December 19, 2011

So much has been done since I last posted... we are just about a week away from getting our CO and moving into the new addition!  Plumbing and electric and finishing touches are pretty much remaining.  The hearth for the woodstove is hopefully being completed today, appliances being hooked up. Some pictures -

The floors were stained

Island put back and granite installed

Loveeeeeeeee

Amazing what some paint can do!

Updates

Exterior siding almost complete - waiting for paint

Side view

Stairs installed

And basement stairs

Cabinets selected - rustic alder main cabinets and off white distressed island.  We also selected our granite slabs but no pictures yet - 

Beams that we saved from the demo'ed house that we'll use as columns for the island

and we have windows!

Back patio area

Better view

Front of house

Big french doors

Side of house

Decisions, Decisions!

We have been going back and forth between a lighter-colored rustic alder cabinet and a slightly distressed off-white cabinet for some time.  Alder for the main cabinets and white for the island?  Vice versa?  All white?  !!!

See the inspiration photos in my houzz album to the right - comments/ suggestions appreciated!

Samples of the two we have narrowed it down to:

Rustic Alder Rattan stain with chocolate glaze; and Macadamia paint with latte glaze and cottage rub-thru. Floor stain we are using is on the left

Cabinet on far left ruled out.  Floor stain is again on the left

We want the awesome wide plank pine floors to stand out, and for the kitchen to be bright and airy.  This makes us lean towards the white cabinets, and alder (or painted?) island...

Recently

Framing is complete, roof is on, front porch installed.  Exterior trim in progress, windows en route followed by siding.

Stone wall in dining area

Looking from dining area towards great room

Kitchen (left) and dining area (right)

Looking upstairs from great room.  2 bedrooms with a full bath between

Looking out the back where the 8' french doors will be

 

Chris & Dad installing the stovepipe

Lily and Walter - approved 

Superior Walls & Framing

Framing is coming along and dad got his sign up :)

How we got here:

Stone tamped down to prep for the walls & floor

Superior Walls' crew carefully measured

And a really big crane came...

and the custom formed foundation walls

Walls lowered into place -

And securely bolted together

And we have a basement!

Next, framing of the deck began

We also found time to sandblast the exposed stone that will be in the kitchen - it came nice and clean.

Inspiration - windows & floors

Naturally, we have been looking at magazines and blogs for ideas on style and decor for quite a while.  However much of our inspiration has come from houses my father has completed - it really means a lot to see the ideas come to life.  Luckily, many of his recent clients have similar tastes to us :)

We are using these same doors - 8' high french doors, which will have large Cottage windows on either side, just like this home:

With Chris for proportion-

We'll also use the Cottage style windows like these in the back room, allowing an unobstructed view to the barn/ animals/ fields:

Another (also gorgeous!) home that my father is working on has the same floors that we will be using - they are 6", 8" and 10" width pine, shown here unfinished.  We think the random width pine will really keep with the modern country feel of our home.

 

We might also use the same color Hardie Plank as that home:

Decisions, decisions!!

Completing the excavation

Last week was a washout from a week full of rain.  This week is better weather, but the rock beneath the house-to-be is still hard as hell!!

Before additional excavation started - note the solid rock to the left.

The tool for the job:

Day 1 complete -  majority done, minus the worst / hardest part.

After a very long day - section 2 complete.  There's our basement! 

Lots of dirt & rock

Another view:

Looked fun getting the excavator down: