Loving everyone's updates and photos! It's especially fun getting progress updates from those who broke ground around the same time we did in September. To the rest of you, yes, there is light at the end of the tunnel. I promise! Sorry I don't post much. Our wood floors are in, most of the painting is done, cabinets and built ins are installed, all but one bathroom tiled. Next up is stair risers and treads, banisters, closet organizers and extra shelving, light fixtures, railing on our veranda and finishes to the front portico. Quartz countertops will be delivered in a couple weeks. I can't believe we're still on schedule for moving in by Memorial Day with all the weather setbacks we had this winter. The flurry of activity on finish details at our house is exciting and is definitely worth the necessary headaches and aggravation along the way. Michelle, we have a vacation home at Crystal Mountain, and I agree that the architectural style around the village is fabulous - so charming. We are building a custom home south of you along the lakeshore (with shed dormers and other Craftsman details... a la Crystal Mountain) with roughly 2800sf on main floor, 1000sf on second level and a fully finished walk out lower level for around $100sf not including lot, and I feel we chose quality materials. I certainly don't feel we skimped. My number may sound low per sf since I'm including the lower level in the calculation. Our goal was to downsize since we'll be empty nesters soon, but ... ummm that didn't happen. We expect lots of visitors during the summer months since, and we wanted to have room for them and all our future grandkiddos, who get their own bunk room on the second floor.

yaya, that makes more sense - I was trying to picture what you were saying and didn't get it :-) Using side lights was a suggestion made on the bath forum and I think I like that idea. Then I could place the lights a little lower and not have them so crowded. If I do this, I'd have enough room for rectangular tile mirrors instead. Do you think those would look better than the ovals? If I use oval mirrors, should I use rectangular sinks? annz - I LOVE the Craftsman style bathroom and put that in my dream home folder. For this house, we've already put so much money into remodeling and have done everything custom in other rooms, but we're planning to move in a few years. I'm trying to stick with my plan of using nice materials but at the same time keeping it basic and low cost (it's hard for me to do!). I also want it done by June and if we start talking custom framing around the mirrors DH will take forever to finish! andrea - if we were staying here longer than a few more years I would have done so much more to change the footprint of this house, including the placement of windows! We just redid all of the stucco and outside trim, so I know changing the window placement isn't an option for us. It is limiting though.

We have a basement with limited light that we just finished renovating. We used Benjamin Moores Albescience on the walls, a lovely luminous beige, and Sherwin Williams' Ivory Lace for the trim. Ivory Lace is as cementish grayish a white as we could go with the Albescience. The ceilings are "ceiling white" with 8 oz of albescience added per gallon. The effect is light, but warm and cozy. We have used a lot of color in furnishings and accessories. Ivory Lace is on the crown molding in the picture below; there is a lot more of the trim color on the built-in fireplace wall and again on the exterior lap siding on one of the walls in the front room. This post was edited by kswl on Sat, Jul 26, 14 at 7:02

My DH has been in love with the recessed cans for a long time. Me..not so much. But then, in Dec 2012 we sold our house and bought a brand new one with all the energy upgrades so necessary if you want to be able to afford your power bill in California! (people at work mocked my $300+ summer electric bill for a 1900 sq. ft home because most of them paid more like $5-700!) We not only got the included recessed cans, (4 in kitchen, 2 over the bed in master bedroom--which are controlled by a switch on each side of the bed--delightful for an in-bed reader like myself!) but I also let him talk me into paying for extra ones they offered...2 over the dining area in the great room, 4 in the Living area, and 4 in the den. (there's another in the little entry to the guest bath right off front entry and two in the entry itself) Each set is controlled by a wall switch. Also they are almost all on dimmers...but not the ones that light up the kitchen. The builder added a ceiling fan with light in the living area, we added ceiling fans with lights in both bedrooms and the den. (Again....fans in HOT HOT Central Valley California are needed!) I have lamps in every room for ambient lighting. We just installed gorgeous Polished Nickel Restoration Hardware Harmon pendants above our island, as we paid for pre-wire for pendants. So, what do I now think about recessed cans and other lighting? After 6 months I love the cans. You walk in and flip on your can lights to brighten your workspace in kitchen, or read in the living room. You can dim them for ambiance. If you like, you can use lamps only. Or when you go to bed at night, you have the option of turning on your own recessed can light (and maybe your lamp too) to read. I think there's a place for all of the above, and it sure is nice to have the options! I've included the link to the builders site so you can see how the cans look in the model photos. Red Here is a link that might be useful: McCaffrey website--Carnelian plan