The joke is on us

About two weeks ago, everything came together on the house and our final inspections were passed. Life has been grand with manageable workloads, friends down visiting, lazy dinners outside and the warm aura of a new, completed house. Aahhhh....

I mean AAAAHHHH! Yesterday our guests found water pouring through the ceiling light fixtures of our downstairs bathroom. Turns out we have a wee problem that has been with us for a while, and it decided to introduce itself. Our upstairs shower has been leaking since we moved in, through the second floor concrete slab no less. (If Mr. Big's dad comes across this...You were right!) And without fail, this all happens the week that work gets turned on it's head. Of course it does.


So we've got a few holes in ceilings and walls (and no doubt other places that we probably don't want to know). Two of our bathroom are out of commission. Normally we probably would roll with the punches...but we've got only about 70 people coming over for a small get-together on Saturday. We weren't really going for the holes-in-the-ceiling and rough-sheetrock look, at least originally anyway.

I'm sure that the service teams will get us through, but no doubt someone somewhere is having a good laugh at us. Welcome to home ownership guys...

A long journey

On Friday, we received the call that we have been anxiously awaiting for...we received our Certificate of Occupancy. Yes, we are now legally living in our own home, just a mere 16 months after moving in. And hold you breath...66 months after our first meeting with an architect. This has been a long journey.

Calendar by etsy seller upup

In all our eagerness and excitement to build a custom home, we certainly did not realize how time and all-consuming the project would become. I couldn't wait to start making decisions back then. 66 months later, I feel like this whole experience has whopped my backside.

Don't get me wrong...I L-O-V-E the finished product. We still marvel and giggle over the fact that it's ours. But over the last few months, I have felt like a roller coaster sliding into the station after a crazy ride...a bit more calm, a lot more steady, lingering with messy hair and excited breath.

So I suppose that is why the blog has taken a back seat a bit. We've spent Sundays watching the Masters, evenings hosting friends for dinners, afternoons planting herb gardens, and overall just enjoying. It's been a real pleasure "doing" rather than "planning". Nothing beats relaxed, deep breaths.

There's certainly still decorating left to do in the house so the blog will continue. But it might be a tad slower than during the frenetic building phase. And we might get a few more "lifestyle" posts on here...dinner party ideas, interesting hobbies, etc. I hope that you'll stick around and share your thoughts as we move into the next phase...life in the new house.

Looking for paint colors?

How I wish that this series of articles on HouseBeautiful.com was available when we were choosing paint colors. There are articles on the most popular colors, how to choose colors that are right for your space, what colors complement skin tones, how to maintain your painted walls, colors that men like (or they think men like), pretty much everything you can imagine.

If that description doesn't send you to the article, this amazing sun room should. Well done, I hear a round of applause coming...the painted wood floors seal the deal.


I don't know if this is the color used in the space above, but it certainly stood out to me. It's Farrow and Ball Card Room Green 79.


This would be beautiful with Benjamin Moore's White Dove baseboards as it has a very subtle grey undertone.

Okay time for me to stop...we won't be painting anytime soon. At least we hope not.... :)

Give this house an A

After a morning of preparation filling up as many containers that would hold water (including bathtubs) and moving pretty much everything outside into the garage, it was actually rewarding to have Hurricane Paloma strengthen to a Category 3 as it passed by us. In a strange way, it made all the preparation and heightened emotions worthwhile.


We had three friends stay with us as their places were in vulnerable spots on the beach. We started out with a great lunch of Mexican food, accompanied by flickering lights, a power cut, and the inevitable cessation of water. Bundled up in comfort clothes (although it was still 80 degrees outside), we enjoyed cappuccinos, lots of great conversation, and healthy discussions about whether Jordan would be safe in the garage. The wind and rain were howling outside, but the house felt like a thick blanket keeping us snug. Eventually the power came back on (and would stay with us throughout the duration of the storm). Through all of this, little Jordan kept sneaking out of the garage to watch us inside.

What a silly dog? Please get out of the hurricane and back into the garage...

Ultimately, we decided to bring him in, more to ease our minds than anything. His very first trip into the house...

Okay, you win...

For dinner, we enjoyed a feast accompanied by great wine and desert wine. Note to those in hurricane belts: consider inviting a chef to your house during a hurricane. The evening finished with a marathon session of 24, although most of us were snoozing (some snoring) by the fifth episode.

