And so a week goes by...

I thought I'd be able to post something before now. But as usual, life got in the way. We've had a few bumps in the road. Nothing major. Our window seat window in the breakfast/dining room was put on the window schedule as 6 feet and was framed at 6 feet. But all along, our architect and I have been referencing this window with the 18" hutches on each side. When I went and looked at the house over the weekend, I noticed crazy narrow spaces where the hutches should be. It turns out that on the plans (the drawing that we've been referencing), it was drawn to scale as a 5 foot window. So now that it's been framed and ordered, it became a whole issue of what to do: 1) architect buys a 5' window for the space and eats the cost 2) we work something out to deal with the 6' window.

We chose number 2. We had to reconfigure the whole area and have turned the hutches to the side so they'll work.

Another issue that came up is the range hood. Our ducting above the range hood has to angle slightly into the joists and will have us create a box of sorts that will be about 12-14" wide and about 12" down from our 10' ceilings. If we do a chimney hood this box will fit right over the chimney and be trimmed out kind of like this except I'm thinking (from the way they were talking) that my box will end up larger than this trim out is here...

Haven & Home

 So that's pretty much nixed the chimney hood because I've tried to love it but I just can't. So now I've moved on to a cabinetry/mantle type hood which is, of course, more money. But it will completely hide this ducting thing in case it ends up being large:

Pinterest

 

 

Pinterest

Muse Interiors

 

Chic Coles

Pinterest (via Houzz)

I'm headed to a third cabinetry place Tuesday to see what we can do as far as the cost of the cabinetry and where they come in vs. my current frontrunner, especially now that I have this additional item thrown in.

On to better things. It's rained off and on all week. I didn't get to go by the house today because work went long and kids had things in the evening. But this was yesterday:

And yesterday it was back to the lighting place where I stewed over more fixtures.

I've already changed some thoughts on some of my previous selections. But at least now I know what types of fixtures are going where. I can take some time on my specific choices now.

I'm anxious to see if our stairs are up! The boys got to go upstairs shortly after the second story was framed because they arrived a few minutes before we got to the house while the framers were still there with the super long ladders. We missed them! The girls have yet to see the upstairs. It's killing Brooke to not get to see her room!

Lighting the way

I had my first appointment with the lighting person today. She was really great. I feel like I've been looking online at lights for so long that I have a good sense of what I like and don't like. But sitting there and going through things with someone else brings things to a whole other level. We didn't even get halfway through what we needed to accomplish. I am amazed at how much better her pricing is than what I've seen online. Yay! I do plan to head to Julie Neill to check out some of her things as well. But for now this is what I've got in mind:

FRONT PORCH

Our front porch lights will be recessed along the upper and lower porches aside from the gas lantern over the front door. We're doing a 21" gas lantern with a yoke from Flambeaux Lighting:

ISLAND PENDANTS

 With the white kitchen and now that we're pretty set on doing some sort of cabinetry hood to the ceiling instead of a stainless hood, I'm moving away from fixtures with a lot of white in them in order to add more contrast.

I'm considering:

Currey & Company Neville - This is one I haven't noticed online. It looks really nice in real life. But it's in nickel which means I'll have to change my kitchen finishes from chrome/ORB to nickel/ORB, right? 

Currey & Company Regatta - Also much prettier in person, though still lovely online.

Visual Comfort Goodman (the small one which is still quite substantial in size)

Landmark Chadwick - If budget doesn't pan out for the others, I'm keeping this one in mind as well as....

 

Kichler 2665 Classic Single Pendant

BREAKFAST/DINING

The dining/breakfast area falls in between the living and kitchen and all areas are completely open to each other. For that reason I want a fixture over the table that's not too heavy visually but that also makes a nice statement. I've been eyeing up this one for a long time and was happy to find the price at my place was much better than what I've found online:

Currey & Company Crystal Light in Silver Leaf

ENTRY 

The Entry Lantern is something I've been struggling with. We have two in a row so they need to be alike. Sadly this ruled out one I'd been eyeing up for a long time, the Z Gallerie Eclipse. Two in a row just won't work. This is what I've got at the moment. It's got just enough detail and interest but not too much going on...

 I also looked at this one from Currey & Company but they're $180 more per lantern and since I need two....

STAIRS 

I changed from doing a single chandelier/pendant/lantern on our half turned staircase to sconces. I love sconces and it's easier to change the bulbs when they go out. I've been looking at these or the similar Pottery Barn version for some time now. I can get these from my girl for less than the PB version.

Quoizel Millennium

My lighting girl pointed out that the Entry Lanterns echo the lines of the sconces in the staircase. They certainly do. I had liked both and didn't notice that until she pointed it out!

MISC.

Here's where it gets hazy. We have:
1. the pantry
2. the sink
3. the "vestibule" entrance to the office/powder room/laundry rooms and the office (all three need to be the same because they're in a line) that's directly off the living room
4. the laundry room
5. three hall lights upstairs in the open area

I like the following fixtures (listed in order of least to most expensive, though none are outrageous) for various reasons. I'm just not sure how I'm going to mix them up for those different areas:

10" x 11 3/8"/ 5" canopy / 1-100 watt

8" x 9 1/2"  100W

8" x 8" (comes with 1 6" and 2 12" rods) / 8" canopy / 1 - 75W bulb

7" x 17.5" x 11.5" 2 - 100W

MASTER BATH

One of these for the center. All are around the same price. The last one is PB that I can get for a deep discount if I choose that one:

I haven't decided on sconces for next to the mirrors for the master bath as of yet.

BROOKE BATHROOM

She is dying for this light in the center of her bathroom:

 I haven't figured out her vanity light yet.

BRADY BATHROOM

He's stated he just wants lights over the mirror. He doesn't care about sconces or anything of the sort. Since we're going for a clean lined look in his bath, I'm thinking something along these lines:

GUEST BATH

Thinking of light, white with maybe hex tiles, etc. in this bath. I found this fixture and think it's adorable. Plus it's a great price which is a bonus. It would be installed downward instead of upward as shown:

POWDER ROOM

For the center fixture I've been thinking of doing something like this Shades of Light pendant:

We have space for a 24" pedestal sink (with a few inches to spare on each side). I know we'll need some light near the mirror as well. I just started looking online today. Maybe something like these?

Murray Feiss Bristol

Vaxcel Swing Arm

I'll need to get both priced locally since that's the better price for me. But online they're around the same cost.

I think I'm stopping here for now. I have lots to mull over before next week's second lighting meeting. I still need to look at the budget and where these fit in and the rest of the fixtures I've not included here:

- All fans

- Master sconces

- Sink light

- Bar light

- Brooke's chandelier in her room

- All small closet flush lights

It's a lot to do and think about. Now I know why everyone said the lighting and the paint were two of the most overwhelming things they had to deal with!

More Framing

Things are going pretty fast. It seems like one day the outside was framed and a day and a half later, we were able to walk through the first floor rooms and take a tour! It's starting to get fun!

Making a break for it!!

Climbing up on the back patio because the front ramp was taken down Friday evening.

Standing where the window seat will be...

The kitchen side. The kitchen window and window seat are the two large windows on the right.

And cut to today. They've started on more of the flooring for the second floor:

The back patio and the garage.

Looking at the dining area (window seat) to the living area french doors/windows. There are small wing walls on each side of the window seat for separation and architectural interest & to bring the ceiling detail into that space.

"Mike's Den" window which he actually complained about tonight because it makes the man cave less "cavey". Puhlease! These plans have been done for months!

Front again...

 I can't wait for that second floor to get put on!! It rained pretty hard today. I don't know what that means for tomorrow. But I find myself cursing every day it rains!

Going up!!

When Brooke and I went by the house Monday, they had put the boards down to start framing the room shapes. So to her, it didn't look like much since she was expecting to see stuff going up already. It rained yesterday and was just a gross day overall. But today...

 The front door will be in that spot at some point. The 8 foot height looks giant compared to our little munchkin fresh from school. I don't think she was expecting to see all of that today.

 View from the back looking at the back of the living room on the left, the porch slab is what those boards are leaning on. To the right of that is an outdoor bathroom.

And that's the right side of the house, minus the garage in the back. All that was done in about a day. Fascinating.

As far as the beam/cased opening issue, I decided to go with some sort of beam treatment. BUT, when I went to the site Monday afternoon and met with the contractor, we looked at the width of the structural beam that has to go in one spot (the other is just for looks) and both agreed that 16" is wider than what either of us wants for the space. So up in the attic and concealed the structural beam will go. So now, the ceiling will be flat and I can come in once it's done and decide the exact look I want then. That's a lot easier!

Building progress

Things have been moving along! I haven't had much time to upload photos with all that's been going on in our everyday lives. Not to mention all the great football madness here with LSU and Saints. Woohoo!!

Slab was put down last week and the framing starts today. So you KNOW it's supposed to pour raining tonight and tomorrow! LOL! I got a call this morning from our architect that I must make a decision regarding the cased openings vs. columns/beams by mid-week. Good heavens. I've been putting off this and the front door decision forever and it's finally here. D-day.

Caught part of the process:

Pilings, Contractor, & Meetings...oh my!

We have pilings! Michael went by the lot today after picking up the munchkin from school. We're coming along already!

 We sat with our contractor this evening to go over things that need to be done by us over the next few weeks so they can be done or looked at in January:

- WINDOWS & DOORS: Frankly, I've been putting off the decision on the front door. I kept thinking Fiberglass because of the west facing house and the afternoon sun. I just know how our stained door on our previous house faded and needed restaining so often. We do have a nice front porch on this house though. The ease of fiberglass would be nice. But the aesthetics of this house might lend itself more to a stained door.

I'm really going to have to put some thought into this over the next couple of weeks. 

- ROOF: Since our exterior Hardie Plank will more than likely be white or a pale gray, we're definitely going with a deep charcoal or black. So I need to look at the colors my builder has done with both options to see which I prefer.

- ELECTRICAL: Floor outlets and things that will be fixed in the early stages need to be decided on now. So we need to plan this stuff out.

- CABINETRY: We need to go ahead and meet with the kitchen people again to finalize our kitchen layout to get the island where it's going to be and to make sure we have the electrical items where they're going to go.

- PLUMBING: I'm pretty much done with my selections aside from the fact that I haven't found a 24" vanity for the guest bath. I don't want a pedestal since I want storage. Since I haven't found this, I also haven't found a sink or a faucet as both of these are pending the selection of the vanity itself. Also, the bar faucet I selected is discontinued. So I need to reselect one. I also want to compare prices with another local place my builder uses to make sure I'm getting the best price.

MASONRY: I need to drive around and look at masonry I like on houses and give him the addresses. So far, I know I like Old Chicago. But I've not really narrowed it down.

So that's the beginning. I don't have my list in front of me. But that just about covers most everything...I think??