Week 13

Well folks, time is ticking down... Friday is pre-settlement and next Thursday we close! We are so close but I guess we have been waiting what seems like forever... so it almost doesn't seem real yet. I keep telling myself, next weekend we will be moving into our new home! In the meantime.. here are some updates! When we took these pictures on Friday night we had recieved an email from our PM just confirming our pre-settlement meeting and when we wrote him back mentioned we would like to stop by the house and see what had been done. He let us know that sod and landscaping was nearly 100% done, painting of the exterior had begun, privacy fence and deck had been installed and a few things were left on the interior as well, but Tuesday (today) they should be 100% complete.

I can't say enough how much I love it! Everything is really coming together to make it a home! We did another quick drive by Sunday evening and they were just finishing painting the front door red

Side shot... you can see our fencing comes out I think 5 feet to the side being an end unit. I honestly don't think we could have gone with a townhome if we hadn't been able to have an end unit. I know it might not seem like much to some, but just that little extra space in the yard and that little extra light you get (a lot extra light, really) from the windows makes such a big difference, at least to us. 

Okay, so this might sound a little crazy but my husband and I had gone to a nursery (for plants, not babies:) the other weekend just to look around and I had decided that I really wanted to put holly bushes in the front. Not just any holly bushes, but I wanted two nice, tall ones, to frame out the front. We figured when they did the landscaping they put in the typical juniper bushes (which I can't stand) probably because you just can't kill them, and we would have to rip them up next spring.. Anyway we were surprised to see holly bushes in the front and a tall one as well! (remember how I said it's the little things before?) So we plan to just add one more tall one next to the door. Don't even get me started on the rest of the plans we have...

So this is the back yard space with grass, and a deck! Oh and fencing too... The ONLY thing off was the color of the deck but our PM assured us that would be corrected this week. We had selected the driftwood however they installed the mahogany (driftwood=blue, mahogany=red) 

Not a big yard, but enought for our pup! At least with privacy fencing now he can hang out outside, he is a jumper so normal fences don't hold the crazy animal in...

So a big kudos goes out to our PM here... normally they stop the fencing and make it flush with the rear of the garage, however he was able to extend it down to the front which gives just a little extra space along the side of the garage, again.. little things like this make us VERY happy! We plan to do some potato condos and (google it) this gives us just the space we need! 

More holly bushes :)

We have appliances! I wasn't sure if I should take pics of this yet, everything is still in plastic and stuff was all over the place, but figured what the heck... it's still exciting to see a gas stove! 

Stay tuned.... The final update before we close comes friday!

Week 11

We are floored! Literally! Just kidding... cheesy joke:) But hey, we do have ceramic floors and bath surrounds in! Its been a crazy and busy week for us so we haven't been by the house for a full week (first time since we broke ground) so we really were surprised at all the things happening.. between flooring, siding, shutters, the list continues...Oh and we received a letter from NVR/Ryan homes, we have our Pre-Settlement meeting on Sept 19th and we close on the 25th!!!!! Better start packing!

This picture turned out really dark for some reason but I wanted to give a panorama of the downstairs rec room

And under the paper.... ceramic!

This is what we have in the front foyer as well. LOVE IT! It has kind of a greyish/blue tone in it.

Foyer... with ceramic under the paper once again

The banister and rails are stained! I completely forgot what we had even chosen but I like the lighter, natural color! (probably why I chose it in the first place...)

Kitchen! With a microwave:)

So I am really relieved after going back today to take pics, in looking at the cabinets again they really don't seem as yellow as I first thought they were. Seeing them with the flooring in really makes a difference too

LOVE how this looks! I was really starting to second guess some of our choices (it has been months since we made our selections) but I am so excited and relieved now!

Chandelier... and they put in light bulbs! Lol its the really little things that count!

Pano of the whole second level (Don't mind how janky it makes the lines, I'm not a very steady hand)

BRIGHT living room! This picture really captures how much light we get in here!

I can't wait to see this complete!

A shot of the stairs heading to the third floor.. had to throw in another picture of the railings because I'm really liking the stain! 

Ok, so here we were totally caught off guard! When we walked into the master bath, we really were convinced this was the wrong tile! It seemed soooo much darker than what we remembered selecting! I went back through old photos, thank goodness I've been taking pics of everything, and sure enough it does seem a little darker but not by as much as we first thought. Anyhow, we really like it!

The sandstone vanity has some darker spots in it that match the tile, so it all seems to blend well. Again... more decisions I was starting to second guess after awhile but am relieved to see it looking even better than I imagined! 

Guardian

So this is the ceramic in the hall bath.. it is the same as the master but a few shades lighter. 

Sorry the hall bath pics are a little off, there isn't any light in here so its just the flash from my camera

Outside light fixture

We really needed some AC today! 90 plus degrees out and not a whisper of a breeze

These are our RED shutters! (They were called fiery brown on paper...)

Siding!  

I can't wait to have a deck!

Garage doors installed too!

They still have to put shutters on the front but the trim around the door is up

Also this week they should be forming the front sidewalks and leadwalks to the house, then grading and putting down top soil to begin laying sod!

Week 10

So Friday afternoon my husband took off work and we decided to get out and enjoy the day. Just as we were sitting down to lunch an email from our PM pops up and low and behold, when he said they would start trim either Friday or Monday... I was NOT expecting to get an email Friday at noon that initial trim had been done! Of course we had to email him back and head over there after we finished eating just to see it all for ourselves! Also found out that Monday they will start ceramic! (Most of these pics are from our PM's email)

Foyer looking at french doors to the study 

Rec room/utility closet doors

Rec room

And banister!

From living area 

Completely shocked when I saw cabinets installed! I didn't realize they would be put in yet and I was so anxious to see how they would look! I was starting to wonder if we shouldn't have gone with the basic white but I think these have so much more character!Although when it comes time to paint we will have to be careful not to get a color that makes them look yellowy (which totally nixes my ideas of having a yellow kitchen)

When we had our preconstruction meeting with our PM, he mentioned that we were the first townhome (and I think home in general he has done) that he has seen with the hazelnut glaze cabinets. I'm curious to know what he thinks now that they are in... we were a little nervous after we heard that since it seems as though most people go with dark cabinets. Our SR says he really likes these cabinets since they have a country sort of style and we do too! I guess that's all that matters! It will really be something to see them once the flooring and countertops are in as well.

Upstairs hallway

This is the only laminate in the house.. the laundry closet

And master bath! We changed the cabinet (which I hadn't updated on here, sorry) from andover white to timberlake white. It was an upgrade but we felt the andover doors looked like plastic with how the grooves in the doors were and wanted to keep it similar to the kitchen in style. We actually nixed the fireplace in the rec room which I'm sure by now you can see in the pictures, we just felt the cost versus how often we would use it was a waste (although I love the idea and look of a fireplace) Our SR made me feel better about that decision when he justified it by saying putting a big hole in the wall really reduces the energy efficiency of the home, plus we might use it a handful of times a year. So we balanced it out by upgrading the bathrooms while keeping the total cost of home where we wanted it. Oh yeah... that's sandstone granite! Apparently not an option chosen very often in our community. Thoughts? (I'm happy with it!)

And another shot of the exterior! Cement step added in the front and they also put up the black roof over the bay window

Again another rainy day here.. you can tell this was taken from my vehicle but I wanted to give a good view of what our street is shaping up to look like now that our neighbor unit also has their brick completed!