Crown molding...

Here is another one of our upgrades we picked out in May - double step crown molding. It is present in the dining room, John's office and the master bedroom (which has a tray ceiling).

Closet spaces...

The shelves and rods have been installed into some of our closets. We determined that I am going to need a double-step step stool to get access to everything. Of course John has no problem reaching every shelf!

An attic space...

We will have two attic spaces to access for storage. Here is a pic of the downstairs one. Michelle - John said this was your room! Don't worry, I told him that his "man cave" is actually in the attic!

Stucco & molding

The work on the outside of the house begins! The stucco has been blown on as well as the molding, but the bricks seem to stay in the place they have always been. We are told that we are different than any other house on the block because our house will actually be all brick with the exception of a few stucco decor elements. Guess that is why they are putting off doing in it?! Who knows, but at least we do know the bricks are on site whenever they do feel like getting around to 'em!

Windowsills, benches and counters....

Windowsill in John's office

Pass through bench from dinning room to living room

Kitchen window bench

Interior Doors ...

All of the doors downstairs are at 8'. I feel like they go on forever and John thinks they are normal. Sometimes I think he takes "tall pills" because I am feeling increasingly shorter every day. I will get to the bottom of that and report back. In the meanwhile, enjoy the pictures!

Garage Door ...

Here is a sneak peak at our garage doors. They will be painted to match the house and have the faux effect of the carriage-type doors (think the wooden plank doors).

Cabniets!

This is so exciting! Two of the selections we picked in the design center in May have come in. Here are our cabinets...

The butler's pantry

John's bathroom counter

The Kitchen

The Valet

Stair bainsters!

This iron banister was one of the upgrades we selected at the design center back in May. These pictures are views both downstairs (through the dinning room) and upstairs. The railing will be stained at a later date.

Texturing...

The walls have been textured. Bring on the paint!

Tape and flow ...

I can't help but sing "tape and flow" everytime I say it or type it. Reminds me of the old school Usher song "nice and slow". Anywho ... here is a super interesting pic!

Corner thingy's...

OK ... so I don't speak construction, but these new corner thingy's that frame the archways are the latest addition to the house.

More drywall...

This weekend John and I were able to spend some quality time at the house to double check all of the details and see all of the drywall finished. Here are some more pictures for you to view. If you double click on them, they should enlarge. Enjoy!

Drywall!

I am not sure this post needs any description along with it. We have drywall!

Insulation Installed!

So sorry to our loyal blog readers for the lack of updates recently, John and I have been really busy with work this week. John was awarded a much deserved promotion this week from territory manager to district manager in his company...so very exciting! Congratulations!

Here is a picture of the insulation that was blown in at the end of last week. I know you are thinking - why is it gray and not pink? Well, our builder, Ryland, prides itself on being a "green" friendly builder and actually uses a mixture of insulation and recycled materials to create their own signature insulation. In playing around in the design center with a sound maker and two different types of insulation used in building homes these days, this insulation proved to absorb sound better.

Incoming ...Insulation!

John has been busy working with our builder this week to make sure everything was in the right place before insulation was blown in. I have been working an event this week, so I have been getting home after dark, but John wanted me to make sure everything was right as well. So, one night we actually went to the house armed with a flashlight and measuring tape to make sure everything was correct. It was quite the experience to say the least.

Here is a picture of one of the walls that is being prepped for insulation. This should be happening today as we passed all of our electric inspections earlier in the week.

An exciting bit of news (and slightly scary for us) is that our builder has told us that he believes we are on track to close in 6 weeks (barring any delays of course). Let the count down begin and the "to-do" lists to start!

Gettin' ready for brick, stucco & rocks...

This week the builders will work on finishing all of the electric, do installation and prep the outside of the house for brick, stucco and rock. Once they get the OK from the inspectors, drywall will go up alongside of the outside details.

Kitchen Island

Everyone knows that the party always gathers in the kitchen and we will have a fabulous island for people to culminate around. Here is a pic of the beginning of the island ...