Our Favorite Things

The house is finished save for some very minor details. This means all of our favorite things that Lynne and I have been waiting for are here! Lynne has been anxious to see the hardwood floors go in and I've been really excited for the appliances.  During the decision process, the master bathroom we created just got better and better in our eyes. Now that we have tested the steam shower at one of our final walk-thrus, we are beyond excited to really use it! These are the days of the "blue tape walks" where every mark on the walls, floorboards and door frames are marked. This can be a little mind-numbing, but it saves us from immediately buying a ladder to touch something up. You can see the blue tape throughout these photos.

The DCS range and Bosch hood in the kitchen. Considering our current rental has an electric cook top we fully expect to burn food for at least a week atop this beast!

We chose these appliances back in June and haven't seen them since. It won't be long before we'll need to invest in some sort of guard for these front knobs to keep curious, little fingers away.

The Electrolux double oven with convection has lots of fun features. The shelves rollout and it came with a blue broiler pan that matches the interior.

The whitewashed ash hardwood is dramatic. It has a glow at night. 

The same perspective in natural light.

In a close up of the fireplace you can see the stones. They recommend we run it for eight hours with windows open to get the smell out.

The patio viewed from the dining room.

The ceiling of the patio is also wood paneled like the front stoop. We need to decide if we want to seal it to maintain this teak shade or let it weather a Nantucket gray.

We didn't finish the basement, but we finished the stairway leading down making a more welcoming and integrated part of the house.

The glass door leading into the front office.

The office, hopefully the construction porta-potty will be moved shortly...

The glass doors surround the shower and steam up into the prettiest of aquas.

The steam unit housed 25 feet down in the basement. This copper piping is basically the only in the house, everything else is PVC.

The hallway leading from the master to the guest bedrooms.

Matthew watching the snow fall in the loft.

The thermostat is pretty fancy! After closing the HVAC people will meet with us to teach us how to use everything.

The builder's Punch List. 

The speaker wire all comes down to the basement where the components will be housed. 

Our closing date is set for next Thursday, March 7. We already have dinner reservations to toast this mighty accomplishment. We do plan to have at least one more post with some furniture inside to give perspective to these very white rooms. Until the next (and last) step, Matthew

Fast and Furious

It is amazing how many projects were completed this last week, next week promises much more too and then it's over...sigh. So what do we mean by alot? Well here's a partial list of what was installed this week: all the light fixtures and switches, the range hood and dishwasher, lovely handrails stained to match the cabinets, all plumbing, counter tops, hanging of all doors, closet shelving, exterior lights and the backyard fence. We visited a few times since so much was happening and now that the lights work we can go over after work! Check out the pictures...

The kitchen has white quartz counter tops. The under counter lights aren't turned on in this picture which provide even more light. 

The view from the stairs looking into the kitchen. The hand rail stain matches the cabinets, apparently we were the first people to choose so many gray tones so they had to develop a new stain for them. They really nailed it.

A piece of counter top was cut and waiting to be installed early in the week. Looking at the size of it, I think it went in the upstairs guest bathroom.

The Bosch range hood was installed, a bit more modern than the standard version. Given the high heat range we have going in below it, we needed to upgrade to make sure it had a powerful enough fan. The LED lights were a bonus.

The upstairs linen closet was a point of drama. We didn't want them to install these obnoxious support brackets for each shelf since it seriously cut into what you could put on the shelf below. We ended up having to sign something so if we overload a shelf it won't be replaced by warranty. Crazy, right?

The upstairs hallway leading back to the master and loft area from the back bedrooms.

It was a big week for Kohler, every faucet, sink and toilet is Kohler. At one point during the week Matthew stopped by and the whole living room was full of Kohler boxes. 

The faucet and shower head were installed in the guest bath, running along the accent tile. We like how it turned out.

We chose standard light fixtures which means they all come from the same series with the linen frosted effect. 

We chose dual flush, skirted toilets. What does all that mean? Well the toilet looks mini because the tank is small and no more cleaning around those stupid knobs at the base. 

This is the steam unit which was installed in the basement. It sits atop a shelf that would safely hold our entire family of three, someone went a little overboard. 

Another shot of the railings, these are in the loft area upstairs.

The master bath is getting closer to completion! For some reason the center cabinet isn't actually sitting on the counter, we plan to have that lowered rather than dealing with things disappearing under there. 

The glass shower doors will be one of the last things installed. They came and measured this week.

Back in the living room, you can see the fence from inside. Matthew thinks if we start to dispense treats from these windows, Astrid will always be waiting underneath them. 

The fenced backyard which thankfully they leveled. The growing season starts earlier here, so sod and plants will arrive around Mother's Day.

A sneak peak of what's to come... they laid hardwood under where the fridge will go. Yes, it's that light and will be all over the first floor.

This coming week brings hardwood flooring, carpeting, doorknobs and more. 

