Hey, hey!

There has been good progress this week as we enter the “home” stretch.

We have lighting! They won’t install the decorative fixtures until the painting is done (because this isn’t my first rodeo and and I know how that goes and don’t want them to be damaged).

Fun fact: I arrived on Tuesday and they were installing recessed lights. I noticed that they were installing gimbal lights everywhere. I mentioned that I had specified gimbal lights on my reflected ceiling plans in just a handful of places (8 total out of 40+ on the recessed lights) and wasn’t sure why all of them were being installed as gimbals. I said no problem to install gimbals everywhere as long as it wouldn’t be at a greater cost (which I knew it would be). After a review of the play on the field, it turns out our builder didn’t catch it on the order and it would have been a $1000+ cost increase to install all gimbals, so they quickly started replacing those gimbals with the 4″ LED, 2700K, dimmable, fixtures I had specified to begin with (in great detail).

(stepping off soap box)

I delivered the cupola this week!

It arrived to our current address like this:

They had called to let me know that the driver would *call* and schedule a delivery window. Well, no call came, and though I was home, no one rang the door bell or in any way let me know they were on their way, so they decided to show up and dump this 100+lb pallet in my flower bed. This company will be receiving a detailed customer experience review from me.

In other news, all of the tile is complete and they have grouted everything. The kitchen backsplash is looking lovely.

In this photo, the grout is still wet and thus darker than it will appear dried. I came in and commented about the darkness of the grout and was told not to touch…

So, I went upstairs to check out the master bath.

The shower is in and looking enormous.

The hidden niches are going to keep things looking halfway decent on a daily basis.

Not that anyone will be seeing this other than the two of us…

Speaking of things no one else will see (including me, hopefully) Joshua’s closet is coming together! I am calculating how to fit a wall-mounted ironing board into this setup. I have an outlet for the iron, but am still doing some math on the clearances once there is clothing hanging. I’ll make it work.

In other exciting news, they have almost finished the stairs!

Our base newel post is gigantic and I love it. It’s going to be stunning once it’s stained.

The fireplaces are really coming together with all of the mantel surrounds in place.

Cannot wait to see these painted!

Speaking of painted, everything is being covered up, taped off, and primed, so it all looks like a version of this.

My final paint schedule has been submitted and I can’t wait to see each room come to life!

Meanwhile, Barry D. (my dad) has been working on the library built-ins in his “shop” (garage) at my parents’ house.

It will be so special to have something he built in our house.

I have selected these pendant pulls for the built-in cabinet hardware, which I realized are very similar to the pulls my grandmother had in her kitchen at her 1890’s home she remodeled in the 1960’s.

It’s funny how deeply the spaces we grew up in influence our lives, though it’s not always obvious. I am constantly asking my clients to dig deep into the homes that have influenced them. And, now, being the “client”, I realize how unconscious many of these influences can be until they are pointed out to you.

On top of all of the exciting progress, I had a special visit from my friend Jessica and her daughter, Sophia.

We had planned to take a long walk, but it was quite brisk and windy so we did a short walk along the property perimeter. Along the way, Sophia stopped many times to say hello to our neighbor’s horses and by the end of the walk, she insisted on wearing her mother’s gloves, where were the size of her head.

I convinced her shortly thereafter that a snack on the front porch would be a good idea. She proceeded to outeat both me and her mother, while also managing to fit in a wave to the painters inside every few minutes.

Lastly on site, they’ve installed the garage sconces.

Meanwhile, at our current house, the packing has begun.

Bu is helping, as always.