Category Archives: Interior Rooms

Week 37: Tile and Trim Tribulations

Posted in Kitchen, Millwork, Tile by

The faux beams and crown moulding in the kitchen were installed and look fantastic!!  I absolutely love how it turned out.  Everything is so symmetrical too!  I really would have noticed if we didn’t center the beams and make each of the spaces the same size.  A bit more planning than what we had in the original plans, but well worth the extra time I spent figuring that out.  Matt’s subs did a great job with it too.  They’re 8″x8″ but it feels deeper than that.  I’m glad we didn’t have them make them any bigger too – this size seems perfect.  It adds just the right amount of dimension to the room without being overbearing.

The rest of the week was more than a little frustrating though.  I got a call mid-week letting me know that unfortunately the tile we picked out for the guest bath floor and the master bath floor (same tile) couldn’t be set in a brick pattern and that it had to be done at 1/3 offset.  I’m actually not a huge fan of the 1/3 offset, and I already had to have it in the mudroom and the boys’ bathroom.  So I definitely didn’t want to have it in the guest and more importantly in our master bath.  And, come to find out there’s actually two ways to install tile in a 1/3 offset (see below).

Of course, I had no idea there were two ways of installing tile in a 1/3 offset, and I much prefer the second “stepping” option layout. Unfortunately, nobody told me there were actually two ways of doing it and they already installed the boys’ bathroom in the first option which I really don’t care for.  Then come to find out they already installed a few rows of the guest bath in the same pattern without even discussing it with me!  Luckily they ripped it out pretty easily and they are going to change it to the “stepping” option that I liked.  As for the boys’ bath – they already installed it, and they did a really good job installing it…it’s just in the wrong pattern than I was ever expecting.  Honestly, it’s fine though – we’re just going to keep it as is and let it be.  I doubt the boys will ever know the difference anyhow…I doubt Joel will either 😉  For our master bathroom though – I really didn’t want to have the 1/3 offset installed in there.  So we ponied up more money to have them install the tile “on point”…rotated 45 degrees to a diamond pattern.  There’s more cuts involved in this layout so we had to buy more tile and the labor is more expensive.

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The boys bath floor was installed in the 1/3 offset pattern that I really wasn’t fond of. Luckily (if you can call it that), they also installed the flooring in the opposite direction than what I wanted. So the incorrect 1/3 layout is definitely less noticeable from the doorway. At least they did a good job on the install!

The crazy thing is that when I went over to check out the tile situation (about it being installed incorrectly in the guest bath) I noticed that all of the window trim had been installed.  And of course there was something with that too!  I honestly was cringing even having to tell Matt that there was something wrong with that too…but I did.  And it caused a HUGE argument.  Ugh.  A bit of a miscommunication on our part.  I had sent him a picture of what I wanted the window trim to look like and a link to a website that gave all of the dimensions for each trim piece.  He looked at the picture, but not the link.  Then called me to ask if I was ok with a 5″ top piece because that’s what’s standard on most windows.  I wasn’t at a computer so I said, “yep, that’s fine, it’s going to match the picture, right?”  Not realizing that he never actually clicked on the link, 5″ turns out to be too short…it should have been 6″.  So annoying.  So now we’re having to paying to rip them all down and install the taller top piece.  And I fully realize that it looks ‘ok’, but to me it looks really squatty and not in the correct proportions.  I honestly don’t want to live with it like that.  Better to fix it now than when it’s already caulked and painted!

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The piece on top just doesn’t look right to me – it’s simply too small. I can’t wait for it to be redone with the correct size trim.  And I’ll be excited once all that film to come off the windows too…oh for the day that they’re finally done building!

Week 36: Millwork & Tile Prep

Posted in Dining Room, Kitchen, Millwork, Tile by

I went out on Tuesday morning to check out the paint color…just to see it one more time and I think I’m getting more used to it.  So that’s good!  But even better was that I saw the ceiling in the dining room.  The guys worked on it all day Monday and it looks phenomenal!  I texted Joel some pics of it because I was so excited – they turned out so great!!!

