I can hardly believe how long it has been since I have "blogged"! Geez. Talk about being just a little behind. I don't even think I know where to begin. But...putting the last year and half aside...we are moving into our new home in Alpine, UT TOMORROW!! I am just a little excited, I tell you. I thought I had better do a little documentation of a very few "before our junk arrives" pics, as it will NEVER, in my lifetime, look like this again. This is our final resting place and we both couldn't be more excited about it. These are pics off my phone, and not great ones, and definitely not in any priority order...so here goes...
This is our music room. Fun thing in here...our cabinet guy (Benjamin Blackwelder) built in some file drawers for all my piano music...yahoo! I've never had a music cabinet and this is going to work out great. Mr. Mason (my piano) is just about done getting his makeover (oh my!) and this is where he'll end up. The carpet is kind of a red wine color. I imagine Lizzy and Lucy will find this bench to be their favorite perch!
This is Rich's office, right across from the music room. He is so excited. Especially about the little not-so-secret corner. That book case on the left goes into a little, awkward space that was just available...and Rich put it to good use. So.......if Lisa can't be found, please check there!! But the cabinets are gorgeous...they are cherry and turned out so pretty. Same carpet as music room. Notice the door knobs. I'll explain in a minute.
Going down the hall towards our bedroom. So, for some twenty years or more I have been dreaming about my "dream" home. One of the things I started doing was collecting antique glass door knobs. Our contractor was just a little bit caught off guard about my request to use them. Long and short, Rich (bless his heart, bless his heart, bless his heart) never gave up on my dream of using these, in spite of the negative reaction from the contractor. He figured it out and said he would do the installation. Each one turned out to be just a little different when it came to the actual installation and it took him well over a couple of hours per door. True love!! They still need to be cleaned up a bit, but we had to get them on to pass inspection.
Our master bathroom. Yep, you're seeing carpet in the bathroom, and blue carpet at that! LOVE how this all turned out. At the very beginning when I was thinking about colors, someone mentioned that I should decide on a color scheme...warm or cool. Well, problem is I like both! So, the rest of the house probably falls into the "warm" category, but our bedroom and bathroom are definitely "cool" and peaceful and calming, etc. I made a blue and gray quilt last spring that I can't wait to use. Countertops are a product similar to Corian with integrated sinks. The light fixtures (oh, that's a crazy story) will be replaced back to the original ones...four fixtures ago.
Lisa's guilty pleasure and one of the other things I've dreamed about...the master shower!! This is a combination of a steam shower, plus a vertical spa (yep, 4 jets on my back) and then one overhead and one on an adjustable pole. See below. Not particularly liking cold weather, we had to come up with every coping mechanism we could...and this was just one of them! Another reason for carpet in the bathroom...besides the fact that it is super soft on the feet!
My dad was in a wheelchair for the last 30 years of his life and my mother the last 10 years...soooo, it's in my mentality to think ahead and cover all the possibilities. Definitely could get a walker in this shower. All of our doors are wider, the toilet is higher, the shower walls have extra backing in them for when we need to install more handrails, etc.
Bed will go against this wall. We have a fun bay window in our bedroom and the view, oh the view, is incredible. Happened to find my Mother's Day present the other day...it is a chair and a half...perfect gray and perfect fit for the bay window. Thanks Rich!!
This is looking from the door of the laundry room into my craft room. Oh, so excited to have this space. It is kind of complicated to explain. Lots of cabinets, big counter for cutting fabric and folding clothes, etc. Can't wait to get started.
One of the things we did switch from the original plan was to move the laundry room to the other side of the house, close to our bedroom. LOVE IT!! Accent wall color behind matches a little cabinet I found for the craft room. That window on the counter goes in a cut out in the family room...will show that later. The flooring in here is something akin to what you find in Target and comes in tons of colors, etc. I can't remember what exactly it is called, but is super durable. Found a great rug at Sams Club to go in here.
Stairway going up. Was thinking a couple of months ago...the layout of this house is pretty darn similar to our Edwardsville, IL home...for those that ever visited us there. But hey, Rich and I don't even have to go up the stairs...strictly for company! Come visit!! There's two bedrooms, full bath, and a bonus room up there. I think it is about 700 square feet.
Ah, the kitchen! I'll take lots better pics, but this turned out to be all that I was hoping it would be! LOVE our cabinet guy...he's so good. Love the hardwood flooring...clear red oak with a natural finish. Sweet! The countertops...so worried about them as all I had to choose from was this little piece maybe 2" by 4". But they are PERFECT! They are Silestone. Anyways, I'll do some better pics! Was a bit worried about how much natural light I'd have in the kitchen as it all comes from one side, but couldn't be happier...plus...don't stop and count how many cans there are in the ceiling...I tell you, there's a LOT of them. Pantry door is sticking open...oops.
The stone used on the fireplace is the same stone as on the outside of the house. It is sitting in the corner...can kind of see that in the next pic...This fireplace is some kind of awesome!
Built in entertainment center. So, as we age and it gets harder to see, we need bigger TVs...right? I think you could see what's on this one a mile away!! The back of the TV is against where my craft room is, so we added a door in that room to access all of the cords, etc. so we don't have to move the TV out every time we need to hook something else up. Rich is *just a little excited* to hook it all up!!
So, for the 10 years or so that we've owned this lot, we thought that it was relatively flat...NOT. Anyways, the landscaping involved a lot of retaining walls, etc. and because of that cost, we almost didn't do the waterfall. But we are SO GLAD we did!! This doesn't do it justice and it is far from complete and the picture makes it look like the fire pit and waterfall are right next to each other, which they aren't even close. Oh well. But the sound, oh the sound, is AMAZING!! And fortunately, all of our neighbors in close proximity are quite thrilled, too!
Front door. Chose clear alder and love how it turned out. So the music room is on the right and office on the left...see, I told you...just like Edwardsville!!
Love that huge crack in the street...hmmm. Don't notice that until you see it in a picture. Oh well. Least of my worries! So, you can't see that there is a 4 car garage, but there is. Rich is a happy camper about that one. One of the things we did, too, was to change the pitch of the house, and by doing that we were able to get more of a front porch. Not quite the wrap-around-the-house porch I always envisioned, but this one is great. And the views out the front are just about as good as the views out the back, which are amazing!! I think our main floor is about 2700 square feet, which means that there's that much in the basement, but that is all unfinished. We do have a fantastic cold storage area under the front porch. It is plumbed for two bathrooms, but who knows what we'll end up doing down there.
Anyways, there you have it for now! I can't believe we are finally, really going to be settled again! My friend Darlene was visiting last week and made the comment, "It's a little bit of Illinois, a little bit of California, a little bit of Texas all mixed together!" Tis true. And a little bit of Washington, too! What a blessing!! We look forward to all the great memories to come, having lots of visitors, and sharing with dear friends and family. Look forward to part 2...and hopefully it won't take a year or more to get it done!
