Building Vandy

So my last update was in February after they installed the wood floors. It's been a while. And thankfully there has been a lot going on. First of all, we have a move in date! Wohoo! May 17th is the BIG day! It is possible that it could be ready earlier but that is the day we decided to get movers. We are beyond excited!

So what's been happening? Well....
After the wood floors were installed the trim guys started working...I never realized how much work they would be involved in but they sure do have a lot including:
- door & window frames
- baseboards & crown molding
- staircase & railing
- fireplace mantle
- beams in grand room
- coffered ceilings
- wainscoting in dining room & boys bathroom room
- frames for mirrors in bathrooms
- shelving in all closets
- exterior trellis
- exterior backyard porch screen
- exterior balcony railing

Unpainted staircase

backyard wooden porch screen

Basically every time I think they are done they are back over there with another project. I didn't realize everything their job encompasses. So crafty. They do such great work - everything looks amazing!

Next up all of our built-ins were installed. Pretty impressive that it took about two days to get those in - they look awesome!

Built-ins in the living room

After the built-ins were installed the painters started and we are loving all the colors so far! Well, with the exception of the game room which was accidentally painted the wrong color - lol! We chose Behr Harvest Brown and they painted it Benjamin Moore Harvest Brown...which are incredibly difference colors. I was quite shocked when I saw it but it's not a big deal. I am anxious to see out dining room and Ryan's room - those were the two rooms where we took the biggest risks! The dining room is a navy blue and Ryan's is a bright green!

Master bathroom vanity

Our white kitchen!

And recently our countertops were all installed. Love love love. In order to get the kitchen ones in they also installed our sink and cook top - so fun!

While all this was going on inside there were also crews outside finishing up the stucco (which took longer than expected, but it was ok since it wasn't causing any delays). Our standing seam (metal) roofing. We also got our landscaping plans back and are so excited about the ideas for the courtyard. Anyhow, this week they are suppose to lay all the flatwork! Yay for a driveway and sidewalk...so tired of getting so muddy every time we go over there.

They also stained the cedar beams, front door and additional exterior wood out front.  It's been really exciting and I am honestly over there every day checking out their progress - they probably think I am crazy! I just love seeing everything they are doing. It's very exciting to be in the final countdown...lots of work these next few weeks!

Building Vandy - Updates

So over the past month they have been making progress on our house - but not the exciting visual kind. Our house basically has looked the same for about two months now. They have been working on plumbing and electrical....you know, the actual important stuff. Kevin also met the guys from Starlight over at the house to discuss our wants for tv and audio (which all needs to be wired at this time). We are also interested in doing the lighting system and surveillance system, so they took care of that as well. While all this has been going on we have been working on finalizing our lighting, tile and countertop selections.

It was right around the holidays when Kevin and I started looking at tile. Luckily we have similar taste and selecting the tile we relatively easy. Kevin actually stopped by Daltile one Friday afternoon on his way home from a work trip and picked up some samples. The next Monday I went back and met with our builder and an associate to pick everything out.  I think the master bathroom was the only area that we knew what we wanted from the start and haven't changed out selection at all. For the upstairs guest and kids bathrooms we are doing subway tiles with mosaic accents in the showers. Originally we had selected octagon and dot flooring but in the end changed it because it was a little too traditional for our taste. We ended up doing gray 12x24 tile in the boys and a shimmery white in the guest. I am pretty excited about it and can't wait to see it all!  The last space we needed to make selections for is the downstairs guest bath which also doubles as the powder room...so basically the one bathroom that everyone will see. Because of that we wanted to do something fun and different.

Our original inspiration was this bathroom that I found on Houzz:

Contemporary Bathroom design by New York General Contractor Prestige Custom Building & Construction, Inc.

After we had made selections I kept second guessing our decisions on this room. I was worried about how it would turn out and if the gray and brown might be too dull.  Originally I had thought that the stone would provide some warmth to the room, but the more I thought about it I worried the overall feeling was a little too cold/sterile for our taste. At the last minute we decided to change it up a little bit and I am super excited about our new selections. My new inspiration is from this picture (from Houzz)  that my mom sent me:

Modern Bathroom design by Austin Design-build Triton Austin-Construction Professionals

I would LOVE to do an entire wall with mosaic tiles but it would cost about $2k with the mosaic that we selected! Yowsers! So we will just be doing accents.

I am so happy to finally have all the bathrooms finalized (for the most part). It is a sense of relief/accomplishment! I can't wait to see it all come together.

Earlier this week we met with our builder to go over all of the built-ins. It's so great to go room by room and design the cabinets/drawers exactly the way you want them! I cannot wait to move in and get everything organized! We made some adjustments to the original sketches from the cabinet company -- now they will make tweaks and send over the final costs associated with it. From there we make any additional changes and then they are finalized....and will come to life!

This week they will start the dry wall! Yay for walls!

Building Vandy - Frame Up!

The house is framed! Yay! So very exciting! On Saturday morning we headed over to check it out. I took a lot of pictures but it's probably a little difficult to tell what everything is, but I will try anyways :)

Here is is! The left side is obviously the garage, and on the top of that is the playroom. On the right bottom (it actually sticks out further than the rest of the house) you are looking at my office. 

It's amazing how fast they get the frame up!

This is taken from standing outside of the house at the entry way - Ryan is where the door will be. As you can see, you will be able to see all the way into the backyard from the entry. 

And here we have the office..aka my craft room! yay!

This is taken standing in the office...Ryan was having fun hiding under the stairs! The space in between is a closet. 

Moving along...

After you walk in you will pass the entry, mudroom (on right) then you come to the dining room (also on right). 

And this is taken standing in the dining room - the courtyard (which is on the left side). There will be three sets of french doors which will keep the area very open.

A little further is the kitchen and great room. 

Kitchen above - sink will be where window is and an island with the range will be where that pipe is sticking out of the ground. The larger window is the eating area and will have built in benches. 

This is a picture of the living room taken from the kitchen area. In the middle will be the fireplace and we will have built-ins on each side. The walls on each side will be french doors (again...letting lots of light in). 

Heading upstairs...

 Walking up the stairs the first room is the gameroom. Standing here, the right is the front of the house and there will be a small balcony, and the left wall is facing the courtyard (there will be two large windows there). I am so excited about this space and can't wait to get it all set up for the boys!

Here is another picture from the game room looking towards the courtyard. 

Looking out the game room window you can see downstairs into the living room. On the 2nd floor, across is the master suite. 

This is taken at the front of the house (upstairs) looking towards the back. Down the right side are three bedrooms (Ryan, Grayson & guest room) and the left is lined with windows that open up to the courtyard. In very back is a foyer for the master suite. 

I guess that's where I stopped taking pictures - nothing of the master area....perhaps next time!

Last pic is Daddy and Grayson hanging out in the game room!