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!