We're Getting Closer

This is going to be a fun blog today.  Since Blogger wasn't working yesterday, I'll post yesterday's pics with today's, so you can see how quickly things are changing.

Here's the house yesterday with the stormy sky as a backdrop. 

Notice the messy front yard?

Today, the yard was cleaned and leveled.

Yesterday, the game room trim was painted a glossy black.

But the bar was still bare.

Today, the bar has had some ebony stain applied.

Yesterday, they also painted the trim in the powder bath.  This is going to look very nice with the silvery floor tiles we've selected.

Also yesterday, most of the rest of the trim was painted. 

Yesterday, there were huge buckets of black paint just sitting around.  Today, the huge buckets were full of clearcoat.  Messes just waiting to happen.

Yesterday, the top of the wine room was covered in paper to protect it from paint overspray.

But today, they pulled off the paper and stained the beams.

I'm having nightmares about keeping this area dust free.

But it sure is pretty.

There are drawers sitting everywhere waiting for another coat of stain...

...or another coat of shine...

The beams in the harvest room have been stained.

And the trim in the entry is getting stained and in this picture you can see the V-groove siding on the hallway ceiling has been stained, as well.

The window treatments in the office have been stained...

...and the ceiling beams and the bookshelves in the living room have been stained.

Now, I've saved the best for last...

The kitchen.

I loved it yesterday, but I love it even more now that it's been stained.

Priming

The stucco guys are finally finished.  They spent some time working at our place today, but all they had left was packing up their scaffolding and cleaning up the stucco mess.

We like how things are looking.

Now that all the stucco supplies have been cleaned off of the front porch, it's much larger than I thought it would be.

The back porch is clean as well, and it too is much larger than we previously thought.

We finally caught the painters working at the house today. Up until now, we have only seen odds & ends that let us know they had been stopping by.  

 

 They are priming all of the trim pieces now.

Remember last week, when I thought we'd get color on the walls? 

Apparently, this painting-a-new-house-process is much more involved than I was aware of.  First they have to prime the trim pieces, then sand them, then prime again, sand again, THEN paint the trim.  And did I mention that the trim color is some random shade of white?

Next, they will sand and stain the cabinets, then they will prime, sand and prep the walls, then call the drywall guys back in to repair any drywall pieces that need repaired.

THEN, finally,  they will get to actually put color on the walls. 

I'm not sure why Shane was rushing me to pick out colors.  At this point, they shouldn't need the paint colors for a million years, and we won't get to move in until Christmas 2012!

Whew...

In other news, one of the pond residents at the front of our new neighborhood has some exciting news.

Seven new ducklings!

How cute are they?

Pretty cute, I think, and all seven of them just follow her everywhere!

The More We See It...

The more we look at the stucco color, the more we like it.
This is good news.  Very good news.

Even better news:  One of my friends drove by the other day and then called to say just how much she liked the color.

Yay!

In this pic, you can see that the color isn't at all like the neighbor's house.

I'm sure they'll be just as pleased as we are.

This stucco is messy business.

Once our garage doors are painted, and the cast stone trim pieces are put on the house will look even better.

Inside, somebody has done alot of work, it just doesn't look like it.  The painters have applied putty to all the nail holes, taped up all the hinges in order to spray for paint, and it seems everything is ready for color to be applied on Monday.

At least I hope so.

This is one of the ceiling speakers, but the AV guy put plastic shields over all of them so they paint spray won't be an issue.  After the paint, the regular speaker front will be installed.

The house has to be finished in five weeks, that's when the Parade starts.  We should get to move in in eight.

That's just about the time by sweet pepper plants will be ready to transplant from their tiny pots into thier new garden.

Ahhh...the stucco

I suspect that by this time tomorrow the stucco crew will be all packed up and on their way to another home.

They are almost finished and although there was an initial lump in the bottom of my stomach about the color not being quite right when we first arrived today, at second glance, it's wonderful.

We are just so used to looking at the grey stucco undercoat that the happy yellow was a surprise.

