Tuesday, November 20, 2012

It's been 12 days...

And we're still watching paint dry.  At least we are now watching the colored paint dry!


Laundry room.  The boys (Joe and Rob) say this is too bright.  (Sherwin Williams "Hinoki")
 I LOVE IT.  And Jim pointed out that with the washer/dryer in the closet, it doesn't 
feel like a laundry room at all.  Turns out the design problem worked out for the best!

Joe's room (Sherwin Williams "Loggia")

Upstairs bunk room bathroom--still waiting on the tile to be finished.  (Sherwin Williams "Loggia")

Dining room looking across to kitchen.  (Sherwin Williams "Seasalt")  Since this was taken, the hallway has been painted the right color--it's not this green.

Kitchen.  Still waiting to figure out the glazing/antiquing on the cabinets.  I'm not sure if this is the primer
or the paint...it seems dark in this picture.
Mud room


Pool bathroom (Walls:  Sherwin Williams "Balmy" and cabinet "Poolhouse")
Back porch.  Yes, it's blue.  So is the front porch and the porte cochere!

So, now I have to explain myself.  Yes, some people questioned my desire to have blue porch ceilings.

"Blue painted ceilings can be found on porches across America, often for different reasons. Historians say the blue porch ceiling was born in South Carolina, where a group of African descendants believed that ghosts, or "haints," couldn't cross water. In painting their porches blue, they trusted the spirits would be confused by the water-colored hues and tricked into thinking they couldn't enter their home. The school of thought became so popular in the South, that no matter the color blue, blue exterior home accents were dubbed Haint Blue.

Even as the ghost legend faded, porch ceilings continued to be painted blue in the South and across the United States. Many homeowners paint their porch ceilings blue as a bug repellent. It's said that insects won't nest on blue ceilings because they are fooled into thinking that the blue painted surface is actually the sky."
http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/2794564/list/Renovation-Detail--The-Blue-Porch-Ceiling

I have always considered myself a "Southern Gal" and so why not have a blue porch ceiling? AND anyone who knows me knows that I do not like flying bugs or spiders so the bug repellant is a plus.  I can attest to the fact that it works because we are living in a blue rental house and there is not a single wasp nest or spider web on the entire outside of the house!  Mostly, I just love blue.  If you look at the picture above, you can see blue sky peeking through the trees and so the blue porch ceiling is just a continuation of that glorious Texas sky that I love.


The barn is moving along on schedule.  Here are the latest pictures:

siding going up

View from back of barn, looking west

Another view from back, showing the location of the barn in relation to the house

All the siding is up!

Heating/Air installed upstairs. Bathroom is to the left.

Front view.  Waiting on inspections.
At the rate things are going, the house and barn may actually finish around the same time!

The kitchen island was finally cut to the right size yesterday.  We finished our carpet selections.  Despite all of our talk to the builder up front, we still had an allowance for "builder grade" carpet and so, like everything else, we went over budget.  Seriously over.  What's new?  Here's a sneak peak at the upstairs carpet, which Jim picked out:

The picture really doesn't do it justice.

The granite countertops are all in production.  We're just waiting on the last trim items, the final paint items and the final tile items to get finished up so they can start "loading" the house.  That's what they call it when they start putting all the "stuff" in.  Unfortunately, all of the workers seem to head to Mexico over the holidays and so we have no idea when the loading can begin!

So I read a couple of great articles about how 

"Design doesn't have to be hard to understand. It just needs the right presentation."



As it is Thanksgiving week, I do feel I should probably at least mention a few of the things I am grateful for.  Here is a very short list (applicable to this blog):

1)  A roof over our heads!  It was a blessing that we sold our house and that we have a place that we can stay month by month until the house is done.  It's small and we sometimes feel like we are on top of each other.. ok, we ARE on top of each other if we want to all watch tv at the same time... 

2)  Reliable cars.  The drive back and forth to Southlake on a daily basis (sometimes multiple times) has been much more taxing than we thought it would be.  It's a good thing all the cars run well and get sort of reasonable gas mileage.  Well, Jim's hybrid does!

3)  A dog that doesn't care where she lives as long as she has her people.  Susie has been a trooper through all of the chaos.  Even when she got out one Sunday morning (to escape the blaring smoke alarm that I set off while cooking) she didn't go far.  She is showing her age a bit, but every day we are grateful for her little presence.

4)  Supportive family and friends.  We really don't mind when you ask "when is the house going to be done?"  It's nice to have people to commiserate with when things seem to be taking FOR. EVER.  We just want you to know that when it finally is done, our doors are always open to you!

5)  Central Market.  I have ordered Thanksgiving dinner rather than try to cook a huge turkey and all of the trimmings.  I'm grateful that we have our two boys with us... it's going to be a lot quieter than in years past, but they always make me smile.

6)  Daughter's in-laws.  That sounds odd... but I'm grateful that Michelle has Miles and his wonderful family to celebrate with!

7)  An upcoming visit with my Dad and Brother in Utah.  If the turkeys can't come here, then I better go there!  Looking forward to cooking in my Mom's kitchen.

Happy Thanksgiving!


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