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The X beam in the dining room ceiling looks so fantastic. Definitely a fun detail and it’s just something different that’ll make our home more unique. Well worth the effort the guy put in all day Monday in creating it!

By the end of the week, they had the entire ceiling in the kitchen done as well.  All of it is turning out so great, and I’m really liking the crown moulding that we picked out as well.

The garage is now a major construction area and is filled with all of the millwork and the tile backer boards for the house.  And the tile I selected is starting to arrive as well.  There’s boxes of tile in the garage as well as near the bathrooms in the house.  The tile sub has already prepped the boys bath and the guest bath for tile and even laid out some to show us how  big the grout lines are going to be.  The guest bath’s shower will be gray and white subway tile in a stripe pattern which they contractor laid out on the floor in the rec room.  It’ll be brick set, not square set like they did here – but it gives us a good idea of what the finished shower will look like.

On Sunday this week we also met our new neighbors – Sarah and Jeff.  They purchased the empty lot next to ours and will hopefully break ground on their home sometime in 2016.  We showed them around our house and shared some lessons learned that we had from our building/permitting process.  They’re going to be building what they called a “northwest modern” home.  And they’ll be building a one story + basement home just like us, which will fit well with their property grades.  Their house will have the master on the main level and three bedrooms downstairs like us too!

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And of course, it’s Valentine’s Day today – Happy Valentine’s Day from our little Spence!

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And check out the tile we ordered for our Master…how fitting for Valentine’s Day!? LOVE!!

Week 34: Wall Colors & Wall Texture

Posted in Countertops, Flooring, Great Room, Kitchen, Paint by

This week we had to finalize our wall color selections.  My mom and I ended up going to check out the slabs (which we hadn’t seen in probably a good 5 months) to see if the wall color looked good with them.  We brought up a few different samples – the flooring color, trim/cabinetry color and a couple different wall colors.  And after our trip up to Woodinville to see the slabs we ended up selecting Farrow & Ball’s Cornforth White @ 50% for the main wall color.  We’ll have a few rooms painted different colors, but wanted a neutral gray for the rest of the house.  We have a winner!!

Trying to decide between paint colors and ended up choosing the one on the right - F&B's Cornforth White @ 50%.

Trying to decide between paint colors and ended up choosing the one on the right – F&B’s Cornforth White reduced to 50%.  Light & Airy!

The flooring we selected is Plank's European Oak - with the wall color, and then our slabs as a backdrop.

The flooring we selected is Plank’s European Oak – with the wall color, and then our slabs as a backdrop.

At the house this week, the painters were there and taped/plastic’d off all of the doors and windows which now makes the whole house feel REALLY dark.  Thank God we put in all the windows that we did to bring in lots of natural light.  And by Friday they were done with all of the texturing on the walls.  We ended up doing a light texture – nothing heavy.  Now it’s all ready for them to start painting on Monday!

The windows and doors are all covered in plastic - and spray texture!

The windows and doors are all covered in plastic – and spray texture!

It's so crazy how dark the rooms feel now - I can't wait to get all the plastic off the windows.

It’s so crazy how dark the rooms feel now – I can’t wait to get all the plastic off the windows.

Of course all Spencer wanted to do was rip the plastic off the windows! Not so fast buddy!

Of course all Spencer wanted to do was rip the plastic off the windows! Not so fast buddy!

Week 33: Drywall Taping, Tile Selections & Paint Colors

Posted in Doors, Drywall, Great Room, Great Room, Insulation, Office, Paint, Tile by

Drywall Taping & Mudding

This week, Matt had subs out there taping and mudding the drywall.  The house feels like a total disaster zone – there’s drywall mud EVERYWHERE.  So happy there’s all that paper down – can’t wait for that to get balled up and thrown away!  My mom and I were out there on Wednesday morning to drop some stuff off with Matt and after both of us putting our hands in wet drywall mud we were ready to head out of there.

