The Appliance Battle

Saturday was the battle of the big box stores. It took Mom, Dad and me nearly 7 hours to watch, coach and compete in the battle, but I believe we came out victorious. Fingers crossed, of course.

The players:
The list:

• 1 Double Oven/Range Combo
• 1 Over the Range Microwave
• 1 Refrigerator
• 1 Dishwasher
• 1 Washer
• 1 Dryer
• 1 Garbage Disposal
  

Armed with a list of appliances, we headed first to BB. The salesperson told us about an amazing special which was: buy 1 appliance - get 10% off; 2 appliances - 20% off; 3 or more - 30% off! Plus... use the BB credit card to get 18 months, no payment / no interest! There weren't too many samples on the floor, so we picked things we liked, priced them out, looked online to see other options, and said we'd be back. That took about 2 hours.

A quick trip to Chipotle for fuel, and then we headed to HD. I have to say, I like HD a lot. I was kind of hoping they'd win. Our salesman was great and knowledgeable and not pressuring. After a quick scare about the measurements of my refrigerator, he helped us pick out nice "counter depth" options. Then he sent our completed appliance list to the HD "Bid Room" to see what deals they could come up with.

Another break, in which I drove my parents around Mueller, stopped in a $1mil open house, and we were back to HD. The total price had dropped only a little more than 10%! However, the warranties were good, all items were in stock, and again, we really liked our salesman. (Luckily they don't work on commission so that wasn't really a decision factor.)

Armed with the HD quote, we made our way back to BB. After plugging everything in - luckily they had all the appliances I wanted - the total was only $100 or so off from HD. How could that be if we were supposed to get a 30% discount?! She kept trying and trying to make the bid work, but it just wasn't equaling 30% off. Then, my dad read the circular and found out she had misquoted us the sale. It was only 20% off total. We were getting really annoyed at that point... nearly 6 hours in to our appliance battle, and we had been given faulty info! This is when my folks stepped up (while I hid behind some ovens) and took charge.

When all was said and done, we nearly had our 30% discount from BB. It took us 7 hours, but we saved nearly $2000 on GOOD appliances from what we would have paid had we just walked into the store. (We saved over $500 from HD's best price.)

I can't wait to have a dishwasher and a functional washer/dryer! (And an awesome refrigerator, microwave, and double oven/range.)

I owe my parents BIG TIME for their help yesterday. I'm so happy to check "get appliances" off the list. One giant step closer! :)

3 Months Progress

New Paint Options

Met with Jen again today, and I'm leaning towards two new options: Nickel for the stucco & soffets, and Ashley Grey for the trim. Hopefully they will work... I think the blue and purple will look so pretty together. Going to get paint samples ASAP!

Paint Samples!

I picked out the base color of my house: PURPLE!!!!!! YAY! :) Still figuring out the trim & second trim colors. Elizabeth & Chris & Meredith have all been by and told me the purple is perfect, so I am feeling good. Plus, well, I LOVE IT! :)

Then today they made some huge progress.... the got rid of all the ugly gingerbread trim! (Notice above and below differences) and replaced the remaining green siding with wood. So much more modern. :)
The plumbing is nearly all set up, as is the A/C unit. They are nearly done skirting the house and the deck plans are almost final. Things are REALLY moving along... and this is one happy homeowner. :)

Tile + Countertops

Last week, my amazing designer Jennifer took samples into the house and helped me pick finish-outs. So fun...

My hall bath will be largely white (tub/vanity/Silestone countertop) and deep blue, i.e. the left side of this photo.

My master bath will be mainly the middle purple/brown tile with gray silestone cabinets and dark wood cabinets. The right-most tile will be the accent in the shower.
As for the kitchen, which was my biggest concern, I will have honey-maple cabinets, white silestone countertops, and original art as the backsplash. That's right... Jennifer & I are going to stencil designs in the kitchen. Not only will this be super super super cool and artsy, but it will save me some money - which I'm then spending in the bathrooms. :)

It's funny that this tile was my favorite long before I hired Jennifer... however, having her expertise and guiding all my decisions around it is WELL worth the money.

I'm So Ex-Sided!

I've been working from home the past two days, which allows me the opportunity to pear out my window and watch the trucks in front of my new house. Fun!

Anyway, things are moving along... and this week they have putting up siding! Anticipated completion date: Thursday! Which means, it's time to pick out my paint colors! This was the house on Saturday...
And this is the house today! Updates: window trim, a sliding glass door, a temporary utility door, and plans for a back deck!
Here's the house from the front. I decided to forgo the slanty wall on the back - but it will still be stucco'ed.
And this is my music room. This picture makes me laugh - Mike came by on Saturday and pretended to hide behind the walls. :)

Windows!!!

I'm walking on air. My house is more amazing than I ever expected!! Today was a big milestone day - the windows went in! (And I got to watch them!)

Plus... I met with my amazing designer, Jennifer, and one of my contractors, Kevin, and we finalized the majority of my finish-outs! Things are moving along so well & I couldn't be happier!!


Terry stopped by to check out the scrap pile... and got a tour of my place!
Here are Kevin & Nick - best contractors ever. These guys are seriously amazing.

Starting to *really* look like a house!

Who let the dogs out? ROOF! ROOF! ROOF! (Just kidding... that was silly...)

However, there is a roof! And this is Kevin & Nick standing in my dining/kitchen area. (Beyond that is the master suite.)
This is the hallway leading to Carol's room. Or the guest room as most would call it. :)

That, up there, is specially designed to get the most space out of my attic... Very cool!
And this is my house with "walls" and a "roof"!
She's coming along, ain't she?
Erin = Happy. :)

Framing... Walls... and a Window Seat!

Tuesday afternoon, I drove by the house again and found this... half of the walls were gone! Yet new ones were up! So much change so fast!
But that wasn't all... my master bedroom, shown on the right, looks remarkable like... well... you know... Blue!!! If only I had some spray paint and could paint a robot smile... ;)

However... this was nothing. I just about freaked out when I drove up last night. There it was, in all its beautiful glory. My beloved, sought-after front window framing... which will soon become what I've longed for my entire life... a window seat! Words could not express the utter excitement I felt when I saw this. (Well, other than... "This is so awesome, this is so awesome, this is SO AWESOME!" Just ask my parents, they had to listen to it for about 10 minutes straight.)
I am really happy with this window... I think it adds a lot of depth, plus it will be so cool to sit in it and gaze outside. Yes, I said gaze. I do fully intend to gaze.

In other news, more exciting things have happened. First, I met my very cool neighbor who lives across the street. We talked for about an hour last night and he filled me in on the neighborhood... as well as his very exciting plans to build a lap pool in his empty lot one day.

Then, my artist friend Terry came over and took tons of the scrap wood. He said he'll be able to use a ton of it to make art!! I'm so excited that part of the house will be put to good use - ART! Perfect. :)

Framing... and More Framing (from January 5)

And what's that... is it... a wall?? Why yes - that is my bedroom wall! :)

Framing... from January 2nd.

This picture just makes me laugh. And since this is my blog I can post what I want to. ;)