ALL MOVED IN...

We moved in Thursday!! It was so exciting.. We're about 95% unpacked, thanks to the unending efforts of my mom... I have some pictures but the quality isn't that great.

The Kitchen :-)
Pantry and Butler Pantry/Kitchen Desk

Nook

Family Room :-)

Foyer, Front Door, Hardwood, Stairs

Living Room.. Still needs work

Dining Room

Again

The Office isn't unpacked yet.

Master Bedroom

Again

Walk-in Closet

Master Bathroom

Shower

Green (Baby's) Room

I forgot to take pictures of the other bathrooms and the basement. Next time!

Countertops and more...

More pictures for you today... and some drama!

The kitchen floor tile came out beautifully!! It looks like stone, but it's actually porcelain.. The picture isn't clear enough though :/ I hope it's not hard to clean!

All the countertops are in! Here is the granite in the kitchen. And this is where the drama comes in. Builder said we could get premium edge at standard cost, so I looked online and found a granite edge I like, this certain website called it waterfall. So I asked for waterfall, too bad in most circles, waterfall granite edge is just your standard boring plain 'ole edge :( Oh well, it still looks nice though, right?

The Kitchen Sink!! So, as I said in my previous post, I ended up going with the one-bowl sink. I hope I don't regret my decision. It doesn't look as "nice" as a two-bowl sink but hopefully it'll be more practical. I don't like how it's sooo deep though, the one at my parents' is also 10" deep and it gives me backaches.

The desk/butler pantry

The kitchen at large. Island counter is in. Crown and trim also... Appliance garage still to come.

This is the laminate countertop we used in the laundry room, kids bath and guest bath. Not bad.

Marbelite sink in mudbath! notice sink is mesh with the countertop.

We used the same granite from the kitchen for the fireplace surround. Not sure how I like it yet, will leave the judgment til after the mantel is in.

Master bathroom shower.. Like my artwork?? lol

Master bathroom vanity. Countertop is Quartz, it's called Silestone. I love it!! The edge here is "Ogee."

Up close of master shower

View from guest room window

Dining room with wainscott

Wainscott some more, should look great after they paint next week!!

Stairs, most of the spindles are in. Next week will be painting!

What a difference interior trim makes!

Elevation is mostly done, we cancelled the shutters so nothing much left to do on the exterior. As for inside, however, interior trim work has begun!!! Tons of pictures for you today. Enjoy! =)


Kitchen cabinets are almost done! Island counter yet to come...



Ceramic tile has begun as well, here's the kids' bathroom.

And the master bathroom:

The shelf in the master shower for shampoo, conditioner, etc...

We did crown molding in the family, living and dining room. Has yet to be painted, but here is the family room. Notice the walls have been primed for paint. Makes the house look a lot brighter!

The creative trim the trimmer did above the entry to the dining and to the living rooms. This is the dining room.

The wainscott-esque trim in the dining room. I love it!

Working on the stairs! Here is the handrail and newels. Balusters to come..

We decided to do false treads after all.

Thanks for coming, hope you like!!

Ceramic Tile

Here's what we picked out...

The Kitchen Floor:



Dunno why this looks gray and ugly. In real life it's a lot nicer. Try this link instead.


The Kitchen backsplash:


In real life this is absolutely gorgeous! The one we chose is a different color though.


Master Bathroom floor/walls:

Found this picture online. We want to do our master bath like this.




We found this tile:



and this border design:
Can't remember what I chose for the kids' bathroom,,.. but I think it was this one:



Please note: some of these are approximate (I couldn't find the exact color & style we chose online). Also keep in mind that the pictures online look quite different than in real life!

More Decisions! - Interior

Guess what! We finished digging last Friday! Things are finally starting to pick up speed :-) This week two main things: laying (not pouring!) the foundation and setting up underground plumbing. Will have to make a trip to the jobsite to get you some photos!

In the meantime, we have a lot of decisions to make... Help!

Flooring

We need to decide which type of flooring we want and where, and I think we have! Hardwood in the foyer, hallway and kitchen. Ceramic tile in the laundry room, mudroom/mudhall, and all the bathrooms. Carpet everywhere else. But we also need to decide

-Hardwood
We're hoping to go tomorrow to pick out the one we want.
*Species of wood - main ones we are considering are maple, walnut, and cherry (but not oak, I don't like how the fibers show). Probably won't go with cherry either because it's pretty expensive.
*Width of the hardwood pieces - the wider the more expensive... We are thinking around 3 1/2 to 4 inches.
*Color - we want it dark!!

Ceramic Tile
We need to figure out which tile we want in which bathroom. We'll probably go with a 12x12 in the master bath and laundry, and smaller (10x10, 8x10, or most likely 6x6) in the other bathrooms.
We also have to choose the tile for the bathroom walls, and for the backsplash in the kitchen.

Carpet
We still have a lot of time to decide this, but we'll probably choose one tomorrow at the Flooring store since we'll be there anyway.

Countertops

We want granite countertops in the kitchen and need to choose:
*Color - have NO idea!! We need to go to see our options
*Edge type. There are standard types as well as ogee, waterfall, and half-round details. I like ogee, will probably go with that!

In the bathrooms, we are thinking of laminate countertops that look like granite (that's what we have in our condo now), but we aren't sure! We might do granite in the master bath.

Other decisions

We have more time before we need to decide on-

*Electrical Decisions - include where we want recessed lights, fan prep, dimmer switches, under-cabinet lighting, what type of switches (decora or toggle), if we want to pre-wire for an alarm system, or intercom, or stereo system, where we want phone, cable, and data lines.

*Appliances - What type of appliances, and choosing specific ones (gas v. electric, etc). Stain-less steel baby!

*Interior Trim - Includes fireplace mantle (color, wood? (probably not), and type of marble surround)

*Paint - Color and type

*Plumbing - Still have a lot of time for this! I do have a pretty good idea of the kitchen sink I want, though! BIG, stain-less steel :-)

Flooring - to hardwood or not to hardwood, that is the question

Deciding on flooring has been difficult, to say the least. Let me explain...

So my dream kitchen has been like this: dark, rich hardwood floors, stain-less steel appliances, dark granite countertops, dark wood (maybe cherry maybe maple or mahogany) cabinets. This has been my dream, and now that I'm building our "dream house," well it only made sense.
But my husband and everyone else have been trying to convince me otherwise. Just about the hardwood. It's hard to maintain. It chips and dents, especially with kids (we only have one now, but who knows?) It gets ruined by water.

I thought long and hard, and I think they've convinced me. We are still going to do hardwood floors in the foyer and hallway, but I think I'm going to go with a dark (to hide dirt) ceramic tile in the kitchen (take a look at the picture, isn't that beautiful? and it's not hardwood!). What do you think? Do you have hardwood, is it hard to maintain??

Yesterday we also considered the possiblity of hardwood in the den, dining and living rooms, but specially the den. Take a look at our main floor plan to see why we are considering this.

I still want the stain-less steel and the dark cabinets. Not sure which color of granite I want though! I've been taking a look mostly at this website for granite countertops, but also this one. It's really hard to decide without seeing in person, I think we will go looking at some model houses or something to make a better decision.

July 17th, ETA: Okay, back to square one! I want hardwood floors in the kitchen again! I am just concerned that I will constantly be worried about it, what with kids, spills, water, etc... I am so confused now! I know that my dream is hardwood, but ... I found these two kitchen flooring that I like.