So much brighter!

What a difference even gray walls make, its so much lighter and brighter in the house now that the sheetrock is up. This pic was taken at 5:30pm, and it was overcast and raining outside, and still the house is full of light. Of course I still wish I had made the windows bigger or added transoms over them, but I'm happy with it all the same. Now they'll start the process of taping, mudding, sanding, and then priming. These are pictures of the "Great room" with the living, dining, family room, and kitchen. I'm getting soooo excited to see everything start to come together--all the finishes, fixtures, etc. I'm not a designer so I'm not sure how it's all going to look. Though I'll try with a little help from my friends ;o)

Sheetrock nearly finished

This morning Manda came by to check out the house. They were just finishing up the last room to sheetrock-the great room. I'm sure by now they've finished it and will soon begin taping and muding. Again I can't believe how fast things are going. In just 4 days of work they got the whole house sheetrocked. Unbelievable!

Moving right along

Today the garage, and some of the ceilings upstairs were sheetrocked. I also worked on getting all the insides of the doors painted white, well whiter, than they came. I've got one more coat left on the upstairs doors, then we can put on the door hardware which will really make the doors look finished. I can't wait. I won't be surprised if in a few weeks they have the whole house sheetrocked and primed, then its onto painting. My brother Morgan will be ordering the hardwood floors in the next week or so. I can't wait to see them go in.

Sheetrocking has begun!

They got the basement and downstairs bath all sheetrocked today. They haven't done the garage yet, but I couldn't believe how much they were able to acomplish in a day. This wouldv'e taken us weeks. I'm glad we decided to hire them to do it instead of leaving it for us to finish "someday". Having "walls" makes such a difference! Its so much brighter and lighter! Its really looking like a house. Yay!!

Trenching begun

The pictures aren't all the exciting, but yesterday they excavated the trenches to hook up the power permenantly as well as the the trench to lay the water pipe out to the well. Next it will be the drainfield, and we'll have all the necessary ammenities. Yay!

Red vs Charcoal

Ok, so I did one door for Sarah with a punch of color and one for Merry with Charcoal. I'm not sure which looks better. The white is starting to look nice too with the green garage doors, it pops more. The charcoal looks nice, but seems to blend in. I also like the red but it may look out of place since there's no other red accents. What do you guys think?

Black front door?

Ok, so does the black door look better than the white? --Jenny

what about this?

So I just read an article that Sarah Garriott sent me on garage doors, stating that if you can't afford wooden doors (which I would've loved to have if they weren't triple the cost), it's usually best to match the garage doors to the house color and then let the front door stand out. So I used Sarah Bunch's advice and did a little photoshopping to make the garage doors match the house color, what do you guys think? I think it looks pretty good. Now I have to play with the front door. :o) -Jenny

Insulation!

What a difference the insulation makes to the look and feel of the house. They got the whole house insulated today except for the ceiling in the basement. Even the garage is insulated. My mouth just dropped when I walked into the house, especially since I didn't think they were going to start until tomorrow. After Manda and I worked out at Curves I did a second work out--sweeping the whole house, and picking up garbage around the house so the guys can do a dump run tomorrow. My back is aching but the house looks fantastic so I guess it's worth it. Soon sheetrock will be going up then things will really look incredible. --Jenny

Do the white garage doors look good?

I took Sarah's advice and made some changes in photoshop, making the garage doors white. I haven't made changes to the front door yet, but wanted to know what everyone thought of the white garage doors. I still have to see if its too late to change them from "sandstone" (kind of a beige color). Can I just say how hard it is to make color choices before you even have a house! I made the decision about the garage door colors while the house was being built--no siding yet. I was thinking either a black front door, or trying to stain it to match the stairs. What do you guys think? I thought the other exterior doors would stay white.

Almost came to a hault!

