Locked Up!

I am so glad I geared myself to ask permission to see my home whenever I stop by because today I HAD to get the key!  That's right folks, my house is locked up tighter than Fort Knox.  Okay not that tight but you get the picture.  One must have a key now to visit the Grand Ol' Courtland on lot 14.

And here is why:

As predicted, the minute they installed the appliances, the locks are put in place.    A little sad that I just can't go in whenever I want, but it also means we are drawing ever closer to that magical date.

I really wanted to go see how the staining was going along.  Let's just say I will kindly suggest that everything be painted again if they had not already consider it.  Here is the progress so far:

If you look at the steps you will notice how deep the stain looks on the right and how it seems to fade as you travel left.  This is not the lighting effect from the camera- this is actually how the stain currently looks.  So the stain needs to be deeper and a lot more even.  I was told by my SR that my PM is a bit OCD when it comes to staining.  I am going to assume that my SR and PM worked together in another community because I distinctly remember our house being his very first project where we are now, so I am not sure how she knows this information.  To be fair- I was told that the painters would be there this weekend and the PM would not be there to see it until Tuesday as RH has President's Day off.  So we will see if his OCD beats my OCD.  Challenge!

I also went and rechecked my kitchen cabinets to make sure the damaged one was replaced

Totally different cabinet!  Take a look below at the damaged one

Do you see what I am talking about?  Previously this end had NO outlet as per plan.  So yes that cabinet really needed to be replaced.  Did I mention I was giddy with delight admiring my 42 inch cabinets?  At my nearly 5'2" my step ladder (forget the step stool) will be put to good use.

And I got another pleasant surprise!  In the model homes we toured the left side of the gourmet island- the side closest to the refrigerator, had cabinets that were very shallow.  I checked my cabinets noticed that they are about 3-4 times deeper than the model cabinets- HOORAY!  That nearly makes up for a total lack of a walk in pantry for a home of this size.  I will say that is my ONE disappointment with this RH model so far.
The tradesmen also took the time to repair my column

It doesn't appear to be painted over but at my height I can't really tell. Whilst one thing was repaired another was damaged:

That is stain on my carpet.  The workers probably didn't even notice it.  "Oh they will clean that up, " my SR told me.   Really? Pray tell how?  We didn't upgrade our carpet and just got Rockport.  This is a cheap carpet to say the least.  If you have ever had cheap carpet the one thing you know about them is that they don't clean easily if they clean at all.   As long as it is taken care of, is all that really matters.

My sink and powder room fixtures have been installed.  I also took at picture of our granite jutted up against our cabinets.  In case you wanted to know this the popular Rushmore Cabinets in Hazelnut Glaze with the St Cecelia granite.  From all the blogs I have been reading, this is a very popular kitchen combination.
Sadly I did not get to go upstairs because it was taped off by the painters.  I do know that carpet should be in place upstairs as well.

Last but not least our neighborhood is growing fast!  I think I counted 14 available lots left and only one of them is wooded.  The rest is what I would call interior lots where all the backyards back up against one another.  I also noted lumber delivered for another lot AND my future neighbor and fellow Courtland Gater across street has broke ground!

This seems like such a distant memory to me.

Our heat was running today when I entered the home.  It was a nice toasted 70 degrees on the inside.  Good thing because this was on the outside

Yes, that is one large icicle. But happily my siding stayed in place during the high winds,  

I can't wait to see what happens next week and then I think I may be forced to take a 2 week break.  Not looking forward to that

My Valentine's Day Gift

Was given to me by a neighbor and fellow blogger.  It is simply the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.  I am totally in love!

There is still some work to be done but I am more than excited to have numbers on my garage and a mailbox.  Yes I am excited about a mailbox!  

It's my home

I made my weekly trek to the new house and yes the busy little bees were hard at work again.  I stopped by the model house to get permission (oooh that kills me but I wanted them to know I am keeping watch).  They were entertaining quite a few perspective buyers- looks like our 70% (yes we are 70% sold out) may be reach 100% really soon.