When daylight broke on Saturday morning, everything was in order. We have a few crooked trees, but nothing to worry about. The windows and doors held everything perfectly. During the peak of the storm, we observed them flexing (as is expected), but we had no water or leakage anywhere.

So overall, the house did remarkably well in a sizeable storm. So well, that we enjoyed an impromptu sleepover bash, often forgetting that there was even an event taking place outside. A heartfelt thanks will be sent to our builders this week...

I guess you could call this a test drive

After Hurricane Ivan stormed through our little island as a Cat 5 storm, we sought out the manufacturers of the best windows that withstood the storm (I was so impressed to find that hurricane windows work...even in big storms). We wanted the "mack daddy".

Pretty much out of the blue, we are faced with a Cat 2 storm, Hurricane Paloma, projected to be a direct hit in 10 hours. So how will our windows hold up? Their moment to shine is upon them...and we're eager to take them for a little test drive.


This hurricane will hit us this evening. And unfortunately, it's moving a bit slow at 8 mph, so it will probably be with us for a little while. I have to admit that I prefer daylight hurricanes (as if you could order your choice off a menu?). There's just something that makes the whole experience a bit more intense at night...the winds shrill louder and the unknown is a bit more "unknown".

Anyway, our home is going to be facing it's first real test. Too bad we won't be able to see all the action....

Can we outlast the mosquitos? How about our own decisions?

As our outdoor boys room came up, we were so excited. A outdoor living space that gets amazing breezes, great afternoon shade, and more than it's fair share of mosquitoes. (Which of those doesn't sound like the others?) Moquitos you ask. Are they that bad? Do we really mind? Will it impact our grand entertaining plans? Unfortunately, after posing these questions for six months, the answer to all of the above was a resounding yes.

Once we decided that the mosquitoes were getting the best of us, it was time to figure out how to address them. Screens? Shutters? Doors? We ultimately decided on the later. And true to our construction experience to date, it is going to take quite a while to get them manufactured to match the rest of the house. Surprise, surprise.

Alas, the project is not entirely on hold. Last week we were fortunate enough to get the stained cedar ceiling in place. Wow, they really did a great job on it. Now that the floor is down, the ceiling in place, it is starting to look like a livable area.


And don't worry, the walls are not going to stay in the faux brick pattern as currently outlined. Eventually, they will mimic the textured finish on the interior of our front door entry. (Difficult to see but it is on the far wall in this photo)


The dark roof and light walls should keep the space very fresh and light, while tying in our dark doors. The team doing our finishing is m-e-t-i-c-u-l-o-u-s. They have even painted our outdoor speakers to blend into the stained cedar. Unbelievable. And not at our request!


So while it feels like we've completed the majority of the construction, that's really not the case. The doors will take a few more months, after which the cabana walls can be painted and the island installed.

So while we've effectively figured out how to deal with the mosquitoes, the question still remains as to whether we'll ever get out of our own way and let this house be completed. We're getting close (as we've been saying for over a year now...)

Paint and driveway and soil...oh my!

We've been coming home recently to slow, but steady, progress on the house. One day the paint is done on the front, the next day the sides are done, and yesterday the finishing touches went on the back. And after months of trekking over an uneven and rubble-happy driveway (in heels at dark), I was really excited to come home to a new driveway recently. But today...today the first truckload of soil was delivered. Woohoo!


We might just, possibly, be turning the corner from building site to home site. How refreshing!


And just as I'm happy-stepping my way into the house, I turn the corner...and realize...we've still got a way to go.


Maybe one day we'll miss the scaffolding, broken roof tiles and random nails. For now, we can hope that day comes real soon. :)

Please don't drop that window

So I understand that I should only think good thoughts to bring good results. But sometimes this really challenges me. Really challenges me.

Some may remember that we changed from glass block to a window for our master bathroom (posted about here). A few weeks ago our special order window arrived on site. We had an entire audience present to watch it go in...except me. I couldn't get my head around how they would get a window like this...


...up and into a second floor opening. I was telling myself "they can do it, they know what they are doing". Right. A peek inside my mind would find honest pleads of "Please don't drop the window, please don't drop the window". Mr. Big was outside "oohing" and "aahing" but my hands were over my ears inside. Please don't drop the window. Please don't drop the window.

Ugh...here we go

Deep breaths

Ahhh...a deep sigh of relief

Well, there you go. It took no more than 15 minutes and all the anxiety was over. And of course, the team did great. They did know what they were doing and they did do a great job.