Some insulation and gutters went up today. We almost were delayed by months and had to cancel finishing the basement, to put in fire sprinklers. Luckily I save emails and had the one from the fire marshal saying that we didn't need them, and was confused why yesterday looking at the same site plan he said we did. THANKFULLY he then remembered what he had said 6 months ago, and said we didn't need them, and could move on with construction (they put a stop order on things until we got the sprinkers in--which can take months to get the permit for them, not to mention having a whole different water system set up than we have). I'm feeling so much better now though. We saved months in delay and probably $10,000! Luckily we only lost a few days of work, and Tuesday after the building inspection they can move on with insulation and then sheetrock!

Front door

We unveiled the front door today, because we couldn't wait any longer. Trace said we could install the door hardware on the doors, but I'd like to paint the doors first, only problem is, I've run out of inspiration. I don't know what color to do the front door, do I paint it taupe to match the garage doors, white, or something else?? Do I paint the other exterior doors the same color, or do I do them white? Any advice would be gladly appreciated, thanks :o) --Jenny

Our kitchen

Today the electricians finished putting in the cable, phone, and internet lines throughout the house. This view is of our kitchen, though you can see the 2 bathrooms through the walls. Our contractor, Trace came by to take a peek, he said this is his favorite part of the process, seeing all the walls exposed (so Sarah, you're not the only one who liked to see inside the walls ;o)

Staining

What would we do without Amanda? Today after work Amanda, my sister, helped us do some staining. We got the whole left side of the railing done, yay! I can't believe how long it's taking, and we still have the back deck railing to stain. It will get done eventually. Trace said today that we should be ready to paint the inside walls in 4 weeks, so that's pretty exciting. Then we'll tile the floors and around the tub (this will be our first time tiling), and Morgan, my brother will install the Brazillian Cherry floors.

What a week!

The heat pump went in this week, we're slowly getting the railings stained, and I got to see two of my oldest friends for strawberry festival weekend. It was great! Sarah B, we missed you!! --Jenny

Electrical view

Wires, wires, everwhere! Its been really neat to see how a house is put together. It looks like such a mess but I know there's order to it all. Tuesday the electrical should get inspected and then insulation can begin. By Friday hopefully sheetrock can begin, and in no time we'll be painting (which I'm kind of dreading, but excited for the transformation at the same time).

Exterior finally done!

Yesterday they finished the last bit of siding on this side of the house, along with the railing on the deck. They sanded the railings so we can stain them this weekend and preserve the nice cedar look. The Heating guys finished up yesterday, and the electricians were busy stringing wires through the walls. Looks like we'll be in the house before we know it!! Hailey--give me a call when you want to get together, I can't wait to see you!

Nearly finished with the exterior

Here's a better view of the front of the house, and the south side that's nearly finished. They won't have enough siding though, so they'll have to order more and then we'll have to paint it to match (luckily they sent a gallon of the house color with the siding so it should match perfectly). --Jenny

Front steps

I know I haven't posted in a while, I took the camera with me down to Oregon on my vacation to visit with one of my friends from Latvia. She has relatives 30 minutes away from Marty's parent's house, so I stayed with them and spent 4 fun filled days with her. It was her first time to the U.S. and we had a lot of catching up to do, as its been nearly 3 1/2 years since I left Latvia. We did a lot of shopping and I came back with the car FULL of light fixtures, and door hardware for the house (no sales tax :o) I'm back now, so I'll post more. I was so happy to come home and see the front steps done. They look even better up close, and have that wonderful cedar smell! The builders asked if we were painting them, and I said "No way!" They turned out even better than I had hoped. They add so much to the front of the house, not to mention a way in ;o) The electrician came today to do a "walk through" to discuss fixture, outlet, switch, etc. placements. Trace, our contractor said he's never seen a homeowner so organized, and a walk through go so smoothly. Since I had all the fixtures picked out, and have been planning the light and switch placement since before the house was even built, I had things pretty much figured out. I had it all written out on the walls and floor where fixtures would go. Its nice to know that my organizational skills are coming in handy and making people's lives easier. I'll take some more picts this afternoon of the almost finished south side and post again later. --Jenny