September 2022 Update: The Black Doors are HERE!
- Molly Ishmael
- Oct 2, 2022
- 7 min read
This month, work picked up and we saw some exciting progress! Things slowed last week due to Hurricane Ian, but then we were back in business within a few days. On that note, we're thankful that our area was totally fine (we never even lost power), and we're keeping those affected in our prayers.
This is the month we've been waiting nearly 1.5 years for now: Some of the finishes are being installed, and we can finally see all those design boards coming to fruition. After all this time, I'll be honest, I almost forgot exactly what we chose, lol! While every stage of a new build is exciting, personally, I like this part best, seeing the details come to life. Here's the September news!
I guess you could say the black doors are extra like guacamole at Chipolte. :)
From white paint to play doors to gray floors, here's a short pictorial monthly update.
September 2022 - progress
The mantels were hung earlier this month.
Mantels
Both interior and exterior fireplace mantels are installed. Thankfully, the sizes worked out perfectly. My goal was to have the mantel be slightly longer than the firebox but not extend the full width of the wall. Good thing my husband go me hooked on LucidChart to plan all these details; it's not an interior design software, but it works really well for 2D work such floor plans, furniture arrangement, etc. It allowed us to create details drawings to give the builder.
By the way, determining the height of the mantels was so much trickier than I could have expected. Standard height is 54", but we also wanted to balance out the exact placement of the firebox and the TV above it. Plus, building code requires the mantel has to be a certain height from the firebox, but that depends on if it's wood-burning or gas. Also, we had to estimate how far the opening would be from the floor based on specs from the firebox salesman, and it was a real struggle to determine which dimensions were the box itself and which were the visible opening. Finally, since both fireplaces are within view of each other, I wanted to balance out the height of the mantels. Am I too detailed oriented? Haha maybe, but we are happy with the outcome.
The ceiling is prepped and ready for beams.
Beams (almost)
The supports are there for the beams in our bedroom. We can't wait to see what the final product looks like. We chose an ebony finish, in keeping with the black and white color scheme.
Ta-da! The driveway is longer now.
Driveway Extension
A few months ago, not related to any hurricane, we drove over to the site and couldn't make it up the driveway due to a large fallen tree branch. There are just so many trees, and sometimes, they break off or fall over. David cut up and moved the branch, but this inspired him to have a second entrance in case the main drive is ever blocked. Keep in mind it's a clay driveway cut through a mini-jungle, haha. Already we've had parts of it wash out or be almost impassable.
We decided to extend the existing driveway in front of the house and out the other side; i.e. a semi-circular drive with two street entrances. The positives are many: another exit in case of emergency, more parking for guests, symmetry in front of the house... And honestly, this is much prettier entrance, since now we can approach the "pretty" side of the house where the front door is visible, instead of entering on the side facing the garage doors.
So, we called our old friend Rene of Taylor's Tree Service and he did a beautiful job, as always! It's not cheap to remove this many trees but we think it will be a sound investment. We'll just have to wait on some of the landscaping we were hoping to install. In the meantime, now we have a great driveway that's more safe and convenient for our family. The clay hasn't been installed yet but when it is, I'll take pics.
The closet is scheduled for install!
Trigger Alert: First World "Problems"
David and I accidentally designed our walk-in closet smaller than expected. Haha, I know, it's not a real "problem" in the scheme of things! But it did make for a fun design challenge. Long story short, we had originally carved out space from the master closet for an outdoor storage area that now we realize we don't need. I don't know what we thought we would be storing in the garage that required so much space, lol. We could have absorbed that space into the main closet, but by the time we realized our misstep, the framing was done and we didn't want to hold up progress, so we decided to live with it. This served as another reminder that anytime a space is used efficiently, we realize we don't need more space, just better design.
