Should be Fingerprints : Polished Stainless Steel Countertops :: Red Wine : Wooden Countertops but it's not for my personal OCD

Voila! Le problème du jour:

This is already the second island countertop we've had installed as the first was the wrong size.  This one has a veggie sink in it though, so there's that.

However, we should have looked closer at the finish on that first slab, because...yeah...

I may have been inundated in Disney rhetoric last week, but Mirror, mirror on the...counter...was not exactly the look we were going for here.  We were thinking more like this:

We neglected to specifiy a brushed or satin finish in the initial specifications and so here we are with a polished stainless steel counter top.  Which, let's be frank, will be a nightmare for anyone with even the slightest hint of fingerprint OCD.  So there is troubleshooting options happening, including sandblasting the countertop while in place (is that even possible? Who knows but we aim to find out).  

Appliances have showed up andare slowly being installed, which means the house is now locked and alarmed at all times that subcontractors aren't working.  This made life interesting when Andrew "broke into" the house on our way back from the airport Sunday and set off the alarm.  Thanks for fielding our calls on a Sunday for alarm codes before the police arrived Mr. Contactor! 

The microwave drawer went in, and Lilly was quite excited that she can reach it to use it.  I told her she would be in huge trouble if she ever tried to put anything alive (like her brother) in it.  Rarely Known Fact: I have an irrational fear of live things ending up in the microwave, likely born from some kind of urban legend heard as a kid.  Makes me queasy even talking about it.

The lighting has gone in all around the house and these lights, which we were very unsure when choosing, have probably ended up being my favorite.  I'm digging the hammered look of brassy gold against the stainless steel (ugh).

The butler pantry butcher block counter is in and the backsplash tile has been started - have to be a little spunky with the tile where booze are served.  Everyone's response so far has been "wooden counters where you have wine?" Which I get, but aren't wine stains a sign that it is a house that is well loved and enjoyed?  Or at a minimum abstractly artistic in nature?  I make no sense at all, and I realize that.

Guest shower tile has been mostly completed and didn't turn out too badly really.  Mr. Tiler was excited for nothing perhaps?

Kids bath as well, although that grout seems to make a royal mess of things all around the work area.

Tile backsplash in the master bath is in progress...

...with the very blue shower waiting for grout.

The barm door hardware went in to seperate the master bath and bedroom, but now I am on the hunt for a funky door to replace this normal one with, so leads for fun door places are appreciated!

We have fans and lighting in all the rooms, which may look familiar as they are identical to our current fans.  What can we say, we like them.  And we got burnt out on making design decisions by the time we got to fans.

On the outside, the metal roof went on, giving the house a bit more of a contemporary vibe.

The balcony railings all got a coat of white paint and the balcony is now prepped and ready for gray slate flooring.

Three weeks and counting to close.  And seeing as we officially became homeless today and sold our home, it's a good thing we are on track with the new one.  Fingers crossed.

Zen Master

We are back, 2 weeks later, and we've had a few sunny days, which instantly puts me in a better mood.  Not a ton has happened recently, but I think I've let go of the idea of this being on any sort of schedule, and I'm learning to just accept that it will progress at the speed that it will.  There is not a whole lot we can do about that besides throw tantrums about it to the builder.  Probably not entirely productive, so trying to be flexible.

And let's face it.  It's kind if nice to not have to be showing our current home on the market right now.  I'm not totally hating that delay.

We got a coat of primer paint on the siding.

The exterior paint we selected will be the below color with white trim and light gray brick on the first floor front and back.

Kind of a blue-ish gray.  I'm hoping it is a nice, clean contrast to vibrant green grass/trees/landscaping.  The cedar wood support columns and wood garage door will be stained a dark mocha brown.

Lilly has announced several times her displeasure with the inequity of the bedroom patio situation.  She thinks her bedroom should have a patio, and she has proposed she and I switch rooms.  I told her she can have as many patios as she wants when she pays for the house herself.

We do have an installed fireplace now, which is fairly similar to our current fireplace.  Not that it really gets used a whole lot in this climate, but it's a nice focal point for the room.

