Lighting

I'm starting to narrow down the list of light fixtures I like and figure out what needs to be moved or replaced. We're going to move the one entrance light into the loft and the other will go in one of the spare bedrooms. I think we're going to get one ceiling fan to put in the master bedroom too, just haven't found any I like yet. Here's what I'm thinking so far...

Office

Entrance (we would put 2 in since there are currently 2 different fixtures there). -Dan isn't a fan of this style, but I like it.

Dining Room Option #1

Dining Room Option #2

Thoughts??

Stone Concerns

After looking at the completed stone several times now, I'm still not sold on it. Dan doesn't like that there isn't any contrast between the stone and the siding. I think it looks kind of orange/peach. The PM said they could pressure wash it which would make a little difference, but I'm still not really liking it.
Despite the weather, they got a layer of blacktop down on the driveway. We assumed we would be driving on gravel until the spring, so this was a nice surprise.

Branding

I was reading an article yesterday that got me thinking about the paint color in my office. I would like to have some kind of artwork that incorporates my logo. I'm thinking that I would like to do a photo collage wall with pictures from past events (possibly all b&w), and maybe my logo framed in the center.

Sneak Peek of the Office

I hadn't really taken my logo into consideration when thinking about paint colors, I was more looking at the light blue sofa that I want to put in the office. I think I want to go with a gray/silver wall color, and possible even wallpaper above or below the chair rail.

Most of my branding (website, business cards, etc) is done in green and black, but I have used other color variations in the past too.

So I guess my question is, do I put the green/black logo on a gray wall above a light blue couch? Or do I ask my designer to change the logo to match the furniture and paint? Or is it tacky to have a logo hanging on a wall in the first room you see when you walk in the house?

This might seem like a stupid thing to worry about, but my work is a huge part of my life. I don't plan on having meetings in my home, but I'm sure I will have clients over from time to time. I'll spend a significant amount of time in this room so I want it to be as close to perfect as possible.

Any advice or other ideas???

Stone is Up

I was getting really nervous about the stone choice (Aspen) and I've been dying to see it with the siding. The PM said they had started the stone today, so I was able to stop out this afternoon and check it out.
I don't hate it, but I don't know if I love it yet either. I'm definitely happy with it though and I'm looking forward to seeing it completed.

The guys working on the stone were super nice and told me they really liked how it looked (and didn't mind if I took a few pics).
I do really like the front door now that it's been painted. This pic shows pretty much all of the facade components, Stone Mountain Clay siding, White trim, Aspen stone, Bianco brick and the Black Bean front door.
The guys did say the stone was a little wet and would lighten a bit once it dried out. I was expecting it to be significantly lighter based off of the 2'x2' sample we selected, and that was my big worry that it was going to be too light. I think it looks different in the pic below, maybe it's the mortar? Either way I do like it and can't wait to see it finished with the shutters and porch column.

Getting Close to the End

Now that we're in the final weeks, it seems like they're getting a ton of work done. Our settlement date was supposed to be the 13th, but was moved to the 25th. However, at this point we can't close on the 25th.

We received an offer on our current house over 5 months ago. The buyers had some issues with financing, and since mid-September the bank has continued to say they should have a clear to close any day, then they request more paperwork, and the cycle repeats week after week. We moved out of our house and into Dan's mom's basement at the beginning of October (because we were expecting the sale to go through at some point in October). About 2 weeks ago the buyers decided to go with a new bank that said they can get them to closing in 3 weeks. We're hoping to get a closing date next week.

Unfortunately the delays our buyers have had will impact our closing with NVR because we have a VA mortgage, and are planning to get another VA loan for the new house too. Since you can't have 2 at the same time, we need the clear title from our current house before they can process the loan for the new house (NVR said this is a 3-4 week processing time). The 2 biggest differences between a VA loan and a conventional or FHA loan are closing costs and the fact that you don't pay PMI. So to go with conventional or FHA we would pay close to $15k more at closing + the monthly PMI.

So now we're just waiting. Waiting to hear from the bank with a clear to close on our current house, and waiting to hear from Ryan/NVR on how flexible they're going to be with our settlement date given our situation. But I digress...

A lot has happened this week, but still no stone (fingers crossed it goes up early next week, I can't wait to see it). The hardwood floors were finished right before Christmas, but when we were there last week they were completely covered. Yesterday when I visited, they were mostly uncovered and the carpet had been installed.

Close-up of the Simple Touch "Sand Swept" frieze carpet with the Silver Sage paint sample.

Entry- Manchester 2 1/4 "Gunstock" Hardwood

Office

Dining Room

I'm really happy with the choice to carpet the family room and have hardwood everywhere else on the first floor. I also really like how the non-standard flooring break turned out.

Loft- same carpet as the family room.

2nd Floor Bathroom- Initiator 66181 Vinyl Floor

Gameroom- Simple Touch "Capri" frieze carpet
(a little darker than the carpet in the rest of the house)

Paraiso "Artico" 13"x13" ceramic tile in the game room bathroom.

Our appliances were also delivered this week.

The hot water tank was installed and I believe the gas and water lines were installed/connected. There was also some electric work done and we now have power.

I don't know if I've posted this before, but we had Guardian install ceiling speakers in the family room and also a speaker outside of the back door and a cable hook-up outside too.

Here's a close-up of the volume control for the outdoor speaker.

The square beside the upper right corner of the sliding door is the speaker and below that is a regular outlet and a cable outlet.Dan is into cigars, and since he won't be smoking in the house he needs a place to be able to watch "the game" and enjoy his cigar. His friend has a similar set-up and they are always on the deck with their cigars, so I know this will get a lot of use.

Choosing Colors

I've been trying to narrow down my paint selections for a few weeks now. I decided that I want the kitchen and family room to be Restoration Hardware's Silver Sage.
These pics show Silver Sage in a kitchen with similar floors and cabinets and also in a living room. It's pretty neutral, and I think it will work in both spaces (possibly even the hallway too).
I went to Restoration Hardware today and picked up a few paint samples (and a lampshade- guess I have to buy a lamp now too). I got samples of Ash, Graphite, Stone and Glacier.
I also picked up one sample from Lowes, Olympic's Secret Passage.
I've never used RH paints before. Anyone have any experience or know how it compares to the Lowes/Home Depot brands or Sherwin Williams?

A few months ago I read an article about making large paint samples to get a better idea of the color and how it looks in different light. I picked up a few pieces of foam board and paint rollers and started making my big paint swatches tonight.
I'll post more pics of these once I take them to the house to compare to the cabinetry and floors.

Right now I'm leaning towards Silver Sage in the hallway, kitchen and family room; Secret Passage in the office; Stone/Ash in the dining room and maybe Glacier in the 1st floor bathroom.

Siding is up

Stopped by to give Dan's family a tour today and saw that our new siding was almost completed. I'm really happy with the siding color (Stone Mountain Clay) and how it contrasts with the trim.

Initially I was set on almond trim, and we had selected Sandy Tan siding. But once I saw the two together and realized there was no contrast, we changed the whole exterior. I didn't like any of the color schemes that we could select with almond trim so we went with white, and I am sooo happy with that decision now.
I'm still a little nervous about the stone choice (Aspen). I can't wait for it to go up so I can see how it all looks together. I wish RH had software to show you renderings of your model with the cosmetic options you select; but I guess not knowing exactly what it will look like helps to build anticipation.

In other news, they finished installing the hardwood floor, stained the banisters and did some painting. The floors are completely covered and everything looks similar to last week, so I didn't take any pictures of the inside.