Honey, We're Home!

I can hardly believe it. After a whirlwind of a week where our date, plan, and format for moving got entirely flipped around not once but multiple times-- we are 100 percent out of our apartment and our home is nowhere near complete, but it's [mostly] functional! I was so filled with adrenaline after the first day of furniture delivery that I ended up almost entirely on my feet for an 18 hour marathon of unpacking. That amount of strain on my 31 week pregnant body also meant that I was almost entirely incapacitated for the next day or two-- but it provided the right momentum for sure!

One of the perks of the move that I did not expect has been the complete honeymoon ambiance of our first week in-- not necessarily between me and my husband, but between us and our house. We are so in awe of its brand-new appliances and shiny surfaces that for the moment, we are equally thrilled to do a load of laundry or load/ unload our (working!!!) dishwasher or do a twice-daily sweep of our hardwoods. Someday we'll need to re-implement our weekly cleaning schedule, but for the moment, our beds are made and our floors are spotless. Even if our garage IS filled with boxes and half of our closets have yet to be built out. The honeymoon phase is real.

In equally wonderful news, though some of our punch-list items are yet to be completed-- sigh-- the weather has finally started to cooperate with us now that we've hit the second half of April and we were able to have the property graded on Friday. Game-changer. Now we can actually visualize living outdoors as well as inside our home, and we've been able to determine that A) our driveway is functional as is, and should be good at least through the early part of next year and B) we can start planning out things like top soil and grass, and a tiny little deck off the back door that will eventually step down onto a sweet patio. I've never been more grateful for farmer relatives who have every single tool we could ever need to aid us in our rudimentary landscaping endeavors.

Our pendant lighting in the kitchen was finished just in time for us to move in. Our floating walnut shelves on the sink side have yet to be completed, but the wood is in our garage and ready to go at the next free moment.

Two pieces of furniture were delivered the day before move-in day, and we wasted no time getting them up and running. First order of business: a "princess bed" for Norah!

Both kids thought that they were pretty helpful. I think they just like the scenery.

And voila! A mattress-less but sturdy bed for my girl!

Our couch ended up getting delivered a full two weeks early, which worked out perfectly with our schedule. It also ended up providing an unfortunately comfortable place for people to rest mid-move. We were happy that the deliverymen left us with several moving blankets to keep it mostly covered until after the dust had settled. Bonus: Everett found that the moving blankets made for a super cozy place to him to hide. Thankfully this monster of a couch is even better in person than we imagined. The velvety texture of the fabric in contrast to the cleaner modern lines of the couch is lovely, and it's more comfortable every time we use it. Win-win!

More to come soon, perhaps a little slower than I would like. As it turns out,  there is one more drawback of new construction in the country that we did not fully anticipate. 60 days without internet is going to be an adventure, but between permits and running new lines down our over-600 foot driveway, that's apparently the timeline that we're looking at for service!

At least we've got more than enough projects to keep us busy in the meantime. Now back to work!

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

I want to move in

to my house today.

Yup. Feeling impatient with this spring weather, which though beautiful has been obnoxiously rainy these last few weeks. All I need is a short dry period so that we can get our final concrete laid and then we should be good to go! Our certificate of occupancy is pending and our temporary apartment is filling up with boxes, so we're ready when the house is... hopefully soon! This moving delay, as it happens, also means that the time between occupancy and the end of our lease will be short. So we're back to the idea of hiring movers to make it happen without us losing our sanity. 

Did I mention that I am also supposed to be traveling abroad in just over a week? And that I'm almost 30 weeks pregnant? There's not that much sanity to spare.

That being said, the silver lining to our delayed move has meant more time working on some of the smaller details that we would have had to otherwise tackle after our move such as shelving in some of our closets, cabinet hardware, and hanging mirrors in our bathrooms. It's kind of nice to know that at least a few elements in our home will be ready-ready and all we will have to do in the kitchen, for example, is decide how to organize our stuff. 

In the meantime, we've been able to start working on a few of the details that will take our house from lovely to, you know, functional.

