Document Actions
Livable and Done are Not the Same Thing
Editorial Rating:
Reader Rating:
(
0 votes)
We passed our final inspection, took occupancy and closed on our permanent mortgage the first week of April, 2006, almost exactly two years from the time we closed on our land, and 16 months from groundbreaking. Whew. Financially, a HUGE relief after paying the insane penalties that went along with extending the term of our construction loan so many times, but emotionally, kind of a weird anticlimactic no mans land. Yes, we were thrilled that the house was, at least on paper, livable, but also a little delirious from the all out effort we had been putting in for so many months. Honestly, it's been hard to switch gears and I think we're both just now feeling like things are mostly back to normal. Which is not to say that we're not still working our butts off. At least now it's at our pace, on our terms, and without an hours drive each way.
We pretty much sat around or slept away all of our free time in April. It was delicious, and I'll never forget that first weekend when we DIDN'T have to get up at the crack of dawn and drive an hour to work on the house. At first it was hard to remember just how to be lazy, but I think we've got a handle on it now :) So we've been off to a slow, new start, but we're gradually crossing off all those items on our self imposed punch list.
As I've told many of our friends, a weird thing came over me once we finally got moved in. Instead of wanting to celebrate and share our progress and achievement at every stage, I turned picky and selfish and started feeling like I want everything to be perfectly the way I see it in my head before I'm willing to show it off. Realistically however, I think it's going to be YEARS before I feel like we're done, so I'm trying to get over it. And yes, eventually, I'm going to cave and plan a party.
"Livable" is a relative term to be sure. There's still plenty of work to be done, and a distinct lack of furniture which started to suck about two months ago. So far I've only been able to manage to decide on one piece, a sectional for the media room, which, if I'm lucky, will be here in three more months. Everything else is still waiting to be discovered and until then, one of us is enjoying the BO Concept chaise I got for half price at a local going out of business sale and the loser of the coin toss gets their pick of one of the four kitchen chairs. But hey, they do have upholstered seats :)
After spending two years of my life making decisions, I'm really over it. "They" say this is the part that's supposed to be fun. "They" being all those people who have "built" their own house by calling a builder, choosing a couple of fixtures and some tile and complaining that it's taking too long. My reality is that furniture shopping seems like such drudgery at this point that I really can't bring myself to do it, but the bigger the pain in my butt gets (those kitchen chairs, you know) the more motivated I become.
So in between not sitting down and lounging on nice new furniture, I've been busy pecking away at the million loose ends, and painting and rediscovering just how satisfying paint can be when it's not acres of white primer.
Here's the master bath, the one room in the house that's pretty close to completely done, with the tile job that nearly put me over the edge and took FOREVER, but that we absolutely LOVE.
My studio in Racer Pink (tinted primer plus FOUR coats of paint!) and still needing some major organizing.
The bike room, waiting to be pimped out with a lift, some cabinets, paint and beauty lighting, but with our dear friends the motorcycles happily parked:
The reading nook, aka the balcobrary:
Outside the back doors:
A year ago today:
and now:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Cite/Attribute Resource.
Being in
It was really pretty unreal at first, to be living in something that was once just in my head,and really, it's exactly like I pictured it would be. Seeing such a big project through to "completion", particularly when we were responsible for so much of the work, is extrememly gratifying to say the least.
The floor tile isn't tile. It's about eighty bajillion glass gobs set one by one, just like on the wall. So far it's great and it feels nice on the feet. Huge credit to goes to the John Bridge Tile Forum and of the great info I found there on shower building, mud bed construction, etc. I need to get back over there and post some look what I did thanks to all your help pics.
The HR fixtures: I wouldn't choose them again. There is nothing standard about their install which isn't a big deal in and of itself, but in the greater scheme of things this took a lot of extra time and was a pain in the butt that I just didn't need. Plus, if you have an on the ball plumbing inspector, you're screwed. If I thought they were going to give me years and years of trouble free service, maybe I'd give them the gold star, but something tells me that's not going to be the case. They're working fine right now but check back in a few years... And the chrome is crap, IMO. Scratches too easy and the base metal under it is so soft it dings if you're not really, really careful. On the other hand, they look cool and were cheap.
bravo!
We need a comprehensive photo essay of the finished house before you are excused and can close the blog!
you thought you could get rid of me :)
heheheeh. Greg things I'm going to go away... Just wait. Ten years from now I'll still be posting updates saying "look at this room I just finished!"
that's what I wanted to hear
You've got too much experience to share to fade into the sunset - we want some of that in the coming years!
I so understand your pain
We are in progress on our custom house as well. (www.nutterresidence.blogspot.com ) We are doing most of the work ourselves too (everyone thinks we're nuts). We were commuting an hour each way to work on the new house too, but thankfully, we were able to sell our old house and move into a rental house that is 10 minutes away from our construction site. It has made such a difference, and our young kids are able to be more a part of the process too.
I think about what you were commenting on a lot - livable and being done. I feel exactly the same as you - I wonder if mine will ever truly be "done." I have a few questions about your master bath - where did you get your vanity lighting fixture, and did you use a dremel tool to recess your gems into the tile? Thanks a million and congratulations! We'd love to see more finished pics! Especially in the two-story living space!
fixtures
The vanity lights came from lightinguniverse.com I needed four fixtures for in there and the best part is that these were less than $100 each. Kind of a trick to find something that puts out enough light, is affordable, chrome and modern all at once.
I have some farily extensive experience working with stained glass, and the tile project became an offshoot of that. I cut and ground the tiles using the same tools I would for glass. Similar techniques but I think about four times as labor intensive as glass work. Between the actual tile work and the prep (using Kerdi), it was one major time-sucking project.
in awe
- Your home is absolutely fantastic! And your master bath is unbelievably gorgeous. Sit on your kitchen chairs until it hurts and bask in the glory of your house
- then go out and buy some throw pillows and bask some more. ;)
The beads!
I see that you, too, succumbed to the beads! We glued 20,000 of them for our indoor fountain:
Didn't they just drive you absolutely mad?
great fountain
that looks great! And you can't go posting photos without a link to your blog - now we have to go and find that again... grumble!
blog address
My blog is at: http://www.618lincoln.com/
It's not too exciting lately...I mean, we're accomplishing a lot, but I haven't been able to upload any pictures since we don't have Internet access yet (right now, I'm posting during my lunch break at work), but hopefully that'll change soon.
Couple questions
Hi Splatgirl, I am planning a ICF home(owner builder) in the twin cities and would like to hear some suggestions. I am not sure if you still come on this blog but please email me at asimmajeed78@yahoo.com whenever you do
Happy for you... but also a little jealous!
Congratulations on being "completed," although I do realize it is a rather subjective state of being. Unlike buying a spec house that has been built for you, this house is 100% to your vision and specifications. Therefore it HAS to be perfect down to every last detail. I understand this feeling, and I realize this will probably drive me nuts once I am settled into my place. There's always one more thing you can tweak...
And I am totally with you about making decisions. I am SOOOO over it. I still have to figure out the finishes and colors for my three bathrooms, and I am having such a difficult time getting motivated. I think it's one thing if you have to stay within a very specific set of parameters, like you would if someone was building the house for you. But with a blank canvas, the endless possibilities are enough to leave you paralyzed with indecision.
So what is it like to actually live in the new space? Is it what you thought it would be? Also, I love, love, love the tile in the master bath, especially the wall decoration. May I ask where you got the floor tile from? Is it difficult to maintain/clean? And how are your Hudson Reed plumbing fixtures working?