chhhhhanges

I'm sure it is obvious from the lack of posts that the renovation/move process has finally caught up with us! All good stuff of course, but the last two weeks have flown by and we are now rushing around to pick out final details, arrange for the move, and of course, pack!

Thanks primarily to Andrew's hard work packing, move-in day is Wednesday. While the basement will likely have at least a week to go, the top two floors should be (almost) completely done.

Stairwell carpet before:                                                 Stairwell carpet after:

Kitchen with back splash, farmhouse sink and painted cabinets:

Painted kitchen island:

Basement with drywall:

the final countdown...

It's hard to believe that in less than two weeks, we will be moving into Old Yellow! While the basement will still have a couple of weeks of work left, we are told the other two floors should be done prior to November 17th.

The contractors are almost done laying the new wood floors, and even before painting (it's now just primed)  the den already looks like a completely different room:

before:

to date:

And back to the kitchen, obviously my favorite space, here's our rough concept for the backs splash and coordinating room paint chips. Stay tuned!

sparkling white

We have counter tops! Our beautiful quartz pieces were installed yesterday and I couldn't be more pleased. 

and can't forget that farmhouse sink (cabinets will be painted white to match)

pearls of wisdom

I have really enjoyed exchanging stories and ideas with contacts from around the country. A long time colleague and friend, Lisa from Denver, has been a wonderful source of knowledge and support. She recently shared five bullet points of fantastic advice, included below. Hopefully, I'll also be able to provide the same kinds of thoughtful insight after this process is complete:

·         Expect surprises and have a big contingency in your budget for them

·         Know enough about renovation/construction to be on top of your contractor and be sure he/she is doing what is promised, ethical and of high quality. Sometimes this means you need to be there every day inspecting the work

·         Set achievable deadlines with your contractor and hold him/her to it—and don’t forget the squeaky wheel gets fixed first, but also remember that it is better to kill them with kindness rather than threatening them and being difficult—you can save that until you don’t have any other options

·         Know where and when to cut corners and when you should invest in higher-quality things that will last longer and are more authentic

·         Respect the “bones” of the property

exciting developments

I returned from a quick work trip last night to find some great continued progress. The kitchen cabinets were installed, including a big island (unfinished to be painted turquoise) and the wall unit (glass inserts to be installed in the doors.)

and the master shower is done! 

picking THE palette

Unfortunately my crazy travel schedule caught up with me, and I'm home, sick, again...We were really bummed to have to cancel our trip to Knoxville this weekend, but at least now have some time to catch up on life a bit (and for me, really just sleep.) Andrew started packing boxes (he's a rock star!) and I have finally found enough energy to write a blog post.

During my short stint back in Charlotte on Wednesday, I ventured over to the Sherwin Williams store to make some final decisions about paint colors. After struggling to make paint choices solely from the deck the contractor provided, I'm very glad I took the time to go directly to the store. The displays themselves were incredibly helpful, and SW and HGTV have actually partnered up to create several pre-packaged color palette schemes. I, of course, was stubborn and initially resisted, but after 2.5 hours of staring at different shades of gray, trying to determine undertones, etc., I caved. Turns out, the Coastal Cool palette was exactly what I had been looking for all along!

The Coastal Cool package includes 20 colors which create fool-proof combinations for the entire house. Since I'm obsessed with turquoise/teal/sea foam in general, and love gray and white for home interiors, I (somewhat) easily identified the right combination. 

The four colors to the left and a corresponding white will be used through the majority of the house. I'm eager/slightly nervous to see it all in real life!

In the meantime, other progress on the house continues, although primarily related to electric, HVAC and other elements not totally obvious to us. The cabinets and counters should come in this week so stay tuned!

saturday morning inspiration

It turns out that home & garden tours are really a lot of fun.

On Saturday morning we ventured out to the Elizabeth Home & Garden Tour. Elizabeth is a beautiful Charlotte neighborhood just south of Uptown, comprised of tree-lined streets and adorable craftsman style homes. Honestly, I wasn't sure the tour would be worth the $15 ticket fee, but it was a beautiful morning and David and Myka were also in for the adventure. I think that we were all pleasantly surprised, and really enjoyed visiting most of the 7-8 houses    on the route.

We'll definitely keep an eye out for future home tours in the Charlotte-area. Myka and David, we are signing you up for Midwood Maynia this spring!

And, possibly the best outcome of the whole adventure is that Andrew is now fully on board with a gray and white color scheme. Some home-inspiring photos from a few of the stops: