It's the Holiday Season!

On Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Simon, Tyler and all of the other guys worked really hard getting us finished up.  The painters worked on touching up all around the house and getting the cabinets finished (I'll have to explain more on the cabinets later).  We have a newly installed mantle (more on that later, too), a nice wall and column outside by the carport and patio, painted carport steps, a cleaned outside, no dumpster, and shutters!! We also have most light fixtures installed all over the house. 

No more dumpster!!

Carport steps are finally completed.

We have a newly poured concrete wall against the patio where we had to tear out the brick support wall.  The carport column has been replaced and made pretty.  We still have to figure out what to do above the wall.  Possibly a built in bench or something.  Not sure about that yet.

We still need to trim back the bushes out front, but we do finally have shutters!  I've also gotten started decorating for Christmas.  YAY!  (Ineed a better picture of the whole front of the house but it was sort of rainy and wet and I didn't have on shoes to go further out and take a picture.)

I am confused on the upstairs bathrooms, but I do know that they are not finished for whatever reason.  However, we were able to use the bathrooms for the first time this weekend!  It makes such a difference to actually be able to shower upstairs!  The painters tell me we can go ahead and put all of our stuff in there and that they can work around it to finish whatever it is they need to do. 

There has also been a problem with getting off the old faucets in the hall and master bath.  They needed a different tool or something and were going to have work on that Monday.

This is the hall bath.  I found a shower curtain at Target that I loved and matches perfectly. 

Back to the mantle.  We decided to go with a more rustic, wood mantle.  When it was first installed, I thought I was going to die because I just really did not love it.  I think everyone knew I wasn't thrilled, but it is growing on me.  I think I'd just been staring at a blank fireplace for so long that when they put the mantle up, it was so different than what I was used to I just had to let it grow on me. 

Anyway, now that I've come to like the mantle, I do think it is too high.  I feel like I'm watching tv on the front row at the movies.  Simon suggested we hang it lower, but Graham and I swore it needed to be higher.  Clearly, we are not the professional.  So, after drilling some long bolt/bar things in the fireplace and hanging the mantle, they are going to have to undo and redo it lower.  Woops!

Like I said, it's growing on me and I am starting to really like the rusticness of it.  However, it is WAY too high.

Another shot.  Thoughts/suggestions welcome.  We also got the Christmas tree this weekend!  I ran out of lights toward the bottom and am going to have to get some more to finish it. 

Christmas Tree Side Note
For the fourth year in a row, I tried to go cut down our Christmas tree.  For the fourth year in a row, we bought the tree at Carolina Garden World. 

Graham did his part and brought the tree in and got it in the stand.

Accidentally scraped the ceiling with the top of the tree.  Good thing the painters still aren't finished!  ; )

You can see in the mantle picture that the lights towards the bottom of the tree are a little sparse.  I have got to work on that before I can put the ornaments on.  I am determined to have out my Christmas decorations, even if nothing else is unpacked yet! 

I am really struggling with where to put things, how to arrange furniture, etc.  I feel like I finally had everything how I wanted it at our old house, and now I'm back to square one with twice the space to fill.  Omg.  It is super overwhelming!  I'd love to just come home one day and it all be done.  My mom and I spent forever last week just getting the china cabinet put together.  I'm slowly realizing and constantly reminding myself that this is just going to take some time.

I'm still working on the dining room some, but it is the only room that is basically finished.  I need a sideboard for more storage/pretty display, but it is coming together.

All of my sit out pretty stuff now lives in the middle bedroom.  I just don't feel like I can get it settled until I don't have people in and out moving things and finishing things everyday.

Okay - getting back to the cabinets.  We were standing in the kitchen Wednesday (the day the cabinets were "finished") and I see Simon just staring at them.  Apparently they are not right and are going to have to be done AGAIN.  For whatever reason, the painters sprayed the new cabinet doors with a laquer.  (I'm feeling like I've talked about this before).  Anyway - the actual cabinets are hand painted.  The laquer and the paint are the same color but look different in different finishes.  So, when they glazed the cabinets (I was really happy with the new glaze color, btw) the glaze looks different from the doors to the cabinets.  The cabinet doors look more grey and the cabinets look more brownish.

This picture makes it hard to tell - but we did finally get our missing doors!  They have not been painted, obviously.  However, you can tell how the drawer fronts look different than the doors and that the wall to the right of the fridge (far left in the picture) looks way more brown and glzed than the doors do.

I think it's most obvious (especially in person) on that huge cabinet door.  It looks really blue/grey to me - a lot different that the part above the microwave.

I have no idea what will be done to fix it, but Simon says (ha - that has taken on a whole new meaning) that the painters will be making it right.  So...we still wait on the painters.

 

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving at our house was a success! We clearly are not put together, work is not 100% finished, but we still had a great time.

Graham and Gil went down to the neighborhood Thanksgiving Day "turkey fry" early on Thursday morning and fried a turkey for us. I think they had a great time eating, drinking bloody mary's, smoking cigars, and talking to all the other men that were there. Luckily, frying the turkey was all we were really responsible for and everyone else brought all of the sides and goodies.  It turned out to be  a great day and I think everyone enjoyed it!

Maybe this time next year, we'll be finished! Only 2 more weeks...