Christmas Rush

Again, the more I work on the house, the less I post. In this instance, correlation does mean causation.

I do feel like I have a true following because I'm getting requests for photos and updates. So here goes.

I took this week off from work. Some call it vacation. Others call is "staycation." I call it more work than my work. But it's been a productive week thus far.

First, Jay Wilichoski, our super painter, finished up painting everything but the breezeway/den. I am really loving the colors. The white dove is the perfect trim - a lovely soft white that goes well with our kitchen cabinets and the colors we chose for all rooms. The fact that he sprayed all the trim, doors and ceilings really makes everything look uniform and perfect. We did a semi gloss on the doors and trim but, since it was sprayed, it comes off as more of a cross between satin and semi gloss. Which is perfect, because I couldn't decide between those two finishes.

Of all the colors, we love our master bedroom most. The Manchester Tan is THE perfecte neutral.


Second favorite is the Revere Pewter, which is a perfect "greige" for our open floor plan.


Thirdly, I am a little bit obsessed with the Van Courtland Blue in my office.


Lastly, I am very happy with a soft but rejuvenating creamy yellow for our guest room.


The painter plans to come back in a week or so to finish/touch up...

In the mean time, I've spent my vacation...cleaning. And if you ask my husband, it is a chore that I am actually pretty awful at doing. Not this week. This week, I rock at cleaning. To the point that my hair is covered in sawdust and my fingers are shriveled from spending countless hours in a soapy bucket of water.

It took forever, but I can finally say that all of the kitchen cabinets are clean and READY FOR DISHES!

While I was cleaning today, I was also on standby to answer questions from the electirician like... Where should I hang the wall sconce, how long do you want the pendant light to hang, what should the order of switches go on a certain switch box?

We're making good progress on the electical front. Our electrician is coming back next Tuesday to finish up, but check out some of the more exciting lighting intallations:

Pendants!


Office light! LOVE IT (see above) - thank you Nate Bennett!

Murray Feiss Barrington Sconces for living room - thank you Nate Bennett!


HVAC came and installed all of the vent covers today as well as thermostats...that, combined with the fireplace install, means thats I was nice and toasty at the house this week.


What else can I update folks on...

...Kel is installing the stairs between the breezeway/den and house.
...I can't tell you how messy, dusty and gross everyhing is in the house. It took me an hour to clean off fan blades for the electrician to install.
...The granite on the island just got installed...as did the quartz on the master vanity...and the window sill in the kitchen. It took a couple trips to get it right, but they figured it out and we're happy with how everything looks. Kel will install brackets on the island so the 12.5 inch overhang won't cause a major issue if someone decides to lean on it.



...We. need. furniture. Anyone heard of Modern Rust in DC? We may check it out over Christmas while we're in Virginia and have some items sent.
...I love wayfair.com
...We are moving December 29th!!! Let's hope we have an occupancy license before then.
...Carpets arrive in the bedrooms one week from today.
...We bought stools for our island. Who knew World Market, our favorite place in DC delivers?


...I need to rent a husband. Chris is working all week and I really need a husband to: hang mirrors, install doorstops, swap out our side door, patch a hole in our master bath (Long story there but not incredibly interesting so I will save for later), and install closet systems. I found Steve Butcher on Craiglist and we're going to give him a whirl...in hopes he doesn't butcher our walls. I mean, he can't screw them up any more than the guy who actually plastered the walls did!

That's all for now. Wanna know something kind of silly but true? The simple act of installing the plastic covers for the outlets really made the house look like a home. We can't wait to move on in to Salt Wall...in time for our second anniversary on December 31 - and even before then - our first overnight guest...Ms. Ellen E. Carey