closet and the half-bath.  I let the sales person know when I stopped by the office and he called someone go over right away to see if it was an actual issue, or if someone forgot to close a valve all the way. 

I measured out several area's today and sadly discovered that my wonderful plan for the craft room won't work.  There is not enough room between the long wall and the window.  There is only 9 inches to work with there, and the plan cuts into the window by 5 inches.  So change in plan; once in, I'll keep the bulk of the room packed and play around with the craft furniture for awhile until it falls into place.  Probably best to do that anyway; it would be a pain to go with a plan, unpack everything and then find the flow is off and have to move everything all over again.  

The front guest room is all planned out; the bed, night stand, chair and my Grandmother's beautiful vanity are measured and will fit perfectly into the space.  Since that room faces the street, it will have plantation shutters asap.  The only thing missing is artwork.  

And speaking of, the gorgeous picture below was my Mom's.  It is a very large piece and I plan to hang it right in the main hallway on the opposite wall from the office.  It will have natural light, but no direct light, which will really show it off nicely.

It is currently hanging in my office at work so the color in this picture is not very good.  The prominent color is obviously green, but there are purple, blue, yellow and some pale pink flowers in the foreground.  I have always loved this picture and I am thrilled to have such a great spot to hang it in the new house.  

A few pictures of the current installs.

Media room from the far corner.  I like that this has the double doors.  

Kitchen Pantry.  I will ask tomorrow if I can have one more shelf at the top installed.

Master bedroom, doors installed and trimmed and the base board trim all in.  Love that there are some many electrical outlets.  The two that are side-by-side are actually for cable/internet.

Kitchen nook from where the fireplace hearth will be.  

This is the hallway pantry; it is right outside the laundry room and next to the coat closet.  I was thinking this would be good for guest towels and such, but there is so much room in the guest bath and closet, that it would be easier to just keep the towels there.  Love that I have storage options.  

It's late and monthly close starts tomorrow.  **sigh** Long long days and very little sleep will is how this next week will go.   

Can't wait to get into this house so I can start looking for a new job.  

Furniture Choices

The general design or style of my furniture is traditional, but distressed.  I want my home to always be inviting and warm.  I want family and friends to feel like they can come in kick off their shoes and curl up on the sofa. 

So in order to maintain this style, I have to buy piecemeal which means I adore furniture sales.  More than that, I LOVE it when floor samples are sold.  There is simply no better bargain, and since most of my items are distressed, a dent or scratch here and there just looks like part of the plan.  :)  

EA is having a 30% off on one item sale this month so I went in to have a final look-see and decide on which item to apply that discount.  

But instead I find that the floor sample bookcase set that I've been wanting for years....literally.....is up for sale.  Of course the 30% discount doesn't apply when its a floor sample on sale, but that's just fine by me because it's almost 50% off and the right color for the study, YAY!!

This is a three piece unit with interior lighting.  The best feature is that it is glass enclosed. Along with the books, I'll be able to put some of my MA dolls in there as well as maybe a few tea cups, though it will mostly be books.

While I was at the store, I checked out counter stools and found some that are wonderfully comfortable, especially at it relates to my bad back.  There are three designs, with the Baylor being the favorite choice.  The only issue is they are iron, but in a silver tone.  Everything in the house will be in oil-rubbed bronze so I don't think these will do.  Kind of sad because I could sit in these chairs for hours and not ache.  

Baylor, Becker Dempsey (the bottom left Dempsey was in the store with fabric seat.

 Now the hunt is on to find stools that are as comfortable as these but in the right metal or wood finish to go with the rest of the house.   


Last for tonight's post is the ceiling fans.  I found the exact same fan that was in the Plano house but I also found another I like.  The first fan will be for the family room, but the second one is coming in at a super close second.  I might just buy both and decide on which room later because the 1st one would do very well in the media room as well as the family room.  

1st choice for family room.

2nd choice for family room.  This will more than likely go in the media room since it does not have a remote.

It's late and I have to work tomorrow, so off to bed.

Week 20: Wall Texture and Cabinets

It was a beautiful day in North Texas and it was made better by the progress on the house.  

The main garage door has been installed; the kitchen and bathroom cabinets are basically in; all the drywall and texture appears to be completed.  All the interior doors are leaning up against the garage wall, but unfortunately we only had an iPhone for a light source (the flash is not working on the camera) so the picture didn't come out very well.

I am hoping they begin the stone work on the fireplace this upcoming week.  

The great big mound of dirt is still in the front yard, but I'm not too sure what that is for.  It looks to be a bit too sandy for landscaping; maybe it's for the brick and stone work they are doing next door .  

Did a lot of measuring today so I can start to plan where everything will go and what I need to purchase.  Later this week if I can escape work at a decent hour, I'll work up a post with some of the decorating choices.  Now that I have the counter height, I will begin looking for stools.

I'll head over to Peek's Flooring this week and see if Mark or one of the other men can get out to the house to measure the guest room and master bedroom so we can get the carpet ordered.  For now the carpet in the media and craft room will remain unchanged.


Off to bed now, its been a long week.

From master bedroom looking into master bath.

Standing in the closet door at the end of the master bath, looking towards the bedroom.

Standing at the end of the entry hallway looking towards the main living area: kitchen to the left, family room straight ahead, nook to the far left, and dining immediately to the right.

Kitchen from the nook.  The island is 38 inches in height, and the back counter is 36.  I think they raised the back counter to keep the visual in sync.  The model cabinets were only 34 and that's just too low for my freakish height.  

From the front door looking down the entry hallway.  The hall to the right leads to the media room, a half bath and the garage entrance.  The door to the left (where the light is coming into the hallway) is the office/study.  The model and plan calls for solid doors, but I requested glass framed doors to let in more light.  The study faces north so the lighting will be perfect. 

Kitchen cabinets from the family room POV.  I plan to be three counter stools.  

Kitchen from the nook where the china cabinet will go.  

Not sure where this door belongs.  It might be for the media room or the master bath; more likely the master bath.  There is a good dozen or more doors stacked up behind this one.  Excluding the exterior doors, there are 15 doors in the house.