NEW HOUSE UPDATE: The UP's and DOWN's!

   

I almost don’t know where to begin, so much has happened in the last three days.

As most of you know we received the keys to our new home and she is officially ours. Read about it....

 Here and Here.

With all new homes there are always a few glitches. Before I mention the glitches, I have to say that Shea homes has been amazing on how they take care of the customers well being through the process.

For those of you that work in the design business, or building industry you know that mistakes happen.

After all we are working with imperfect humans and man made products.

Trust me when I tell you what the problems have been it still has not dampened our spirits, and happiness in this process. 

STUFF can be fixed and it is being fixed!

First problem was my beautiful island counter top had two scratches that Shea would not accept, and they had the top replaced, however the second top as beautiful as it was had a stark white dot the size of a match head, not acceptable to Shea, or to us, so it has to be replaced, and it might have to be replaced after we are moved in. 

Our counter tops are a Quartz product called Lyskamm by Arizona tile….

Of all of the quartz products I have seen that are trying to resemble marble this one is the most subtle in person. 

I absolutely love it, and would highly recommend it for those of you that want a soft white counter top with a bit of movement. I chose it because of the subtle movement. Since my counter top is over 9ft long and 4 ft. deep the movement helps break the large mass up a bit.

After we get settled we plan on having a subway tile back splash like I had in our previous home installed.

Now for the second problem. When I saw the carpet that was installed my memory told me it was wrong, then self doubt set in, and I wondered if it was a good thing I am retired because I had totally lost my eye for color.

I had taken pictures of all of my choices and it did not resemble the carpet in the image at all.

 

Since the builder is no longer carrying my carpet they had to send for a sample so that was the first delay, and then it arrived.

HOLY MOLY BATMAN!!

My design plan was to have a soft sand/beige that would give a creamy look with the white walls and go nicely with the tile and the wood floor.

The carpet that was installed picked up some of the darker gray veins in the tile ,but was not the look I was going for at all.

You can see how the one I chose  is almost the same color as the grout. Whew! I have not lost my eye for color, the sample was exactly as I had remembered it.

I am not sure if you can see the color clearly in the picture, but the carpet they installed is a greige, with a green base to it and there is NO way I would put green based anything next to the wood flooring, or the tile. 

Anything green based can bring up the red or pink tones in an element if there are those undertones present. 

My flooring is a soft subtle brown, but there are some planks that do have an ever so slight red undertone, so the carpet just made those show up. 

Color tip:

Remember green and red are opposites on the color wheel and they will make each other’s hue stronger. Whenever colors are opposite each other on the color wheel they will make each other look more vivid.

Next problem, they found out my carpet that I DID choose was on back order, so the hunt began.

Today we found out they found it in Irvine, Calif. and it will be here on Monday and installed.

We planned on moving on Monday so now we are waiting to hear back from our movers to  find out when they can move us.

We are fine with all of this, and going with the flow.

We are also very thankful that we have the freedom to go with the flow since we are retired, and we have a place to live until we move because we did not cut our time in the apartment too close to the move in date. 

Shea representatives have been so gracious and apologetic, and truly have done what they can to make this easier on us and fix the mistake.

Today :

• We had the oven repair guy check out why the oven light does not work, and he will be back because the oven doesn’t work either.
  
• There was a patch of texture on the wall that did not match the rest of the wall in the master bedroom so that was fixed.
  
• We had the tile and grout, counters and shower walls sealed.
  
• Hung the temporary blinds

I put pumpkins on our new mantel, that was so fun!!

I am sure there will be more things as we go along, that is just how it works with a new home and construction, but we realize it is just stuff, and it can all be fixed. 

We are so fortunate that we have a wonderful builder that gets to the problem right away and fixes it. They have been amazing.

So all is well at the Perdue cottage, and we are busily taking care of some of the issues, and calling for estimates for window coverings, more on that later.

We are still……

Enjoying The Process of:

Being new home owners.

 

 

NEW HOUSE UPDATE: She's "OUR'S!"

   

Yesterday was quite the eventful day for my sweet hubby and me. We got the keys to our new home, I turned 65 and I now have a Medicare card.

Our builder makes it a wonderful occasion by the way they present the keys to the new owners. After them telling us what a pleasure it was to build our home for us we received a beautiful gift basket with a bottle of wine, olive oil, and honey all made fresh at Trilogy. 

Our community is surrounded by olive trees, and grape vineyards, and it has it’s own bees so they make it right there. It had a beautiful historical book all about the town of Brentwood as well.

They handed each of us a little black box tied with yellow tulle and inside was a shiny new key….

When our salesman found out it was my birthday he was very generous and gave me a gift certificate to the Sawa Spa at our clubhouse. 

To say we were feeling special is an understatement.

This builder goes over, and beyond to make you feel like you are very special.

Next we went to "OUR," house! 

We had a quick lesson on how to program, open and lock our door with the key pad, and then we walked into our new home, this time officially as the new owners!!

After the representative left, and we closed the door, Yes! I did the happy dance, and Yes we both cried a few very happy, grateful tears. 

We both are beyond grateful about this new journey in our lives. It has been quite the year for us to say the least, and to be standing in our new home together is surreal.

I brought a few necessities to start with, and will continue bringing smaller items throughout the week.

It’s official our monogrammed towels have put our name in place!

Thank you all for your comments, and for cheering us on and praying for us this past year, it has been quite the journey, that is for sure. 

There is more to do, and more to see so I hope you will continue on with us on my little blog!

I am REALLY!!:

“Enjoying The Process!”

 

 

NEW HOUSE UPDATE: The Walk-thru!

 

Sit  back and grab your favorite drink because this post is wordy and picture heavy. I am about to take you inside our new home for the  very first time.

Thursday was the start of our move towards moving into  our new home. We did our walk thru. This is when the builders orientation rep. walks the new owners through there home, and we check out how things work. 

We open all doors, drawers, windows, turn on faucets, fill up sinks, start the stove, and run the dishwasher, etc. as she walks us around our new home.

I am continuing to learn that our builder is very conscientious about their customer service. She already had marked some areas with blue painters tape, and had written some notes.

She told us almost first thing that our counter top would be completely replaced due to two scratches that were too deep to buff out. 

We were very glad that they were replacing it instead of trying to buff it out, even though we do have a bit of concern that it will be in before we actually move in.

As we walked thru our new black door…

We were like kids on Christmas morning when we stepped through this door we were greeted by our new hardwood floor running from the front door all the way back to the Great room back wall….

Even with the dust and smudges we loved it. 

She told us once they fix all of the items that we mark with blue painters tape there will be a final cleaning before they hand over the keys to us. 

This is more true to the color of the wood, it is a very warm medium value brown stain, nice and neutral with warmth.

If you turn to  your left you will enter a little hallway and that is where the laundry room, guest bath and the guest bedroom are at.

Small guest bathroom. I opted for another shower vs. a bathtub because we all use the shower in our home and when my Mom comes to visit I did not want her to have to step in and out of a bathtub.

The guest room is at the very front of the house, You can see the window in the center is the window with the black shutters in the front. As you leave the guest wing ( it is a very small wing, but it is a wing ;) you will start your way down the hall to the rest of the house.

You probably can’t see it but my sweet hubby is grinning from ear to ear. The door on the right goes out to the garage and the door on the left goes into the office den.

We have 8 ft. French doors leading into the office. 

We put carpet in here, but plan on replacing it with the hardwood down the road after we get a few other projects done. 

I already have plans in my head swirling around on how I would like to decorate this room. All in good time!!

As you pass the office/den if you look to your right you will see the kitchen….

At the end of the kitchen is the dinette. We have an island that is 9 ft long and 4ft deep. I call it a heli-pad, and I am convinced I can use it for a dance floor!!