When we have to take both kids on a site visit, we normally have to tag team because the temptation to eat rusty nails is too great for a certain smaller member of this family.  Occasionally we give up the fight of trying to hold the rabid jackal he becomes in our arms while touring and let him do his thing, because, you know, Darwinism, right?

Andrew in the powder room.  He is not pretending to pee.

I see you!  Gabe knows I'm the one with weaker resolve when it comes to holding him, so if he wants down and Daddy isn't having it, Mama is a better bet and he will demand I hold him.  Seems so endearing, but really calculated and manipulative.

We are not putting in a sand box per se, but if we have any leftover after grading the yard, it might not be a terrible addition.

The windows that originally arrived wrong were replaced by, some correct windows and some wrong windows but wrong in a different way than originally wrong.  So there's that.  Oh and they are wrong.  But because it has been sunny, I have faith they will soon become right.  Go Team Windows.  Anyways, we are still waiting for our sliding patio door as it slowly hikes it's way from Florida, 

so back to channeling that zen of it will all be as it is to be.  Or something.

Rectified, Right?

Ok guys, once again I owe everyone who responded and gave me advice a big thank you and a case of wine. Andrew graciously threw his hands up in the air and said "fine!" and we went with the balcony NON-MAROON bitter chocolate color on the window trim.
I agreed that the green generally looked like we were trying to go big with a color, but didn't in fact have the balls to pull through all the way. Maybe next house will be painted entirely green, I can only hope! For now, I covet the green front door.
Instead of questioning our ballsiness (new term), I will say that I am pleased with the result, and think it looks a little cleaner/mature. Am I wrong? Maybe the green fried a few of my brain cells? (Don't answer that.). The green door is still my dose of humor, but the rest is less erratic now.
And bonus, Andrew is even happy with it. This is me not saying I told you so.

Paint Problem

I'm behind on posting about last week's progress, and I will update on the interior tonight (hopefully).
However, this is an emergency.
The exterior paint has gone up (first coat) and you all were so helpful in picking a trim color. It is really hard to visualize this kind of thing, and I had no idea that the cinder block would brown so much (we're planning on leaving it sealed, but natural). We're having trouble pin-pointing exactly what we don't like, but we both know we don't like it all together. Something is amok. And I know it's going to annoy us if we don't fix it. The trim paint color is a brown but on the purple side of brown. And green trim is almost to sparse to make a real impact. Add in browning, meant-to-be-grey cinder block and we're left feeling like it's the exterior paint version of Lohan, i.e. Hot Mess.
Help.
I extra love the Humorous Green for the front door, but around the thin trim, it comes off looking like the punch line of a joke being repeated over and over until it's just not funny anymore.
I like the Bitter Chocolate on the balcony railing, and I'm thinking that it may be better to repeat that color on the window trim instead. Don't get me wrong, I'm leaving the green door.
Andrew has a different idea, and feels like the window trim should be a dark grey now. I am not particularly liking the idea if adding yet ANOTHER color to the mix, and think that could end up being a different but also messy look.
Andrew is even bringing out fighting words. As in, "but the balcony is MAROON." No offense to the Aggies, but I have an innate dislike for the maroon decor of the early nineties, and Andrew is playing this card to his advantage. RASCAL.
Help. Are we barking up the wrong paint disaster?

Ebony and Igloo White

Week 14 - The stain results.  I do love the inconsistencies in the wood grain, I think it makes it visually interesting, 
It is time to add some color, wouldn't you say?

Just be happy the internet isn't scratch and sniff

There has been a whole lot of painting and staining going on at our house this week - the kind of paint that singes the interior of your nose if you dare to sniff within the confines of our house.  The painters wear respirators, but I'm pretty sure that can't save anyone from the raging headache that lingers.  And I'm not sure why, but all the windows and doors are kept closed during the painting.  Pretty much death by intoxication.


Week 14 - The master closet drawers get a smattering of paint. 
I kind of want to tip one like dominoes and see what happens.


