My momma told me you better shop around

Shop! Nice, eh?

Unpacking and shopbuilding

Unpacking is not fun.

But having a new house with your beloved things in it is fun.

And so we unpack.

We must make better progress in advance of Oct 1, when we are featured in the AIA Design Matters home tour (http://designmattershomestour.eventbrite.com/). Yikes. That is really soon.

Here are key things that'll happen in September:

• Shop is to be framed, roofed, sided, wired, and fitted with a custom garage door. This is already in process. If I were less lazy, I would post pictures.
• Backyard is to be leveled out--the current surface texture is what I'd call "moon-like"--and areas behind the house and beside the house are to be excavated a few inches and filled in with gravel. Vendor is hired, work to begin this week.
• The front door's concrete stoop will be re-poured so that it's a lovely smooth surface again (also currently moon-like, which is not very welcoming). I believe Andrew's setting us up... Andrew, do your magic!
• Betsy's kitchen wall in her mother-in-law suite will start to come together: countertop, sink, refrig, burners and dishwasher will join recently-installed cabinets.
• 1,397 things will be put away in their proper places (or stashed in a closet so as to temporarily disappear from sight).

Later in October, we are supposed to lay down grass seed and straw. And hope for rain. Oh, also we need to transplant some roses. Oh, and master our holiday music compilation. Sh*t. October promises to be as busy as September. Well, at least there's Halloween.

Facade, awed

Greg took some better pics of the front of the house. Nice, eh?

More here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25768433@N02/sets/72157626780160050/

Sunny day, sweeping the clouds away...

It's remarkable what some sun and warmth can do for your attitude. Oh, and some brand-spanking new drywall, paint and balcony railing.

Massive progress has been made. We have walls! Walls, people.

Did I mention how nice the house looks when the sun is shining?

Here is a full set of pictures for you to peruse at your leisure: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25768433@N02/sets/72157626686147642/

Entry, stairs and drywall progress

Check out how nice our entry looks now -- thanks Greg!

Drywall is going up at breakneck pace, who-hoo!!!

Also, stairs are up. Stair railings are to come.

Some updated pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25768433@N02/sets/72157626686147642/

Feeling kinda blue (the good kind)

The house is blue! An oh-so-subtle shade of blue. I have mentally dubbed it "air". Love, love, love it. Love.

Also, pieces of our stairway are going into the house.

And...we now have a railing on our balcony.

It's almost too much for words. Andrew, you are my hero of the week (well, at least so far).

More photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25768433@N02/sets/72157626686147642/

I'm not waiting on a lady, I'm just waiting on a friend...

...or a house painter. Due to a combination of slow pace and intermittent rain, our lovely grey-blue has not yet been sprayed on the house. Sigh.

BUT we're getting a balcony railing early next week, and drywall is being delivered Tuesday. Walls, people!

Paint!

Paint should go on the house today (please, God, let paint go on the house today). It's primed, masked, caulked, ready to go!

The paint color we chose is light blueish grey and is called, appropriately enough, Mt. Rainier Grey. You'll see it in its full glory soon.

For now, a primed house:

Siding success

We now have siding on the FRONT OF THE HOUSE.

Who-hoo!!!!

Check it out:

UPDATED (more pics): Siding is on the house!

Actual siding is going up. Who-hoo! It looks very chic and grey...and definitely metallic. There will be no mistaking it for wood siding. We are capital M - Modern now.

Tres chic, no?

We are in over our heads...

Or at least we are craaaazy busy.

Stream-of-consciousness update: windows, siding prep, tile picking, carpet ordering, doorknob picking, electric, plumbing, sinks and bathtubs, hardwood bids, insulation decisions, exterior lighting, interior lighting.

Coming up next: rough-in inspections on electric and plumbing, neighbor open house,

drying out house, insulation, drywall, siding, exterior painting. Oh, we have to pick out exterior paint color(s). Holy moly.

Andrew/Paul/Ryan, thanks for all of your help. We have to be nearing the halfway point, right? ;-)

I've uploaded tons of pictures for you to see the progress. Check it out.

Jan/Feb photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25768433@N02/sets/72157626472772366/

Mar/Apr photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25768433@N02/sets/72157626472716488/

Here's the latest picture taken of the exterior.

Better idea of exterior look and feel

Here's a new rendering of the house. The dark metal siding color (upper part) is set, and we're planning on a moderately light, moderately neutral color for the main/lower house. We're still trying to figure out where to put some color accent(s).

Rendering also posted at the PMa site. :-)
http://www.pmckean.com/residential/leedy/

Excavation extravaganza

Holy moly, our back yard is now a giant mess of holes and dirt. They've excavated for the new great room extension, the shop foundation, Betsy's new stairwell, the drywell (as discussed in the previous post) and will be digging a trench so that we can bury the electric service.

Cement pour scheduled for late next week. Who-hoo!

Check out the disaster:

Dry well in the works

The excavation crew is busting out a dry well today. "What is a dry well?" you may ask. It's a giant hole in the ground that collects storm water and allows it to dissipate in the ground rather than run off and wreak havoc. A dry well we shall have.

New exterior perspective of the house

Wowsie. This is gonna be one sharp house. I think I may be in love.