I am sure you are all wondering why I did  not get my farmhouse sink. They did not offer any for this model.

Stainless was standard so I upgraded to porcelain, I am not a big fan of stainless sinks. I love to have a clean, white , shiny sink.

The kitchen island sink looks straight into the Great room, and you can see out the back windows.

The orientation of the kitchen is one of the reasons we chose this particular model. Most of the other models kitchens looked out to the side of the house. I like to be a part of family activity when I am in the kitchen.

My sweet hubby checking things out!

We got a 5 burner cook top and the microwave is also a convection oven so now I have two ovens for the Holidays!! 

Another new thing for me! I am feeling very spoiled and fortunate.

We are beyond delighted with the way the kitchen has turned out and it is definitely the Ta-da for this part of the house. 

We will be having a subway tile backsplash installed once we get somewhat settled. All the cabinets, molding and walls are painted swiss coffee. 

This will be the very first time I have ever lived with white walls. We figured it was wise to do the white and change as we go if we feel we want some color on the walls, since they did not offer any colors that I would use in my home.

Looking back towards the kitchen.

You can see the side windows of the great room, next to the windows is a door that goes out to our side patio that is covered and will have a ceiling fan. 

I am excited about that since we use our patio as extended living area here in California throughout the year.

At the end of the Great room we have three more windows. For a gal that loves light I am definitely going to get enough light in this house.

Across from the side windows on the left hand side of the great room is our fireplace and media niche. 

This is my biggest decorating dilemma. I know you will all say why did we not have them center the fireplace. Trust me we asked, but in a production home you get what you get and there are no changes. 

So with that being said I have plans on how to make this work for us, and it will take some very serious planning, but we are up for the job. This one wall should give me some really good blog material.

I have to have a fireplace, it is all a part of the  ambiance in our home during the cooler months. You can see the fireplace screen leaning against the wall, she was showing us how it works.

I love our fireplace mantel and I am looking forward to placing my Dad’s black antique clock front and center.

You can see we are already hooked up for the TV to be hung on the wall, another new first for me. I have not had a TV in plain view for years, it was always hidden behind the armoire doors.

To the left of the media alcove there is the opening to a little entry hall that takes you to the master bedroom. I like the way the master and guest room have their own little hallways off of the main living areas, almost like a little wing, a very little wing.

We added the large window in the middle for more of a view to the backyard. I am so happy with the look of all the windows.

Our bed will fit perfectly between the two windows.

The entrance to the master bath area, toilet closet and closet is to the left.

I have to mention that we got the standard counter tops and shower walls, and I was so afraid I would not like it. 

I did upgrade the flooring to a 12 X24 creamy natural looking stone, porcelain tile, and had my fingers crossed that it would look creamy and white. 

I even chose the over mount sinks in a rectangular shape to make your eye see more white. 

The verdict is out, and I love it, and  I am so pleased with the results, my fears were not warranted after all it is creamy and white and reminds me of sand at the beach.

Our walk in closet and the toilet close are straight across from the sink area.

You can see the reflection in the mirror.

We walked all around outside and in the garage as she explained the inner workings of our new home. The last thing that needed to be added was the garage door hardware.

To say we are  overwhelmed with excitement and gratitude to be able to have this home is pretty much an understatement. 

Once they check everything off their punch list she will be ours.

Yesterday was such an exciting day for us,  and I know that when they hand over the keys to us we will be excited all over again. 

The move will be a lot of work, but the end result is we will be in our retirement home, our last home if all goes as planned. Lots to think about, lots to do, but for right now I just want to enjoy this very special moment.

Thank you to all of you who have been with me from the beginning of this blog, and to all of my faithful readers that leave comments, or email me from time to time. 

I feel as if you are all part of this journey with me and I am looking forward to more adventures in our new home, and on my blog. 

I hope you will stick around for the rest of our story!!

I AM STILL....

ENJOYING THE PROCESS!!