All moved in

We finally closed and moved in the new house last weekend. We do not have nearly enough furniture and I am really struggling trying to figure out where to place the things we do have. Please remember this is not my decorating style. I didn’t snap pictures of the guest bedroom downstairs or Finley’s room (she was sleeping), but here’s the current state of things…

Taken a few days before closing

New king bed and the room is still empty. We need some Restoration Hardware sized furniture

Waiting on the frameless shower door to come in

The only room in the house that feels complete and put together – minus the bookshelves. I couldn’t figure out where to put the glass decor or candles so they are all just hanging out in one place until I do.

Did I mention we need furniture?

I had to be honest and show that there is still a lot of mess

The office is our disaster area. At least it is upstairs and we don’t have to look at it often.

Just too cute not to post

“I said I want the camera”

Almost finished

There has been significant progress on the house in the last two weeks. The home inspection is scheduled for Friday, so I expect all of the final touches will happen this week. Here’s the current state of things.

House update

Things finally began moving along in the house last week. The builder isn’t going to make the original closing date of the 31st, but we are scheduled to close on November 7. Here’s the current state of things…

Finally Making Progress

I haven’t posted in a while because there really hasn’t been any work done at the house. We are now 21 days from closing and I’m not sure the house will be ready. At any rate, almost all of the tile is in and I expect that it will be grouted on Monday.

Here are a few photos:

Master bath shower

Master bath floor – we decided to go with Florida Tile Silver Screen 12×24″ in the master bath

Downstairs bathroom – 3×6 subway tile and 12×12 floor tile on brick lay pattern

Upstairs bathroom – 4×4 white field tile on tub surround

Finley checking out the view from the mantle. Fireplace surround is 3×6 Sophia White (now discontinued)

Cabinets are in (well most of them)

Yesterday was a very exciting day for me. I waited anxiously to go by the house and see how the cabinets looked. The house is really starting to shape up now.

There is still work to be done. The island hasn’t been installed yet and it turns out they ordered the wrong color. The island is supposed to be black, but they ordered white. The crown still has to be added as well.

Also, we added a faux cabinet in front of the pantry door and it isn’t correct. As you will see, this configuration would make it difficult to walk through to the pantry. My best guess is that they will redo the doors to look like four, but actually only be two.

I see the lights

Things have been moving VERY slowly on the house, but the kitchen cabinets are supposed to go in tomorrow. Hopefully Hurricane Isaac will not cause any delay. We did pick out most of the lighting for the house and I thought I would share some of those pictures.

These are going on each side of the front doors

The front porch will have two of these ceiling fans

The two smaller baths will have fixtures similar to this, but with three lights and the master bath will have one of these over each vanity.

This is a large 60″ fan that will go in the great room and the master bedroom

The ceiling fixtures throughout the house will be similar to this schoolhouse light, but in oil rubbed bronze with white globes.

This is not the original chandelier we chose, but I decided the other one wasn’t really the right fit. I’m hoping to get one similar to this large pendant from Pottery Barn.

What do you think?

Home finishes

It is time to show you some of the finishes we have picked out for the house. We only get to choose one interior paint color, but I’m sure we will be painting some of the rooms different colors. We are continuing the gray theme on the inside. The walls will be painted Benjamin Moore Bunny Gray (shown below) and the trim will be Benjamin Moore Super White.

The kitchen cabinets will be white (similar to the image below), but without the glaze. The island cabinets will be black and we have chosen a gray/white color for the Caesarstone countertop (shown below).

The surround around the fireplace will have marbled tile. I can’t remember the name of it though.

Now to the bathrooms. We selected a tile which I love and just found out that it is discontinued and we may not be able to get it. I’m keeping my fingers crossed, but if we have to change I really want to find something close to this.

We also choose to go with QuartzLock grout. Has anyone used this grout before? It is supposed to be mold/mildew/stain/crack resistant.

We are going with a Martha Stewart vanity in the two smaller bathrooms. There is only enough space for a 30″ and I really couldn’t find very many choices.

Here is where I need some help. We can’t decide between a white wood vanity or a dark wood vanity in the master bath. We need two 48″ vanities and they are across from each other. Here are the options I have found so far.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do you think? White or dark?

Starfish art

I was recently perusing One Kings Lane and came across this beautiful starfish anchor by Karen Robertson.

I loved it and thought it would be great in our new house. However, I wasn’t willing to sacrifice the $2700 to purchase it. So, I decided to make something similar.

I purchased the starfish off of eBay and the shadow box frame from Michael’s. I covered the black background in the shadow box with white linen. Here is the finished piece.

New House Underway

I introduced you to our new neighborhood in the last post, so I’m going to give you an update on our house. It was already framed in when we found it, but the floor plan was exactly what we wanted. It was also early enough in the process that we could pick all of our finished and add some custom features.

Here is what the house looked like when we stumbled upon it…

And here is what it looked like as of yesterday…

View from the back porch

Living room

View from the front porch – looking in through living room to kitchen and dining room

Finley looking pretty pleased about her room

Master bedroom

Bonus room upstairs looking into office/bedroom

 Additional upstairs bedroom

Here are the floor plans, but we did make some modifications so they aren’t exact.

We have pretty much picked out all of our finishes, so I will update you on that next.

Changes in Latitude

I know it has been a VERY long time since I’ve posted and a lot has changed. The cliff note version:

• We welcomed our little girl, Finley Harper, on March 13
• I completed my masters degree on May 8
• We moved to Montgomery, Alabama on May 28 — hence the title of this post
• We put a contract on a house under construction in late June and we expect to move in some time in October

I will do my best to post a little more regularly, but we are in an apartment in the meantime and I haven’t really been working on any interesting projects. I will be posting progress on the house, so I thought I would take a few minutes to introduce you to the neighborhood.

We settled in the eastern part of Montgomery County, in a growing town called Pike Road. Last year the town of Pike Road separated from Montgomery and is currently in the process of creating its own school system. The school is scheduled to open in 2015 — two years before the little miss will enroll. We chose a home in a subdivision called The Waters. It is like none other that I have ever seen and we fell in love immediately.

There is a sense of community that you get just driving in. On our first visit we were surprised to see young children riding bikes on the sidewalks and streets without a parent in sight. It really takes you back to a lifestyle that I am sure existed across America at some time, but not one I have ever known in my lifetime. 

The lots are small, but half of the neighborhood is designated as green space. The neighborhood is flush with amenities, including a 200 acre lake with world class fishing. I’ve decided to sell the surfboards — let’s face it, they aren’t going to get used in the gulf anyway — and buy a SUP. If you would like to see more of The Waters you can visit the website at www.thewatersal.com. 

 

Above photos courtesy of The Waters.

Above photos taken by Alvin Becker

I’ll post again soon with an update on the house!