Kitchen Cabinets Layout finalized 07-27-11

I received the layout for my kitchen tonight.  

I was always worried about having such a small kitchen, however I think it is going to be fine.

I KNOW it will be beautiful!!!

I have never had glass doors in my kitchen before.  Also, I will have this wonderful large drawer stack under the glass doors.

This is the the sink/dishwasher island with a bar height counter top.  I will be able to fit 4 bar stools there.

Kitchen I love from Houz.  I do believe the counter tops are blue pearl granite like mine will be.  I am hoping to do some of the trim work on my bar counter top as done in this picture.  That will be later down the line of after closing wishes.

Cottage Update - Insulation and Columns

Driving up to our new house, AnnaBelle is just as excited as I am.

So, I thought I would focus in on her.  She is so cute looking at her future neighborhood.

It looks like most of the siding is on.

Ah, my columns are up.  Plantation type columns...I love them.

What a sweet house...I can hardly wait to see the shutters on the house.

The living room and breakfast area to the left now have insulation as all of the outside walls do now.

The bonus room sofa platform is up.  This room will be a large sports room.  The house we have now has the media room and game room separated.

Cottage pre-sheetrock meeting with builder

David Weekley Homes has a pre-sheetrock meeting between the client and the builder.

At this point, you and the builder can discuss any problems either of you see.  

I took about 50 pictures.  

I have a picture of every wall in my house so I know where all pipes and wires are.  

I don't want to hang a picture on the wall and put a hole in a water pipe.

Also, I know where the load bearing walls are.  

This is good in case we might remodel in the future.

Utility Room - I want 24 inch deep cabinets over my washer and dryer. There are a lot of pipes on this wall to watch out for.

This is the family room.  The fireplace is in between two arched bookcases.  Here, you can only see one bookcase.  I wanted to get a clear picture of how the television cabling will run into the cabinet in the left bookcase.  My builder had the orange flex tubing run.  I would have never thought of something like this.  My builder did tell me that if we ever disconnect a cable, tie a string to it first.  It will make it a lot easier to pull the next cabling through.

The green color on the wood is termite treatment.  The green wire is for a pest control system.  This wire has been run throughout our home.  The pest control technician can pump the product he uses through this green wire each quarter to keep the nasty bugs away.  I am all for that.

I hope to get some sheetrocked rooms this week!!!

A not-so-pretty bookcase transformed

Tattered Butterfly posts a beautiful bookcase from an ugly duckling.

Before

After

The wallpaper can be found HERE.

Bathroom Re-do by Happiness is Five

I found a bathroom that I have fallen in love with by Happiness is Five.  You can find her complete post HERE.

Before

After

This is one of the most peaceful rooms I have seen yet.  I am crazy about the stencil art.

The color choice was Martha Living Aegean Blue, however Behr paint and primer in one was used.  The beautiful stencil was from Cutting Edge Stencils using the trim paint as one layer and a pearl acrylic for the shadow layer.

Link party today

I love finding a link party.  I find awesome ideas from blogs I didn't know about, which is always fun.

Today, Between Naps on the Porch is having one.

Join in on the fun

Updates on my cottage

Inside Framing - July 3, 2011

This is the family room.  The fireplace will be in the middle with arched bookcases on each side.

View of my hobby room.  I was not going to have a door or closet, however they are there now.  I have asked the builder to remove the closet. 

Foyer area.  We are trying to decide where to end the tile and where to begin the hardwood flooring.

Another view of foyer.  We are having a border in our foyer, so I am hoping that we can let our builder know to put one row of the tile around the boarder in the middle.  We want to stairs to have hardwood at that point.

This is the opening from the dining room to the living room.  The pantry of the kitchen is to the left.  This wall was supposed to be brought down one foot.  The builder will fix that.

The gas line and exhaust for my cook top is on the wrong wall.  Our builder has already had the exhaust moved to the other wall through the room.  Problems that I think might be out of the question to repair, my builder takes with a grain of salt.  He is a jewel and knows what he is doing.  I think he could do this in his sleep.

View from my breakfast area into the kitchen.  I am not happy with the triangle bar/kitchen sink you see in the middle.  When I can afford it, I will have a large island built.  The builder says it will be no problem since the plumbing is situated where it is.

Looking from the breakfast area into the family room, stairway and foyer.  And this is downsizing for us!!!

Outside Framing, Roof and Siding - July 3, 2011

Outside Framing, Roof and Siding July 10, 2011

Tutorials from Domestically Speaking

After Googling Ikea ideas,

I came upon this wonderful tutorial from 
Domestically Speaking:

3 Ikea Shelves Become an Entertainment Built-In

  Maryann has tons of tutorials on her website. I have only listed a couple.

Mini-blind Makeover

Maryann uses mini blinds to make roman shades for her bedroom.  I cannot wait to try this.  Then, I began looking around her site.

Maryann belongs to a group of very gifted Do-It-Yourselfers..is that a word?

Anyway, look at the awesome gift she made for Grandma:

Maryann got the vinyl lettering from:

Say It on the Wall

You can get the complete tutorial here:

Making a Gift for Mom with Say It On the Wall

I could sit here all day and just read Maryann's tutorials 

and dream of putting them into action at my new cottage.

However, I had better not....

Until the next time......

What to do while waiting for my new house to be built

This is my list which probably will be updated as time goes on:

Start a blog.

Research decorating ideas.

Clean out furniture to sell since I am downsizing.

Sell the furniture.

Go through everything.  Either pack it, donate it, sell it or thrown it away.

Get ready for the September garage sell in my neighborhood.

Beautiful Home by Westin

The colors of this home were my first choice.  

Blues and creams and white with dark cabinets, furniture and floors.  

I am still leaning in that direction because most of my furniture is only 4 years old.  

I don't want to replace it any time soon, 

so I will brighten up our cottage just as they have done here.