i'm dreaming of a white christmas ...

Here was our view on December 1 ...





... it was a glorious winter weekend, and we were able to tuck in and enjoy the view. It inspired us to get christmas lights up and get the tree started - I will post some pics on that soon. It rained Monday and washed all of the white stuff away.

So, I guess I should pick up from the September post on a tour of the house.

Looking to the right of the fire place is the "dining room area" - again, the table is set up for the shower, but you get the idea. We love the windows.





To the left of the fireplace is the "living room area". One thing about building/moving into a new house, is that you suddently want to buy new furniture (with the exception of the dining room table, side hutch and china cabinet which belonged to S grandmother)! High on our list is a new couch and entertainment unit.



The chairs are lined up along the wall like that because I took the photos when the place was set up to host a friends bridal shower in September.

To left is a bathroom, and the hallway leading upstairs


Yes, the stairs are still wrapped in cardboard for protection. They are made of beautiful cedar, which is a soft wood, and they still need to get painted.



The wall at the end of the hall is where the addition will be extended from. Going up stairs now ...







There is a hall access to the deck to the left, my office door is also to the left (no pictures), but there is another access door there. We have stairs up to to deck so I can have clients in and out of my office without going through the house. The deck is wonderful, it is the top of the garage and gets morning and evening sun. We are looking forward to "landscaping" the space in the spring.

There is also a spare room on the second floor that we use for now as a guest room/S music room. After we do the addition it will probably be like a family/media room.

Now to our oasis ...



Again, as I mentioned about new furniture - a new bedroom suite is at the top of our list.


... and the ensuite ...



We love it! The tile floor is heated ...




... there is also a double shower. Here is the view from the tub on one of our snow days at the beginning of December ...



So there is a bit of a tour. It is still a work in progress ... doors and stairs still need to be painted, decks to build, landscaping, etc., but we just love our home - and are looking forward to enjoying it for a while before we start the addition.

where did the summer go?

Hi all. I know, I know ... I am being really bad at keeping this up to date. I pledge to attempt to add something once a month ... starting now (I missed August!). Life has been full and busy, and we are looking forward to a quieter fall and winter. I think I was holding off updating this blog until we got a few more things done, but we won't be getting doors or stairs painted for a little while yet. We had an end of summer staff party on the weekend and I hosted a shower for a friend last night, so a few more things have gotten put away - great time for some pictures!

So earlier I posted some pics of the fireplace in progress ... here it is pretty much complete. The stained glass sconces on either side are made locally and were wedding gifts (yes, that is S's guitar).

PS ... ok, so this has been saved as a draft since September ... it is now December 13! I am officially the worst blogger ever! I am going to post this one at this state, and put together a more current post.

I have heard it said that the kitchen is the heart of a home ...

... so that is probably a good place to start the tour.

So I think I will be a once-a-month blogger ... sorry for the lack of action here.

Yes, we have been in a few weeks, and of course, I was waiting until everything is all done, and put away and pretty before posting more pics. Well we may be waiting until Thanksgiving for that, so I will bring you up-to-date room by room as we are as done as we can be.

So, our kitchen counter arrived the other day 3 weeks ahead of expected - YAY! I put my new cordless drill (gift from S who is impressed with my power tool abilities) to work and got the handles installed. So I bring you, THE KITCHEN ...

We went with IKEA cabinets (medium brown) and are very happy with them. Their on-line kitchen design software was very handy getting things figured out before making the major treck to the big city to pick up all of the bits and pieces - it is not a trip you want to have to repeat if you forget one thing-ma-gigy. For the counter, we went with Silestone (Green River). The trim and window ledge is courtesy of a very handy and generous father-in-law.

Here is the work in progress ...

and finished ... (well almost, we just have to paint the heater black and the pictures don't show the faucets)

and a close up of details ...

One of the winter DIY projects will be the backsplash.

It has a southern exposure, so the sun just pours in there on nice days (on the want/need list for S for the house).

It has been an enjoyable few weeks unpacking, especially knowing it is for the very long term - a new but wonderful concept for me.

I will try and finish the tour this weekend.

home sweet home

My apologies for the lack of updates here, the last few weeks have been nutty with VERY long days. In addition, my computer decided it needed some time at the spa, so I have been without digital photo capabilities for a while - hopefully my computer will be back by the end of this week.

So, we are home! We moved in yesterday, and spend last night here - cooked a lovely dinner (sort of camping style because everything was packed), enjoyed the new fire place, and tried to soak in the fact that this is OUR HOME!

The house is ALMOST done. That last 5% seems to be the hardest, but "the guys" are doing what they can to make this absolutely beautiful new house our home.

I will post some new pics as soon as I can.

Life is very sweet.

home stretch

The house has really come together over the last week as some of the finishing details get put in place - specifically tile and flooring. We are delighted with everything has come together given how many decisions (paint, tile, carpet, cabinets, etc.) we had to make in isolation.

Installation of laminate in living room/dining room ... before ...

... and during ...

The posts and beams are getting sanded at the moment, so everything is covered with sawdust. I will post the finished product when things get cleaned up.

Here is some tile work - the master ensuite before (shower then tub areas) ...

... and almost complete - the tile for the shower shelves and the tub window ledge still need to be installed - and everything still needs to be wipped down and sealed ...

... next post - CARPET (oooooooo!).

So we are heading out of town Friday and Saturday for a bit of a break from our busyness, and to pick up a few more house things from the never ending list (interior lighting, ensuite vanity, deck tiles, etc.).

Tomorrow, the applicances are installed - yay!

The movers come in about two weeks - then it's home sweet home!

from the outside in

Early in the planning stages we decided to phase the house. Eventually, it will be a 3 bedroom, 3 bath house, with a legal 750 sq ft secondary suite, and an attached double garage (well a garage for my car and S's workshop).

For phase one, we have built the garage, the suite (which we will use now as our kitchen, living room and dining room) and some of the second floor of the future house (an office, family room and master bedroom with ensuite). We used an architect to make sure we could undertake our ideas efficiently, and he was very helpful in developing some creative and beautiful ideas that have really customized this home. It sits on a beautiful lot essentially in a natural state, with a view of the inlet. We wanted to be able to enjoy the scenery but with privacy. Our architect based a lot of the design around floor to ceiling windows, and carried features such as the post and beam from the outside in, so being in the home is as close to being in the natural state of the lot as possible.

Some details ...

The fireplace ...



The tile in the master ensuite is almost finished, and the flooring for the living room/dinning room is to be installed this week, followed shortly by the carpet upstairs - I will post those area when complete.

nearing the end of one journey, to start another

Well, I have decided to jump into the on-line community with both feet and set this blog up as a way to try and stay better in touch with friends and family from near and far. I cannot promise regular updates, but will try and keep somewhat of a conversation going on my part. Reconnecting with so many people last fall has inspired me to try and not count the time between reconnections in years, but at least strive for months.

Life these days is essentially work and home building (the later is very near to completion), so this blog may not be very interesting initially. Let's start with where the house is at shall we?

After years in cabins, leaky condos and townhouses, S and I are more than looking forward to this move. It has become a dream home that we can't believe we are going to get to live in.

It all started when the empty lot was cleared last May ...



... in the summer the forms were poured and the walls started going up ...



... by September we had a second floor started ...

... followed soon by the start of a roof ...


... and finally some personality (aka exterior finishes) ...



Interior details to follow ... Stay tuned!