The Longest (Awaited) Yard

Our yard has been installed!

Way better than the gravel!  Blake and his crew from Blake's Coastal Nursery do really nice work.

Here's the kitchen window view.

And here's the view from the other direction.  Now the challenge is keeping it all alive (the weather has been really dry lately).  We're looking forward to seeing how it all looks in a year.

There's even life on the deck!  So what else is going on?

The dining room table showed up, and the kitchen backsplash is (almost) finished.

Here's the other perspective on it.

And the floating bed in the downstairs bedroom is finished (actually it's been finished for a little while, we just forgot to include a picture).  Phil drew the plan and the cabinet makers built it.  Now we just need sheets, pillowcases, a comforter and so on (we stole these from upstairs).

 
Here's that bedroom from the other end.

Finally, here's the front of the house with its brand new vegetation.  And even a car in the garage.  So what's left?  Not much, just the beach stairs, which we're really looking forward to because the old ones are falling down.  Stay tuned.

Imagine

Here's what the entrance looked like when it was nothing but a bunch of pixels on a computer screen at Giulietti/Schouten.

And here's how it turned out.   Well, mostly turned out, you'll have to imagine the dining room table.  Not sure what happened to the model's jacket.

Here it is from the front door.  This time, you'll have to imagine the kitchen back splash.

Here you'll have to imagine why we're showing you another picture of the same room.  OK, on to the next room.

Here's the media room.   You only need to imagine a TV on the wall and some good books in the bookcase.

And here's how our bedroom turned out so far.  This time, imagine bedside lights.  And something on the walls.  In fact, make some suggestions, we could really use them.

So, what's still in the works besides the stuff already mentioned?  We have to get furniture into the other two bedrooms, which we'll show you next time.  And the yard folks are working on the yard and planters this week (and probably into next week).  And there's the beach stairs, which will start in 3 weeks or so.  Stay tuned...

Home stretch

Remember when we said we'd show in each blog entry how the house changed from this angle and then skipped about 4 months?

Here's how it turned out, complete with house number.  Except for the yard, which is still in progress.  Almost in progress.  It's going to start being in progress in a couple of weeks.

The house isn't really that orange, it looks more like the exterior pics further below.

This is what you see as you walk in the door...  Suitable furniture will eventually appear.

This is the entry, dining area, and kitchen.  You'll have to imagine a light green backsplash, which is just about to show up on the kitchen wall by the shelves.

Here's the same space from another angle.

If you're curious about how the steps work, we are too.   They're actually very sturdy.

Upstairs, the media room turned out like this.  It'll eventually have chairs and books and a TV.  Meanwhile, sitting on the floor isn't so bad.  OK, it is.

This is the other end of the room, looking into the bedroom and down the stairway.

Or out the windows, which is where we always end up looking...

This is how the upstairs master bedroom turned out, or at least one end of it.   We'll show you the other end once it has a bed.

And the upstairs master bath.  It's really hard to photograph a room like this.  Check out the hanging towel bars.

This is the other end of the bathroom with the levitating towel bars.  Better colored towels are being worked on.

The guest bathroom turned out like this.   Or sort of like this, minus the wide-angle lens effect that makes the vanity look four feet long (it's really about 30 inches).

Here's the downstairs master bath..

But who wants to hang around inside?  Here's the outside, from the beach.  That's closer to the real house color.  The Corten along the front of the deck is slowly darkening, and there will eventually be a low line of plants (sedge) along the front edge of the deck.  In a couple of weeks...

Here's the other side.

So what's left?  A bunch of little things.  Carpet in two rooms, kitchen backsplash, some electrical stuff, paint touch-up, stairs to the beach, garage interior, landscaping (the yard is still gravel).   Stay tuned.

What are you waiting for?

Sorry for the delay.  The floors were still drying last Sunday, so we had to skip a weekend.  They're finished now...

It took a while to find a finish for the white oak floors (the floor guys were really patient).  It turned out nicely with the Doug Fir woodwork.

The kitchen appliances are all in.  The counters aren't really cardboard-colored.

The door for the upstairs bedroom is ready to slide.

The cabinet maker has finished the furniture he was working on.  Here are the shelves for the upstairs family room.  We really like these.

And here's the media cabinet, which will soon make it's way out of the bedroom and into the family room.  These guys do really nice work.  It's exactly the size and finish we wanted, the workmanship is beautiful, and it's way cheaper than you could buy one for.  What a deal.

Here's the bed for the downstairs bedroom.  So where's the bed I can hear you asking.  It's leaning on the wall, waiting for its legs to be attached.  I feel that way sometimes.

Here's what the exterior looks like these days.  The Corten steel on the front of the deck will soon age to a much redder color, and the scaffolding will eventually move elsewhere.

So what are you waiting for?  The closets are finished and waiting for you to visit!  I guess there's an inspection to be done and an occupancy permit to be signed, but that's just a matter of formality.  We're pretty sure.  Stay tuned.

Count Down

We're in the final stretch, the move-in is scheduled for April 12th.

The interior paint is finished...

The front door is in, as are all the switches and outlets.

The plumbing is all in.  This is the downstairs half-bath.  The problem with a triangular sink is trying to figure out which way it should aim.  We're going to try the other way.

The sinks and faucets in the downstairs master bath...

The cool guest bath faucet -- everything even works, though it may be a bit soon to try the shower.

The tub is in!  This is the first time we've seen one like this in person, so we're glad we like it.

The kitchen sink is attached this time, complete with faucet!  OK, so not quite all the outlets are in.

So, what's next?  The hardwood floor folks will be in all week working the floor over, so things should look a lot different next week.  See you then!

Vertigo

No more vertigo for us...

now that the balcony has a railing!

Not that we've actually tested that theory.  We have to wait until the painters let us out.

Speaking of the painters, they've finished all the doors.  That's the front door on the island.  They've also finished the ceilings and are working on the walls.

The next thing we need to figure out is what to do with the yard.  We're thinking blacktop. Or maybe a koi pond.  Well, maybe not...  OK, the truth is we're thinking of a couple of shore pines near the road, a camellia in the middle of the yard, and a lot of other really cool plants whose identities we're hoping will magically pop into our minds.  But first we need some dirt.