Oh how I love color

There has been a lot of activity at the new Chapman house lately. All the walls and cabinets are painted, the island is stained and the counter tops are ready for completion. In the next few weeks they will be installing lighting fixtures, toilets, bath tubs, nobs and pulls for cabinets, remaining flooring and all counter tops. This means were are on the home stretch and we should be moving in sometime at the end of January or early February.

Here are a few pictures of the paint colors!

Kitchen:




Living Room:


Entry from living room to kitchen area:


Dining Room:

Feels like home.

Space for the kitty litter box.




After three weeks of waiting for some activity.....we now have cabinets, trim and doors. Nothing is painted yet, but we are getting closer to being in our home.

Waiting Waiting Waiting......

I realized this afternoon that I have not posted in 3 weeks.

There is not much to post as the only thing "visually" complete is sheetrock. However, my cabinets are finally ready to be installed (still at the cabinet maker's shop) and the trim is ready to be shipped. The only thing we are waiting on...the weather! So, hopefully the weather will cooperate and we can move forward.

6 weeks and counting?

P.S. I bought my first piece of furniture for the new house. yipee!

Ok...so, I snuck a few pictures this morning

Ben called me at 6:45 am this morning to tell me that the stained concrete was not completely covered and I could see it in daylight. I ran next door and caught a few shots before the floor was covered. Here they are!

Vintage Umber

The stained concrete is complete...however, it is not dry so I cannot walk on it to take pictures. My floors will be covered later tonight and will remain that way until construction is complete. So, I will not actually see my floors until a few days before we move in (sometime in January) The few glimpses I saw while peaking through the windows were amazing. It is such a pretty color and it looks great in the house. If you are thinking of staining concrete- either outside or inside- we used Daniel Johnson with Staintech LLC. He did a great job! If you want more information about his company, let me know.

Although I do not have any pictures from our actual floor, I have included a picture of Vintage Umber from the internet.

Brick Arch x 3 plus fireplace #2

Here are some pictures of the brick arches and the fireplace in the living room.

Marshmellows and smores

I can't wait to roast marshmellows in this.

Maison Complete...well, almost.

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of days. The exterior of the house is complete. There are a few minor details left as we do not have our shutters yet. However, it looks like a house now.

As far as the interior, the insulation is done and the bricklayers are working on the arches and fireplaces. Hopefully they will be able to sheetrock next week. According to my builder, once the sheetrocking is done, it takes about 45 more days to finish the house. So, we may actually be able to move in this January.





The brick arches.




Brick fireplace in the keeping/kitchen.

It's a BRICK HOUSE....

The Colonial Virginia has arrived. After several weeks of mud and rain, the bricklayers have arrived. At approximately 12 noon on Wednesday, I had one brick wall. Ofcourse it had to rain AGAIN...so no work was done until Friday. BUT, this is what I woke up to this morning...a BRICK HOUSE.




Whistle while you work.....

Halloween surprises and gifts from the Electricians

Some new things from last week....too bad is was raining most of the time because I would have brick by now :(




The lovely pond.





Front view with columns and finished front doors.






A very scary spider hanging in my kitchen...thanks to Erik.

A bee hive....made from my house plans and little bees drawn on my walls.

I never thought I would....

I never in my life thought I would hire an Interior designer. However, upon being faced with this mighty task..I realized that I was not capable of picking out everything in my house..which includes color schemes, lighting, doors, counter tops, floors and cabinets. Oh I mean I can pick something out of a magazine that I love..but putting it all together for the entire house and within budget (the most important part) was something I was confident in admitting I could not handle. So, with great reservation and a little pushing from my contractors, I hired Terri Bouer. Let me tell you how amazing she has been. First, she is one of the most down to earth, talented people I have ever met. I know what you are thinking...Interior designer?? must cost a fortune! NOPE...very reasonable, especially for what she can do in such a little amount of time. Most importantly, she listens to me. Anyways, it hit me today how glad I am that I decided to hire her. I had to meet with the "cabinet" guy to "design" my cabinets...for the entire house. This includes the kitchen, built ins in the living room, every bathroom..laundry room, etc. Well, I had given Terri some pictures and she was great at just "sketching away"- she would literally draw my cabinets, show me the design and tell the cabinet man what to do. She also made sure spacing was correct, electrical outlets were perfect and there were NO FLAWS! And the whole time...she is keeping my husband cool and calm. I may be good at some things, but this I could never do. So, in the coming weeks as the interior of my home starts becoming a reality, I will surely post Terri's work. Yes, I had a say in all of this...but, she put it together.

stucco, shingles and windows galore

The last couple of weeks have flown by and the house is moving right along. The roofing crew finished the shingles and the roof is now complete. They started doing the stucco in the back and front porches as well as staining the cypress on the ceilings. Our windows and front doors were installed and we are waiting for the back doors to arrive. Hopefully we will have brick in the next week or so. The outside of the house is a bit deceiving as it appears the house is almost complete..however, I have included pictures of the interior where there are only 2x4s....however, kuddos to the plumbing and electrical crews. They appear to be moving right along. I also have all of my airconditioning ducts finished...I cannot wait for central air and heat. I currently have window units and gas fireplaces!

No pictures...just a moment of reflection and thanks

I wake up every morning realizing how truly blessed I am. It takes me almost an hour to get to work every morning and I spend most of that time reflecting, thinking about my upcoming projects at work and giving my many thanks to God. I am so thankful to have parents who taught me to work hard and inspired me to achieve my goals in life. I am so blessed to have a large family to share special times with...I love my siblings dearly and could not imagine a life without them. God was really on my side the day he brought me to my dear Benjamin...my one true love. How thankful I am to have such a wonderful, loving and inspirational husband. So while this house is the center of my daily thoughts and the source of much excitement, I have not forgotten WHO brought me to this point in my life and am truly thankful for this journey.

Update and Progress

Here are a few pictures....from the slab to the roof. This only took 4 weeks.