Welcome to the Funny Farm

So the house is done and now the real fun starts.  I can't wait to start decorating and deciding what should go where and then changing it all. For the house pictures, I'll break it down by room on the side bar.   The kitchen looks fabulous, the tiles look great. I'm really pleased with everything.

The home is almost done.  There are a few minor things that need to be done, and I  decided I want to paint upstairs, well not me, but I want the upstairs painted.  I certainly can't do it as well as the painter can. He is amazing. He doesn't use tape or anything, just a steady hand.  It is inspiring.    '

We have to pick a color for the front door. After some googling about feng shui, I found a great list of door colors on House Beautiful .  I really liked Evening Sky (BM 833).  I researched further and found the meaning of a blue door . Although our door doesn't face south, north or east, I really like the thought of a blue door, especially with our stream and the blue dining room. I think the door will tie it all in together. 

We researched thoroughly which appliances to get.... Consumer reports, looking online, going to stores.  I pretty much had decided on which ones ahead of time, but wanted to give them a once over before we bought.  Thank goodness I did.  The dishwasher I had picked out had the silverware tray on the door. (Egad!  The horror!)  Luckily, we saw that in time and were able to pick out another one.  (big sigh of relief)  One of these days I'm going to save my nickels and buy one of those double dishwashers.  So efficient, convenient and as cool as a dishwasher can get.  I am very excited for my new stove.  It is gas, BUT, the cooktop is ceramic glass!  GE Profile (PGS968SEPSS) You just wipe it down!!! How many of you are excited?!  (and reading this....) We also got a matching microwave.   See how the curve of the glass matches the stove? Fridge is a Whirlpool Gold (GX5FHTXV) with an interior water dispenser and an ice maker in the bottom freezer.  Why?  Because with the french

kitchen cabinets, island and walls (painted BM stone house) Main Bath, white cabinets, slate floors and paint (BM silver sage) DECK!!!

We had the floors done in the bathrooms. The main bath upstairs has a slate floor, and the master bath has stone floors. The look fantastic! We got the tile from a warehouse in Bridgeport, Lima Ceramic Tile.    Main Bath: Slate in Montauk Blue Main bath tub and linen closet. master bath stone floor and shower master bath spa tub and stone floor/tile around tub

We ordered most of our fixtures from Lightingdirect.com, but for the exterior ones, we just went down to the local Home Depot.  We decided to get a lamppost outside and the post comes with an outlet (for Christmas Lights or tools) and a sensor that turns the lights on from dusk to dawn.  Hampton Bay Aged Iron Post Lantern Y37031-151 The lights that will frame the front door will be the same style.  I think they're so cute!  We also got outdoor motion lights for the front and regular spots for the back.  No pics of those, because they're your typical spot lights, nothing special. Hampton Bay Aged Iron Wall Lantern Y37029-151 We also received our shipment with the ceiling fan and the closet lights.  The closet lights we got for $8 each!  They have 2 bulbs so they'll give plenty of light.  In order to get them so cheap, we had to be flexible on the color.  They're "Copper Revival" which is actually a little more copper penny colored than in the picture, b

So we locked in our mortgage rate at the same time keeping fingers crossed that rates do go up and not down, to reassure we made the right decision.  We dropped off the fixtures at the house last weekend, and saw the new stone floors (pics posted soon) in the bathrooms.  The trims are almost all done and we have garage doors!  The front stairs also have the railing installed.  We picked out paint colors thanks to bossycolorblog!  It was so helpful. Once we get colors painted, I'll post pictures of those as well. Job wise I have had 2 demo lessons at a middle school, a phone interview at a university, another upcoming demo lesson and an interview, I'm hoping to have a bidding war and I get tons and tons of money! (a girl's gotta dream!)  Hopefully by the end of the month I will have the job thing settled. That would definitely alleviate one of the unknowns.   If not, I have to save my pennies so I can commute and pay tolls to work.  I am not looking forward to 1.5 hours ea

Picked out countertop for the kitchen.  Brazilian Mahogany Granite.  I think it will really go well with the peppercorn island and the canvas (w/ cocoa glaze) cabinets.

The fixtures are all going to be Seagull Lighting with the exceptions of the closets and the master bedroom. Dining Room Foyer/hallway Kitchen island mini-pendants Kitchen table chandelier

Things are progressing very smoothly with the house.  Fast enough to make us nervous about selling the current one on time.  We now have walls that are sheetrocked and taped, doors that are locked, and a cement floor in the garage.  AND we are having the wood floors put in this week!  Mike and his dad flew over the house and  got clearance to fly down lower and took pictures of the house from the sky!  So cool!  We could see Pinewood Lake and how it was a little frozen  in the middle, we could almost see Hidden Pond (it is hidden, after all!). 

After talking with Jim (the builder) and several long visits to Lowes (to the point where it becomes stalking)  we changed the cabinet color slightly.  The kitchen designer said we could get a glaze put on free of charge!  So we're getting canvas with cocoa glaze.  This will make the cabinets a little more subtle than the stark white that we had before and will most likely fit in better with the color scheme in the house.  You get the idea.  Again, a darker island and lighter walls, but this overall look.

Ok, so we told Jim exactly which cabinets we wanted.  I found pictures online that I liked a lot.  Then we started talking and looking at magazines and I decided that I really want white ones!   So we're switching back to white cabinets.  I'm really excited.  I think it is going to look so great!! I'm keeping the stone house paint and the peppercorn island.     Hopefully this will be the last big change. 

When picking out the cabinets for the kitchen, I originally had my heard set on  white cabinets with a dark counter top.  A very classic look that always looks nice.  Every picture I see it looks nice.  BUT, we didn't go that route.  When meeting with the kitchen designer and seeing the white cabinet we could choose from (the one that would be included) we weren't crazy about it. Then I thought about all of the tomato sauce I make and realized that a white kitchen would not last very long with me. I was flipping through one of the booklets and started picturing a kitchen that was reminicent of a Colorado mountain cabin in Telluride.  Warm, cozy, woodsy.  We have such a beautiful property with trees and the stream, I wanted to flow with the natural surroundings.  Can you picture it?  Bring your ugg boots and a pair of mittens.  We can sit on our deck and drink coffee in the morning and read a book.  If you're careful, you might see a deer run past (or at least a chipmunk o