Finished House Pics

It's done! We're closing a week from tomorrow and moving in that weekend. And I can honestly say it turned out beautifully but I'm officially ready to be done with packing/moving. We'll breathe a sigh of true happiness when we're all moved.

And for those who are actually interested, the "big" picture is to have a stamped concrete patio in the area in front of the garage. The rest of the yard (which is sideyard~we don't have a backyard) will be grass. Luckily we'll have a 6 foot privacy front in front of our patio, separating us from the house in front of us (yes, in front) as well as around the other side where the next house practically sits on top of us (a change in the building plans for the neighbors house that we never expected). Once the courtyard is finished it could all possibly be as cool as we hoped~super close to the neighbors and all. I mean hey, we already live urban~6 feet from our neighbors on one side and 20 feet (which is almost unthinkable) on the other. Being close doesn't bother us a bit but having a house in front of us will take some getting used to. Last night Eric asked me about covering the glass on our front door. I didn't think we needed to, seeing as we're set back a bit off the courtyard. Then Eric brought up that if the neighbors are on their porch and we come down the stairs in our undies, they'll see us plain as day. Well I say~sucks for them!

Ps...Anyone going to be around next week that likes moving and/or watching a very handsome 23 month old? ;)

Kitchen Appliances

They're in! Well, except for the refrigerator which we bought on our own and will be delivered after we close.

Which will be in two weeks! The house is finished. Next week I'll put up all the final photos.

Woot!

This Weeks Progress

We now have cabinets, kitchen countertops & sink. All tile work is finished and so is the lighting. The bathrooms have toilets! All painting and wood work is finished except for the floors which still need to be stained/sealed.

At this rate I'm thinking it will look almost move in ready by next Sunday!

Getting Close

As of yesterday, the house is painted. The hardwood floors are in and are waiting for a water-base stain/seal. The color of them is pretty accurate though. Eric really wanted light floors and he got them! I think they look beautiful. Drywall, texturing and rounded corners are done. To our amazement, every other material for our house was in the garage minus the slabs of granite. Getting close, for sure!

ps..According to Eric, something is still happening to the roof above the living room window~so, no, it will not look like that when all is said and done!

Siding Is Finished

The siding is on and by next week the house should be painted. It's in the drywall construction phase now. Eric and I had our first walk through inspection and were really impressed with the "green" building. The blown in insulation is all recycled paper, the wood is recycled pieces of lumber that are pieced together, cutting down on deforestation. Of course there were a handful of other things that make the house green built but those were my two favorite. It's already passed its first energy star inspection.

Interior Is Framed

It's been a week since we were last out to see the house. The interior was framed and of course we were surprised. I'm beginning to think we should get over the surprise of how quickly they're building our house...it's plain happening and way quicker than we ever would've guessed.

Tomorrow we go for a visit to the interior designers to hand in our final selections. People joke that couples get divorced over decisions like these but I have to say, Eric and I did a great job picking each and every little detail.

He was insistent that the wood floor on the entire main level of the house be very light. I was nervous. With the help of our builder, they found me a real floor, with the exact wood and water base stain that Eric wants..and I loved it!

I had envisioned a glossy marble around the fire place and Eric was thinking he'd prefer more of a tumbled look. We found our marble and Eric loved the glossy!

We made quite a few trips to the slab warehouse, pouring over samples and huge slabs. We certainly had our share of differences but in the end, we had many good laughs while choosing the granite and did a good job of quickly capturing each other as one of us would start to stray toward the slabs we couldn't afford.

Easily agreed upon were tiles and which surrounds to do brick set and where and how to use the decorative stone.

It's all been quite a dream actually and reminds me that Eric and I make good sound choices together. We're a darn good team.

Oh, and the pics are out of order. They line up from the upstairs, down to the basement, back to the main level and out the garage ;)

And one week later......

Wowza! Our builder told us to expect a finished house a bit earlier than we had expected. He said with the economy the way it is, lots of builders aren't even building so the ones that are have assembled big construction crews and are powering through. No kidding!