(Brendan)
Here it is, all ready to move in. Enjoy!
(Click any to enlarge)
(Click any to enlarge)
You can see here for the first time something we decided to do a long time ago: exposed concrete floors in the kitchen (and mud room and storage room and first floor bathroom). You can't get any more durable than concrete; water, scraping bar stools, you name it, it can take it and need virtually no maintenance. And we love the look! Also here you can see our range hood for the first time.
A closer view. Our dishwasher still needs it's front panel installed (which matches all of the cabinets).
The wonderful kitchen. A look a the additional storage underneath the barstool area on the islands (and the awesome and inexpensive floors!). I was going to say "cool" floors, but another reason we went with simple exposed concrete is that you can feel the radiant heat best on the concrete and it's a pleasure to walk on with bare feet. Warm!
The island/prep sink which has it's own garbage disposal. The sink cost $26 at IKEA. The faucet was carefully chosen because it's different in look than our main farmhouse sink faucet and the faucet can be pulled out and used for filling large pots right before putting it on the gas range.
A look underneath the free-hanging range hood, which has it's own lighting and three different fan speeds.
A close-up of our slate mosaic tile backsplash, chosen by Molly. It's looks great, and I love the different tile sizes. (I wish that dishwasher front was on there :-)
Here you see the drawer pull hardware we selected from IKEA, and looking on behind to the refrigerator in the back. All appliances are from IKEA (made by Whirlpool).
More drawer hardware, and the double oven behind. The double over will be employed tomorrow to make some pizzas for those helping us move in!
The double farmhouse sink, and view beyond.
Looking down to the window beyond (still need to install the wood floor transitions here).
A quick look back at the mud room.
The storage room (with requisite hodge podge of stuff).
If you couldn't see the dining room light fixture in the last post, here's a better view.
What it will look like sitting at the dining table.
The dining room.
The first floor bath room (for some reason known officially as the "guest bath," even though the Koop family will be using it 98.2% of the time).
The sink/vanity in the "guest bath."
A better view of the concrete floor in the bathroom. Anywhere that will eventually have a little person "miss" on the floor should not have wood flooring. Concrete will do quite nicely :-)
The school room.
Look out the East window in the school room.
Looking back to the kitchen (with the color palette).
The other side.
A really cool angle looking toward the family room.
Looking back toward the single window in the kitchen.
The family room. The fireplace wall still needs to be painted, and the light switch for the fireplace needs to be connected (it's low voltage, so it can be exposed for now, the fireplace was just fully connected a few days ago).
The classic view of the fireplace. Rope lighting for the cove up above is on order.
Looking back toward the window wall. Trim sections need to be enamel painted and then it will all be white. Another great thing is that all of the screens on all of the operable windows in the home were installed today, and you can barely tell they are there.
The finished fireplace (just like I designed the finish details!). The storage areas on either side will have a custom cushion made soon for a sitting area.
The library side of the fireplace.
Going upstairs.
Risers, trim, and the hand rail need painting.
Looking up!
Looking down from the top.
The light fixture we chose for the stairway.
A sconce in the upstairs hallway.
A detail of the wood floor the way my friend Joe and I installed it at the corner of the hallway.
Looking down toward the girls' room. A night, the sconces give a wonderful monastic feel.
The boys' room (all the action's on the floor!).
Well, except for their cool light fixtures up above.
The boys' bathroom.
The girls' room light fixtures (they absolutely loooove these).
The girls' bathroom, with their mosaic tile backsplash installed, and their sconces. Just need mirrors and other finishing items.
The girls' shower/tub, with a pocket door separating it from the other half of the bathroom.
Close up of the hallway sconces.
The small stairs leading up to the master bedroom.
The nursery (Francis' room!).
Francis' light fixture.
Ahhh. The master bathroom vanity is installed, along with the sconces.
Another view.
The walk-in closet, with pocket door.
A pocket door also separates the bath area.
Molly's dream tub!
The shower. The glass surround is being installed in the next week to 10 days (until then, we'll be using the boys' shower).
Pendant in the master bath area.
The master bedroom (still needs the pendant lights to be installed... very, very long story which I do not wish to tell right now).
I thought we'd zip back downstairs for some quick pics of the mechanical room, for those who are interested (and we all know we're a very exclusive group). In this pic, the good news is we'll be able to put some good school room storage in here along the left wall.
On the left is the hydronic radiant heating system, up high in the center is the air-to-air exchanger (which is needed in super tight SIP homes), and on the right is the circuit box.
This is the Grundfos variable speed well pump system, which ensures at least city-like water pressure with no tank in the ground. The only tank is the 2-gallon one you see here which acts to balance any water pressure demand spikes. Pressure is manually controllable with the control box. Our water pressure is great, and it's only set to the middle of the possible pressure range.
The water heater and air heating system and fan for circulation upstairs.
Well, it's going to be a little while before we get internet access in the new home, so bear with us as we have a little break from blogging. We hope to be up and running soon, and certainly pray that you have a blessed Holy Week and Easter. God bless!