Until the next step -Lynne

Details: Cabinets, Tile and Paint

Over the last couple weeks work has continued on the house and with the closing date looming each day brings the project closer to completion.  I've been faithfully visiting the house to check on progress and can happily report that the cabinets are in and look even better than we expected.  Tile work continues and looks great so far.  On one of the warm stretches in Denver the exterior of the whole house was painted.  Progress has been made in the details making the whole house come alive again. Now for the pictures...

In the kitchen and powder bath we chose maple cabinets with a stained finish called Winter.  The color changes a bit with the light, but no matter what time of day you look at them they are a statement. The step down in the lower cabinets is for the slide-in range and the break in the cabinets above is for the hood.

The dining room is starting to take shape and will have good light from the transom window. The big hole in the cabinet is for the double oven.

This perspective shows me standing in the walk in closet off of the master bath.  We joke that the closet is larger than some bedrooms we saw in NY.  

A closer look at the small tile that runs the length of the floor.  

We have the same tile in the poured pan in the shower. It seems to change color with the light, but Lynne remains adamant it's not forest green. 

The wall tile in the walk-in shower is Lynne's favorite of the project.  I can't wait for the glass doors to be installed. We matched the grout color very closely so you can't even see the vertical tile breaks.

The Jack & Jill bath has simpler tile with an accent strip that runs behind the faucet.

The painting process was intense.  They taped off all the windows, molding and limestone then started spraying. Thank goodness for the recent nearly 60 degree days, we know it will set well in those temps.

Ladders, ladders and more ladders. 

You can see the wood detail under the canopy and how great the finished paint job looks. Also our front steps were re-poured and are now the correct five foot width. 

Next step on the exterior will be the backyard fence and later in spring they'll lay sod and plant the gardens! We chose a mix of peonies, forsythia and a number of wild grasses.

I love the little details...

Lynne, Astrid and I will be watching the progress and will have another update soon.  We are looking forward to interior paint, appliance,counter tops and railing all to be installed this week. More to come --Matthew

The Finishing Work Begins

Our closing date has been set for March 7 which means the finishing work has begun. All the subcontractors are on a timeline ending with carpet installation on February 15. So in effect, the house will be finished in just under five weeks! I am as excited as the day they started digging, it will really start coming together quickly now. All the walls are up with the finishing texture applied. They started to lay the floor tile and by the end of next week will be done with all tile. This makes it ready for cabinets, then interior trim and paint. That brings us to the end of the month, so there will be much more to see soon. On the exterior, they've finished hanging the limestone accents and laying brick around the column out front. The next step outside is to paint the siding. While we have had a bit of unwelcome Canadian air lately, we'll be back in 50's by next week. Hopefully that will help the outdoor work. So onto the pictures, enjoy!

The street view, they will soon install wood planks on the underside of the overhang around the post.

A close-up of the limestone detail.

As you walk in the front door, you enter the living room. That is the fireplace and uber-modern mantel.

The view from the living room into the kitchen. 

Looking back into the living room from the kitchen. The bottom section of the large windows are casement.

Looking up into the wedge. The rail will be finished along the side and open onto lofted TV area.

Entering from the garage you walk through the mudroom and into the kitchen.

The first floor tile went down in the mudroom. Colors are deceptive here, but we chose a light grey which will blend will with the white washed ash hardwood to come.

Now upstairs into one of the bedrooms. This window faces south and is larger than it appears here. We'll need to come up some good window coverings so it's not steamy inside!

The same floor tile we chose for the mudroom is in the jack & jill bathroom. In the background you can see the tub that was installed when the doorways were more open for easy maneuvering, now it's covered in protective blue coat. Also sketched on that wall is the future wall tile layout: vertical brick set.

The loft which is above the living room. Matthew has lots of speakers planned for this room, so let's hope it doesn't disturb anyone who happens to be reading in the living room (hint hint!)

The other half of the loft taken with my back to the three casement windows. We'll hang the TV in the middle of those windows.

Across the hall from the loft is the master bedroom (you can see the rail on the right). You enter the bathroom on the left past the first doorway and the bedroom past the second doorway. We plan to hang a barn door on the inside of the second doorway.

The next three pictures are of the master bathroom taken from the closet looking out. Here  you can see the interior transom window visible in the previous picture and the window in the background is in the bedroom.

The steam shower is coming along! We spoke with the tiler and this will be a little tricky, but we have chosen large, textured tiles in a straight-set (see the red box outlines). They will run onto the ceiling and around that top edge. Then the whole space will be surrounded in glass. We are very excited about the progress here!

Next to the shower will be the double vanity under the window. We are looking forward to seeing the cabinets installed  to start filling in the space.

Well, that's all for now. In the next few weeks will be some fantastic progress where we will finally be able to see all of our choices around finishes come to life! 

Until the next step, Lynne