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 12

Today my husband asked me, when do we stop calling the new house a house, and start calling it a home?... well, I think today must be the day, because for the first time ever it no longer felt like a construction site, it felt like a home!

I have been waiting to see this for a looooong time! I am in love with the counter/cabinet/floor combination we put together! I was really starting to second guess some things after we picked them out so long ago, but seeing it now everything just looks exactly how I was hoping it would! 

Just waiting for some appliances now ;)

LOVE IT!

Kitchen with counters!

Everything and the kitchen sink :)

Tan and brown granite

I really love the ceramic floor.. it was so nice to see it all uncovered! This will be so much easier to maintain with our dog!

Kitchen ceramic and livingroom carpet

I am so glad we upgraded the padding and the carpet,what a difference from our current home! We have some probably really cheap version of carpet and padding and it just feels and looks janky. 

Rec room

Hey I forgot to mention, we have power! Notice the recessed lighting ;)

back entry

Ceramic tile and carpet by back doors

Entry

And now that we have power, we can take a good picture of the hall bath! I really like this lighter version of what we have in the master bath.

Hall bath

Master bath (nothing has really changed but you know me and pictures!)

Master bedroom (We went with lighter carpeting for the entire top floor which is master bedroom, 2 guestrooms and hallway/stairs)

So this week according to our PM, we now have power (which you saw in pics) and the cleaners were out for a base cleaning in which they removed all of the construction debris and floor coverings. Now our PM will be going through and marking things for the contractors to come in and take care of outstanding issues. Also by Thursday we should see front leadwalks and sidewalks (they weren't able to get out last week) as well as privacy fencing and our deck! And by Friday sod! Next time we see this place it should look as much like a home on the outside as it does on the inside!

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!