All walls were primed and painted, the trim and paint-grade cabinetry included, and this morning the crew began staining the kitchen cabinets.  The ebony stain is quite dark, but against the all pure white walls and counters, I'm hoping it'll be a nice contrast.

Week 14 - Thank you Sir, don't mind the crazy woman wielding a camera behind you.



Week 14 - Kitchen drawer fronts, wet with stain.

 Next week is the week I've been waiting for - Tile Week!  It is also exterior paint week (thanks again for all your help), and counter top week.  If the counters come in on time, I plan on camping out in a lawn chair behind the kitchen back splash tiler, and handing him the tiles, one by one.  Once tile goes up, you can't really take it down (easily anyways), and I want a random pattern, but not so random that there are repeats.  That won't be annoying at all, I'm sure.

Update on Completion:  In the past, it has depended on who we asked as to the answer we would get for completion date.  The level of  financial responsibility of the person we asked determined the level of accuracy and range we were given.  The Superintendent = no responsibility, answered we would be done before the end of June.  The GC = some responsibility, answers end of June to beginning of July.  The Builder = completely responsible for our financial impact from schedule, therefore answered sometime in June or July. 

I should say that if you noticed, I haven't mentioned the Superintendent in a while.  He actually left the company for a different position at another company a couple weeks ago.  No hard feelings, but the GC has been 100% responsible for our house every since.  I actually have found this to be easier, with less need for communication lines - everything goes to one person.  And I will give our GC this, he is a very patient and pleasant person, because he gets at a minimum of one phone call AND email from one of us on a daily basis.  Let's just say we're detailed oriented, with a touch of OCD.

But back to my point.  Today we had a quick meeting with both the GC and the Builder, and in the presence of each other, they agreed that the house will be done in June.  Hey-oh!  That. Is. Way. Close. Practically tomorrow.  I am in no way prepared to move again.  Time to panic.  A little.

I Bow Down to Your Paint Prowess

It turns out that you interweberz know more about paint than I could have imagined. By a land slide, Humorous Green was the favorite for trim color.

I won't lie, that color wasn't even in my top 3 choices, seeing as it seemed too "sage-y" on first glance for my taste.  I am notorious for being indecisive when it comes to paint colors, so my instincts really can't be trusted.

I took a quick trip to the Sherwin Williams store in our neighborhood, grabbed all the swatches to actually physically hold them up to the block and siding on our site in the day light. And wouldn't you know it, Humorous Green DID actually look the best, looking a lot more "fresh"/less sage than I pictured from the poor computer swatches. Who knew??  You'll have to trust me on this one, the photos don't do the colors justice.



Week 12 - A mock up of the exterior paint, using crap online swatches. 
However, my MS Paint skills are improving drastically throughout this process.  Score.





Week 12 - Paint Swatches together.  Yeah, it still doesn't really help.


Thanks for your help guys, I needed it.

From the Window, to the Wall

Are you needing more photos of walls? I thought so. Come on in and check out the second floor please.

Week 11 - Here we come upon the 2nd floor stair landing...

Week 11 - Well hello! Excuse the mess in the kitchen.

Week 11 - The Dining area, prior to the buffet and china cabinet installation.

Week 11 - A birds' eye view of the living room.

And as a surprise to us (and our angry diagonal neighbor), they started cinder-blocking the exterior at 7am on Saturday morning. They finished about half of it, and the remainder will happen on Monday and Tuesday.

We had chosen colors for the siding paint and trim of the siding, but after seeing that the cinder-block color is darker than we anticipated, we will be changing our mind to a lighter color for siding. That being said, I am torn on trim color. The trim will only be painted a contrasting color around windows that fall within the siding part of the exterior. Because the house is generally in shades of greys, I wanted to do something louder and more cheerful for the small amount of window trim. I was hoping for a chartreuse type color, but the shade I'm looking for doesn't seem to come in exterior paint.

Do we go with a yellow? A green? Or another shade of grey?

Let's have the interwebz weigh in. You can make decisions here! Or help me make one (thanks!). Please vote anonymously below using the buttons.