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!