Dear Readers,
I have been a little slow in updating the site lately but have now caught up.
Don’t miss these pages, which were posted directly to the archives:

May 28, 2008
May 30, 2008
June 4, 2008
June 6 , 2008—Exterior color preview

The plasterers came Tuesday and put a sample of the final color coat on the back wall of the master bathroom for us to approve. We love it. Jim says it just makes him happy.

We have wanted to have a house this color since we came up with the idea of the southwest style of the design with Todd Jersey 3 years ago. We both love the colors of the buildings in Santa Fe, and since we are required by County building codes to use brown or green as our exterior color, this is just perfect.

It is not the same color as the barn and cottage, but actually registers as the same as their roof color from a distance. Plus, the finish has this wonderfully velvety look, that is very handsome.

Joe Gaiton, the plaster contractor, came by to see how I liked the plaster sample and discuss what to do about the fireplace. Jim had not seen the exterior sample at that point, so I gave him a provisional OK and said I would call him with a final approval after Jim saw it.

We discussed how to finish the fireplace and talked about the foam for the chimney. Joe had some very good ideas about how to give the fireplace more of the "beehive" look that I want and also, to even the width up, so it is centered in the hearth. (I hope that doesn’t throw the knot in the mantle off!) We also discussed how to improve the foam for the chimney and decided to work on it after the fireplace is plastered.

Kai is on vacation today, but he finished sheathing the range hood before he left. It has been kind of quiet, with just the painters finishing up the paint on the back rooms.

After Joe left, one of his crew arrived to put bullnose on the range hood.

With the final paint color on, the architectural details stand out a lot more. For instance, the little alcove where the vegetable cooler cabinet will be really shows now. It makes the area near that arch seem more generous, although the look will change again somewhat when the cabinet is installed.

We have FINALLY found some decent trim wood which is readily available and within our budget. It is SPF exterior trim and siding boards. The SPF stands for Spruce, Pine, Fir, although I understand that it is rarely—if ever—fir. This wood is rough on one side and smooth (filled and sanded) on the other and has a baked-on primer. This is similar to what we used in the cottage, but the samples Kai brought have a smaller eased edge (slightly rounded). We will smooth off the eased edge in places where it looks bad.

After all the materials we have been through for wood trim, this seems like the best choice. It paints up well and really—if we are going to paint it—we don’t need mahogany here. I just did not want boards made out of glue and chips. Someone was recently telling me a story about their baseboards, which started swelling when they used a steam cleaner on the floor.

Here is the paint color in the living room and dining room during the morning.
This photo is looking from the dining room to the kitchen/family room. The paint actually looks darker than this. My camera has a mind of its own in regards to color.

Later in the afternoon, we watched a large truck struggle up the hill. I wasn’t expecting any deliveries, so I was mighty surprised when the truck pulled into our driveway. It was Vinny and Kit, our cabinet makers delivering a whole bunch of cabinets.

They have stacked most of the kitchen cabinets here in the family room end of the room.

The cabinets are oak and have been stained a very subtle green. The crown molding for the large pantry cupboard is lying between the other cabinets here. The color is hard to see here, but it is quite beautiful.
Kit shows off another stained piece, this time it is the top of the hutch at the end of the kitchen island.
This little piece is a shelf unit for the cottage. It and another just like it will replace the stainless steel shelves in the kitchen—which are attractive but don’t provide enough usable space. We will finish it with the same oil and wax finish as the cabinets.

The dining room hutch boxes are all piled up in the dining room. I caught this picture of one of the finished cabinets before it was covered with a blanket. The turquoise color is the exact color of the painted wood trim and looks wonderful with the gold walls.

I hope our rug looks OK in here, I had originally planned to paint these walls a pale taupe to accommodate that rug. We will see. If it doesn’t look good, we can always repaint this room since the trim color looks great with the pale taupe as well as the gold.

For more from June 6, click here  
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