Houston, we have a problem

I received a call this morning from our cabinet maker telling me that there was a problem with the finish on the cabinets, and that I should probably come and take a look. When I got there, he explained that there had been some sort of mix up (likely on the part of the stain manufacturer) and the cabinets came back from their finisher the wrong colour! To be honest, I surprised myself by not uttering a single word of profanity.

This is absolutely not the stain I chose:



Initially, I wasn't sure what to do. To re-order the cabinets means another 6 week wait...and we're already 3 weeks behind schedule. I can't change the colour of the floors or countertops because they've already been ordered and are waiting to be installed.

In the end, I elected to accept the cabinets and will request that they give me a discount because of the error (that can be a fight my contractor can have with them). So, NO MORE DELAYS!

Step right up!

Today I was able to walk up my new front steps and through the front door of the house! This may seem insignificant, but up until this week, in order to gain access to the house you either had to make your way up a 10 foot long makeshift ramp to the front door, or take your chances stepping up onto an improvised stepping stool-type creation to gain access through the garage entry.

I was so pleased to see the step done! It’s done in exposed aggregate, the same finish that the driveway and walkway will be done in (eventually).

Now that the snow has melted and it's no longer a muddy mess out there, I managed to get a shot of the side/back of the house.

They have been busy inside, mounting the furnace and air-to-air exchanger, and completing the ductwork. It all looks so complicated...it's a good thing they have this very professional mechanical drawing (wink wink):

They’ve also completed the framing for the enclosed “warm zone” in the garage ceiling – this warm zone has been designed to enclose and insulate the ductwork and lines running to and from the bonus room (which is directly above the garage) to keep the bonus room from losing heat/cold through the floor. It’ll be nice and cozy up there!

Time for a change

Hello all! I figured the time was right for my blog to get a facelift! Now that the house has entered a new phase, so must my blog. I hope you guys like it. Let me know what you think...or if there's anything you'd like to see.

I love the smell of concrete in the morning

Ah, I love concrete! Having our basement floor poured means that we are that much closer to getting the house done. Now that the floor has had a week to cure, the furnace can be hooked up to the ductwork, which will allow them to heat the entire house, which will allow the drywallers to get the mudding, taping and sanding done, which will allow the painters to prime and paint...and on and on. Meaning...that we have officially entered the "finishing" stage of this project!

We already know how we plan to use the basement once it's finished:

Future bar and lounge area:

Future bedroom and bathroom:

Future utility and craft/sewing rooms:

Time to get out my Sharpie

Completion of the house is delayed. Postponed. Put back. Rescheduled. Deferred.

I suppose it's time to circle a new date on the calendar.

It came as no surprise to find out tht we will not take possession of the house May 1st. One delay has caused another, and another, and so on...until, before we knew it, 2 weeks had been added to the schedule. Bummer.

Since Dallas and I will be in Mexico from May 9-16, we likely won't take possession until the 18th. Double Bummer.

This whole process is starting to wear me down, physically and mentally. I'm trying to stay positive and optimistic...so here's hoping that this is the last word on a possession date!

Last but not least

Finally, I found a light fixture for the dining room! Yay me! Dallas, as always, has had no input. He seems not to be interested at all...hmmm.

Here it is:

Let there be light!

One of my final tasks was to select the light fixtures for the house. I had a pretty solid idea of what I was looking for, but also had a few items on my wish list that I was hoping to somehow work into the budget.

Needless to say, I was in the showroom all of 5 minutes when I blew the entire budget on one light! I wanted a shazam-pow-wowzers kind of light in the foyer and boy, did I get my wish. I ended up getting 40% off of the fixture...but it still blew my budget to bits!

Undaunted, I carried on...gotta have lights everywhere ya know.

Here's what I selected for the rest of the house (all fixtures - with the exception of the foyer light - will be in oil rubbed bronze).

Foyer (it's 9' tall and made of Swarovski crystals! I think this is what heaven looks like):

Dinette: Island (there will be 2 of these):

Kitchen Sink Light:Half Bath (had to pick mirrors too!):

Main Bath:

Ensuite (there will be 2 of each the fixtures and the mirrors. Bonus - the mirrors tilt! Cooool!):


Exterior (these will be in black):



And that just leaves the Dining Room fixture. Unfortunately I couldn't seem to find one that met all of my persnickity requirements. Soooo, we'll be eating by candlelight until I can make my mind up.