Order: placed!

Nearly four months after moving back in (four months!), we are finally getting around to window treatments.

But first, let me tell you, whoever conceived of paper shades was a genius. We've had them up since we moved in. They've lasted that long! Six for $20! Genius!

Still, after a while you think, well, it would be nice to lift the paper shades. Catch sight of the view. And, you know, not have them be made of paper. When even the kids start wondering when they're getting 'real' curtains, it's time to get serious. So, we bit the bullet and ordered window treatments today.

We're going with cellular shades just about everywhere. When we bought the house, the previous owner had installed plantation shutters on all of the front-facing windows save one (the kitchen). They're lovely. But a house full of such shutters was never on our wish list.

I love cellular shades mostly because when they're all the way up you can hardly see them. I tend toward unfussy windows. In the upstairs we're going with three different shades: Storm Marble for the girls (it's sort of a pinkish-white, or maybe a whitish-pink); Northern Lights Charcoal for most of the master windows, the hall window, and the master bath; and North Lights Glacier (a silvery-grey) for the master closet and water closet. On the main floor, we're going with Dirge (a grey-brown) in the kitchen, family room, guest and hall bath; and Northern Lights Navy in the office. Here's a link to the Bali site so you can check the colors for yourself.

In our dining room, and for our three large master bedroom windows, we're going with drapes. No, we haven't chosen them yet. The only windows we're leaving uncovered are the ones that look out over our back deck.

That's 30 windows getting cellular shades, five windows (representing two 'sets') getting drapes, and three windows left uncovered. My best advice: wait for a sale somewhere if you're covering this many windows.

With fall in air, now is the time to get these windows covered. I think it will add a nice, subtle touch to the rooms. They'll be here in three weeks, and I'll post pictures when they arrive!

Snail's pace toward the finish line

It feels like we're running through deep, sticky, heavy mud these last few feet toward the finish line. All that's left:

- HVAC inspection
- Electrical panel inspection (now that power is restored to the house)
- Final CO inspection
- Bathroom and laundry room hardware installation
- Front door hardware installation
- Final decision on the concrete porch (to stain or not to stain...yes, we are back to that)
- Front gutter relocation
- Final walk-through for the punch list (nicked paint, etc.)

Hopefully, for the certificate of occupancy, we can get by with the 'landscaping' we have (ie, pine straw...and more pine straw). With the power restored to the house, guess what's gone from the middle of our yard?

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.

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...

Do you see what I see?

Two things have changed since the last posted picture. See if you can figure out what's new:

Besides the tire tracks in the yard. Okay, the first change is that we now have windows! windows! windows! I mean, these windows rock. And they're so shiny.

The second change is that work has begun on our front porch. The old front porch railing has been removed, the yard has been dug up and (granted, you can't see it from this angle) concrete has been initially poured. They're continuing that tomorrow, hoping to finish up the block work and face it with brick, which will ultimately be painted the color of the house.

We have to make a decision on the porch floor soon. Like, this week. There are only so many hours in the day to Google 'beautiful porches', 'best porch flooring', 'show me the freakin' porch floor and quit with all the street views already'. We know we want a light-colored porch for reasons that will reveal themselves in time, and we know we want it low-to-no maintenance. I thought about slate, but apparently it crumbles ever so minutely and you drag it in on your shoes, thus making your house full of tiny little slate droppings over time. Uh...next option please.

The process from here on out will go something like this (in the next 48 hours): I have to research all the horror stories about every flooring type, fall in love with something out of our price range, scour Pinterest, and porch-stalk some homes in our neighborhood. Really, it's fine. I'm sure we'll choose something great.

More pics in the gallery for your viewing pleasure!