They started staining our ceiling beams today ... of course we are having a hard time finding enough stain in the same brand and color to get the job done. Painter found one quart today and will swing by 2 other paint stores on his way to the job site tomorrow morning, to pick up 4 more quarts, that they supposedly have and are holding for us. I can order more from the closest store, but with the holidays it will take at least a week to get.

For storage ... we rented a large unfurnished house! Weather here is hot/humid most of the year and even the climate controlled storage buildings end up smelling musty. I did not want to deal with that musty smell with any of my belongings. We used most of our furniture in the rental house this past year and have the dining room and a spare bedroom stacked with boxes. Had plenty of room to keep the lights, mirrors and other things I ordered for the house along the way. Can't wait to unpack all my art, after not seeing it for close to 18 months!

@chispa that’s a great idea. Your post made me realize while not ideal we can just pack and store stuff in our barely used Living room and in the corners of our dining room. problem solved unless we buy too much new stuff.

@anj_p we will be doing the same with the hold once we get closer to move in day. thanks!

@nhb22 hope your ankle feels better. we will certainly ask if places can hold items until later. our main problem at the moment is if we should order these PB stools or wait a while. https://www.potterybarn.com/products/pittsburg-adjustable-height-barstool/

I've been squirreling things away in our home forever- I found my copper sink on ebay for a steal so it was in our bedroom for 4 years!! ὠ5ὠ5

Garage is filled and about ready for the concrete pad to be poured!

I suspect we will move into our new house with basically no furniture. We gave away all our furniture when we left the city (packed up a pickup truck full of boxes, cats and fish and left the city right when Covid started and have been living in my in-laws semi furnished garage since)

It didn’t even occur to me to begin buying furniture before I had a house to put it in. Though I did nab a dining table and chair set my mother in law bought for her house when she decided it wasn’t a good fit. It’s currently wrapped up and stashed in our barn. I don’t think it will last long term (not our style, and has a wonky leg) but for the first few months to a year while we figure out permanent furniture it will do fine.

How do y’all not end up with duplicates of stuff? Spreadsheets? I feel like if I start now I’ll end up with too many armchairs or rugs for the same space?

anj_p and chispa - Having people over got us moving to put out some decor and clean up the rooms that we would be using Christmas Eve.

We have not seen most of our art for almost 2 years. We did hang the nicer and larger pieces in the rental and now have some on the walls in the house. We have fewer walls than before, so will be trying to figure out what to do with the less important things. I have jokes that we can put them up in the garage...why not!!! We know two families that have done so.

My oldest DD and DH from Charleston have been here for over a week. DD came down with a head cold on Friday night. They are suppose to go to the mountains and stay a few days with her husbands family. She took a rapid Covid test today that was negative, but also did a 24-72 hour test. Waiting on results. She is paranoid about getting someone else sick.

Thank you, Emily. Here is one more! Look closely to see that her back legs are crossed.

Jason Abney - Those stools are on sale, so I would grab them now if you really want them.

di0spyr0s - The only duplicate that I have ended up with was two shower curtain liners for the same bathroom.

Nola looks like she's done with all the moving and holiday commotion!

@JW, the stools look cool ... but not sure they will be that comfortable to sit in. You might want to test out before you buy.

@nhb22, Love the pic! Nola is too adorable. 😍

As for not getting duplicate stuff for the house, we made a list of things we needed and are checking them off as we go. DH did make a spreadsheet for the higher-dollar items, so we'd know how much we end up spending to outfit the house.

I ordered a bath rug for the master from Bed Bath & Beyond last week, and they sent the wrong color! I could have returned it to the store and exchanged, but I decided that it will work either in the hall bath or utility room (in front of the sink cabinet), so I'm keeping it. We will use it in the master when we first move in until I can buy one I've actually seen the color of in person!

@di0spyr0s I actually had our main living space designed by Havenly so they basically tell me what to buy and I buy it. We were really only furnishing a living room, dining room, and island stools. Havenly laid out the furniture for me, so it made it easy and made it so the open concept isn't matchy-matchy but still coordinates.

I'm still deciding between a few layouts in the living room so we're still using our old furniture there. I also made a spreadsheet (google sheet, actually, so DH and I could both access and edit) to track our expenditures and budget, with totals based on priority.

Just for fun, here's my dining room design by Havenly. We have the table and rug so far (and light) and it looks great. Chairs are on their way! I bought the drapes but haven't bought the rod yet. That will probably be the last thing I do.

The living room we're trying to decide between couch facing the fireplace or two couches facing each other. Rendering is with the couch facing the fireplace. Our designer was nice enough to give me a 48" wolf range in the kitchen. One can dream.

DH doesn't love the camel leather and is freaked about a navy couch but if he had his way everything would be gray. Here's the layout with 2 couches.

@Ash M THREE in FOUR YEARS! (Yes, that deserves a shout out...) Good for you! And I too have been squirreling things away from ebay and the like. Got a gorgeous, complete vanity for a steal, antique doors for nearly nothing,etc. We rented storage for all of it, and the cost of that still doesn't surpass the savings. @nhb22 Nola, those ears!

We are in the same boat. Shopping now for furniture, and most of it unlikely to arrive by move on date. We just ordered our bed and nightstands Monday. Phew, checked another thing off the list!!

@Jason Abney I love the looks of the bar stools and really wanted them for our bar as well until I read reviews on how uncomfortable they are.

I had a coffee table delivered just yesterday that I bought on clearance. I've purchased a few other things too (antique church pew going by our back entry, new area rug, a couple of floor lamps) specifically for the new house. Fortunately we have plenty of storage space in an unfinished area of the third floor of our current home, but DH isn't thrilled about paying movers to move all of this new furniture after we've already paid to have it delivered here. We don't need to buy much--basically the living room--so I'll try to time it have it delivered after we move. We may have an empty room for a couple of weeks, but I'm working with a local furniture store's design department and am hoping they'll know the timelines for their furniture manufacturers and hold anything that comes in too early.

Been talking to our builder on the phone a few times today. Painter is there and nearly completed the interior paint! Very exciting to me, and builder will take photos once things have been cleaned up a bit. Permanent porch columns being built and installed today at long last! And countertops are coming on the 6th, along with a replacement vanity cabinet in our master bath that was damaged. Moving right along! 😊

Also received notification that a couple of the window treatments I ordered are being delivered today, with a couple more coming next week, so that is exciting. We're only putting them up in the one bedroom we'll be using initially (guest room) and our master bath and will order the rest after move-in.

anj_p - I love the navy couch and the camel chairs. We have our couches facing each other. Fireplace on one end and TV on the other. My couches are a light brown tweedy material which you see in the photo with Nola. The two wing chairs flanking the fireplace are waiting to be recovered. They are currently fruit and flowers. Very early 2000's. I am trying to figure out what type of pattern to cover them in. I want some navy or light blue in them to blend with my entertainment piece and all of my Blue & White china pieces (that I will not put out on the bookshelves until we have the chairs redone.

Emily - Sounds like your house will be ready to move into in a month!!!

jkent9024 - I love a church pew! As you may remember, I have an antique bentwood bench for our mudroom.

I can't wait to show y'all my house when it is all done!

@nhb22, I am actually afraid of that! When we rented this Airbnb, we had to book it through February, as our builder wouldn't commit to anything sooner than that. Now I am afraid that we might have to eat the Feb. rent, as we can't get a refund even if we use none of the month. I'm actually hoping for no earlier than a mid-February completion. Crazy, eh?!😩

Don't jinx yourself ... you might need a place in March! 😲

@lisainkc I've read that now I'm corncerned as we really love those stools, but comfort is very important although we do have multiple sitting places in the kitchen.

@Ash M - O M G! You are my hero! Here I am stressed about finishing a small place and you are pregnant, caring for 2 babies/toddlers AND building a house at the same time! “I’m not worthy!”

@anj_p if you watch t.v. a lot, how do you usually sit and how many will be watching? If you entertain a lot then the sofas facing each other would be nice so your company is able to visit and talk better.

We still have 3 kids at home so putting the couches facing each other would mean everybody is having to sit on an angle to watch the t.v. If it were just two adults then each can have a sofa and sit sideways with feet up etc., but with a family I think at least one large sofa facing the t.v. is best. Then you can either have a matching sofa or love seat on one side and two chairs on the other. Chairs can be easily moved/angled to watch the t.v. if extra people are visiting and viewing the t.v.

@nhb22 have you thought about a pretty blue with a white/light grey damask pattern. It's timeless.

Just a little update on the Sherwin Williams paint situation. Some of you may remember that we were told awhile back that the only sheen we could get in Duration for our interior walls was satin. I wanted flat or matte. Fortunately, now that the painting is actually occurring, our painter was able to source enough Duration in flat sheen to get the job done! He said there is no matte at all, but we are fine with flat. Supposed to be finished with the interior today...woohoo!👍

@Kat We started our Victorian build a few nights ago.😊 Yesterday my daughter picked out her exterior color. BM Jade Garden.(Blue green) Since we had purchased all of our house paint and most of our flooring at this local store for our real build they let her go through their paint samples and gave her some free colors. Needless to say my little girl is excited!

Also picked up some engineered wood samples for the basement. I cant believe the amount of choices our small store has now. When we finished the main level they didnt have many options for a natural finish white oak hardwood now they have tons! Although Im pleased with what we have maybe I can get what I was originally looking for down in the basement!

@Kat We actually have a basement where we put in an 85" TV, so any dedicated family TV watching time will probably occur down there (with 4 reclining theater seats !!!! ). I'm hoping we don't watch too much on our main level - it will mostly be for casual watching - baseball game on in the background or stuff like that. We also only have 1 kid so the seating would be pretty much the same either way (either 2 people on the couch and 1 in a chair, or 2 in chairs and 1 on the couch). I find that the 3 of us don't sit on the couch together very much anyway - it's just not that comfortable for the person in the middle. Long story short - either would work for TV watching for us!

Kat - I need something that will blend with the couches, and yet bring a little color into the room.

anj_p - I don't know why I thought that you are the poster with twin girls. Yes, you could go with either seating arrangement in your home. There are just the two of us unless we have our children and grandchildren visiting. During Christmas, DH and I used the wingchairs, while DD and SIL used the sofas to sit on and watch T.V. We had a similar set-up in our previous home. We have had no issue with comfortable viewing. Though not ideal, even when someone has to sit in the middle of the sofa, it works.

Just this morning, we had delivery and set-up of an 85" T.V. for our family room. After hanging our 65" in the T.V, niche, we thought it looked too small. The smaller T.V. went up to DH's office for the grandchildren to watch while the adults watch T.V. downstairs. The 55" that was previously there will go out to the screened in porch. We have a 45" in one guest room, and a smaller 24" in the second guest bedroom. When the grandchildren spend the night, they can watch T.V. when going to bed. That's a special perk that they do not get at their home. :) We have no T.V. in our bedroom. There will also be a 24" T.V. mounted on the wall in our breakfast area for viewing WOF and Jeopardy during meals.

@K H I love her doll house and color choices. What a fun project. Be sure to share it when it's done!!

@anj_p that all makes sense.

@Emily great news on the paint. When will you go back to see it again?

@jkent9024 fun to be purchasing new things for the house. Our current garage is full of all the lights i've been ordering. We finally got all the tile out of there and over to the house.

They worked on our spandrel and brackets yesterday and got it all up. For the first time, I truly love the front elevation and it's coming together as I had envisioned. I can't wait for the paint, porch tongue and groove flooring and the rail/ballusters to be up.

@Kat, Not sure... whenever I am needed or feel the need to go. Maybe not til final walkthrough. Builder sends enough photos that don't expect any surprises from here on out.

Your house is stunning!!!!!👍👍👍

@Kat Looks beautiful!

Ending this year on a positive note... First load of lumber delivered this morning and framing should start middle of next week, weather permitting. I'm disappointed framing hasn't started yet, but trying to keep

a positive attitude about it given the anticipated delay on window delivery.

@Kat your house looks beautiful! Lucky kids :) I still love the yellow although I'm sure it will look great white as well!

@nhb22 sometimes it feels like we have twins! :D I compromised with DH about the TV - we got a 55" frame and put it over the fireplace. I didn't want the TV over the fireplace because I think they're an eyesore, but DH did, so we compromised and got the samsung frame so it can kind of look like art when it's not on. I don't think anyone would be fooled but at least it's not a black box. Haven't bought the frame for it yet but thinking gold would look good with the navy/camel. Our outlet and tech tube were placed kind of low so we only have about 5" from the top of the mantel to the bottom of the TV so we have to get a skinny bezel.

They finally turned on all our lights today ... all at the same time! It was bright in the house ... the one problem was that it really changed the color of my hardwood floors and not for the better. Made them a lot lighter and orange-y. Sigh.

Recessed lights are 3500k, so not too warm or too cool.

We failed electrical inspection. We had automated the lighting in the public areas, but can't get the keypads and modules to complete the job. They did a temporary work around and the inspector didn't seem to understand. Different guy is coming out on Tuesday.

The automation company said the work around got approved in a house in another town, but still in the same county. We'll see how it goes. They don't think the parts will get here for another 8 weeks.

On a positive note, the hurricane/impact glass for our front door side lites got installed and they also installed the hardware.

Interesting, @chispa! I hope the other guy will pass you on the inspection.

Our builder + electrician only offered us two choices for our can lights: 2700K or 3000K. I picked the latter, as we want enough light, and the lighting guy we went to recommended the 3000K. I hope I like them. I don't like cool/blue light at all so I would probably choose warmer bulbs for lamps, but I thought 3000 would be good for the cans. What is everyone else doing?

@Emily we did warmer cans the 2700K. If I remember right you have 10’ ceilings right? We have 9’ so I think you will be fine with the brighter lights. I got alot of grief from our electrician on the lower K lights but I also taught his girls in school so he was one of my fav subs.

@Kat WOW! I love all of your exterior trim. My favorite part is the left bay!!

@K H, We only have 10' ceilings in the great room, the rest are 9'. However, my DH likes a LOT of light, so he would not have gone for the 2700K. Hopefully the 3000K will work out for us; if not, we can always swap some of the bulbs out later.

We did mostly Halo RA4 with selectable kelvin range of 2700/3000/3500/4000/5000k for our 9ft and sloped ceilings.

https://www.cooperlighting.com/api/assets/v1/file/CLS/content/acf0a23a847341cc8f3ead41007ef848/halo-ra4-cct-sss_ra4069s1ewhr

Our lighting designer originally spec’d more expensive cans that are not selectable kelvins and he said these Halos are just as good and we’d actually be able to replace them easier down the road. I loved the fact they are selectable kelvin since I’m super picky and tend to only let 4000k bulbs.

Halo has similar ones that don’t tilt if that isn’t needed in your project. The led cans are ~$40.

—-

I could really use some of you alls help on change orders—when any of you all had a change order and days were added to the project were the days added “calendar” days or “working” days?

I’m finding that our contract does not define the term “day”. The contract time is in calendar days. That is clear. But the change orders say “days added to schedule”. And now they are saying the change order added days are “working days” = 5 days of the week.

We’re so close to being done but these “little” things keep popping up. Any else get an CO for doorstop installation labor? The doorstops were not mentioned in any of the specs so no budgeted line item for installation labor. They are your standard baseboard door stops and then 3 hinge stops.

We are cost plus and completely custom, so any changes we make just get added to the bill. We trust our builder to bill us fairly and he trusts that we will pay!

Having to do a work around for the electrical automation is going to cost us a fortune in labor for the electrician, but it is what it is, and it's our house, so we get to pay for it all.

@chispa, Ditto. We are also cost plus and full custom. Our contract specified a move-in date but listed things that could cause that to slip, including weather, supply shortages, etc., so there is no way we could hold our builder to the original date during a pandemic.

@Lauren Eliz, doorstops were one of the things that were not specified in our estimate so end up coming in under miscellaneous hardware. Fortunately there was a decent contingency for that, so we shouldn't go over the estimate on that line item. But like Chispa, anything we add or upgrade from the estimate, we pay for. Most items we have added did not really affect the schedule, but our contract doesn't specify days like yours does, it is less formal and more fluid. Like chispa, we trust our builder implicitly and vice versa.

chispa and Emily - We have the 6" and 4" cans in our home that can go from 2700K to 5,000K. We have them all tuned down to 2700K. I wish they could go lower. I do not like the light at all. I prefer a much softer light.

I placed an order with Amazon to replace two 4" cans that look down on the bar to 4" eyeballs that can use a regular lower watt bulb. And I can direct the light towards the top of the cabinetry instead of the light hitting the top of the counter top. I hope they will work like I want. If they do, I may order three more to replace the LED eyeball over the fireplace, and two 4" cans that are over the entertainment area. The LED's over that are way too bright and shine (reflect) circles on the back wall.

I also ordered some dimming film from Amazon that you cut out and place over LED lenses. Don't order it. They are a rip off! Very hard to get cut to size and to get the correct placement over the lenses without some light filtering out from the sides. The paper turned out to look like a large sheet of label printer paper.

I forgot to take another photo today, but yesterday this is where we stood kitchen cabinet-wise. It's slow going as it's me, DH and our BIL figuring out how to to this, but we've got a couple installed here and there. BIL will only be here another week so I am hoping we can start moving faster this weekend.

The base cabinets are not installed yet. DH claims to have an "IDEA" on how to do thi s better tomorrow. So close, yet so far......

@Lauren Eliz I had my contract specifically spell out "business days" in most places where "days" were referenced. I think there were one or maybe two places in the contract where I specified "calendar days" - without looking, I would guess it was related to notification the builder was to provide prior to closing. (I deal on a daily basis with documents that specify business or calendar days, so asking my builder to them specified in the construction contract was second nature for me. )

@nhb22, Thanks for sharing your experience. If it had been me, I would have chosen 2700K for ours, but DH and I argue about lights all the time. He is always turning lights on, and I am always turning them off and opening blinds -- I like natural light during the day, and at night, I like dim, soft lighting. It will be interesting to see if we argue over lights in our new house!

