Cabinet Recap

We realized that a few days ago was supposed to be our original closing date (Oct. 25), but since that date has come and gone and we still don't even have an actual closing/move-in date, we'll update you with other happenings about our home on the Lane.

Our cabinets have been selected, and are maybe even in production as I type this. Woohoo! I am super excited about the cabinets.  They are totally custom, which is completely opposite of our old house where all the cabinets were pre-fab.  This time around, the custom cabinet maker just so happens to be my brother-in-law, Jason, who owns a woodworking business, and man, is he ever talented!

Jason and Eric planning all the cabinetry for our home on the Lane

We know the cabinets will be a focal point of the main level so we spent some time figuring out just how we wanted them to look.  We are aiming for something staggered with crown molding, and simple, clean lines (totally my style), but definitely not boring.  Different than the old house, for sure.

If you can ignore the packing mess in the above photo, you might notice the cabinets go in one straight line across the top.  And that was fine and worked well for us for 10 years, but this time around we want something a little more unique, with a little more visual interest.  In the new kitchen, we'll have a long wall of cabinets and we want that long line of cabinets to be broken up visually, so we emailed this inspiration photo to Jason:

And he created a design for our kitchen.  Here it is:

 

I cannot tell you how much we love this! The staggered cabinets, the crown molding, the shaker style doors.  Oooo--love! Plus, the island.  The island is something I've wanted in a kitchen for a long, long time.  It will be paneled across the back and sides to give it a more finished look.  Oh, and the upper cabinets on either side of the fridge will have glass with mullions, kinda like this:

Okay, take away the chandelier and just look at the glass cabinet.  Glass with mullions--that's the look we're shooting for. So, so pretty.  Cannot wait for these beauties to be installed! Jason is also building the cabinets for the bathrooms, the lockers for the mudroom, and the mantle for the fireplace. Did I mention he's talented? He is.  Really, really talented. So, that pretty much wraps up the cabinets until they are installed. Even though we're bummed this is taking longer than we'd hoped, we're keeping busy in our everyday lives with things like carving pumpkins and dressing up for Halloween.

 Isn't Marea the most beautiful peacock fairy you've ever seen? And doesn't Evan make a mean Dr. Doofenshmirtz (any Phineas and Ferb fans out there?)?  So life marches on while our home on the Lane slowy progresses. We'll be back with more updates soon!

Sheetrock is Up!

The sheetrock is going up, baby! I cannot tell you how different this makes the house look.  But, I guess I can show you in these photos:)  I also cannot tell you how excited we are! But I'll try.  We are thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssss excited!

The loft area as you come up the stairs to the top level.

We took the kids to see the sheetrocked house, and they had a grand time imagining how their rooms will be arranged.  Evan has already decided he wants a lofted bed positioned to look out his window at the golf course. He's got lots of other space to fill in the room, but isn't sure yet how to use it or what to put in it. I'm thinking a desk would be good for him. He is a little sad he can't walk through the wall to Marea's room any longer:)

Evan standing where his bed will go in his room.  Excuse Miss Pouty Pants--she was crabby for some reason.

Marea dreams big--actually, she does everything big--it's just her style.  So naturally, she has big plans for her new room.  She's debating between a lofted bed or a queen bed with a canopy and fairy lights.  She has also planned where to put a bookshelf, a window seat, a desk for her numerous arts and crafts supplies, which is her most favorite thing to do.  Check out what she made this morning.

"Mermaid's Rosey"

And she cut out and glued on all these photos of flowers, then drew fairies hiding among them.

 See? The girls needs space for her crafting.  The only problem is that we don't actually own any of those things (except for the art and craft supplies) so she may end up a bit disappointed.

Marea standing where her desk, no her bookshelf, no maybe a table, will go:)

While the kids were dreaming of their new rooms, I was busy admiring the master bedroom and bathroom.  Check it out--this is all the master bath!

Yep, everything you see in this photo is part of our bathroom. Hold on while I pinch myself.  This bathroom is huge, with an amazing shower (that's the darker area immediately to the left), an 8-foot long vanity area (which you can't see in this photo, but is right by the window), and two (yes, two!) windows. The other doorway (the one closer to the window) is still bathroom--it's the toilet area.  See--it's huge!

And here's the family room--love how bright and open it is. I know we'll spend lots of time in here.

In other house news, we still haven't heard a new closing date.  The siding has started to go up--more on that later--and we still need to update all of you on the cabinets.  Lots going on as our home on the Lane progresses!

Drowning in the Details

So things are moving along at our home on the Lane.  Actually, maybe they're moving along a little too quickly! We've had so many details to tend to lately we kind of feel like we're drowning.  Nearly every day we're spending about an hour on housing details.  Here's what we've been up to.

--Choosing a front door--we had several options for the style.  We chose the one below because the 3-paneled window with the 2-paneled wood below matches the lines of the windows in the house.  Can you tell?

Sorry for the bad photo--it's the only one we have of the door we selected.

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--Choosing a color for the front door.  We'll go with something darker than the door above. It needs to go with our exterior colors, which we chose back in August. Can't you just picture a nice rich, dark door with these colors? Beautiful!

--Submitting our plumbing selections again after the plumber lost them the first time we sent these about two weeks ago (remember the original story from this post here?)

--Re-finalizing our appliance selection since those were lost, too.

 
Re-confirming our hardwood flooring color since, surprise, surprise, that was lost, also!

And then deciding on which grade of wide-plank oak flooring we should go with (yes, for the above color).

Trying to nail down a closing date for the house.  Sadly, we just heard the closing will be delayed yet again, although we don't know by how much.  I'm crossing my fingers we'll be moved in by Thanksgiving.

Meeting with the cabinet maker (who happens to be my awesome brother-in-law) to finalize our cabinetry (more on this in a separate post).

Jason and Eric hard at work planning cabinets

And then there are the details that crop up after we visit the house, which we do nearly every day since we're currently living just a few blocks from where we're building.  A couple of recent examples are an opening in the roof that is meant for a vent but is wide open to the elements, even after the wiring has been installed. The bench seat in the master shower is the wrong type of bench.  Not really huge things, but they are details we need to be on top.

So, we've got a lot of little things keeping us busy for now, but we will soon be able to call this house our home.  Next post should be our cabinet selections, which we are super excited about.  Woot!