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construction progress: week 15-18

Posted by dasfseegdse Senin, 04 Maret 2013 0 komentar

the last few weeks have been a blur. we have been doing a lot of work ourselves and have been at the house at least 4-5 nights a week, which has been exciting and exhausting. the house is really starting to take shape!

here is an idea of what has been happening:

we decided that we wanted to fully enclose the shower for a more custom look. here is my husband and a helper installing the ceiling curb.

we primed the entire main floor. we ran out of time to prime the upstairs, so that will be happeining in the next 2 weeks.

the custom exterior doors were delivered...

...and installed. they are alder. although i thought it might be fun to paint them with a dark high gloss finish, my husband really want to see some of the natural grain, and so we are opting for an opaque stain.

and, the HARDWOOD floors were started!

THIS is the main thing that has happening at the house the last 3 weeks.

we decided on oak floors, and in particular red oak. oak is affordable, looks great, and is very durable. when purchasing oak, you can get different grades. we always get RED OAK #2. this means that there are more imperfections that if you opted for grade #1. i love the worm holes and knots and variations that come with the #2 red oak. it adds a lot of character. another factor that affects the price is the width of the wood planks. the wider the plank, the more it costs. we chose 3 1/4" planks.

we purchased our wood through al stosich at sunwood distributors in midvale.

the wood comes with a tongue on one side and a groove on the other, and must be fitted together and then nailed in place. after it is all laid, it will need to be filled (large knots and any gaps), sanded, stained, and then coated with polyurethane. yes...that is a lot of steps....but once you have had hardwood floors that have been finished on-site, you will realize how wonderful they are. manufactured and pre-finished wood floors just can't come close to the look and feel!

its been exciting to see the wood floors slowly going in.

keyword...s-l-o-w-l-y.

since a lot of the cost of hardwood floors is in the installation, we are saving a ton of money by doing it ourselves. it is a lot of work, but SO worth it! we actually decided to run the hardwood in the master bedroom, because it was cheaper than carpet! crazy, right?

my kids have been troopers! they have spent a lot of time in the last couple of weeks, curled up on those camp chairs. they have been reading up a storm and getting some ipod time in as well.

we are ALMOST done. we are literally just a few hours away from being completely finished. i can't wait! phew!

another exciting day---the doors and trim were delivered, and we have started to install both. my husband has some great friends that have come over and helped. they have been fantastic!

as always, we continued to get snow. it snowed every single week of the last month. blech!

other happenings:

narrowing down carpet....

choosing cabinet colors...

narrowing down a stain color for the exterior doors.

trying to find tile in our budget that i like...(harder than i thought it would be. *sigh.)

looking at stone slabs. i hope we can afford to put in stone counter tops. we still have a few things that may "shift" our budget....

and FINALLY---the exterior siding is going up! the entire back side of the house is done, and they are working on the sides and the front. it has been exciting to drive up to the house and SEE the changes! my husband has tweaked the exterior details on the front of the house a bit, and i am excited to see his ideas come to life!

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Animal House Wallpaper

Posted by dasfseegdse Minggu, 03 Maret 2013 0 komentar

Animal House Wallpaper

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Sunset Sailing Wallpaper

Posted by dasfseegdse 0 komentar

Sunset Sailing Wallpaper

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mini living room at ikea

Posted by dasfseegdse Jumat, 01 Maret 2013 0 komentar

i had to run to ikea earlier this week, and if i have time when i go, i like to walk around the showroom. most of the time, i am there just to grab something, and i am in and out in record time. (for real. i bet if you divided the number of times i have been to ikea by the total number of minutes i have stayed, i would win some type of medal or something! or at least get some free chocolate...)

anyway, i was particularly captivated by this mini living space:

(sorry the pictures are a little blurry. i was running while i took these.

ok, not really. but i WAS in a hurry.)

there are so many SMART space saving ideas at work here!