Tile Selections

While the guys at the house were taping & mudding the drywall, my mom and I were busy running around Seattle picking out tile…for the 4th time!  We’ve really been struggling with the tile for the house.  Matt has us working with a design firm which has a rep who meets us to write things down when we make selections at the stores, and then sends us a quote.  This rep woman has been 100% atrocious to work with though.  In person she’s fine – she doesn’t really give us much advice and really just watches me flip through racks of tile sample boards and waits for me to pick things out.  Every once in a while she finds something that’s a contender…a bit helpful.  Tile is one of the things in the house that I really don’t care to spend extra money on.  We got an initial bid from the rep to create our budget and I want to stick to that as much as possible.  The major problem now is that every time I meet with this woman in the stores she says that things are “definitely within my budget” then when she gets back to her computer and sends me an updated quote based on our selections it’s over-budget….EVERY TIME!  It’s been beyond frustrating.  So instead of taking one day to pick things out, we’ve met with her 4 different times.  And it’s super annoying because I have to take time off work and drive all the way up to Everett to the large CFM store to meet with her.  Luckily I have my mom as a partner in crime because I honestly don’t know how I would have done it without her.  My mom started calling her the “tile queen” and after last week when things were still over-budget, we said, “off with her head”!  😉

On Wednesday this week I took another day off work to re-select tile with my mom and the tile rep.  But before we met up with the tile queen, my mom and I headed to Georgetown on our own to find a tile design to be the inset backsplash detail behind the range in the kitchen.  We had a lot of fun shopping around at Ambiante and seeing all of the beautiful tile.  It was such a relaxing break to look for tile on our own and just work with the awesome sales associate at the store.

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Our favorite at the store is this Divinity Tile in their Artemis pattern. The darker tile is Carrera Velato Honed Marble and the lighter whiter tile is White Thassos Polished Marble. All of the little white tiles are cut and placed by hand, the larger ones are cut precisely using a water jet and at $135 per square foot, we’ll be buying just a little bit for a feature behind the range.  They had two sample boards at Ambiante which is why there’s a line going through the middle of the two boards.  If we end up going with this one, it’ll be continuous without any break.

After leaving Ambiante, we met up with the tile queen in Redmond to make some more changes to the other tile in the house (our 4th time trying to pick out tile within our budget with her).  After this meeting, this was the first time that when she said “this tile is more cost efficient” that she was right, and we were able to reduce some tiling costs.  I really hope this is the last time that I have to work with her!  Below are a few of the selections that we made.

Paint Colors & Sheen

On Sunday, my mom, dad, aunt, uncle, and little cousin came out to look at the house.  It was fun to get to show them around and give them a “during construction” tour.  My mom’s sees the house quite frequently because she’s always running errands with me, but my dad hadn’t seen it since we had bare studs – inside and out!  It’s been months!!  And I’m not sure if my aunt and uncle had ever seen it.

The main reason that we were there was to look at paint sheens and colors.  We settled on a satin finish that really looks more flat/satin than glossy/satin at all, which I like.  The paint color was a lot harder to settle on though…and I still don’t think we’ve 100% chosen a color!  For the ceiling, I used the cabinetry color which is Benjamin Moore’s Decorator’s White, so that choice was pretty easy.  But choosing an all-over color for the house seemed a lot harder to do.  I started the day thinking that I really would like Farrow & Ball’s Cornforth White (but at 50% because the color at 100% saturation was too dark for me).  But after putting one of the master tile floor pieces next to the tile I wasn’t so sure about my color choice.  To make matters worse, we don’t have a sample of what our main countertop choice looks like (Absolute White Quartzite), so we were only looking at pictures on my phone to jog our memory.  And after looking at the pictures we’re thinking that it looks pretty good with the Cornforth White (yay!), but that means maybe we need to re-select the master bath flooring tile.  Ugh!!  My mom and I are going to need to take a trip to the visit our slabs up in Woodinville with our paint and master bath tile to really figure this one out.

Other Updates

Besides all of the tile drama, and the drywall mudding, blown-in insulation was added in in the attic and the front door for the mudroom was installed!  The dutch door looks fantastic!!  And it’ll look even better once the siding is completed around it.

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The mudroom door turned out fantastic – I love the X detail on the door and how it’s mirrored in the garage doors. And the dutch door will be really fun when the boys are outside playing. Too bad all that paper is covering up the glass on the door.