The window is all finished now at it looks fabulous. We will be getting an opaque decal of some sort for privacy from the street (any suggestions out there of where to look?). Otherwise, it's so refreshing to have a beautiful view from the shower first thing in the morning. And you can imagine all the nice positive thoughts that come from that...

Long time, no blog

On December 4th, my patient husband requested that our telephone and internet connections be moved from the condo to the new house. Exactly one month later, on January 4th, we had working phones and internet once again. Wow.

A lot has happened since the last post. We've been visited by Mr. Big's uncle, cousin and parents as well as my brother, parents and grandfather. It's been fabulous having so many family members with us as we start out in the house. Mr. Big's cousin was an absolute angel helping us unpack boxes and my mom has already blessed us with much-needed furniture arrangement tips. We've both eagerly scarfed down Mr. Big's mom's wonderful meals and the dads have built our barbeque stand. Busy, busy, busy.

We've loved having everyone over to see the new abode. Obviously it's far from complete, but we are further on than our first weekend. Still, you could feel the excitement at that point...


When our first stay-over guests arrived, they were in for a bit of a shock. Instead of the inspired plush bedding that my mom and I dreamed up on our trip, this is what they found...honest.


No joke. The mattress delivery was delayed by two days so they arrived to find themselves without anything to sleep on. Fortunately, Mr. Big was on the case and had everything delivered later that afternoon. Phew!

But honestly, there was not a chair to sit on, a stool to lean against, or a couch to chill in. In fact, there were not even handles on their doors to keep the workmen out. The floors were beyond dusty, there were no appliances working, nor did we have the slightest clue where our cutlery or plates were. At least the toilets were flushing.


Fortunately for us, they were absolute sports and helped us pretty much unpack the entire house in the next 10 days. Mr. Big's cousin was FAB! All with a big smile on her face, fun stories to share, and the most helping hands. If you happen to read this, THANK YOU! :)
Unfortunately, when it came time to give back with a fun boat ride out to Stingray City, the boat clunked out and we ended up puttering our way back to shore. Nice. Nevertheless, we're hoping that we might get to host them again...properly this time! :)

The rest of the holiday/move-in was a blast. More pictures and updates to come. Happy New Year everyone!!!

Go! Go! Go!

We are getting so close to the end that we've been running around making loads of last minute choices and decisions (hence the lack of posts lately...). At this point, we risk missing our move-in date if we don't answer every single call from our builder...and there is no shortage of calls. The thought of them waiting on our decision for 24 hours just isn't an option any longer. Go, go, gadget go!

While the interior of the house is fairly close, the exterior is a few months behind. It looks like we'll be living in a construction zone well into late January or early February. In fact, if I posted a photo of the outside of the house, you would think that nothing has changed. Our friends actually gasp at the state of the house when they visit..."right you'll be moving in before the holidays". It really is too bad that the exterior doesn't match the interior at the moment, but what can you do?

Just because images seem to make posts more interesting, here are a few of the recent "express purchases" made via frantic phone calls or midnight internet sessions.

Front door hardware from Hamilton Decorative

Remember the posts about how much I loved our exterior door handles? How I loved them so much that I ordered them for our interior door handles? Well, all of the hardware for our house was ordered with the exception of that for the front door. The Front Door! Total oversight on our part.

Front entry exterior hanging lamp by ELK Lighting

Post lanterns from ELK Lighting

Again, some of you may recall my agonizing over exterior lights for the house. A while back we ordered the wall fixtures, but I never came across anything that caught my eye for our front doorstep or our post lanterns. Everything either looked too ordinary or way too ornate. Well, there you have it folks, I finally threw my hands up two nights ago and ordered ourselves some ordinary and ornate lighting fixtures. Whew, it feels good to check another item off the list.

There has been a great deal of hustle and bustle at the house recently so we'll get some photos up soon. Hope everyone is doing well!

Cool

Yes, it certainly is cool. As in, air conditioned cool! We were pleased to get into a refreshing house yesterday. With the bevy of activity that is taking place, the workers must appreciate it as well.

Take a look at the size of these air conditioning units...holy smokes! For those that aren't aware, Mr. Big is 6'5", which gives some perspective on how big these puppies are. We went with units with very high energy efficiency ratings and hopefully will end up saving some $ in the future. Either that or we're complete suckers.


