Boxed beams before paint

Our finish carpenter Chris is the best! Boxed beams waiting paint Sherwin Williams Echelon Ecru.

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

Sunday, and all was quiet except for Chris the Finish Carpenter and he was working in the garage so I spent an hour wandering around inside the house, imagining. I had a list of the mirrors we currently own so I could match their sizes and styles with different rooms of the house. 

The coverings have been removed from the French doors so the house looks more friendly from the outside and is brighter inside. In this photo, the gravel is compacted awaiting the flatwork guys who will pour the two patios and cement walk this coming week. Also, installation of the long awaited fence should begin this week. Annie will be so happy to be able to explore without us calling her back every few minutes from the lake or the neighbor's perfect lawn.

Boxed Beam Ceiling

Rainy days at the lake. We're waiting for better weather for the patio cement to be poured. Today we met with Arnie the Landscaper to talk about sod for the lawn between the house and the lake.

Inside the house, Chris the Finish Carpenter is building our boxed beam ceiling in the Great Room. The house is getting very cozy. The fence is scheduled for next week then comes the driveway. Someplace in between, truckloads of top soil will be delivered.

We have gutters!

We're happy to have gutters and a bit amused about the way they bow out for the belly band. Our builder has agreed to paint the gutters the same color as the main color of the house. Thank you Chris!

Mantle and Hearth

Chris, the finish carpenter, built our mantle and hearth this week. We LOVE it. And, tile guys Vitaliy and Misha are working on the slate tile for the seat and surround. To see the progression to this point, click here.

Master Bath shower tile

3-11-14 Vitaliy setting tile in master bath shower

We were at the house today meeting with the Carl the closet man. Chris and Carl made improvements to my plan to have closets with just a rod and a shelf. Also we put together the shelving plan for the pantry. While we were in the closets, Vitaliy was in the master bath putting tile on the walls. Yay! Everything is YAY these days.

our nice neighbor

3/10/15 photo by Marci

Just received a text with photo from our nice neighbor, Marci. She let me know the trim has received a second coat of paint. Looks like the blue ribbon above the belly band is yet to be painted. Thank you Marci!

3/10/15 later, same day, photo by Chris

And, later in the day, another image, this one from our builder, Chris. Railings are in on sky bridge and front deck. Thank you Chris! Note how this Sherwin Williams color, Retreat, changes with the light. I love it!

kitchen cabinets going in

Kitchen cabinets 3-8-15

Finish carpenter Chris was at the house this weekend working on our kitchen cabinets. They are natural cherry and looked very light when they were first delivered but they are darkening a little each day with exposure to light. We love them and we are so pleased with the work that Chris is doing for us.

second exterior paint day

3/6/15 South side, second paint day

What a difference a day makes. All sides of both buildings have been painted one coat.

3/6/15 East side, facing the lake.

exterior paint day!

When I arrived at the house today the painters were busy transforming our yellow house to Sherwin Williams "Retreat," a lovely sagey green/blue depending upon the light. The spray painting goes quickly.

A short time later they were starting on the SW Dover White trim color.

wet bar, skybridge and moles

The Birch cabinets for Jay's wet bar are in place against his Sea Salt walls. This is the upstairs of the garage. To the right is the door to the sky bridge.

When I stepped out onto the bridge, I saw Jay and Ken trying to catch the moles that have had the audacity to pop up through Ken's new sod. I really can't imagine that our lawn will ever look like that but it should in about 8 weeks. It will be the first perfect lawn either of us have had. Hopefully by then, Jay and Ken will have convinced the moles to leave the area.