Mirror mirror on the wall...

Well look what showed up today:

Now, we talked about getting larger mirrors in all the bathrooms, and having the sconces put on the mirror itself. It would have made for a bigger mirror (of course), and in the girls' bathrooms would've allowed for centering the sconces up with the vanity. But, we don't really like that sconce-on-the-mirror look. We also could've gone with an over-the-mirror light. But, they tend to cast shadows. So we went with what you see. Although the mirror is a bit off-center, it's actually fine with us.  And if I didn't point it out, or you weren't studying these pictures, you might not even notice it. :)

Master shower door

I wanted to go back in tonight to get some better pictures of the shower, but guess what? They re-refinished the floors today! So, no walking inside for a few days. This picture will have to do:

Originally we planned to have a swinging door. And then that tub entered our lives. We're really happy with this door, though! The shower floor has been retiled, and looks great too. Once the mirrors and vanity hardware are installed, the bathrooms will be complete!

Final (maybe?) checklist

• Final floor coat Saturday
• Carpeting Tuesday
• Power restored directly back to the house (rather than temporary line in our front yard) Tuesday(ish)
• HVAC inspection Tuesday(ish)
• Mirrors, last closet shelf, towel hooks installed Wednesday
• Protective floor covers in main floor bedrooms removed, furniture untarped Wednesday
• Front door hardware installed Wednesday
• Final main floor hallway light installed (when it arrives from being backordered)
• Bath vanity and laundry cabinet hardware installed Wednesday
• Final front step poured Wednesday
• All systems warranties/paperwork delivered to us Thursday
• Master shower floor resealed (it was retiled Wednesday)
• Porch concrete stain maybe sometime next week (or after we're in)
• Final building inspection to get our certificate of occupancy!

It's like the finale fireworks on the Fourth of July around here - things are moving faster and faster! We are preparing to commence to begin to get ready to pack things up. I tell myself it will be easier to use boxes to move things, even though I don't want to have a bunch of boxes laying around for weeks. Then I tell myself we can pack a few boxes, move them, unpack them into exactly the right places (no, 'just put it there for now'), bring back the empty boxes, and do it again. Doesn't that sound nice and orderly, and like none of us have jobs or anything else to do, so that we can devote the three straight weeks it would probably take to do it that way? We'll get back in, we'll have boxes and stuff laying around, and we'll be so happy happy happy to be back home, I expect we won't care too much. Well, right away that is. :)

We have door knobs!

Came home today to see they've been busy installing the many door knobs! All of the knobs on the second story are black, even though our door hinges are oil-rubbed bronze. Something I learned: ORB (as the oil-rubbed bronze is referred to by those tired of typing it out every time) can look different across manufacturers. While our hinges are ORB, they are a very dark finish. Which we love. The ORB version of these knobs, though, were lighter than I wanted, and they had a sort of 'distressed' finish around the edges. The black looks AMAZING!

On the main level the knobs are a mix of nickel and pewter (bedrooms and dining room, and kitchen cabinets), and ORB (back door and front door). We ordered all of the new pieces from handlesets.com. Want to see?

Two inspections down, two to go

We passed plumbing and electrical inspections today! Coming up next is HVAC, and then the final building inspection to get our certificate of occupancy. Today the mister ordered power to be reconnected to the house. Once it's up, the HVAC inspection can happen.

In other news, the stair rail was installed today:

We measure for the mirrors tomorrow. The final hardwood floor coating goes on Monday, and carpeting is installed Tuesday. More pictures now available in Interiors!

Remember what we picked out in January?

We chose our faucets in early January - so long ago, I'd actually forgotten what they looked like. They were finally installed today. Want to see?

Bathroom countertops

So we started with a slab (+ a remnant) like this:

And we got this:

Drawing the line at 'apple bliss' carpet

The youngest has requested red carpet. Cherry, rosebud, apple bliss: she is drawn to these fiery red, red, red choices. Can you imagine? Red wall-to-wall carpet. *shudder*

Which is kind of ironic, because the largest area rug we have is an 8' x 10' red Persian-style rug, and red is my favorite color. But still; all I will think is that it would look like a bloodbath in her room. So, we've dashed her hopes and she is not pleased. While she is 'kind of into blue', she has enough blue in her room she says, and doesn't want blue carpeting. She is mulling over a lilac color, but it doesn't look promising.

Meanwhile, the mister has taken a shine to this one:

What happens next

• Bathroom vanity tops will be installed
• The rest of the lights will be installed
• The staircase handrail will be installed
• Vanity and cabinet hardware will be installed
• Door knobs will be installed
• Front walkway step will be poured
• Front door will be stained
• Front door hardware will be installed
• Shower doors installed
• Mirrors installed, along with other bathroom hardware

And we have to choose the bedroom carpeting. We've also begun thinking about window coverings, since we have 22 new windows to cover. Yowza. We think eight of them can wait for a bit, so we're focusing on the others now. I like our windows, and plan to seek fairly minimal coverings. As cool as these ones are, or even these ones, we'll probably go for something  a little more neutral. Probably.

Our front door is in

Behold...

We plan to stain it and try to match the shingles as closely as we can. Our builder says we're probably going with a Behr stain, as he doesn't think any Minwax will provide a close enough color match. The glass looks funny because it's still covered with film. And I think we're getting this door hardware.

Today much of the paper came up off the floors, the staircase handrail was measured out for installation, and more of our lights came in. Also, window coverings we originally had, like our plantation shutters, were reinstalled; one blind they put back up coulda gotten lost and I wouldn't have minded.

T-minus 22 days, give or take!

Closets are in

I said we were doing basic closets, using white wire systems. They're nothing fancy, but they'll definitely do the job in providing plenty of space for us to store hanging and folded clothing. We can always upgrade in the future. You see, while we love a gorgeous walk-in closet as much as the next person, it just wasn't high on our priority list. Here's a glimpse of one wall in my closet (for shoes and flat storage):

Dining room (+ more) pictures

Tonight the mister is over at the house talking about the shower door templates. Tomorrow they're installing the closets. And they may take the paper off the floor so we can see how everything looks together. For now, we're optimistic it will look great. We're waiting on the rest of the lights to come in, but what we've got is up. Including this beauty...

Our sources

If you're considering a renovation, or a room remodel, or even just replacing a room element like lights or tile, here's a tip: look beyond the big box stores like Home Depot.

Don't get me wrong. The HD can be a great place to go for ideas and inspiration. For deciding what you do and don't like. And to see some products up close at 9pm when other stores are closed. It's even possible you'll find something you like somewhere else, and HD has it too - only cheaper.

Given everything we needed for this home renovation, though, only two things came from HD. Here's a source list for you:

When things go wrong

I rarely mention when things go wrong. And we've been extraordinarily fortunate that few things have. Still, it wouldn't be fair to paint the picture that nary a hiccup was experienced. So what didn't go the way it was planned (so far that is...we're not done yet)? Take a look.

The path to our door and other news

Yesterday we met with our builder, Lee, to discuss the front walkway. Did we want a curved walkway or a straight one? From what part of the driveway should it start? In 90 degree heat we debated angles and placement. Lee spray painted two possible designs. We chose one. Today, we came home to this.