So here's a run down of where we are at:

• Base boards are currently being installed
• Barn door has been hung (it's b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l)
  
• Ceiling painting should be starting imminently
• Wood floors should be installed on Monday
• Appliances should be installed in the next two weeks
  
• Light fixtures have been ordered
• Outdoor kitchen appliances have been ordered
  

There is obviously quite a bit more taking place, but this is about all that pops to mind at the moment. Happy Halloween everyone!

What have we here?

This was a last minute addition to our project. No, not the Great Expectations-like vines taking over the property, but the outdoor entertainment room, commonly referred to by our architect as the pavilion. I commonly refer to it as Mr. Big's outdoor sports bar. This is where we hope to barbeque, entertain, relax and all the other good things that you do outside on weekends.


It's positioned just off to the side of the house so that the run from the barbeque to the house isn't too challenging. :) Originally we were going to have French doors in each of the openings, but due to budget constraints, we will try and leave it open for the the first few years. Yes, there may be a time in the future when those doors get ordered. Until now, we will be mosquito terminators!


Our architect did a great job with the roof design. (There was a threat that it was going to have to be torn off last week, but I'm letting the memory become a bit more distant before I revisit here for your entertainment. Ugh). It will be great to see the underside once it's all been stained dark.


So there you have it...the very early images of Mr. Big's poolside party room. :)

It's looking like a house (again)

Those words have been used here a few times already. Truth be told, we seem to say it to each other, albeit with a bit more emphasis, virtually every time that we are at the site now. There must be another way to convey our excitement, but apparently we are just that dull.

The cabinets arrived on the site on Tuesday. As expected, we scurried out to the house to find all sorts of boxes ready to be unloaded and installed. Boxes in the shapes of tall cabinets, short cabinets, drawers, mirrors, and all sorts of other treasures were divvied up into their respective rooms of installation. This truly feels like Christmas.


A mid-day trip on Thursday revealed a great deal of progress had been made on the installation. The kitchen and mudroom are taking shape very quickly. The installer is a lovely guy who is fanatical about getting it right. No doubt that this is the guy that you want on the job.

View from mudroom through to kitchen (sorry for the ladder in the way...)

It's a pretty busy place at the moment between the installers, the electricians, and the framers on the outside pavilion. And in the midst of all that commotion, I heard someone quietly proclaim "let there be light". And there was! The first lights have been witnessed. No, the angels did not start singing, but there was a bit of triumph nonetheless. :)

When we were planning the kitchen, we planned for ceiling height cabinetry given that Mr. Big is so tall. Well, he may be tall, but even he is going to need a stool to get to those top shelves. As for me, my reach will be more concentrated in these...

After months (ok, years...) of planning, it's very exciting to see the final product. Up to this point, the house was really a shell with simply walls and doors. There was a lot of possibility with it at that stage. Now that the livable features have been introduced, it's looking like a house...

Crossed telephone lines

It's not a good sign when you arrive on site to hear the jackhammer fighting against your newly-laid stone stairway. Yikes. All of a sudden flashes of 7th grade summer camp start flying across your vision. Somewhere between being asked how the stairs should be finished and the actual men laying the stone, our telephone message was transcribed. Fortunately for us, our builder had it fixed immediately. A bit of extra dust and a few grumpy workers later and the stairs look great. Hats off to our builder for getting us to the right spot.

Besides that little bit of excitement, we were pleased this weekend to find that the first floor guest shower is beginning to take shape. This shower enclosure will be covered in a subtle mosaic tile which has just arrived on site. Boy, oh boy, is it ever tempting to sneak a peek into the materials.


All sorts of goodies should start making their way out into the open over the upcoming weeks...exciting! And just to make sure that the telephone wires remain in tact, our designer has paid a visit to check on things first hand. Ah the comfort of the independent eye...

Cabinets have arrived

They went through months of excruciating deliberation, weeks of production, surely a bumpy ride on their voyage from Canada, and have now finally arrived on island...early! Love that. Actually, they aren't on site yet, but they will be this afternoon. We met with the installer over the weekend and he will be starting on Thursday. Exciting! Things are really starting to take shape.

A happy, happy couple :)

The floor is almost completely down on the first floor. We really were hoping to get a natural, relaxed feel from the tile and it has been perfect so far. Over the weekend, the lead tiler convinced us to fill in the cracks and groves in the middles of the tiles to help keep the floor cleaner in the future. It shouldn't make much of a difference, but Mr. Big seems a tad hesitant that this will impact his rustic floors. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he'll be happy with the decision.

