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one of the GREAT things about being married to your contractor is that you get to move in before your house is 100% ready.
one of the CRAPPY things about being married to your contractor is that you get to move in before your house is 100% ready.
ha! ha!

we still have quite a few "projects" that are happening on the house.
remember the front retaining wall? when we moved in, it looked like this:


we have been working on it for the last couple of weeks, as well as the area to the left of the driveway, which was previously a narrow, steep strip of dirt.



i am happy to report, that both are officially finished!




we also had stone laid under the front steps.
before:


i really love the way the stone here ties the steps in the  front of the house and the retaining wall.

in the master bathroom, the extra shower head got installed. it was looking a little sad laying on the floor of the shower:


we still need to get the glass and a door, but other than that, it works fabulously!


 there is still a lot left to do, and i will be showing you progress photos every week or two as we cross items off our punch list!


sorry about the sporadic posting lately. my dear 90 year old grandmother passed away late last week, and i have family coming in town for the funeral. things are going to be busy for the next few days.
i am excited to show you around the rest of the house, but most likely will not get around to it until early next week.

bullseye ottoman, $625
high fashion home


jasmine ottoman $459
home decorators


have a happy memorial day weekend!

 i recently completed a full room design for a little man about the same age as my son. as part of the design process, i talked to him and asked him what he liked to do, and what colors he wanted to see in his new room. i was pleasantly surprised at how sophisticated his design sense was! he requested that his room be modern and that it for sure include some green. when i further quizzed him on what shades of green he liked, it wasn't "the hulk" green, like i thought it might be, but more chartreuse.
sign me up! i love yellowy-greens!

i came up with two options for him:

let me introduce you to the "front" of my striped island---and another fun feature--the "built -in" microwave.
just don't tell anyone that this microwave is NOT a fancy, built-in microwave, but a plain
jane, run-of-the-mill, "boring" old counter top microwave.
and an inexpensive one at that!


our cabinet fabricator built a box for the microwave. with an outlet in the back.

once we purchased the microwave, he took some measurements and built a riser for the microwave to sit on.

the microwave has little rubber feet that sit on the countertop---he measured and drilled some holes for the feet to rest in.

 that way, the microwave will not shift around when you push on the buttons and open and close the door.

a custom trim was made and fitted around the microwave.
the lines in the bottom of the trim are for venting and air circulation.

screws were used to make sure that the spacing was adequate between the drawer below and the front trim.

this is a really affordable option to a built-in microwave with a metal trim kit, which can run upwards of $600, and i really love the way it blends in with the rest of the cabinetry!