Finally, and Woohoo! We've moved in!

That is Dysthe being shy behind a row of boxes in the kitchen this morning.  We spent the first night in our new house last night, and spent the weekend moving all of our stuff into the place.  Some of these boxes haven't been opened since we taped them shut in 2012.  We may find Hoffa yet...  But I am skipping a few steps, so let me backtrack a little: 

We finally finished the kitchen installation...

...and we spent days on our hands and knees finishing the floors.  (Editor's note: it has come to our attention that some people are still taking me seriously when I try to claim personal credit for the work done.  Rest assured that our contribution comes almost entirely from spending many hours in showrooms picking things out and dealing with spreadsheets.  And paying for it all, of course.)

We got a table, and added a few more lights.

Our guest bathroom vanity arrives (the one you will use when you come visit).  This was Dysthe's baby.  She envisioned this from the get-go, a stainless restaurant work table with a hole cut to drop in a sink.  Very chic!  We still haven't finished this bathroom, but we promise to before you arrive.  Unless you're coming soon.

The laundry room/pantry...

...with a rolling barn door.  If you are wondering why anyone would put a rolling barn door on a laundry room in a fairly modern style house, you clearly have not been watching HGTV (or, as I call it, the Paint Drying Channel).  Because it looks cool, that's why.

This has nothing to do with anything else on this blog.  I am very happy to say that this is not at our home.  It is, in fact, about 800 miles away at a very "wine country style" resort in the Napa Valley.  I stayed there while attending a conference last week.  I am including it because I still laugh every time I remember it.  I have no idea why a portion of their garden was populated by ceramic rabbits being watched over by their friendly guardian jackalope.  I still think they are all squatting as if to poop, but saying so only gets me puzzled looks.  Compared to this lovely tableau, every idea I have ever had for our house is incredibly tasteful, including when I wanted the ceiling lights in the living room to be arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper.

Our new home is the small white thing in the very center of this photo.  Thankfully, it is more level than it appears in the photo.  I will speak to the photographer.  As you can see, we occupy our own little hilltop.  Eventually we hope to fill our hill with vines like the vineyard in the foreground.

Move-in day, and I am googling how to wire a dryer.  You can learn anything on Google.  Google has so much information on it that I actually found 2 different answers to the question of how to connect these wires.  Yes, that really happened.  I'm hoping I don't have to do a search for how to put out an electrical fire.  Wish me luck.

Still a lot of moving in to do, and even a few things to finish.  But this was our breakfast and lunch table today, so we can't complain.  We will come up with more photos to publish, and we still have stories to tell, so keep checking in.  Just not too soon - we don't have internet set up at the house yet.

We never knew how exciting countertops and garage doors are!

Our granite counters are here and installed. 

Shown here without the plastic cover.  Nice blues, greens, and grays - not a really loud granite, but still lots of color.

 

 

 

Counters in the master bath as well.  This one is a little more "tasteful."  That's what we call it when we don't choose the one that is colorful.  We are a little surprised at how often we end up on the tasteful side.  I don't think anyone who has known us for a long time would have thought we had this much restraint!

More classy stuff in the master shower.  Sometimes we shake our heads at how nice it all looks.

Our "hip and urban" garage door has also arrived.  Bringing a little of the city out to the sticks.

We finally got enough dry weather for the painters to get a coat onto the outside of the house.  This really goes a long way towards making it look finished as we drive up.

And here we are, with the electricians and plumbers arriving soon to finish lights and bathroom fixtures.  Home stretch coming!

An update from Dysthe

These photos aren't grouped by area or chronologically.  This is an amazing journey.  We are over the moon excited.  Every time we go to the house there's something new.  The workmanship is top-notch. We've been told that this (building a house) is a strain on a marriage.  I have to say that it hasn't been a strain for me (Dysthe), but it has reinforced what a SAINT Dave is.  We are hoping to move in the first half of March.  

(Editor's note: Dave's official position is that this whole process has been a magical time of growth and renewal.)

The pantry and laundry room - mucho storage. The open area is where the stereo and wireless router lives.  We did have two speakers installed in the ceiling as well as prepped to add speakers outside one day. 

Here is a shot of the patio off of the living room and you can see a little pad outside of the master bedroom as well. 

The red dirt will someday be landscaped. 

Now onto the kitchen... this is the sink where we will do dishes.  The empty spot is where the dishwasher will go.  You can see the patios and of course Mt. Hood out the window. 

This is the area that the stove / hood and fridge will be. 

