ER- not really time for that. It is a geo system, spray foam walls and 2" exterior foam and strapping. However the duct work I noticed is sealed with tape, which will fall off in a couple years anyway. There is no time for blower doors and things like that, wasn't even time for the paint to dry on the walls before the reveal! When you have less then 1 week to build a house, unfortunately some items have to be omitted. Again, the craftsmanship is quite good. Volunteers do a lot of work, but skilled professionals do most of it. I did notice some of the drywall mud was bad in spots and not sanded the greatest...but hey, for 4 hrs to do it in you have to cut them some slack. Trust me, this family would take a few non-smooth mud spots over their last house! The builder did take a couple liberties in the field and changed some stuff that was sort of disappointing. For example the dormers are not real anymore...they were in my plans. I even laid them out and sized the windows to make them as easy as possible and did not require girder trusses. They fall exactly between truss spacing, and all the had to do was put 1/2" gyp on each side of the truss and bam, dormer was done. But they went right over the vaulted ceiling with the wood flooring. oh well. Also I had 4" trim around the windows with 6" trim at the base, and 6" on the corners. That was to be painted white but they (show designers) decided to make it green. Here is a completed picture from the reveal yesterday.

Hi Houzz! You've been saving me professionally for years - helping me find contractors, designers and vendors across the country for a slew of home renovation shows that I produce. Now I'm in the midst of my biggest project yet - my first houzz! It's a nearly 100-year-old home in Oak Park, IL, just outside of Chicago. Trust me, it took a lot of convincing to get me to leave the city, but this house is worth it! A turn key dream home was never in the cards for us. My husband is a Landscape Architect and I've developed an appreciation for design over the years, so when it was time to find our house, the more the house needed us, the more we needed the house. Aka - bring on the ugly, poorly planned, never-updated house! We've owned our new home for 3 weeks and have been going full speed ahead - new roof, refinishing flooring throughout, removing decades of wallpaper, installing all new HVAC...etc. The list goes on forever. We've never hustled so hard to make a project work. Our original plan was to do the project in phases, but with a 4-year-old and a 4-month-old we're realizing that living in dust just isn't an option. We've been able to stretch our budget and use our resources to get pretty far... but we're at a standstill with the Master Bathroom. It's original and it's small and has TONS of potential to be opened up into a great space. We even locked in the design after I posted to the Houzz Design Dilemmas and got some great feedback. On one hand, we're already breaking down walls and have all of the right people in the house to get the job done, so we want to go for it. On the other hand, our budget is so tight at this point, we're not sure we can afford the fixtures and tile and fun things that would go into the bathroom and make it ours. We're really hoping our Ideabook can become our reality - but we need help! Rachel Fobes (contact information is in email I sent to casting)

Does anyone have a pic with stone wrapped on the sides and built-ins? Because I see that as contradictory the way I see built-ins usually done. The built-ins need to attach to something and while they could be designed to attach to stone, that would be a fairly custom thing to do. Now if they are just shelves like the inspiration photo, then obviously stone on the sides is straightforward and easy. But to me- that is not a built-in. I just realized that we have window seats next to (and attached to) brick. There is basically a caulk line. It is painted brick so I think that is a little easier to have it look right - but I could see it with a flat cultured stone also. Not sure I would like it but I could see it. Don't really love it with the brick but it is only 18 inches off the ground. We purposely designed the fireplace with windows on either side to make sure that no one put built-ins in this house for the eternity of its existence. Because of what chocolatesnap said. There also happens to be an ad next to this thread with a pic of white subway tile in a kitchen. Ugh.

I like the shelves. Will you have a sectional too? I can't see the whole room, but could you do a couch and two small chairs instead of the sectional? And if your TV will be bigger you may not have to move it over much for it to be centered on the wall if that's what you wanted.