Week 32: Drywall Installed

Posted in Boys' Bedrooms, Dining Room, Drywall, Great Room, Guest Room, Kitchen, Master Bathroom, Office, Rec Room by

The drywall installation wrapped up this week and it was Absolutely Amazing to walk in and see all the walls with drywall.  The floors were covered with paper getting ready for  the taping & mudding next week so it looked crazy clean in there too!  Spencer and I visited on Saturday and had so much fun checking out each room.  We also ran some errands including heading to Home Depot for some tools to take off the plumbing fixtures on our bathtub and to Sherwin Williams to check out different paint sheens.  Surprisingly, Sherwin Williams has a great little coloring table for kids to sit at – perfect for Spencer!

Week 31: Siding Complete, Insulation Complete, Gutters Complete, & Drywall Started

Posted in Boys' Bedrooms, Dining Room, Drywall, Exterior Design, Great Room, Gutters, Insulation, Master Bathroom, Master Bedroom, Siding by

I think the word “milestones” is appropriate for this week.  We began 2016 with some huge accomplishments…siding was finished up this week.  Insulation was started and completed, and drywall began!

Let’s start with siding…or really end with siding!  It’s very exciting to see the entire house completely done with siding.  There’s only a couple of little things that are still missing – the corbels to add a bit of detail on the gables and the mudroom front door still need to be done.  But realistically, it feels like we’re done!  The top of the great room gable on the back of the house was completed this week, and the siding on the backside of the garage was finished as well too.

On the inside of the house, insulation was added which included insulating all of the walls – exterior and interior.  I walked through the house on Wednesday and it was amazing that they were done with it – they only started on Monday!  It’s pretty wild now to walk through it because it feels so much darker than it did before.  Light used to penetrate into every room because it was just studs.  Now the rooms without windows – like the powder room feel sooooo dark.  Which is probably half because the light can’t enter the room and half because all of the insulation is brown.  Once the sheetrock goes up, I’m sure those rooms will feel a bit lighter.

And drywall was started!  On Wednesday, they loaded all the drywall into the house and they started working on it the next day. By the end of the day Thursday our entire master bedroom was completed.  And by the end of the week there was so much completed!  All of the ceiling are done and so are all of the walls in the boys’ area.

Finally, gutters were done this week too! I originally wanted the half round gutters, but apparently they hold less rain and considering the amount of pine needles and rain that we have in the northwest, I opted for the more practical solution.  Regular k-style gutters it is!

Week 24: Crazy Weather & Fire Sprinkler System

Posted in Fire Sprinklers, Kitchen, Master Bedroom, Permits by

I was traveling for work the majority of last week and this week, and I heard that Seattle has been having a crazy week of weather!  There’s been an insane amount of rain – flood warnings were in place with the torrential downpour.  And on Tuesday there were crazy winds with gusts up to 60 miles per hour.  People all over the Puget Sound (including our new neighborhood) lost power for days.  Due to all of the inclement weather, a couple things were delayed on the project.  First off, the siding company was supposed to be there this week, but they were unable to finish their last job, so that delayed them getting to ours.  Also, the power company (Tanner Electric) was going to transfer the power line from the temporary power pole we have to the permanent underground service to the house.  Needless to say with all of the outages in the area, they had more important thing to deal with than our house.

The combination of the siding and the permanent power line to the house is now on the critical path for our schedule.  We need the power to run the furnaces and get the house dried out, and we need the siding to keep the rain out.

And when it's not rainy and windy, the weather has been freezing!! Check out all the frost in the back yard.

And when it’s not rainy and windy, the weather has been freezing!! Check out all the frost in the back yard.

It's so cold here now - freezing temperatures every day! It'll be so nice to get the heat on in the house...hopefully next week.

It’s so cold here now – freezing temperatures every day! Look at all the frost on the house.  It’ll be so nice to get the heat on in the house…hopefully next week.

Although the weather has been nasty – they did install the fire sprinklers in the house.  In private homes, King County requires fire sprinklers for all homes where a firefighter can’t walk 150′ around the house and touch all sides.  Had I realized this was a requirement, I likely would have shaped the house differently just to avoid the fire sprinklers.  I think they’re such a waste of money and hopefully we’ll never have to use them.  Plus, they just add more things in the ceiling…not exactly my favorite.

