Tuesday, July 7th: Great Progress!

Tuesday, July 7th (Week Six)

Big progress this week. We have a house. An actual house. It's got walls, two stories and a plywood roof. See picture of me, inside, below. And another of me, on our new front porch. (Can't wait to sit out there and watch the world go by.) Welcome to our new home!

Our amazing framers did it in just over two weeks ... we are tentatively, quietly, (hush, whisper) ahead of schedule. Shh... don't tell anyone. Don't want to jinx it. I walked in it today, even climbed a rickety ladder in flip flops (NOT work site gear, by the way) and checked out the second floor. There are plywood outlines of the interior walls. This gives us an idea of the space. Some rooms seem larger, some smaller.

The house is very high. That's one thing we have really noticed. Our main floor will have ten foot ceilings, and the basement and second floor have nine footers ... plus our joists are really thick, given our lack of interior walls .. so it all adds up and seems .... kind of towering, actually, next to the other houses. What do you think, followers?

Very happy we didn't end up with a third story, as was tossed around in the early days. Would have been ridiculous. The windows are really great in some spots, the front upstairs window above the garage is huge and really nice. It will be our guest room and will also have a bit of a vaulted ceiling, so will seem airy and spacious, even though none of our bedrooms are particularly large. The kids room seem quite puny. We kind of planned it that way - kids don't need much and I have an anti-clutter thing going on, so the less the merrier. They will have all sorts of built ins and window seats for storage, but I didn't want large room for them and we were kind of squished as it was.

In other news, the pressure is on for selecting, ordering and narrowing down a ton of choices. Today we nailed down our appliances - they are required for the final kitchen/great room plans. Next is the plumbing pieces sinks, faucets, etc. I am hauling an entire bag full of brochures and catalogues back to the cottage this week so we can narrow these down. We also have to figure out and fine tune the electrical placements - which plugs, outlets, light switches are going where. As Tanner, our kitchen/bathroom/mudroom/everything designer guy has repeatedly pointed out, we do not have a "lighting plan" - so will be developing one as we sit on the beach next week.

Given the unfortunate placement of the outlet cover that causes our fire .. this is something we want to pay special attention to.

Speaking of ... we decided to also install a sprinkler system in the house. It's not as pricey as we thought, and I think also does wonders for insurance rates, not to mention peace of mind. Apparently they only go off when certain temperatures are reached, and do not go off accidentally. This was my first concern - we've all seen the movies ....

Also began some very fun furniture shopping today - found a wonderful bed for our marital headquarters, and potentially a fabulous desk for me, which I would like in our master bedroom. Kind of contemporary and art deco, both pieces. Loved them both. Will be visiting them in the store again soon, I think.

Am also thinking of a very jazzy burnt orange leather sectional for our media/TV room which is upstairs, just off the staircase, a fairly small space also. I like orange with the blues we have planned. The price is amazing and it's modern and sleek looking, yet it seems comfy. Will decide soon, keep you posted. Any thoughts appreciated. Orange just makes me happy.

Also check out our super high garage .... here is the husband (who stands 6'5) inside it - we will be able to actually keep the car in it - plus maybe a loft area for storage. This also makes me happy, even if it's not orange.

Kellie