February progress

Last week we had a fireplace installed and the backside of the roof has steel on it. The roofers are there today and tomorrow finishing the front side! Yesterday Jed and Lane got most of the ceiling insulated, just a few hours left to finish the ceiling, then he can start on the walls. We are waiting for an inspector to come check out the wiring before we get too crazy with insulation. Step by step! It will be nice to have the roof finally complete and Jed didn't even have to do it!

Here is a picture with the deck on the front. It's not finished but you get the idea! I'll post more pictures when the steel is finished.

The inside view of the front door! Jed trimmed it with cedar! Looks great! We will also have three of those big round lights going up the stairs. They use the old Edison style light bulbs. Love them!

This is the counter top we are doing in the kitchen.....which we finally ORDERED! YAY! This kitchen was stressing me out, trying to decide who to go with (Lowes or Knecht).

We ended up going with Lowes and I feel good about that. I had a counter top picked out at Knecht that I really had my heart set on...until.....I got the $9200 quote for it. FOR COUNTER TOPS...not even including the bathroom! So I kept looking and found a different one I thought I could live with at Lowes. My mom and I were looking at it on Saturday and thought it was more peachy than we liked, so we looked at the one that was on sale and it actually ended up being my favorite. They had it in a display, so it was easier to see what a whole slab would look like. Love it! And did I mention it was on SALE?? Yes? I'm pretty excited about the sale price, saved us about $2000. YAY, finally something SAVED us money!  The cabinets are rustic hickory, the island is vintage black and the bathroom vanities are vintage black also. I ordered counter tops for the bathroom in venetian gold. The kitchen color is Santa Cecelia. I also picked up all the faucets except for the kitchen sink. The decisions are getting smaller and smaller!  I think lighting, doors and bathroom flooring are about all I have left to pick...and paint colors. We're getting closer!

I should also add that so far, Lowes has been great to work with. They answer my questions quickly, whether it's an email or a phone call. And they are able to do everything on the spot, no waiting for them to draw it up and get back to you...or say they are going to get back to you and don't. In the end Knecht not getting back to me is what made us decide to go with Lowes. With as many customers as they see, they still are quicker to respond than anyone else we tried to work with.

We've had to order a lot of stuff from Menards also. Their whole loading material department needs some serious help, but we haven't had any train wrecks yet. Finding someone to help you in their store is about like pulling teeth as well.