For those of you who remember our former closet, this new one is about 1/3 the size. Granted, our previous home had a ridiculously large closet room which I styled with a large ottoman in the middle, etc. (It was a cookie-cutter home and that's just the way it came.) It was actually too big; we didn't have nearly enough clothes to fill it. So we knew we could go smaller... But we went much smaller, haha. It took some creativity to fit in all the storage sections, but on paper, it works. It will be interesting to see it 3-D. My friend Tiffeny at California Closets suggested that we go up since we can't spread out, so there will be high shelving to store things neatly out of the way that we don't need on a daily basis, freeing up more arms-reach storage.
Granted, there are a few hiccups... one of the light switches is on the wrong side of the wall (I didn't catch in the electrical walk-through) and is in the way of one of the closet sections. This can be easily remedied, but we just have to make sure it's done in time for the install. Also, we still don't have electricity hooked up to the house. I'm assuming the installers will need that unless they bring their own generator like some of the other contractors have. Either way, we can't wait to see the final product!
In the end, we're super grateful that we can install a custom closet which allows us to get a lot out of an average space. This is also a good excuse to clean out my clothes again. Goodwill, here I come. :)
The exterior is partially painted as of the end of September.
Paint
As of right now, the interior is mostly painted though needing lots of touch up, and the exterior is partially finished. The wood trim will be stained nearly black, allowing the turquoise front door to be the star.
Plus, a cheerful color on a door that draws attention to the main entrance is good feng shui, letting all your friends know where to enter. So, especially if your door is recessed or shadowed, make sure to paint it a bright color!
The interior is nearly finished, including my beloved black doors.
Interior Doors
They're hung and they're painted black! Yes, all of them. This was a bold choice. I made it against the advice of the builder's designer and barely with the approval of my husband, but what can I say, I LOVE the result! This is something I had to leave to trusting my gut instinct, and it paid off. With the high ceilings and everything else painted bright white, the black doors are not nearly as "heavy" or dark as one might fear. As it is, they just add a little interest to the space without overtaking it... in my opinion, of course.
A few issues arose with the door install. The builder installed one door that hit a wall in my daughter's bathroom and did not fully swing open. After a bit of back and forth, however, they agreed to exchange it for the correct size, and we were happy with the outcome of the conversation. That hasn't been done yet but we trust it will be soon. Also, the pantry door they installed was solid wood; per the design, it should be glass. When we asked about it, they acknowledged this and are ordering another one. Again, it will be exciting to see the final design in 3D!
The guest shower floor tile is pictured above.
Next Up: Flooring!
As of the last day of September, the tile appears to all be here. There is also a giant pile of bags of mortar, etc. Can't wait to see all that installed! What a huge difference it will make.
The charcoal hex tile shown above is for the guest shower floors. Our shower floor is a mid-gray rectangle tile to be laid in a herringbone pattern. The rest of the house is "distillery gray" wood-look tile. So basically, the floors are all shades off dark, rich grays. I'm hoping the effect will be warmer than the lighter gray finishes we had in our last home. This is my attempt at creating more contrast and warmth while adhering to my favorite cottage color combo, black and white and gray. Also, I view black to be a warm color. There should be loads of depth and dimension thanks to the contrasting hues (hopefully). Either way, I guess we'll see how it turns out soon!
Our new buddies.
Froggy Friends
This update wouldn't be complete without a shout-out to our little buddies, the tiny frogs that were living under a piece of plywood outside. I flipped the plywood out of the way and underneath it was at least half a dozen little holes in the sand. At first, I thought maybe a snake had taken up residence, but it was an entire colony of these tiny toads. I'm not sure what kind they are, but they were very curious. It was hard to capture them all in one photo, but the ground was dotted with little holes full of little heads and eyes, haha!
And that's the September update! Thanks for hanging with us as we wait on the final reveal. Maybe in November or December, we'll be posting those final photos we've been looking so forward to since we started this process nearly 1.5 years ago. Our hope is to celebrate the winter holidays in our new home.
To everyone out there, Happy Fall and I wish you all a very happy cool weather season!
With Love,
Molly
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