Modern on Meadow Remodel Tour - the home stretch

I've been dreaming about the day our kitchen cabinets would arrive for what feels like forever, and now that day is here.

The cabinet 'boxes' as they are called, are being put in place and secured so counter top measurements can be made (despite what you see on HGTV, this whole process does not take one afternoon, but several weeks).  They will leave the cabinet fronts off until the very last minute in order to protect the wood. It will be worth the wait to see the finished look. Appliances arrive June 18!

I wish I could say that we are nothing but thrilled about the prospect of moving in in just a few short weeks, but actually we're feeling really stressed. The house is far from being done, subcontracts are still coming back above budget at this late date, and I'm afraid we're going to move into a house that is half-finished and barely paid for. I could paint a rosy picture, but I promised to tell the good and the bad here and so I will. I'm sure this level of stress and uncertainty is part of every major remodel. I don't know how you can go through this process without any stress or disappointments. The good news is that it will be over one day. One day very soon.

When we toured the house on Tuesday there were 4+ guys working on the kitchen cabinets and another 2 working on the steel that will wrap the fireplace. They were framing it in on site and fitting it into the space and then will take it back to the workshop to finish and shine the surface. I wasn't sure about the steel surface during the design phase, while our team of guys (including Ryan) was very enthusiastic about it. I have warmed up to the material and think it will be beautiful and striking against the white walls and light floors.

I like how these shelves are split by the bedroom door. It will be fun to add to them slowly with things we love and treasure. I plan to put my favorite books on the bedroom shelves.

The master bathroom cabinets are in place - finally our own sinks! We've been sharing a sink for the first 5 years of our marriage and this might be a game changer for our marital happiness. As you can see, we still don't have any tile...another source of major stress right now. We had to order new floor tiles for the bathrooms, pantry and mudroom as well as the master shower. The tile is set to go in next week (arriving on site Friday) but the master tile shower will be even later and we haven't been told when it will be delivered.

Our architects patiently tell us this is part of the process when building custom and with specialty tiles (the shower tiles are coming from Spain. I really shouldn't complain, I know.) But I wish they had given us some warning that we might not get the tiles we picked out in January and were emotionally attached to from a far...this is all such a learning process. And I don't ever want to do it again, for the record.

Shelves are going in the master closet...

The reveal on the stairway - the picture from last week is on the left, and the finished reveal is on the right. The wood will eventually be painted white, making the reveal pop even more.

Paint - another source of stress. Ryan was going to paint the interior, but because they did not have the drywall and trim done in time, there is no way he can paint the entire interior of the house in three weekends (he didn't like the suggestion to quit his day job). So now we are going to have someone paint the interior, a cost savings we were really counting on.

The deck - this Spring has been incredibly wet and they've been waiting for a dry stretch to dig up the entire yard and put in the new deck columns. We're planning a sunken courtyard for beneath the deck that will require some excavating and everyone is trying to avoid turning our backyard into a giant mud pond. But I'm starting to get really nervous that we will move in with a second story drop off from the back of the house. Not great with two toddlers! Or even worse, that we might not get permission to move in without the deck in place. I don't even want to think about that scenario right now. Let's hope for a stretch of dry warm days so this exterior work can get done.

I know once we are in our house and these worries are in the past we will forget them and say it was all worth it. We are doing our best to stay positive during this final stretch. There is a lot to do to pack up our loft and get ready to move, so the time will go quickly. We're in the home stretch...

Check out this previous post to see the height of the remodel mess and our original tile selections...