What a beautiful house!

Everything is cleaned up and tidy for the sheetrock guys to start loading in the sheetrock. Dad's hiring out that part in order to save time and let someone else heft a ton or two of gypsum. Dad is making fast progress on the siding and when I stopped up this afternoon to check it out I was so blown away by what an awesome job he's doing. When I started this blog, I was certain that I was going to be involved in the building my own house from soup to nuts and when our plan changed, I did have occasional pangs of remorse for not being part of the day to day progress. But seeing how hard Dad is working to make this an absolutely beautiful home for us feels great. How many daughters can say that their Dad built them a house? And not just any house, but a really really beautiful house. He is so good at what he does and I don't get to say it enough.

Siding continues

Dad and Matt spent the day working on some more siding. It was a beautiful day, sunny and not too terribly cold. They got quite a bit done and I still really love the way it looks. We've decided to use T1-11 (an OSB product with 4" grooves) on the gables in order to save time and money and we'll need to paint it instead of staining. I'm leaning toward a darker, greyer version of the trim color, with a nice deep persimmon color for the door (color scheme to the right). The house has such an adorable little cottage feeling and it sits so nicely on the property. I can't wait to do some landscaping this summer and plant some flowers. Mum has several perennials in mind for me to devide and transplant from their house, it will be a busy spring! My first purchase from the 2009 seasons farmers market will be a few nice lilac bushes. I ogled them all last summer, wanting so badly to purchase a few to plant.

Kitchen fun

Here's a little mock-up kitchen fun. The greeny background color is similar to the color "Terrarium" in Freshaire paint. I think this is the color I want for the whole downstairs area including kitchen, living room, hall and stairs. The formica is "Green soapstone" by Wilsonart. The cabinet is the Merillat cabinet that we're getting in the "Paprika" color and the blue tile is something I picked up at Lowes this past weekend. It's only $5 a square and will make a classy backsplash. It's a beautiful blue crackly glaze with some grey-green undertones. The spicy pumpkin color is what I think would be nice on that accent door I was talking about a few posts back. I picked the sink up at Home Depot on Sunday for a whopping $49!! It's the exact sink I had been wanting and I just so happened to grab the last one available, which was the floor model. I love how the right basin is shallower than the left, which is so awesomely deep that Bea could, quite comfortably, bathe in it. I know that it is silly to start hoarding things like kitchen sinks in the spare bedroom, but for $49, I simply could not let it go. Plus I can stand in front of it any time and just imagine NOT doing the dishes (we're getting a dishwasher!)

Siding!

Dad called today and I had to rush right up to see...siding! That big pile of rough-cut spruce sitting covered with a tarp has been vexing me for months, it seemed like such a insurmountable task. Leave it to Dad to just start plowing through. I love the way it looks! I love the color with the blue-grey trim and the rough look of the boards. Hooray! Dad is staining as he goes and is able to stain both sides so that we might avoid cupping of the boards. It's an extra step that requires more time and money, but in the long run it will extend the life of the siding.

Video tour!

Here's a tour of the downstairs and a quick peek upstairs. I ran out of time on our little digital camera before I could get through the whole house. Dad's nearly done insulating and sticking up the vapor barrier. Marvelous!

Testing video feature with a flashback

This video was shot exactly 3 years ago. wow.

Animal tracks

This snowy little picture to the left is of a convergence of two sets of animal tracks. One is definitely a moose and we are guessing that the other is a snowshoe hare. There are moose and bunny tracks all over our "yard". I look forward to sitting in our cozy house and watching them frolic about next winter.

Inspections passed, on to insulation

Doesn't it look so cozy and warm? Wouldn't you want to just curl on on that big pile of sheetrock and take a nap? Dad has the second floor nearly insulated and it looks so great. It really changes the space by defining the walls. The second and third photos are of the master bath, which is freaking huge! This bathroom is truly a luxurious addition to such a modest house. It's got two sinks people! I mean come-on, two sinks! Who do we think we are, the Trumps? Plus a nice 4' walk in shower and a special little nook for the toilet. A toilet nook truly is the wave of the future. The washer and dryer will be in the far end of the bathroom (yes this bathroom is so big it even has a "far end") with plenty of room to add a "laundry station" with cabinets and sorting hampers and a little fold down ironing board. We won't be going that far however seeing as we are not, in fact, rich fat cats (even if our bathroom says differently).