A deluge of pictures...

(Brendan)

Okay, these aren't the best pictures I've ever taken, it seems like whenever I get to the house it's sunset time and dark soon thereafter. Nonetheless, these should give you an indication of where we are at (as of Monday).

(Click any to enlarge)

First, some pics of the home exterior (snow just recently melted, and it's a little messy out there). The siding is gray only because it is pre-primed and will now need to be painted white.

An example of our exterior light fixtures:

Now to the inside. Here's a few pics of the kitchen:

You can see the IKEA cabinets are looking great, and also spot the mini pendants we chose for above the island, with amber shades.

Here's a shot of our kitchen faucet (reference this old post):

And a better shot of the awesome double farmhouse sink:

Our countertops are a simple laminate from IKEA with a solid gray color ($5 per square foot):

Here are our light fixtures in the mudroom and storage room (fitting with most every other light fixture and plumbing fixture in the house: simple, cheap, cool):

I would say the dining room fixture was one of our splurge items (simple, not-so-cheap, cool), and it's hard to see in this picture but it looks exactly like we hoped:

The foyer and family room lights go together. This is the foyer light, which is a ceiling mount version of the family room pendant lights (which you'll see in a few more pics):

Here's a closer shot of our doors, which are another case in getting the most for your money. Since we went with white painted trim as our design strategy throughout the house, this meant that all the trim and doors could be medium density fiberboard (MDF) instead of solid wood (after all, who cares, they're going to be painted white). But at the same time, the doors are solid MDF, and they are HEAVY. I can barely lift one of them. When you open or close them you can feel how substantial they are, which gives a high quality vibe. And their cost is probably 40% less than if they were solid stained wood. All doors and trim are pre-primed and will need to be enamel painted (white) once we move in:

The door on the left is the first floor bathroom, and the right is the foyer closet. Also note above that no detail was overlooked. All of our light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, and door hardware are a brushed nickel finish (or similar), and you can see that carried through right down to the door hinges. This happens when you are cursed with perfectionism (and your wife is too), and every once in a while it comes in useful.

The first floor bathroom vanity and sink, also from IKEA, which I recently constructed:

Also note, no custom or built in cabinetry is anywhere in the home. Only well-designed, cool, and much cheaper cabinets. The faucet is from Hudson-Reed, which has ridiculously awesome plumbing fixtures for ridiculously low prices.

The vanity light in the first floor bathroom:

On to the school room, which has a very exciting light fixture that I found at Schoolhouse Electric (based in Oregon). It's an authentically made period "schoolhouse" light, with hand-blown and hand-painted glass. Lights like these adorned schoolhouses and homes in the early 20th century, and we had to get one as a special touch for our school room. Super-high quality and great craftsmanship, and I love supporting small companies like Schoolhouse Electric.

Here's the family room, which has the pendant lights I was referring to earlier that match the ceiling light in the foyer.

The finishing of the fireplace is just being worked on now. I must say, every once in a while you take a risk (like I did with my crazy concrete backer board finishing decision) and it totally, completely works out!. I was starting to have my doubts, but seeing the finished product on the library side really made me glad I took the risk. Again, concrete backer board is totally not meant for this purpose, it's an underlayment for tile. It's got writing all over it and the contractor had to cut special pieces and sizes just to avoid the writing. But in the end, it looks even better than I thought it would.

I still plan on at least sealing it with concrete sealer (to avoid a permanent stain left by one of our little gremlins), but am unsure whether I'll actually end up staining it with concrete stain. I like the basic color as it is. The fireplace wall still needs to be painted as well, we were waiting to see how the fireplace surround would look.

One the last things I need to finish, the wood floor on the stairs. I've got a start on the bottom few stairs.

Our wall sconces in the upstairs hallways:

The laundry room floor, which has the stock slate tile we found at Home Depot (a silly low $1.69 per square foot). A tip: anything that is a "stock" item at Home Depot will be cheaper than anywhere else by far. If you have to order something from Home Depot that will need to be delivered to the store (i.e. not a stock item) then it's just as expensive as any specialty store. Stick to stock items and you'll save a ton. And this slate looks incredible (the main use for it is in the master bathroom, while you'll see in a few moments).

The boys' room carpet design which we put together using 6 different carpet tiles from Flor. It resembles a quilt, we think.

The strategy in the boys' room was to have the floor be a little wild and the wall something neutral:

The boys' bathroom, which has gray walls and black and white ceramic floor tiles, and a sink from IKEA.

A pic of the carpet tile design in the girls' room:

And of course, the walls must be pink! It's more noticeable at night, and a very light pink in the daytime. Also in the pic below, the girls' vanities that I constructed and are awaiting install after their tile backsplash is done.

Here's the floor tile in the girls' bathroom:

A pic of the light fixture in the nursery:

And now on to what will end up clearly being one of the crown jewels of the house, the master bathroom. Here you can see the slate tile floor:

And here's a first look at the upgraded shower. We were going to have the same drop-in shower as the boys' bathroom, but not only did we decide it would be worth the money to have a tile shower (where we could use the same slate tile as the floor), it turned out the boys' shower would not have fit in this tight corner. We needed a custom rectangular shape to make the shower work in this space, so all in all it was a good decision. FYI, the glass surround/door still needs to be installed.

And now Molly's favorite, her only request for the house, a nice deep bathtub with water jets.

The cool tub faucet is from Hudson-Reed, as are the shower head and valve, and these cool sink faucets (just awaiting delivery of the vanity and sinks!):

And finally, just a couple close-ups of the baseboards and window trim we went with. Trim cleans up the look of everything so nicely.

Ah... done. That should be enough to digest for a while. Blessings to you as we approach Easter!

St. Joseph (feast day this Friday!), patron of the home and of the family, we ask your prayers for the successful completion of our home and a smooth move on March 27th.

(FYI, it would be imprudent to observe your lenten fast this Friday; the feast of St. Joseph is a solemnity after all!).