The fire sprinkler system has to be designed by a licensed technician, then a permit is needed from King County which shows the sprinkler design.  Once it’s approved at the County, it’s installed in the house and then inspected and approved by the County.

Lots of parts & pieces for the fire sprinkler system.

Lots of parts & pieces for the fire sprinkler system.

The sprinkler system is those orange lines that run throughout the house.

The sprinkler system is those orange lines that run throughout the house.  Here’s the ones in our master bedroom.

 

Just a close-up of one of the sprinklers.

Just a close-up of one of the sprinklers.

In addition to needing fire sprinklers, the placement of them has been such a huge nuisance.  Because we’re having a coffered ceiling in the kitchen, theoretically smoke could get trapped in one of the “squares” in the coffered ceiling and not set off a sprinkler head.  To design around that, we’d either need to install a sprinkler head in each of the “squares” – which would have cost us another $2,500 – or keep the original quantity of sprinkler heads but put them on the beams.  I absolutely did not want to spend a penny more on sprinkler system.  The cost for the system was already higher than our initial estimate from last year, and I hated the idea of having to spend more money on something that is likely never going to be used – and on something that doesn’t give me any value.  It’s not like spending $2,500 to get upgraded appliances, or nicer trim work.  It’s literally spending $2,500 on something that will never be noticed or used.  So no way was that happening.  But that meant we had to install them on the beams to meet the current code – such a disappointment.  The beams are there as a fun ceiling detail in the space – and then with adding the sprinkler heads on them, it only accentuates the sprinklers, not disguises them.  So we’ll end up having four 3″ sprinkler head caps (which will be white) sitting flush on the 8″ wide beam.  It’s not the end of the world, and in this battle of budget versus design…design lost.  Let’s hope more things don’t end up this way!

We ended up having to put a couple of the fire sprinklers right on the beams of the coffered ceiling in the kitchen - despite my liking.

We ended up having to put a couple of the fire sprinklers right on the beams of the coffered ceiling in the kitchen – despite my liking.

Week 22: HVAC, Electrical & Windows

Posted in Electrical, Great Room, HVAC, Kitchen, Windows by

The HVAC was worked on for the house this week which included setting up the furnaces which will back up the heat pump.  The furnace for the downstairs was placed in the HVAC room downstairs by the boys’ playroom, and it was most efficient to put the furnace for the main level in the attic of the garage.  Besides installing both of those, it looks like the vents have all been placed and all 4 of the cold air returns were also installed (two on each level of the home).

It was most efficient to put the upstairs furnace in the attic.

It was most efficient to put the upstairs furnace in the attic.

The downstairs furnace is located in the HVAC room.

The downstairs furnace is located in the HVAC room.

Electrical work began this week and was laid out based on our walk thru last week.  On Sunday, Joel and I went to check things out…and confirm light switch locations.  A few of them were in the wrong spots, but for the most part things were in the correct locations.

The electrical sub (Modern Wiring) started on the house this week.

The electrical sub (Modern Wiring) started on the house this week.

And even more fun (and with a bigger impact) was that the majority of the windows were delivered and quite a bit of them were installed!  I think they look great, and love the grid layout we chose.  I can’t wait to see all of them installed.  It’ll end up being a couple weeks for all of them to get here.  The windows with the arched tops all have a bit longer lead time than the rectangular ones.

Some of the windows were installed in the front of the house this week.

Some of the windows were installed in the front of the house this week.

Although we're still missing the french doors and the oval windows, the back wall of the great room is starting to take shape.

Although we’re still missing the french doors and the oval windows, the back wall of the great room is starting to take shape.

I love how the windows turned out in the staircase.

I love how the windows turned out in the staircase.

The windows in the informal dining area in the kitchen look amazing! It's too bad that the construction film makes it so we can't see outside anymore. At least that'll protect the glass until construction is finished though.

The windows in the informal dining area in the kitchen look amazing! It’s too bad that the construction film makes it so we can’t see outside anymore. At least that’ll protect the glass until construction is finished though.