Perks of carpet = no bedrooms or beds required for these guys! One of their new "we're visiting the house!" routines involves taking lots of pretend naps on the stairs. Also it's another reason why I'm grateful for the landing halfway up/ down.

 A semi-functional laundry room! We will be adding some shelving and pizzazz to this space shortly, but in the meantime we've got a working washer and dryer! Side note: these are the first new appliances we have ever owned. Our previous home came with a set circa late 1980s/ early 1990s and we replaced the washer at one point with my grandmother's mid-90s model when she no longer needed it. So needless to say, I'm thrilled!

Pro/ con of being budget conscious means that we took charge of our own closet and pantry, which also meant a multi-hour long trip to Ikea to grab a whole lot of materials. And a whole lot of man hours to come getting it all assembled and installed!

I love our cabinet hardware a little too much, especially in the way that it mimics the handles on our hardware. Hardware is one of those details that you don't consider when you don't get to choose it, but seems to transform the look of a space when it changes.

Our little bunnies loved hopping around the house on Easter weekend.

A more pulled-back shot of our kitchen (sans peninsula and additional pendants). I'm caring a lot less about our non-ceiling height cabinets at this point. We've since finished the hardware on the island since this shot was taken, but the wall ovens that will be installed next to the fridge are still on their way. The originals were delivered with broken glass, so we are eagerly anticipating the working version!

Though not all details have been completed at E-Haus, our certificate of occupancy was issued and so we get to start moving stuff in a few days! In the meantime, we're surrounded by moving boxes once again for the third time in less than a year. Can't wait to be done with these for decades to come, and the kids concur.

Now, on to the logistics of a three-part move. 

E-Haus: So Close, But So Far Away!

And here we fit our first real inevitable delay of the build process.

Though the permit process has been going smoothly and our builder has been great about scheduling changes and touch ups as indicated, Mother Nature has finally put her foot down. Though this winter was the 5th warmest ever recorded in our typically snowy area, it hasn't been a dry one. The incredible amounts of rain have made for a super muddy yard, and so the top of our driveway and sidewalk in front of our house haven't been able to be installed. So we wait.

Hopefully the delay will be short and sweet, but even if it ends up being more involved, we're still incredibly lucky to have gotten through the build process with so little setbacks. Soon enough we will be embarking upon the hundreds of projects we have yet to tackle-- the best is yet to come!

In the meantime, it's been pretty exciting to see so many details come to reality as we've watched the floors and appliances get delivered over the last few weeks. We even have a giant bag of cabinet hardware ready to go as soon as we find a few minutes to install them!

I love this view of the house. From the dark hardwood floors to the richly toned light fixtures, the french doors and the giant window, I have a feeling that these two rooms are going to see a lot of action. Though billed as a "library," the first will primarily function as a playroom for awhile, and the other will serve as a cozy space for hanging out and watching tv.

This is a small but big thing, since it's one of the details that almost got overlooked in our kitchen plan. We're so excited to have a pull out trash can and compost area!

I have a feeling that I'm going to get very used to this view. Though the pendants still need corrected (the far one, if you can't tell, is just hanging out in space and will be replaced by two of the same pendant spaced out over the peninsula) and the fireplace needs a surround, these rooms make me smile hard. I especially love the high contrast counters and cabinets on the bottom.!

We have carpet upstairs! We have a love seat that's going to make for a perfect little reading nook up here, and the view isn't half-bad, either! Bets on how long the carpet will stay white?!

Laundry room! I have since seen this room with the washer and dryer installed, and though it's by no means roomy, it easily fits two front-load units side by side and we'll be installing some upper cabinets and a countertop over them shortly.

Everett loves his room! It's just about ready for his bunk beds and a modern mural.

Like I said, I can't get enough of this view. Plus I absolutely love how our giant fan has grounded this space.

A (nearly!) finished master bathroom! I have taken daily baths for YEARS, and this will be my first opportunity to do so in a roomy tub. Unfortunately the kids have informed me that they plan on joining on the regular, despite the fact that they get their own not-quite-so-roomy tub!

The master bedroom is not large, but feels airy with the addition of a  faulted ceiling. I like a cozy sleeping space, so this is perfect for us.

