Random pieces from today….

Another big day at “the ranch” with lighting and plumbing going in. Loads of painting going on also.

One thing that Mike did that made a HUGE difference was to remove the iron fence that was outside the main windows overlooking the rear yard. Here is the gate in it’s new location.

Now if feels much more spacious!

He started working on the faux wood beams for the Great Room and did a mock up of the size. The stain will be darker.

Lighting was really getting going today too! Ceiling fans were also installed.

These pendants are the ones we will use for our island

 

Yes, the master bedroom has a gold ceiling.

Be sure to put your sunglasses on to see the laundry room! It is a bright coral color. I think it will look great when the lighting and table are in place.

(I don’t know why spots are showing up on my camera lens sometimes!) It is a solid color, I promise.

Bob painted miles of crown molding today!

Ben’s Gray bedroom. The trim is painted a darker gray now and I will get a better picture tomorrow!

I was super excited to see the faucets going in place. This faucet is the Delta Touch 20 where you can touch it anywhere on the handle or spout to make the water stop or start!

Tomorrow the cabinet folks come and will put the doors and drawers and make it really look like a kitchen! The electricians will continue to install light fixtures and the appliances too.

Counting the days now!

Before and Current Picture of Great Room

35 days until we move.

Before we started construction, we had multiple rooms. We had a living room, dining room, kitchen and family room.

Now, we have one large space that will contain the same rooms. We will not have a formal dining room, just a single large table overlooking the backyard window.

Drywall is up in the Great Room & Theater!

What an amazing feeling to walk in and see the drywall up on the ceiling and in the new tray ceiling of the kitchen! I had to walk outside and cry! You know how it is to have a dream of what something could be like, but not sure if it really will live up to your expectations? What a relief to see it actually happen.

Here is the theater! The support beams are still to go in and the brownish red metal poles will be removed then. We also are having the heating ductwork relocated behind the wall.

A video really helps you get the feel for the space. Hope you don’t get dizzy!

The Great Room is finally a GREAT big room!

Last night Jeff and I stopped by and saw that the roof was supported and that all the temporary supports had been removed. It was so exciting to see the space at last!

The electrical had begun in the kitchen and there were a few questions we had about it. Tomorrow we’ll be discussing the decorative beam placement in the vaulted area because the original plan interferes with the lighting.

 

Lighting

60 days until we move! Selling furniture and appliances on Craigslist! If you need something, let me know…I may have it for sale!

Lighting plays a huge part in the comfort of a space, and we are making sure that we are adding enough can lights to illuminate Fort Knox. Thank heavens for dimmers!  Plus, the atmosphere is really determined by the various levels of lighting – upper/mid/lower.

Most of the lighting we have on hand, though we are being temped by some of the new trendy looks such as the rectangular lamp shade for over our dining table!

Of course the prices are just not something I can consider….so, I am thinking of jazzing up this 42x10x10 fixture!

It’s the same shape, much more reasonable price!  I think it would look so cool covered in a natural fabric to let some light in, don’t you? Here is an example of of the look from Lampsplus.

I saw a cool post yesterday about how to cover a lampshade with fabric, and I think I can do it. Took about a million clothespins to hold it while the glue dried, but that is probably a small price to pay for sanity. I am off to the fabric store to look at burlap and price clothespins!

Update: I went by Lighting Outlet and it was awesome! I explained what I was looking for to Mr. Blankenship, the owner, and immediately found me a light I love and can buy for $149! Wow! No website, but here is the contact info:

Light Fixture Outlet

4637 Nations Crossing Road

Charlotte, NC 28217-1813

Phone:(704) 523-6462

Now, isn’t that a coooooool light? I didn’t like the wobbly wires and talked to The Lamp Place today and Octavia was incredibly helpful! She suggested I purchase the light since it was a great price and then bring it to them to put rods on and make sure it will work with the angled ceiling. Plus, the wiring it comes with is not long enough and they can correct that at the same time. Thanks Octavia!!!! They don’t seem to have a website so here is their contact info!

The Lamp Place

3108 South Blvd
Charlotte, NC 28209

(704) 523-4339

Also, one has to consider the other lighting that is happening in the same space. We have a large chandelier (36″) that we’ll be hanging in the middle of the seating area centered on the new fireplace. Sadly, I don’t have a picture of it. It’s a pretty iron and a bowl type with candelabras around the edge. Light will go up to illuminate the beams and ceiling and softly down.

The kitchen area will have two pendant/chandeliers with one on each end. The center area where the sink is located will have strong task lighting from above. The chandeliers may be what we already own:

I love these. Lots of light too.

The desk/office area will have three tiny pendants. Those we’ll select last since we want everything else to work together. There are loads of options for pendants. Here are a couple of my favorites!

Our New Kitchen Ceiling Came Down!

It was planned, honestly!  We decided to re-work how our tray ceiling was going to actually be in the space after our fantastic interior designer pushed us to consider doing a double tray ceiling. Below is an example of what we are shooting for.

Previously, we were simply going to do a single boxed out tray that mimicked the dimensions of the island. However, we felt it might feel too much like a long skinny bowling alley, and called Michelle. She confirmed our suspicion and we started planning the new one right away.  Here is what we were thinking about doing, minus the skylight in the middle.

We got it all figured out and the builder couldn’t be more pleased! We are thrilled to get a much more interesting ceiling too. Thanks to Michelle!

Once we decided that we were building a more extensive tray, Mike, the builder, completed removing the ceiling.

Here is what it looked like today when we left.

Tomorrow is “Meet the Home Automation Specialist” and we’ll be doing a “security session” on Saturday.