All but the finishing touches

We were able to swing by the house last Saturday on our way home from the pumpkin patch to check out the progress.  Now that we've been locked out, its much harder to stop by and check on the progress.  We used to always go by early Sunday mornings, but now we have to make sure to visit during operating hours for the model so we can get the key.   It won't be long now until the house is ours, our official closing date is Dec 1st, which is just a little over a month away!

When we arrived we found that the floors and carpets had been uncovered, and that we have electricity and water along with a pretty much completely functional kitchen.  At this point all we are looking at is the finishing touches and the house will be complete!

Without further ado here are the pictures!

Bedroom #4

Bedroom #4 Closet

Bedroom #4

 Loft

Elevation "C" 2 ft extension and centered windows

Loft looking toward hallway and bedroom #3

Linen Closet

Loft looking towards laundry room and linen closet

 In our house the loft is going to be the playroom.  We have an Ikea wall unit for toys and the Thomas tent and trampoline are also going to be going up here.   We might get one chair, but the space is going to be pretty much just devoted to play.

 Laundry Room

Bedroom #3  

Looking towards closet

looking towards door

Bathroom #2

Ignore the Halloween shirt, we had just come from the pumpkin patch

When I had stopped by the house a week ago I noticed that all the bathroom fixtures were chrome, when we had upgraded to the brushed nickel.  I let my PM know and they are now in the process of replacement.  You'll see some switched over fixtures, but most of the tp holders and towel racks are still chrome.

Bedroom #2

This room gets wonderful afternoon light

looking toward closet

Looking out to the hallway and staircase

One thing I wished I had asked about was whether it would have been possible to do the half wall at the top of the stairs and the banister at the bottom.  I would prefer a wall at the top of the staircase because kids and banisters make me nervous.

Master bedroom

this is a TON of room!

Looking towards sitting area

Side wall #1

back closet wall

side wall #2

One thing I know I was curious about was the configuration of the shelves in the master closet, and I haven't seen it addressed in many of the blogs.  This is the set up for the closet near the sitting area, it has two shelves on the two side walls and one long shelf across the back

looking towards master bath

Master Bath

Its not a ton of space, but it sure is pretty!

Close up of listello

I am really glad that I chose a lighter colored grout, especially with my listello.  If you have a listello with lighter colored glass, and you like the look of the lighter/clear colored glass, I would try to choose a lighter color of grout, because the lighter colored glass pieces will look darker if they are on the background of a darker grout.  I really didn't think about this when I was in the design center, but I'm glad it all worked out.  I've read another Ryan blog in which the homeowner had the same listello as I chose, but it looked completely different because they chose a much darker main tile and a much darker grout color.   Just something to think about.

 Do you notice anything strange in the above photo?  Look at the listello along the side wall, do you also notice that it is missing any small white tiles?  I thought it looked really strange, the white tiles are pretty well dispersed throughout the rest of the listello along the shower and the back wall of the tub, and then nothing, for pretty much a foot and a half.   I mentioned it to my PM, and he is going to have that section replaced.  I know it is kind of a picky request, but I also know it would drive me crazy looking at it for the rest of my life.  I wasn't sure my PM would do it, I was really afraid I'd get the "natural pattern deviation" line, but I am so glad it is going to be fixed.  The moral of the story is that if you see anything that you don't like, be sure to bring it up, the worst that can happen is you get a "no" for an answer.

see, no white  tiles, weird right?

Master closet off bath

Master closet off bath

The configuration for the closet off the master bath is the same as the closet off the sitting area, two shelves on the far walls, and one long shelf on the long wall.   If you notice a hole cut in the wall of the closet, that was so they could replace the drain plug in the tub from chrome to brushed nickel.   It was not a cheap upgrade, but I'm really glad I did it.  Its easy enough to replace a sink faucet, but the tub and shower fixtures/surround, not so much.

 Upstairs hall/staircase

attic access

light fixture over stairs

Looking down stairs to powder room

Powder room

Foyer

Looking to front door

looking to mudroom/garage

Living room 

 

Dining Room

 

Love the recessed lights

 One small problem I noticed was that some of the trim in the picture frame molding wasn't sanded down prior to being painted and the edges are jagged and splintery.  This is another picky request, but we'll see what my PM does about it.  I'm going to have to get him a really nice gift when the house is completed.


Kitchen

looking into morning room

Looking from morning room into kitchen

I LOVE the way the back splash turned out.  I think it looks so nice with the cabinets and counter, it dresses up the space, but its neutral and not to busy.  I know we could have done it cheaper with an outside contractor, but now its done and I don't have to worry about it. 

My giant sink

 I was really happy to see that I got the Delta faucet with the soap dispenser, its new for Ryan.

So I noticed three problems in the kitchen, the first you can see in the lower right hand corner of the above picture, the cabinet is bowing out.  I mentioned it to the PM last week, and it just needs the finishing strip to be tacked on.  I'm going to be watching it carefully.  The second you can also see in the above picture.  The back splash ends by the stove and does not extend over the counter to the right of the fridge.  This is really strange looking, and I've talked to other Rome owners in my neighborhood and the tile is supposed to be over that small part of counter.  That needs to be fixed as well.

The third thing is this imperfection in the cabinet

I spoke to my PM about it, and he ordered another door for the cabinet.  This is another small picky thing, but its really obvious and smack in the middle of the kitchen.  I'm really glad I wasn't given the "natural wood grain" excuse, this is obviously a defect. 

Morning Room

The extra windows let in beautiful afternoon light

Pantry

Hallway leaving from pantry to dining room

Costco here we come!

Garage

Family Room

finished fireplace

Study 

looking towards family room

Exterior

Our column was in place

They still have a few things to do, like cutting the rough ins for the pendant lights over the kitchen and all the sod and landscaping, but it is really coming together and should be all finished up within the next two weeks!