Looking forward to the week ahead!

We are just a few weeks from completion and this weekend was a rare weekend off from baseball for my little boy, so we spent it furniture shopping!  Bowling Green has limited shopping options and it seems I'm a bit spoiled by the prices I see on Wayfair and Joss and Main!  The problem is if it's a main furniture piece that costs mores than $500 I'm reluctant to purchase it sight unseen.  The list is long since we are more than doubling the size of our home and many of the pieces we currently have just won't work.
I also feel like I need to see the main pieces in the room, like the couches I've already purchased, before I decide on accent pieces and rugs.  I'm certain it will be months before I can even begin to have a complete room!
The floors are all in so painting can be completed.  I'm still amused at the order in which builders choose to do things.  So, for anyone following who is building and has a different order, we still have wall paint, light fixtures, appliances, some backsplash tile, closet units, and door knobs.
Speaking of closet units, I'm super excited about a delivery we are expecting tomorrow.  We really wanted solid shelving in our master closet, but after pricing a closet system, similar to ClosetMaid, the price was out of our budget.  And, I really couldn't say I even like it.  It looked very modular and modern with the vertical pieces on the wall that you could adjust the shelving on.  We checked with our builder about having it made, but he said it really wouldn't save us that much money.  So, I started searching the internet which led me to IKEA.  Since the closest IKEA to us is over 4 hours away, I really didn't think this was an option either, but they had a really neat planning tool that was easy to use, so I designed what I would want based on the dimensions of our closet anyway.  The price was WELL below our other estimates, but that still left the issue of renting a UHaul and spending an entire day going to get it.  Then I realized we could have it delivered FOR LESS THAN $400, which STILL put it in our budget!  So, tomorrow, we are getting 6 of the large white PAX units delivered with custom accessories like a tie rack, pull out shoe racks, drawers, and adjustable clothes rods.  While I was at it, I went ahead and purchased a shoe rack/bench for the garage and an unfinished dresser to go in the closet for more drawer storage.  I can't wait to see it all put together and installed!
Appliances get delivered Tuesday.  They've been in for weeks, and HH Gregg was kind enough to store them until we were ready for them.
I'm still undecided about what to do in the pantry.  I'm loving the industrial pipe shelving I'm seeing on Pinterest, but want to make sure it will look okay in our space.
Will post lots of pictures this week!

Day 204- August 26

Hardwood floors are going in!  6.5 inch Prestige Engineered Hardwood in Hitching Post.  Very happy with these!  

 Wood beams in the great room.

 Brick backsplash in the kitchen.  (Not the greatest picture)

 Another view of the beams.  These are not solid beams but 8 inch cedar box beams.  Still look great imo, but a fraction of the cost of solid trusses.

 A closer look at the floors.

We Sold Our House!

So, our house went on the market Tuesday.  We had two showings Wednesday.  We had three showings scheduled for Thursday and got a full price offer before lunch Thursday!  Soooooo excited!  

YouTube Video of House

Day 190 - August 11

Day 185 - August 6

Yay!  We have wood columns!  I love, love, love the look of these!  They do have to be stained and the hardie shingles still have to be painted (suggestions anyone?), but it is really coming together!

 This is the ceiling in the keeping room off of the kitchen.  My husband is convinced that they covered up the surround sound.  I'm hoping we can do something to make the recessed lights blend a little better with the wood ceiling.

 Built-in in son's bedroom.  This will be perfect for displaying his trophies!

 Foyer

 Playroom built-in.

 Painted wood tongue and groove ceiling in master.

 Covered back porch with columns and some of the grout on the fireplace.

Day 182 - August 3

I was so excited when my husband came home and told me the tongue and groove ceiling had been put up in our daughter's bedroom over the weekend!!!  The pictures do not do it justice.  The walls in her room are SW Rainwashed (this is just the primer coat), and this ceiling is going to look so awesome with it!  

 Confession:  When they put the stone up on our fireplace, I thought I'd made a mistake.  It looked really busy.  I figured I'd just live with it, but when I saw it with the grout, it looked completely different!

 Again, the picture doesn't do it justice, but this was the sunset from our back porch.  My son, who is 8, insisted that I take a picture.  : - )

Day 180 - August 1

We've had lots of activity at the house this week!  Workers are taking advantage of some cooler mornings and afternoons, BUT we've got air!
I'll post pictures this weekend to go with new information.

• Three (yes 3!) heating and cooling units installed.  Two for the main level and one for the upstairs.  Both homes we've lived in seemed to have poor air circulation in the master bedroom and we wanted to be sure to have units that could provide good air flow!  Because of the sq footage on the main floor, we opted for two units for the main floor, one on each end of the house.  One return is in the hallway to the kid's room and located in the laundry room closet.  Unfortunately, it took the space where I was going to store my vacuum.  I can still use that small closet for cleaning supplies and there is a coat closet in the laundry room for the vacuum.  The other return is on the wall that separates the playroom and the master bedroom.  Our builder also installed "vents" above the bedroom/office doorways to help with airflow when those doors are closed.  I had not seen this before!

Vents above doorways for air circulation.

• Front porch and garage stone/wood columns.  There are many choices for the exterior columns on this home.  We opted for an 8 inch wood posts on the front porch and at the end of the garage.  These are some examples I found on the web.  

Notice this house has tapered stone pillars and two posts on each side flanking the steps.

Columns at the garage entrance.

Our stone pillars.

Front porch stone pillars.

Cedar posts for interior and exterior pillars.  

• Porch ceilings- We chose a tongue and groove wood for the front and back porch ceiling.  It will be stained Special Walnut.  This same tongue and groove will be used in several rooms inside.  The vaulted ceiling in the foyer and the den off of the kitchen will have the same Special Walnut tongue and groove ceiling.  We opted for stain on the porch ceiling rather than paint to give it a rustic feel.  I'm also hoping it will be easier to keep clean.  

Tongue and Groove on the back porch.

• Stone veneer on fireplaces.  Interior gas burning fireplace and exterior wood burning fireplace are almost complete with the stone veneer.  There will be an interior stone/wood column at the corner of the dining room that will have the same stone as the fireplace and cedar wrapped wood as the beams in the great room, similar to the picture below.  

Example of interior columns.

Interior stone/cedar column will replace the 2x4 at the corner of the dining room.  

Gas fireplace in great room.

Wood burning fireplace on back porch.

Back side of outdoor fireplace.

• Trim.  We wanted very simple baseboards and trim in the house.  Because we're using wood on several of the ceilings, there will be minimal crown molding.  The dining room is really the only room that will have crown.  The master bedroom and daughter's bedroom that is getting the painted tongue and groove ceiling will need some molding to tie the ceiling in to the drywall, but it will be very simple as well.
• Soffetts, trim, and hardie.  

The hardie shake will need to be painted.  Not sure what color yet.

Garage windows.

Hardie board over the garage bays.

• Stamped/Stained Concrete

Patio and covered porch.

A horrible picture of the stamped/stained concrete.  It's actually really pretty!

• Garage Doors- I know I posted about these in a previous post, but I didn't show a close-up of the hardware.  It is iron and was an upgrade.  I think they were around $60 more per door.  Since our garage doors are really the first thing visitors see, I wanted to do something a little nicer.  

• And just for fun- some furniture finds...
• I went to Homearama in Louisville a few weeks ago and fell in love with these barstools.  They were actually in two homes.  I asked the decorator where I could purchase them and she told me she sold them in her store for $300 each.  I need four of them.  Ouch!  So, I came home and googled them, "black barstool criss cross woven seat" and guess what...Target sells them for 147!  Score!  They were 10% off.  I used my RedCard and got an additional 5% off and free shipping.  They arrived today and here they are at my kitchen island!