*i really love the armless sofa. arms take up a lot of space on a chair or sofa, and eliminating them not only opens up the room, but saves precious inches.

*the fact that the storage wall is floating is also a HUGE space saver because it takes up zero floor space, allowing the sofa to fit more snugly against the wall.

*the use of two small tables and a small floor lamp adds functionality to the room without compromising space.

*the art hung below the below the storage is brilliant, and lets not forget the lighting! the space would feel very different if all of the lighting was coming form the ceiling. staggering the lighting on different elevations helps to create a sense of coziness and also eliminates dark shadows.

*i also love the the entertainment area is wall mounted, allowing the ottomans to be partially tucked away.

several sources of light create a layered and cozy space.

another look at the sofa.

such a well executed space!

wouldn't you love to have a room like this if you lived in a big city and had a tiny apartment? who says you have to compromise style and storage when space is short?

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kitchen plans

Posted by dasfseegdse Kamis, 28 Februari 2013 0 komentar

i know i am SO far behind in posting about my house....i have just been so busy laying the hardwood floors with my husband and working that i just haven't had the time.

however, i did want to share the design drawings for the kitchen. we went with millbrook cabinet designs. they don't have a website (yet), but they have been amazing to work with and i have been really pleased with their service and craftsmanship. they are located in north salt lake.

for reference, here is the main floor plan of my house:

all of the surround cabinets will be painted swiss coffee by benjamin moore, and will be a simple shaker style cabinet like this:

here is the "side" wall of the kitchen...the long wall to the side of the island:

the bulk of this wall will be the freezer and refrigerator, and pantry. we decided to go for separate freezer and fridge units. we love the look of built-tins, but they were out of our price range. we managed to find these from kenmore at a really reasonable price:

the back wall will have the range, two windows and upper and lower cabinets. the tower on the left will
have open shelving. i thought about doing floating shelves, but ultimately decided that i liked the enclosed open shelves better.

the hood will be slanted slightly, so that i can put some art up there if i want. we are still on the hunt for an affordable 36" range.

and finally: the island: (and a side view of the hood)

the microwave will be under the counter...something i have never had before in a house. since that back wall is visible from the front door, i didn't want the microwave there. the island was the only place it would really fit. one of the things i am really excited about are the drawers under the sink, instead of standard cupboard doors! things have a tendency to get "lost" in my under-sink cabinet, so i am looking forward to items being more accessible.

the island is going to be a mix of painted wood and straight grain oak that will be wire brushed and wiped with a wash! i will be sharing more about that soon. i am REALLY excited to show y'all!

Kitchens Glasgow offer a great service for design and installation for your new kitchen.

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master vanity design in progress

Posted by dasfseegdse Rabu, 27 Februari 2013 0 komentar

since i knew i wanted the floor and shower in my new master bath to be a light marble, i decided pretty quickly that i wanted the vanity to be wood. i love the warmth that wood can bring to a space.
as a was looking around for inspiration, i turned to one of my favorite furniture designers--
the new traditionalists.
they have the most beautiful pieces in their collection...pieces that are that perfect balance of traditional and modern.
here is a sampling:

are you dying over the complete and utter gorgeousness of these??

here is the credenza that i used as inspiration for my vanity:

when i showed the pictures to my cabinet maker, he said it would be pretty expensive to duplicate, so he came up with the idea to make a simple, shaker style cabinet and then put a small piece of trim on the inside.

at first, he suggested an angular trim with a slight groove in it:

while i liked the way it softened the edge of the cabinet, i wasn't in love with it, so i asked if he could get some trim that had a softer, radius edge.

aha!
i liked that much better.

here are the two pieces next to each other for comparison:

i also asked if he could make the sides as slender as possible. i really like the delicate edges and detail on the credenza by the new traditionalists, and felt the proportions of the edges (rails) to the flat pieces (panels) would be improved this way.

here is a sketch of the vanity: