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!

Guest bathroom

As mentioned in the last post, will tiles were very intimidating. Mr. Big, our designer, and virtually everyone in the store spent no less than an hour trying to convince me that a mosaic tile would be appealing for our guest bathroom shower. To be honest, I wasn't completely sold, but went along with the majority opinion. Apparently I need to do this much more often because it is looking great so far.


The glass shower enclosure has been ordered and once the tile makes its way around the floor of the shower, the cabinets will be installed. Once again, it's nice to see our selections come together. And yes, I'm learning through this process.

Master bath

Wall tiles intimidated me in stores. Everything looked amazing and I found myself easily distracted. Fortunately, our designer joined when our final selections were made. He kept us moderately on track...as much as possible anyway. The tiles are making their way to our walls and we thought it was time to show them off. :)


These still require grout, but it is certainly exciting seeing them come up. As for the layout of the bathroom, there are two sinks...can you guess which side is Mr. Big's?

Mudroom and wine storage

Before we hired our designer, our plans called for a tiny laundry area which was next to an equally tiny wine storage area. The entrance from the garage required us to pass through both spaces before entering the kitchen and the rest of the house. Thanks to creative minds, we now have a beautiful mudroom with loads of storage in a soothing palette.


The cabinet handles went on recently and the appliances should be coming in two weeks. Once the undermount lights are in, the wall tiling and painting will be completed.

As for the wine storage, Mr. Big's favorite spot in the house is developing well below the stairwell. The terracotta floors should like striking against dark wood wine racking, which will be constructed over the holidays with our families.

What's going on?

There hasn't been much activity on here recently because Mr. Big and I were traveling for the past two weeks. We spent a day power shopping in San Francisco (okay Mr. Big was in the sports bar and I was shopping...), four days in our favorite spot Sonoma (Mr. Big shopped there...), and then celebrated the wedding of this fantastic couple for five days in Huntington Beach. I'll spare you the chick-flick rundown (that we all know I could put you through), but will summarize that it was an amazing time. Congrats guys!

My wonderful new sister and always-entertaining (and very lucky) brother

During our trip, my eyes were wide open for different decorating inspirations. We stayed at the Huntington Beach Hyatt Regency, which absolutely solidified that we made the right choice sticking with white as an exterior color. But most of all, Hotel Healdsburg once again had my head spinning with beautiful neutral color schemes and gorgeous paintings from one of my favorite artists Wade Hoefer.

It frightens me to think of what I would do to get my hands on one of his pieces (Mr. Big shudders in the background). They perfectly capture Sonoma for me. Probably not ironically, his artwork also adorns the label of one of my favorite wines, Bella Vineyards Lily Hill Zin. Mmmm...

So there you go...it's been quiet in here because we've been away. But a lot is taking place on the house and we'll get updates coming starting later today!

Pipedream

Yes, I realize that this is not likely in our price range, but boy, is it ever beautiful...and unique. From Helen Amy Murray as featured on Style Files.

Rugs and more

Just a quick post for a rug featured on Desire to Inspire from Vixen at Designer Rugs. It has nice detail without being too sweet.

Reflection

We both feel so fortunate to be where we are...building a life on a cozy island. What a sweet journey with many highs, some numbing lows, but many beautiful moments along the way.


Thank you to all those who have been with us along the way. For my lovely husband, I may love our house, but you are my home.

Ok, enough with the chick flick, we'll be back to the building progress in no time... ;)

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. :)

Cabinet update

Here's a quick peek at how the cabinets have come along in the past week. The drawers and doors haven't been put up/on yet, but the boxes are all in place. We were keen on having lots of storage. Apparently we achieved that objective.

The kitchen

The mudroom

The first floor bathrooms will be started soon. The floors for the second floor bathrooms were done so those rooms can start quickly thereafter. I am thrilled with the terracotta tiles in the second floor shared bathroom.


L-o-v-e-l-y!