Carpet and Railings

I know I've already said this a few times, but I really mean it this time.  We now have carpet and beautiful railings (props to Beary, our amazingly talented trim guy) and it's crazy how much these additions make the house feel more like a home.  

A few more updates...

We also have deck railing now. It's a huge relief to have the indoor and outdoor railing - I don't have to worry about Cole nearly as much.

Many of our faucets plumbing fixtures have been installed

Jennifer, an awesome faux artist, has completed a few different areas. She did accent walls in Maliya's bathroom and bedroom.  It's hard to tell in the pictures, but the faux she did is really neat. It doesn't alter the color of the walls at all and only shows up when looking at it in certain lights.

The theater trim has been stained.  Nate did a beautiful job on the trim.

The slide has been stained and the entrance has been shaped and dry walled

The water fountain has been installed. Sweet! This will be so handy.

(We wanted a water-bottle filler as well but those are super expensive)

Our front porch is done

And this is just a shot of the back of the house that I thought turned out looking kind of cool. I love how the trees frame the house.

The Big Surprise 

Part I

About 10 months ago, right after our house loan was approved, we decided it would be kind of fun to keep our house a secret from our families.  It has been hard at times. We've had to fib quite a bit and flat-out lie more than any person ever should.  We made it, though, and it was so worth it.  We surprised Nick's parents two days ago and this was there response:

It was really fun showing Kim and Robert the house. Now we just have to hold out for another month until we tell my parents. The lying begins again...

Busy, Busy, Busy 

A lot has been going on at the house this week.  The front needed to be ready by Friday morning for a photo-op for the Parade of Home magazines.  It's amazing what deadlines can do. That one little deadline sent things into a whirlwind of motion!  Every time we arrived at the house we found this:

Here are a few shots of what was going on this week...

The front entryway was stained

The exterior stone was completed

The kitchen back splash was put in

The great room built-ins were partially stained

The gorgeous (and massive!) custom front door was installed

Some of the bathroom sinks were installed

 

Levi created a ridiculously awesome basement bathroom countertop

(He created two. The first was beautiful but didn't match the tile so he did another - right on top of the first one. It turned out wickedly sweet.)

The slide was partially stained

The secret little space under the stairs was painted

Cole had fun in the secret little space....and in the dirt in the backyard....and in the sprinklers in the front yard.  The house really is a 'fun-house' to him right now.

And last but not least, the front yard landscaping was started. It's amazing how much more it feels like a home now that we have grass!

The trees look a little small, but they'll be big, just you wait. We're also going to be adding tons of plants and flowers. Beautiful!

I love the stone stream

More Updates

The exterior is SO close to being finished.  I think the stone is done, the siding is about 99% done, the entryway is about 75%. I love that it looks like a real home now, not just wood and nails.

The kitchen sinks are in! I was a teeny bit worried I wouldn't end up liking the hammered copper, but i couldn't have been more off. I love how the sinks turned out!  The first one is the smaller sink in the island, the second is the larger, main kitchen sink.

The kitchen granite is also in!  My favorite is the island. The granite really added that extra touch.  I think it's beautiful.

Nick's theater is getting closer. The first coat of paint is done and the wood paneling is close.  Now we just need the faux finish on the walls and the stain on the wood. (Please excuse the crooked pictures - it was pitch black so I had no idea what I was snapping shots of.)

Our fun space under the stairs (in the basement) was originally going to be left completely open.  However, due to bearing walls, we had to leave the small door opening inside.  To make it a little more fun, we decided to frame it out. I think it turned out pretty cute.

And another picture of our great room fireplace.  The stone is complete and it looks awesome!

Basement Floor 

We originally planned to use stained concrete for the majority of our basement floor. We thought it made sense for a gaming area, plus it's a very cost effective choice. However, Nate put us in touch with Levi, a really really nice guy who does epoxy flooring. I'd never heard of it before - I guess it's kind of the latest thing.  It's really cool stuff because your options are endless and your floor turns out completely solid (can't be chipped even if you try your hardest).  Levi offered to do our gaming area floor, our storage room floor, our kitchenette counter top, and our basement bathroom counter top for a ridiculously generous price.  Once we saw his samples and heard his offer, we just couldn't pass it up.  

Levi did the gaming area floor last week.  He asked us to be there so we could direct him as he went. We would ask him to add certain colors, adjust the design and movement of the colors, etc.  It was so fascinating to watch him work.  Here are a few pictures of the process:

This last shot is the 'almost' final product. Levi still has to sand the floor a few times, which gives it a really neat texture, and then I think he will add one layer of clear epoxy.

Here's a short video clip of Levi hard at work. Notice his cool nail shoes.

Cobblestone! 

(and a few updates)

I have always dreamed of having a cobblestone driveway and was completely 110% thrilled when Nate said it would be a possibility for us.  I love the look and feel.  It makes me think of the Dicken's Festival in St. George - watching the play Oliver Twist, visiting all of the different booths themed around that era.  I'm hoping our driveway, which was started this week, will give the same type of feel to people who visit our home.  Eventually we'll add old fashioned lampposts to the driveway which I think will really add a nice touch.

This isn't a fabulous picture because there's still a lot of dirt covering the stone.  It gives you an idea, though, of what the final product will look like.

On another note, new things continue to happen out at the house every day.  It's always fun to visit and see what's been done.  Here are a couple of our latest finds:

Stone in the master bath, which I love! It gives the room a secluded, cozy, cave-like feeling.

Wood on our stairs.  The carpet should be going in in about 2 weeks.

The fireplace and built-ins in our master bedroom.

We stopped in one day and saw this:

When we went back the very next day we were pleasantly surprised to see this:

The fireplace and built-ins in our great room (which is on the back of the wall that holds our master fireplace).

Again, we stopped in and saw this:

And were surprised with this just one day later: