11 Days In

Don't really have an update on the flood situation, we're still waiting for State Farm to send someone out to assess the damage. For now we've decided to postpone painting and focus on unpacking and getting everything fixed and back to normal.

It's been 11 days since we moved in, and although the amount of boxes we still have is stressing me out, I do feel like we've gotten a decent amount accomplished. I still haven't found curtains yet or hung anything on the walls, so even though some rooms are furnished, they still feel unfinished.

My office is finally functional. I have to exchange the computer console part of my desk because our tower doesn't fit. I'm going to put another 2 or 3-drawer file cabinet in it's place and we'll keep the computer where it is now (hidden under the back corner of the desk). I still need to order a rug and print out event pics that will be framed and hung in a collage above the sofa. I'd also like to replace the desk chair at some point too.
I love the light fixture in this room. We had to make a few modifications since it's made for a foyer and was supposed to hang about 12-18" lower, but now it's perfect.So I ended up keeping the dining room set we initially bought, and now that it's here, I'm happy with that choice.

Although the credenza technically fit in the dining room, it really didn't. It was too tight and the table and chairs blocked the whole thing. We ended up moving it into the hall, and I think it works really well there.Dan's brother is staying with us this weekend, so the guest room is ready. We're using our old king size bed in this room, and there's still plenty of space to eventually add some other furniture. We had slept in here the first week since our new mattress was just delivered yesterday, so I had put up a temporary paper shade in the window. I just bought cellular blinds for the 2nd floor windows in the front of the house and roman shades for the master bedroom.
It only took 3 shower curtains to find one I liked for the guest bath (still deciding on the towel color).The washer and dryer are up and running. Question to others with front loaders on pedestals. How do you use the drawer under the washer with the tray that's on the floor? It ended up cracking a little when Lowes was installing it, but I still can't open the drawer on the pedestal.The master bedroom is coming together too. We installed a ceiling fan (Lowes) and will get the roman shades up this weekend.
Finally, my closet...We had the shelving hung higher so we can add a second row. Dan has enough space in his closet that he doesn't need a second row, but we're still going to install shelves so he can fold his sweaters instead of hanging them.

We installed one 8' rack on the long wall of my closet and decided to add a dresser on the other wall instead of another rack (more practical for tank tops, t-shirts, pajamas, etc). I picked up a 6-drawer dresser at ikea, but it's too heavy for Dan and I to carry upstairs, so it's in the garage until his brother can help this weekend.
I need to figure out a way to store my handbags. Right now they're just thrown on the top of the rack around the closet, some are in dust bags, some aren't, and I can't really see or access them. Any suggestions?And last but not least, one of my favorite parts of the new house...
Dan installed 9 shelves on the left side of my closet for my shoes! I did have to get rid of a few pairs to get everything to fit, but it's perfect. We put my old shoe racks in the garage to use for "everyday" shoes (and overflow).

It was like Christmas morning when I was unpacking my shoes. I only had about 25 pairs at Dan's mom's house, so all the others had been in storage for months.
I've always had to store half of my clothes and shoes depending on the season, so I'm really glad that I can finally have everything out in one closet.

Unbelievable

Let's start from the beginning...
We closed on Friday the 17th. Closing went smoothly and only took about 45 minutes. From there we went straight to the house to unload the few things we had in our cars and to wait for the mobile storage delivery.
Dan spent the day unloading the pods with the help of his friend and my brother, and by the evening they were completely empty and our garage was full.
We weren't able to do any moving on Saturday because of my event, so Sunday was the big move. The fridge was delivered on Sunday, but Lowe's wasn't able to hook up the water line for the ice maker (more on this story below). Almost everything was brought into the house and distributed to where it needed to go, and by the end of the day I was able to park my car in the garage. We moved all of our stuff from Dan's mom's house, and Sunday was the first night we actually slept in our new home.
Our furniture was delivered on Monday and we started to unpack and get settled in.
Monday night was the first time we were actually able to sit down, relax and take everything in.
Fast fwd to Tuesday morning. I came downstairs and when I walked into the kitchen, I stepped in an ice cold pool of water!?! At some point during the night the water line that Lowes didn't install (so Dan and his friend did) had come loose/broke and was pouring water into the kitchen. The water had surrounded the island and extended to the living room carpet, but the game room was by far the worst. We ran downstairs to find water pouring from the light fixtures, air vents, door frames, etc. I could not believe that this was happening.

There was 1-2" of water in the back unfinished storage area, but it was only wet in half of that room. Luckily most of the boxes that were getting wet were rubbermaid containers, not cardboard. The water was running along the drywall seams and dripping throughout the game room so we set out bowls and cups to try to catch it. I called the old PM (who is now on the service side) in tears and told him what happened. He said it probably wasn't as bad as it looked and that he would try to stop by to check it out.

The PM came out and basically said everything just needed to dry out and then it could all be fixed (as long as the hardwood didn't cup and need to be replaced). He pulled back the carpet in the living room and game room, and cut some of the drywall seams in the ceiling to allow the water to get out. We have a hoover steam vac, so I ran it all night on the carpet and the pad to try to help them dry. By Tuesday night, my 4-day old house was ruined.

We had multiple fans and a dehumidifier running until Wednesday morning, but nothing seemed to be drying. The water in the carpet was actually spreading further into the rooms. So on Wednesday morning, we called a restoration company to come in and set up their industrial fans and dehumidifiers. The hardwood was cupping at this point, but they told us it might actually end up going back to normal. They cut out all of the wet carpet pad (it was completely soaked) and a portion of the game room ceiling.

As of yesterday, everything had pretty much dried. The hardwood is cupping throughout the kitchen, mud room, hallway, living room and bathroom. So after 6 days in the house, we filed our first homeowner's claim. There's a delay because our new house wasn't showing up in our agent's system yet, but we should hear from them on Monday.

We've been noticing other areas that got wet, like the quarter round near the stairs and around the island, parts of the game room walls that were nowhere near the leak but where the water somehow got to, etc. It's such a mess, but it can be fixed and once again I just have to be patient.

Here are a few pics of the damage...

You can actually see the water pouring from the ceiling in this pic.
This was the color of the water that leaked in the basement.The pad was so wet that when you stepped on it your foot was covered in a puddle of water.
The hole in the game room ceiling and some of the cuts along the drywall seams.I'm sure it will be weeks before everything is fixed, so instead of leaving the furniture pushed into a corner, I set the living room up again. The carpet is loose and wavy since it isn't nailed down and half of the room is missing a carpet pad, but it will do for now.
We were able to stay busy all week and got a decent amount of unpacking done (kitchen, office, bathrooms, Dan's closet and part of mine). DirecTV installation was Tuesday (the guy was awesome and was walking around in his bare feet because of the water everywhere) and our washer and dryer were delivered on Thursday. We've been sleeping in the guest room on our old bed since the mattress for our new bed won't be delivered until Tuesday. Once that gets here our bedroom will be finished too. I was at a dance competition all day today and Dan was busy installing shelves in my closet for shoes (it's amazing, will post pics soon).

So, all in all, we've had quite the week.

It's a Start

33 More Hours

In less than 33 hours we will be closing on our house!

We're scheduled to close at 9am on Friday, and I'm hoping to get some unpacking done that day. We won't be moving anything on Saturday because I have a big event that we'll both be at all day. Appliances are scheduled for delivery on Sunday and all of the furniture comes on Monday. Getting quotes for painting fell to the bottom of my priority list (along with finalizing paint colors, buying light fixtures, window treatments, closet organizers, etc), but once we're in we'll figure it out.

Since I'm probably not going to have a chance to post for another week, I leave you with the end of the tour...The Game Room.
Looking from the steps, there's not too much to see in this corner.
Here's the other half of the room.
From here you see the entrance to the utility room, bathroom and stairs.
Pretty much the same view, except you see the front storage room.Not the best shot, but here's the 1/2 bath.One of the things we really liked about the Milan is that it had 2 unfinished areas in the basement. The unfinished storage in the back/side of the house has a decent amount of space.Here's a shot of the box with all of the wires (not sure what it's actually called).
The front storage room will be used primarily for my work stuff.Well that's it. Our House. I'm sure it will take forever to unpack, but I'll try to post a few "just moved in" pics sometime next week.

Second Guessing

The problem I have with buying furniture while the house is under construction is that I have months to second guess my choices. Delivery is scheduled for next Monday, and I'm like 70% sure I want to change the dining room set. I know the people at Macy's are going to be mad because they've been storing the set we picked out since the end of November, but it was a floor model and not a custom order, so it could be worse.

I think the set we chose initially is very pretty and I still like it, but it's just the wrong style (and it's pretty small).
I'm leaning towards this...
Macy's describes it as, "Rustic farmhouse design with a modern edge." Sounds good to me. My only concern is how the wood will look with our floors, but an area rug would probably solve that problem. I'm also not a huge fan of the table legs, but I don't hate them either. Even though we would still have 6 chairs, the table is about 10" longer and would fill the room a bit more.

So, time for questions...Opinions on the new set? Should we get the matching buffet or put this piece that we already bought in the dining room (originally planning to put it in the kitchen)?
I'm waiting until we're in the house to buy any accent or decor pieces. I did find a rug for the office that I'm in love with, but I'm going to wait to order it until the furniture is set-up so I can figure out which size will work best.
I'm terrible at visualizing what things will look like in a room so I usually end up buying one of everything, taking it home to see what works, and then returning the leftovers (e.g., I bought 2 duvet covers this past weekend). I've been looking in stores and online, but I've had no luck finding any curtains yet. I like this pair from Crate & Barrel, I'd just prefer the stripe be a little more taupe.
I really like this look, so if anyone comes across panels with a wide horizontal stripe while you're shopping for your new home, let me know.

Continuing the Tour

Nothing much has happened with the house, we had our pre-settlement last Monday and only found a few minor issues (mostly scratches in the floor). Our old house finally closed this past week (6+ months after accepting an offer from the buyers), so that's a huge relief. We're waiting to hear from NVR on our settlement date, it might be this Friday, or early the following week.

So while we wait, I'll continue with the tour of the 2nd floor...

Looking up from the 1st floor, the laundry room is at the top of the stairs and the guest bathroom is on the left. We decided to go with an electric dryer so we didn't have to have a louvered door.
At the top of the stairs there is a bedroom to the left, the loft, another bedroom, linen closet and then the master.I'm so glad we went with the loft instead of a 4th bedroom. We weren't sure what to expect since none of the Milan models in the area show this option, but we love how it turned out.Looking back towards the stairs, you see the guest bathroom and laundry room.
Another view from the loft.
Spare bedroom.
Master bedroom (couldn't get a shot with both windows that are on the back wall).
View from one of the window's in the master.
Entrance to master and Dan's closet.Master bathroom.
Shower and linen closet in master bath.I don't have any pics of the inside of our closets, but the PM hung the wire shelving really high so that we can add another row. Most of our clothes (and almost all of my shoes) have been in storage since May, so I can't wait to unpack everything.