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!!

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.