Norah loves her room as well! This is the only light fixture with any bling in the whole house, but Miss Nu insisted, and so we conceded the point. The double window feature and 10 foot long closet aren't too shabby, either.

Paint, trim, carpet, hardwoods, railing, balusters are DONE-- all this view needs is some decor!

The view from our entryway. Though I initially fought hard to keep the two-story foyer that was in our first round of house plans, I'm actually so happy that I conceded this point. This space is just large enough for people to come in and deposit shoes and coats in the closet or on a hook, and feels homey besides. The extra square footage on our second floor doesn't hurt, either.

I have big plans for this little powder room. Nate is so scared, but I can't wait to give this space an extra dose of personality!

We have stone! Besides the sidewalk and a whole lot of landscaping, the only thing left to do out here is to paint our front door. I'm thinking yellow. Nate is, again, scared.

Occupancy is Imminent!

March 28, 2016

After a few whirlwind weeks of round-the-clock activity, we are so thrilled to have a date for occupancy! While occupancy in this case also means a whole lot of upfront work in terms of finishing and installing the little details, it also means that we will gain space and yard and freedom,. Plus, we will no longer have to be awakened by the 20-something singles who live above us in our temporary apartment complex and bump home at 3am on the weekends. We won't be bothering them with our little kid noise at 7am, either, so really it's a win-win.

In the spirit of our upcoming move, I've started to compile a to-do list:

1. Purchase shelving/ systems/ mirrors/ kitchen hardware/ etc. so that they are ready to go. We are lucky to have permission from our builder to install some of these things in the next few weekends so that we can move into a more functional home on day one.

2. Get quotes from movers to assess how much it might cost and how much it will or won't be worth it for us to go this route over the tried-and-true "friends for free beer" method that we've used on previous moves.

3. Schedule internet and possible cable service installation. Purchase a really good wireless router.

4. Schedule an end date for our current water/ electricity/ internet services.

5. Get a mailbox installed at the new house and notify the postal service of our move and need for forwarding services.

6. Order durable rugs/ mats at least for the points of entry and exit in the house.

7. Purchase master bedroom curtains and rod.

8. Keep calm, even though it's easier said than done. We're lucky to have a 3 week window between occupancy and the end of our lease, so we have a larger window to work with and should take advantage of that fact. We plan on being in this house for the rest of forever, so what's another few days' wait?

E-Haus: Adventures in Lighting

Beware: there is a major photo overload in this post.

The problem with choosing our own lighting for E-Haus was that although doing so meant that we got to pick our own stuff, it did not give us an unlimited budget with which to make selections. The modest credit that we received helped somewhat, but since builder-grade = inexpensive, we knew that we would be investing a certain amount over that total. But where to invest it?

We decided that the best use of our extra funds would be spent in our great room, which is great in many ways, not least of which is its size. We needed our lighting to make a statement. I initially voted for chandelier, citing designs like this one:

source

But, as much as I am drawn to these looks in theory, Nate made the good point that we are both not traditional enough and also not formal enough to make an elaborate light fixture "work." So we set out to look for fans that would not be dwarfed by our space and stumbled upon this one:

It's a little modern, a little industrial, and huge. It was also a big splurge for us, so we scoured big box options like Amazon, Home Depot, Menards & Lowe's for the other hundred lights we needed. And I even found my chandelier, which will be happily installed in our library/ playroom. 

Here's much of what we ended up purchasing:

A whole lot of modern/ rustic/ industrial in primarily dark oil-rubbed bronze and black finishes that help them to stand out against our light gray painted walls and place nicely with the dark metal balusters on our stairs and balcony. The single exception is the crystal flushmount for N's room, because she wanted a "sparkly light" and we felt obliged to deliver in some way. We delivered all of the lighting in a few different carloads over the course of a weekend, and five days later-- not only were our walls painted, but the lighting was installed as well. This made for a dramatic change that mostly just served to make us more antsy for occupancy and move-in day. 

Here are some of our lights in action:

(Ignore the dusty floors mid-installation. I'll get to them later!)

Now that we have light, we can stalk our house at any time of day! Hooray!