Construction ~ Week 22

Whew, it is great to do a construction post again!  Things really picked up again this week.  It dried out somewhat so that the yard could be leveled and dirt put down.  Ned had 4 big loads of dirt brought in, but by the looks of water still standing, I'd like some more.  The driveway was moved more toward our property line, and our stoops were poured on the two sets of steps in back.  I'm most excited about this progress though:

I have been waiting to see the porch trim finished and the columns go up.  I couldn't be more pleased with how it looks.  We'll have railings too, but I'm excited with how it looks so far.  Black shutters were ordered this week, and although I know those are sometimes one of the last things to be done, I may have to beg for them to be put up so that I can see how it all looks.

On the inside, our electrician and heating/air people are back to work.  I peeked in this morning and saw lots of wires downstairs and our two breaker boxes.  I hope to get in the house tomorrow and see what else was going on.  We don't have garage steps yet and it's just too hard to hoist Avery (and myself) into the house alone.  We'll meet with the electrician this week to check what he's done and make any changes.  Security was ready to start this week but is waiting until this coming week since many people were working inside.  This will be a short work week due to the holiday, but the electrician should finish because insulation and drywall are scheduled to start the following week.

In the past few weeks, we've been acquiring a few things for the house as we found good deals.  Two of the light fixtures I wanted went on sale, so I ordered those.  This will hang in either the foyer or the dining room.

And this will hang in the breakfast room.

When our Lowe's was closing, I got another chandelier for either the dining room or foyer.  I'm praying that I don't see something I like better, and that if I do, I can return it.  (Just don't tell Ned that.)  We also got our washer, dryer, and pedestals on sale and have now had to rent another storage unit to hold all these things.  We are working with someone local on appliances, and he is ordering them as he finds good deals.  We ordered our refrigerator while we were on our way to Maryland.  Luckily, he will hold those items for us.

We are still working on cabinets, counter tops, and pricing.  Local has once again been cheaper than Lowe's, which I admit shocked me greatly.  Cabinets are expensive!  I'm so excited about my kitchen and laundry room and love how the drawings look.  It will be nothing fancy, but they'll be so functional which is all I want.  I'm thankful that the majority of the decisions have been made in those rooms; we're just trying to get our prices straight.  The only appliance I have left to chose is a dishwasher, so it's nice to have that out of the way too.

My goal before Christmas is to get our flooring picked out and to finalize my paint colors.  I want my Christmas break to be a break, so I'd really like to have all of that done.  I'll also need to start furniture shopping soon.  We're not buying a house full of new furniture, but we do need a few things.  We'll use some of what we have, and some rooms will just be a little bare for the time being.  One thing that everyone needs is new bedding, and I need to decide on Avery's so that I can pick her paint.

I'm looking for good prices on chairs and bar stools like these in black if anyone can be of assistance.

Pottery Barn has had them on sale for awhile, and it seems like a good price compared to what I have found.  As I type I'm wondering how these seats will do with children's messes, but I really like them.  The chairs we're using now are going into the dining room so we've got to have something in the breakfast area.

I think that's about all.  It's a lot of stress and aggravation, and it still doesn't seem like it's ours, but when it's a house you've wanted since high school, it's an awful lot of fun to dream about making it home.