The SRs were so busy in fact I was told I didn't need an escort.  Of course this may change next week but I have my permission papers for the day.

She has her other eyelash!

My stone facade is getting its finishing touches

Granite counter tops have been installed

Hardwoods all have been installed,  looks great with my counter tops

My kitchen the cabinets have installed but needs some finishing work

Fireplace mantle needs to be repainted but my surround looks gorgeous

There was a list of items taped to the kitchen cabinets that must be repaired or replaced.  I am glad because things like this should not happen

More Pics!

Crown Molding looks really nice in the study

When I walked into my master bathroom I literally squealed with delight

 I can't wait until they install the shower head

This is inlay is just beautiful

 I don't remember picking this for my shower floor but I like it, it has the look of travertine tile

 Great pic to see how the cabinets, counter top and tile look together

The hall bath is completed tiled and grouted, they still need to install the cabinets

As I was leaving I noticed that my porch columns  and coach lights were also in place

This image would look so much better without that dumpster in the way

Side note- I was so concerned about my laundry room door swinging in versus my preferred out, that I just had to check to see how "closed in" I would feel if I had to partially close the door to fold clothes on the counter.  With the door at a 45 degree angle, the space does not feel tight at all.  I can actually use all of the counter (reaching over a little of course) comfortably without any trouble.  In addition, the vinyl floor we choose for the laundry looks so much like ceramic tile, I don't think I will replace it right away.  

Funny Story:  As I was looking at my secondary bedrooms, I heard someone call out "Hello" from downstairs.  I didn't respond as I figured it was someone touring the home and I didn't want to scare them.  I attempted to slip out but the small group came around the corner just as I hit the bottom step.

"Oh," a well dressed woman said, "Someone else is looking at this house too"  I smiled and said "Actually, this is my home"   I think I gave her quite a shock as she had the designer hand bag, coat and heels and here I was in my traditional weekend attire: a hoodie, sweatpants and sneakers.  But boy did it feel good to say "My home."  Which reminds me:  I noticed several Ryan Homes posters with an orange "SOLD" sign in the windows.  I am curious as to why they would do this.  My lot sign with "sold" plastered on it is still out front (or is it?).   

Super Bowl Sunday and hard at work

Since all the good stuff is going on inside my home, I have restricted myself to going once a week, typically on a Sunday.  I figured all the workers would be home getting ready for the Super Bowl and their own personalized wing fest.  Nope.
Today I was a good girl and didn't sneak in.  Today I dutifully went down to the model home and politely asked if I could walk my home.  And the only reason why I did it today was because instead of the 1 or 2 workers I typically encounter there were  at least 8 today.  Yes 8 tradesmen and at least 1 trades woman hammering and gluing and tiling stuff in my home AND my house didn't in the least feel crowded.  SCORE!

I toured my home and took pics and marveled at all the things they accomplished in such a short time.  I commented to my husband that it may be early March vs mid March that we will close.  He seems to think that tomorrows threat of 9 inches of snow spurred them to get work done today. We will know soon enough.  On to what you really came here for:  PICS! Ignore the order of pics- blogger wouldn't let me rearrange them

My columns have been installed.

Kitchen cabinets being installed 

Kitchen cabinets

I wonder if he is wondering how fast he can get home 

Dining Room Chandelier


 It looks like they started painting and it will a slight off white color

 Metal balusters

Wainscoting installed!

French doors with transom window 

 Laundry Room- I like the shutter type door

 Column at the entrance of the master bedroom

 Light fixtures in bathroom

Tile in place, needs to be grouted 

Looking up to the second floor

Foyer Chandelier 

Hall Bath- floor tiled but needs grout

I finally remembered to ask about the percentages of the different models in the neighborhood.  As I figured there are few Ravennas as this is the decorated model.  But since my community periodically changes the model offerings we have quite a few of the other models in the area- Naples and Bainbridge are two of the models no longer offered- well at least for now.  He also reported that more people are now interested in the Courtland Gate.   Something that I had heard from my own SR.