Here's what the windows look like from the outside of the house. These ones are above the kitchen sink area.

Here’s what the windows look like from the outside of the house. These ones are above the kitchen sink area.

Besides all of the things happening at the house, my mom and I also went to Canyon Creek Cabinetry on Thursday to figure out all of the cabinets for the house.  We did our initial walk thru a couple of weeks ago.  After that, they drafted up the initial design for the cabinets…but of course I had markups and things that I wanted changed.  So we met up with Andy at Canyon Creek to discuss all of the changes.  He’s going to revise the drawings (and the cost estimate) – hopefully we’ll get those this next week.  Then they’ll be finalized!

Week 20: We Have a Roof…plus More Ceiling Details!

Posted in Entry, Framing, Great Room, Kitchen, Plumbing, Private Well, Roofing by

Joel was waiting so long for this day to finally come…with the rainy weather beginning, all I kept hearing from him is how he doesn’t like that the house is getting wet with water puddling up on the concrete downstairs and the plywood subfloor upstairs.  “That can’t be good for it,” he’d say.  But the wait is over!  We have a roof!!  Last Friday they had all of the material up on the roof and on Monday morning they began.  And now at the end of the week, they’re about 95% done.  Still need to finish up some roof vents and the well house and I think it’s finished.  Ya-hoo!!

The roof is on!

The roof is on!

Here's a closer picture of the front entry.

Here’s a closer picture of the front entry.

Half-way through the week, here's what the back of the house looks like (from standing WAY back at the well house).

Half-way through the week, here’s what the back of the house looks like (from standing WAY back at the well house).

Oh yeah, and they built the well house today! Isn't it cute?

Oh yeah, and they built the well house today! Isn’t it cute?  The boys haven’t seen it yet, but when they do, I bet they’re going to wish it were their play house!

And, even better than the roof (although probably not for Joel) is that they worked on the great room ceiling and the kitchen ceiling!  We had them lower the great room ceiling and not only was that done, but the locations for where the faux beams are going to be in there were placed.  And the locations of the coffered ceiling in the kitchen was done too!   I LOVE them!!  The placement in the rooms looks so great and I can’t wait for the beams to be fully built, but for now, just seeing where they’ll go is ultra exciting!

The small entry has a tray ceiling.

The small entry has a tray ceiling.

The great room ceiling was lowered to a more comfortable height, and the faux beams were added. LOVE!!!

The great room ceiling was lowered to a more comfortable height, and the faux beams were added. LOVE!!!

On the left side of the room, the 'beams' align with the fireplace and built-ins.

On the left side of the room, the ‘beams’ align with the fireplace and built-ins.

And on the right side of the room, the 'beams' flow directly into the kitchen's coffered ceiling.

And on the right side of the room, the ‘beams’ flow directly into the kitchen’s coffered ceiling.

The coffered ceiling in the kitchen looks AMAZING!

The coffered ceiling in the kitchen looks AMAZING!

And they also continued to work on the plumbing this week (not so exciting, but I guess it’s still important) 🙂  We also worked to figure out the locations for the HVAC cold air returns and soffits in the basement.

And the plumbing continued on the house!

And the plumbing continued on the house!

Week 19: Ceiling Details, Cabinetry Walkthrough & Plumbing

Posted in Boys' Bathroom, Cabinetry, Dining Room, Entry, Framing, Kitchen, Office, Plumbing by

This week a few really fun details were built in with the framing.  To begin with, the front entry way and dining windows were finally done.  The arches that they added really make the front area look finished.  There’s an arch over the front porch, as well as an arched window over the front door.  The arch over the front porch is a bit higher than the window over the door so that when you’re standing back at street level, you can see both of them.

By the end of the week, the arches have been added at the front of the house, and the roofing has been delivered and is ready to be installed.

By the end of the week, the arches have been added at the front of the house, and the roofing has been delivered and is ready to be installed.

The entryway windows have been framed.

The entryway windows have been framed.

The front arches were added to the porch, entry door and dining windows this week.

The front arches were added to the porch, entry door and dining windows this week.

The dining room window was also framed in this week.  At first it was a big shock because it had been open for so long it sort of took me by surprise not to see one big giant window in that room!  But it looks fantastic, and after making all the design changes to get this window and the dimensions ‘just right’ – I think it turned out fabulously.

The dining window was framed this week - It'll have three windows that open, then transoms, then an arched window.

The dining window was framed this week – It’ll have three windows that open, then transoms, then an arched window.

On the inside of the house, a few of my favorite details were built.  First to finish up the dining room, the tray ceiling was completed, and the beginning of the “X” within the tray was added.  Love it!  And notice how the arched window will leave just enough room for trim above it…I think it’ll look great once it’s all finished.

The tray ceiling and "X" pattern on the ceiling were constructed.

The tray ceiling and “X” pattern on the ceiling were constructed.

The windows in the dining room look SO GOOD!

The windows in the dining room look SO GOOD!

And the tray ceiling was also added in the master bedroom as well.  All of the tray ceilings in the house are 18″ from the walls, and 10″ tall.

The tray ceiling in the master was added this week.

The tray ceiling in the master was added.

The fireplace framing was built this week - we'll have a bench under the the fireplace, so it's raised up off the floor.

The fireplace framing was built this week – we’ll have a bench under the the fireplace, so it’s raised up off the floor.

The staircase is located back behind the fireplace, and the curvature in the staircase was finished up this week.

The staircase is located back behind the fireplace, and the curvature in the staircase was finished up this week.

Cameron came with me after soccer practice on Wednesday night to check out some of the progress which included some other areas in the house that he had fun seeing…

First stop was checking out he built-in bench in the office. Eventually bookshelves will line the wall to the right, and this will be such a fun spot to read with the boys - plenty deep and big enough!

First stop was checking out he built-in bench in the office. Eventually bookshelves will line the wall to the right, and this will be such a fun spot to read with the boys – plenty deep and big enough!

Cam's next stop was the master shower. He got such a kick that the drain hole was cut and he could see right into Spencer's bedroom underneath. He's waiving "hi" to Spencer in this pic!

Cam’s next stop was the master shower. He got such a kick that the drain hole was cut and he could see right into Spencer’s bedroom underneath. He’s waiving “hi” to Spencer in this pic!

Cam's last stop was his bathroom. We contemplated rearranging this room, but he really liked that his vanity would be separated from Spencer's so we decided to keep it the way it is now. He's already pretending to brush his teeth at the sink!

Cam’s last stop was his bathroom. We contemplated rearranging this room, but he really liked that his vanity would be separated from Spencer’s so we decided to keep it the way it is now. He’s already pretending to brush his teeth at the sink!

On Tuesday morning, my mom and I met with Matt and the rep from Canyon Creek Cabinets to walk through the house and discuss the different cabinet layouts.  It was a lot of fun to discuss my different ideas as well as get feedback from the rep and what he thought we should do.  Now he has to go back and lay things out for us to approve.  That’ll be exciting to see those once they’re done.

The plumbers started this week, so we really had to nail down all of the sink locations.  The only ones that were really in question were the boys’ bathroom sinks and the prep island sink.  The boys’ bathroom has a pretty decent sized linen closet in there – for all of their towels, sheets, and swim gear.  The design was to have the linen closet separating each of the boys’ sink vanities so that they could each have their own ‘space’.  The closet takes up quite a bit of space, and I was worried that it makes the space feel a little cramped.  So we discussed rearranging the room.  In the end, we decided to make the closet a couple inches less deep so that it didn’t protrude into the room as far and keep the vanities separate.  Cameron really liked that, and I think it’ll be nice for the boys to have really great storage solutions in there.

Plumbing started this week! Here's a picture in the kitchen where the sink and fridge will go.

Plumbing started this week! Here’s a picture in the kitchen where the sink and fridge will go.

On Saturday, Joel and I went to check things out at the house and we decided to rearrange things a bit in the mudroom.  We’re going to put the boys’ bench and shoe cubbies to underneath the window and get a narrower desk for where their cubbies used to be.  This should give them more space to put their shoes and all of the bags they bring home from school and practices.

Back up in the first picture, you can see that roofing supplies were delivered and they’ll be starting on that next week!