The concrete board has been fastened to the feature wall in the great room. With this now completed, the drywall crew has left the site. Mr. Big and I are in complete agreement that they did a phenomenal job. The house looks great.

It will be really interesting to see how the tilers fasten stone to this wall. They discussed it with us briefly this weekend and the stone will be laid in such a way that every third vertical row will be individually braced. I wasn't nervous until they told me that this is done so that the entire wall doesn't come crashing down. Ugh...not a pretty thought. We're a few weeks off from receiving the materials for this install, but it will be great to see the wall finished.

Well, there's a bit of an update. Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

Flipping the pages of the calendar

The first floor tiles were originally supposed to go in last Monday, then today, then Wednesday, and now it appears to be Saturday. Obviously, this is a bit disappointing, but it is what it is. At least the tiles are on site and ready to go.

The mudding and taping was completed today. We've been fortunate to have a really good crew working on this aspect of the house. On Friday evening, we decided to take a peek at the progress. The radio was blaring through the house, but we couldn't find anyone there. ? When we made it to the master bedroom, we found the crew enjoying the late evening breezes. Perfect! This was exactly what we created the area for (as discussed here). They confirmed our intentions. :)


Here's an example of their hard work (being the view from the kitchen area into the great room). They'll be finishing up by sanding everything down tomorrow.


We met with the plumber and our builder today to go over various questions. A bunch of our supplies have arrived, including our tub in the jack-and-jill bathroom. Another two pallets of plumbing fixtures have been stored on site, but it will be a while until we get to see the goodies inside. It's encouraging to see some of the finishing details start to arrive. Only a few more months....

It's looking like a house

We returned from ten days of vacation to find our house in the shape of a house! It's really exciting to walk through it now with nearly all of the sheetrock, mudding and taping done. The ceiling in the kitchen and dining room area was particularly fun to see. At some points in the design phase I was worried that it might look a bit overwhelming. In the end, it looks perfect.


The frames for the pocket doors were being installed today. To this point, these areas have been just extra wide passageways. Again, it's really good to see all of the walls and partitions in place.


Apparently the storm and other delays have held up the crew from completing all of the sheet rock work. Originally our first floor tiles were to be installed this week, but it now appears that will take place next Monday. (Keeping our fingers crossed).

The house is getting very tangible. We'll be looking at paint colors soon. This has been planned for so long and it feels great to get to this point...this building is turning into a home. :)

Moving forward, but behind

So the good news is that more and more of the house is taking shape. The entire second floor has been sheetrocked, although the mudding and detail has not started yet. And yes, I may be going back on my promise not to post pics of every room.

The upstairs gallery

Jack-and-Jill bathroom and bedroom

The stairwell

The Great Room has also been sheetrocked downstairs and it is really taking shape nicely.


Some of the ceilings in the downstairs have been completed, but there is still quite a bit left to do. This is where things get a little tricky because the schedule was to have all of the sheetrock, mud and detail done by today. Obviously our builder is running a bit behind.

In fact, the schedule calls for the floors to be installed this week. Instead, we found out on Tuesday that the wood floor for the upstairs hasn't even been ordered yet. (Yikes!) So we are at least a few weeks behind. We're not sure how this will translate to our move-in timetable, but hopefully we'll find out this week. Wish us luck!

We've got a master bedroom

I've got a question for those in the construction industry...what is the difference between sheet rock and drywall? I hear (and use) both terms interchangeably so I assume that they are the same thing. ? And for fear that everyone one on our site would likely look at me like I have three heads if I asked this question, I have abstained to this point. So there you go...please accept my apologies if this post is not technically accurate. :)

On Sunday, we were ecstatic to find our master bedroom, wardrobe and bathroom virtually complete.

Master bedroom (view to canal)

Master bedroom (inside room looking back to walk-through wardrobe)

Master bedroom (inside room looking through wardrobe to master bath)

Mr. Big basking in the master bath

Don't worry, I won't actually make you look at photos of every room from every angle going forward. :) We were just so excited to feel the rooms take shape through the addition of drywall.

The entire house should be completed by next weekend. They will then start the mudding process. This is where I nod my head and pretend to understand what they are talking about. If I understand correctly, this is when the walls get rounded (yeah) and drywall lines start to disappear. In the meantime, there are huge piles of drywall like this in every room, just promising to elicit more "oohs" and "aahs" out of yours truly. This is a really exciting time!