I went with 100 Watts equivalent 5000 K in most places, almost all of them are on dimmers. In the bathrooms though I went with 60 watts equivalent in the bathroom vanity lights, otherwise it was too bright. I do like light in my kitchen and main living areas.

On the lighting issue, we installed recessed can lights that use LED light bulbs rather than being sealed. True, they are a bit more 'open' looking than the sealed fixtures, but have step baffles that don't look bad. They allow us to use normal LED bulbs or Phillips Hue wifi bulbs, which can be programmed and controlled via phone app to change the lighting color and intensity . We use the HUE system to automate the lights and didn't have to pay a company big bucks for home automation. Just a thought for anyone who hasn't reached that stage yet.

Not much going on at our guest house/workshop. Cabinet drawer fronts, counters and plumbing fixtures will be installed late January and then we are done. Power is on, AC/Heater working, music playing from the SONOS speaker, cold drinks in the fridge, and a place to plug in my little sweeper to clean up after all the dirty feet! I'd take a coffee pot and toaster oven over there now, but I'd NEVER see my husband again! I'll enjoy a little bit of his company (at coffee time/lunch time) until then, haha. He is ALWAYS at the new workshop otherwise, getting everything set up and making stuff left, right , and center.

Are we discussing door stops? Ours are always in the allowance as they range from $1 to $50 each on our projects & some clients prefer budget, some prefer style. Trying to do both? Use the really cool expensive doorstop at the entry only.

You are late to the door stop party! lol

I hate door stops! Don't mind them when they are covered by the door, but just hate them when you can see them the rest of the time. Hate vacuuming around them. And when the rubber stoppers wear out or fall off, you can never find the exact ones to replace them with! We are going with hinge stops.

Happy New Year!

I'm late with my replies but just wanted to say that everyone's progress and finished projects look great!

@nhb22 I do hope all improves for you in the new year. Your house turned out beautifully. And, Nola is so cute and sassy!

@Kat I am still here. Just been trudging along with all of the chaos of my build and life. Just had what seems to be a "rogue" cold-virus running through my household. I used a couple of lateral flow tests for two of my kiddos and they were negative for covid but I have never seen a cold like the one that has hit 5 of the 6 of us (excluding SO so far). BTW, I LOVE the exterior of your home! The Victorian details are beautiful. Do you plan on continuing any of those period details inside of your home?

My update:

After a few delays, we were able to get our Marmoleum for the basement, which was installed last Friday. I really like this product much more than the LVT and cork that we installed in previous homes. There was no smell and it feels very solid under foot (i.e., no hollow sound or bounce). And, on sale, the price was the same.

Our carpenter finished the lower level of our stacked, open staircase. So far, he has met the challenge of the reproduction work that we have thrown at him. He had to radius a triple-build skirtboard, and it turned out great! He is also reframing the main-level staircase stringer which I hope will allow for radiused soffits. The more I experience his work, the more I realize that not all finish carpenters are equal. He is definitely part of a very small group who have the skillset to attempt to recreate the level of work produced by carpenters of the past.

The electricians were supposed to come out on Monday but, instead, they are out today and began work on the upper level electrical and fixtures. Then tomorrow and Sunday, they will continue on to the main and lower levels, and exterior. Our lighting is a little out of the "norm." We do not have any can lights but a ton of large pendants and chandeliers. They seem to be moving on quickly. I can't wait to see the finished work! @Kat when they are done, I will share some pics in the January thread.

Put together a book nook over the break using some old plate holders I picked up at a garage sale. The kids have some of their holiday toys cluttering it right now but it is a very popular spot. An especially wonderful place to watch the snow falling. Hope you all are closed in so that your builds are protected! Happy New Year! Cheers to you all and hopes that the New Year brings prosperity to you and swift, quality building!

As no one else had, I started a new building thread! Here it is January 2022 Building a Home.

Thanks @Buzz Solo in northeast MI !🥳

Happy 2022, Everyone. No progress this week; everyone on vacation till tomorrow. I have been fiddling with my pretend floor, testing stain options. Still so all-over-the-place on which choice is the best. It feels like a dilemma rather than fun...one might warp, one might scratch too easily, another feels like rubber...Making all these choices all of us here have to make is usually exciting, but this one feels like an expensive problem waiting to happen if I don't get it right...