In this picture you can see that it is not at all the same color as our neighbors house, who also used the same builder. Their home is more brown. 

Once the cast stone pieces get added and the garage doors are painted, we are going to smile every time we pull into our driveway.

Now, I will also say that I was a bit disappointed today. 

Shane told me the painters were there...which of course in my mind translated to, "The painters are there! The painters are there! The inside will be full of color! I'll get to see the colors we selected!  I'll get great pictures for the blog! The house will have some personality!"

However, I forgot about all of the prep work.

In reality, this is what "the painters are there" looked like today...

They papered the floor and wrapped up the tub.

Thrilling, isn't it?

Now, this was exciting...

The faux finisher was also there and she was working on the powder bath.  The walls in there will eventually be a silvery color, but underneath the shimmer will be a random crocodile print texture.

That's right, crocodile.  Trust me, it's very cool.  You will just have to see it.

Hopefully, by this time tomorrow, at least some of the walls will have color on them. 

Now we are off to meet the granite guy to pick out sinks and random smaller pieces of granite.

Stucco

The stucco guys have finished the second coat of stucco on the second floor and they've also put some stucco on the front porch pillars (darker parts).

The back of the house has the final coat of stucco, and the chimney is covered in the final coat as well.

We still like the color. 

That is a very good thing.

Tonight we met with the guy who installs the granite.  He wanted to confirm edges and where we wanted granite installed.  Tomorrow night we will head to his shop to look at some edges and remnants that he might be able to use in some areas.

Oh, by the way.  10 days of school are left; 8 weeks until we move.

But really, who's counting?

What a Relief!

The front of the house hasn't changed much, but they have moved some of the scaffolding.

Inside, the HVAC guys have put vent covers in place.

I know...it's thrilling.

The kitchen trim is completed.

They have covered the upstairs bathroom cabinets with plastic in preparation for painting.

...and the upstairs tub has also been covered so the room can be painted...

The corbels that will support the granite in the upstairs bar have been installed.

The electrical box has been installed for the house.

And...

Drumroll please...

They have started applying the final stucco coat.

These photos don't do it justice-it's a lovely, happy, golden color.

And it's not at all like the neighbors house color, like I was so worried about.

I can't wait until they get to the front and we can really see what it looks like.

Also today, the builders ordered the appliances that we picked out before we even began meeting with the architect.

It's very exciting!

Waiting on the Colors

The beams for the back porch have been delivered. 

Here they are on the garage floor.  (That's Shane, using his phone as a flashlight so we can see the beams.)

...and the beams have been installed...they look much better than the 2x4 that has been holding the roof up.

The plumbers have been popping in and out and accomplishing about one thing at a time...

The latest thing was a change in the shower pan liner.  Originally, it was much smaller, but now they have put in a new one that extends around the corner and currently it is filled up with water...they are testing it for leaks.

Hopefully, now that this has been changed & the bathtub pipes moved, the tile guys can get in and finish up.

The painters have also stopped by.

They haven't applied any color yet, but they've removed all of the doors.

...and they've started covering the wood floors with paper...

...and covering the cabinets in plastic...

We are hoping that by the end of this week the walls have been prepped and most of the walls have been painted.  The paint crew has to finish up another house and then they'll move to ours.

Now, here are just some detail shots...

This is my vanity drawer.  It was Shane's idea to have the separate sections put in, so my make-up can be organized a bit-he thinks of everything.

We just discovered that my vanity drawer divider as well as the silverware dividers are all removable, in case we change our minds.

Upstairs, in the bar, I just noticed that not only does it have pretty details on the outside, but they have even put trim on the inside of the ceiling header. 

Nice touch, Danny (he's the trim guy & he's done an awesome job!).

Shane seems to think I've unfairly posted too many pics of the wine room (what?!)...but I'm sure that you want to see these floor details I've just discovered.

Here are a couple of the stamps in the reclaimed wine barrel pieces we've used for the flooring....

Soon, the stucco guys will come back.  It should only take a couple of days to apply the final coat, which includes the color. 

I'm looking forward to seeing the inside and outside once all of the colors have been applied.