Decorator's Choice

Now that we are getting to the final weeks of the project, we have to start picking out how to decorate! I both love and hate this part as I don't want to make any decisions that I won't want to live with for a good while. I am excited about our choices and we are still working on a fabric for the window seat. . waffling between a stripe and a pattern without being too crazy! Enjoy:

The Orange 'Couch' (potterybarn.com, Greenwich series Loveseat in Orange Spice). It is the only tailored couch we've been able to find with the correct measurements (70" wide)

The chair I love and hope Mr. K will learn to love. . .still trying to decide slipcover or tailored. Pottery Barn Brooks Chair in Bettina Fabric

The 'old' family room rug we plan to reuse in the new family room~courtesy of GreenFront's fabulous rug shopping. . .

The Bettina Fabric Pillows found on Ebay. . .

I'[m hoping I can get her to do some custom pillows with cording in an orange/pink that my fabulous 'deisgner' Jennie picked out.

And our prospective fabric for the seating in the kitchen.

Moving at Light Speed!

We've actually moved faster than I can keep up with where we are! Here are the pictures I took the evening before the cabinets were to go in(August 19). The room is starting to come together, but it's really interesting to visualize where the room is going without the cabinetry in yet!

View of the Kitchen into the 'bar' area (the cubbie on the right); Island will be in the center of this room- pipe is for the rangetop

View of the family room from the mudroom entrance and sliding glass doors to the family room (Kitchen starts on the other side of the half wall)

View from the kitchen entrance from the house (island will go from the half wall to just pas the pipe).

View of Family Room/Kitchen from the Mudroom entrance

Checkmate

So the drywall is complete and now it's my turn to screw things up. I need paint colors, final tile selections, to decide dark or light wood in the hardwood areas. . .aghhh! When perfection is at stake (as it always is), it is impossible to do. And while I know most of the decisions I have to make are reversible now (paint colors, fabrics, tile even), its not like I am going to want to touch anything when this sucker is complete. So Mr. GC has played his hand well and the ball is invariably in my court to finalize my decisions, which, I think change just about every single day;)

So here are pictures of the last week, ending August 14, 2009, where all the drywall is in place and the new gas meter has been installed and we will get back on 'gas' for hotwater in the near future. This week we are heading into cabinet and flooring installation. . . .so we'll see how much progress the end of this week brings!

Half-wall/bench at the end of the island. Divide between Family Room and Kitchen
Family Room view of Sliding glass doors

Mudroom where Henry wanted 'something to paint'- cubbies on right and view of the door to garage

Kitchen view from Family room

View of Garage from Door to Mudroom

Family room Bay windows and fireplace

View of Kitchen/Family Room from Mudroom Doorway- half wall/bench back

View of Family room/benchwall from southwestern corner of kitchen

View of Garage drywalled from garage entrance

View of the storage/pooltable area and mudroom entrance on right

Bathroom drywalled

New dental molding and pantry sealed up entrance to kitchen

View of new bay windows and complete siding on the exterior pf the kitchen

View of the Mudroom Addition and Garage enclosure

Keep on Truckin'. . . .

"Truckin', like the do-dah man. Once told me "You've got to play your hand"

Sometimes the cards ain't worth a damn, if you don't lay'em down,

Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me;Other times I can barely see.

Lately it occurs to me, What a long, strange trip it's been." -Grateful Dead

So we enter the final month (or thereabout hopefully) with the project now getting to being 'a simple remodel' (verses the structural and physically challenging things that go along with it being a renovation). My terminology could be wrong. At the end of August 7, 2009, here is what the house looked like. The insulation was in, and we were expecting a week of drywalling the week ahead.

Hardy Plank Siding on the Addition/Mudroom/window to the bath

View from the southwest corner of the kitchen into the family room (step down), bar area and door to the mudroom

View from the southeastern part of the kitchen and entrance from the house of the family room and door to the mudroom.

Our ingenious kitchen entrance turned pantry. We reused an old door and cut it in half. I love it!

I plan to keep it closed with an icebox lock.

View of the mudroom/cubbbies(right) and door to the garage.

View from the mudroom entrance to the family room, then step up to the kitchen.

View from the garage door to the garage. (anticipate putting a doggie door on the left, to the left of the window)

View of the storage/pooltable/entrance to mudroom and patio side of the garage.

All's well that ends well. . .

So in my last post, we had our first 'issue' come up. Now, I know working with GC can sometimes be a nightmare (I think most people have had this experience), so I feel fortunate that our GC has been kind enough to work with us on most everything, including the stairs, which we are quite happy with the new! Here they are: The original Architect's sketch

The first version of the stairs

the final version of the stairs. . .

One last view a little farther out!

So now that we've overcome that feat, I am definitely a happier camper with that decision. However we are now on fast forward, so I will post the last 2 progress pictures separately as they are 2 phases that moved faster than I was able to blog/update!