The wood floors in the living / dining and the same in the kitchen.  It's all one room.  

It's a White Oak and doesn't have the "finish" on in this shot.  It will be finished in a natural (no-stain) with a matte finish. 

The same floors in the hallways.
This looks like there's a water stain down the middle - not to worry it's all good - it will be perfect when it's done.

These are the pebble tiles that are on the floor of the master shower. It will be set in a white grout and they feel wonderful on your feet.

The tile in the master bath.  The floor is 24" x 24" laid on a diagonal and the same tile in the shower in a 12" x 24" laid in an off-set / brick pattern with the tiles oriented length wise / landscape.

Things seem to be happening fast right now.  We will try to keep up.  Look for more soon!

Wood floor

We will have wood floors in all areas except the basement and bedrooms. 

They began installing the floors yesterday - they will come back after the painters have finished the walls and sand and stain. 

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas!

So we're building our house, celebrating the holidays, what could go wrong?  Well, this is a photo of our car after it got transferred to the second tow truck on its way to Newberg from the Santiam Pass.  We were on our way to a winemaker dinner that I was supposed to do near Bend, and it died close to the summit of the pass with no cell phone reception.  The engine got so hot it melted some components, and is beyond fixing.  After 208,000 miles we have no complaints, but the timing certainly puts a focus on our remaining budget items.

Back to the building site, and the drywall hangers have been busy!  I know we keep saying this, but it's really starting to look like we imagined it!

looking down the hallway toward the bedrooms.

We also spent much of the holiday season selecting colors, carpets, etc.

Back to the house.  The angle and light are funny, but that's me on the stilts.  The cold weather slows drying, so this has taken more time than expected.  Besides, I kind of like walking around in the stilts.

Looking toward the kitchen end of the great room.  We are doing very smooth walls and ceiling, and they are looking great.

Who knew there were so many whites?  Color selection seemed daunting, but once we got to it we had little trouble agreeing on things.  We also got some great advice later from Karen at Miller Paints, and that gave us the confidence to move forward.

We had been looking at a very tasteful quartz countertop, but at the last minute we got talked into looking at granite.  So glad we did!  We walked through the slab warehouse and chose this beauty - much more interesting and colorful than the quartz, and it works great with the walnut that Dysthe is holding up from the cabinets.  Curiously, Nordic White is not very white and is from Brazil.  Go figure.  

 

 

That pretty much sums up the past month.  January means painting, cabinet installation, floors, counters, appliances, carpets, and probably a lot more things that I'm forgetting right now.  We are still trying to stay ahead of the details, like getting the drawer pulls to the cabinet maker this week.  Still officially tracking to move in by the end of March.  Happy New Year!

December, Part 1

December started off with some more cement, this time in the garage.

We also poured a 4 inch thick hearth, which apparently got done just in time for the fireplace installers.  We settled on a gas fireplace because we didn't want the smoke and figured that this would get a lot more use than a wood burning one.

This is what the hearth looks like once we removed all of the forms.  We are still waiting to see if it cracks as it dries.  This end of the great room is starting to take shape!

The siding started going on, and the house continues to look more real as they go.

The siding is pretty basic, board and batten.  Works for a house in the country, though.

One thing about building on the top of a hill is that it can be the windiest place around.  There was a big windstorm in early December and I stopped by to see how things were doing.  You can see the branches on the ground, and the trees they came from are over a hundred feet from the house.  Fortunately we decided to have the closest tree cut down, so we will sleep easier when this happens after we move in.

The electricians have been busy.  These are some of the lights in the great room...

It seems like this piscture was taken just a few days after the last one, but the insulation guys have certainly been at it!

As Christmas grew closer we decided to add a little cheer.  The stockings were hung from the "chimney" with care!  We hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season, and we promise to send more updates soon.  Cheers!

Mom and Dad came to see their new vacation home.

November brings some big changes!

November began with windows going in.  Just seeing them in makes the view from up here more amazing.

And some plumbing goes in.

Even a little drywall going in, though just in the furnace room for now.  This was in preparation for the HVAC guys showing up for putting in the furnace and duct work.

And the roofers came to install the standing seam metal roof.  They are brothers, and if you look close you might notice that this one has only one arm.  He still gets more done than most people!

Then the cold snap hit.  I know that much of the country has had it a lot worse than Oregon has, but this slowed us down a little.

This picture doesn't show it well enough, but this is the roofers thawing things out with a blowtorch one morning so they can get to work.

Roof almost done and more windows in.

And here's where we are now, almost all closed in with electricians showing up soon.