Details Before I Pack Them

It seems like everytime I turn around someone is asking for something (coat, book, picture, FHE lesson, etc.) that is already packed and in the storage unit. Oh, well! So I figured I had better write down information about the house before those papers get packed too. Besides, tomorrow we have an appointment with our builder, Ken Gale, to go over the building estimate of our home. His address is 1775 Boston St., so I have to remember to turn left on Alder from Van Giesen. How scary is that?

I asked Sara Stephenson to look at the choices that Brad and I had made in regards to our house and she said they all matched really well - too well. Everything would be near the same color or the same shades and we would find it boring after just a short while. She suggested we put in some contrasting colors. When I asked her to go shopping with me she very kindly went along and gave me great words of wisdom. Here are my notes: (so if they get packed later - I know right where to go.)
1. At Juan Palomino's Premier Wood we decided to use beech wood for the cabinets throughout the house (bathrooms, kitchen, laundry). And we decided to go with the natural finish. It is very light, but will be a great contrast to the wood floors that Brad and I picked out previously. The style of cabinets will be Shaker style and we will be using long handles (Brad and I saw similar on display at Lowes.) and extended edges. I need to check with them about what kind of cabinets they will be putting in the kids bathroom on the main floor. No soffits, varied look at the top, but I can't remember what I picked for that - I think it was pretty standard.
2. Luke's carpet - We changed the carpet color to a slightly different shade. The carpet will be in the living room and down the stairs. The color we are going with is called French Bread and is number 143. And we also changed to colors of the counters in the 4 rooms we have counters. The kitchen and laundry room will be Baltic Granite formica with an etched finish 3691-46 and the two bathrooms will be Wilsonart Laminate Granite 4550-01 and we want rounded edges on the counters so no sharp points for Conner to run into. We kept the tiles in the master bath and vinyl flooring the same. (I should check if the vinyl is all one piece rather than a bunch of squares as I would rather have all one piece. The vinyl is in the two bathrooms and in the laundry room. Wood floor is in the master closet though, just like the bedroom closets even though the master closet is off of the bathroom.
3. Lumberman's - I think I need to go back talk to Mitch Taylor and look at the doors we picked to make sure they match each other. I want the bedroom door and the closet doors to be similar to the cabinets - in the Shaker style (2 flat panels, or 6to match the front door) and in the same color. What color are the knobs? Should they be stainless steel to match the kitchen sink handles and bathroom sink handles, etc. or the brushed antique satin nickel that Brad picked out for the front door? I think they should all be the same - so I need to check on this, but does it really matter - at least the knobs and handles should be the same, so maybe not fixtures? Should the front door be the same color as the wood floor or as the kitchen cabinets? The pantry door and the pocket door should also be like the kitchen cabinets - so I do need to make that change as I know that isn't what we told the guy originally.
4. Lowes - We picked out paint and I am sure I can't remember everything exactly, so when we get to that part of the job I will have to consult with my expert again. We decided on using a variation of Valspar Seaside Retreat paint with colors Cottage Stone SR401, Sailcloth SR101, Stonecastle SR301, and Shallow Tide SR208 for the master bedroom and bathrooms. And for the kitchen/family room area we picked out Valspar Seaside Retreat Malibu Dune SR212 for the dining/family room part and light khaki SR302 for the kitchen. They seem kind of dark to us, so I don't know. And I can't remember what colors we were doing living room, laundry, hall and bedrooms in, and I didn't write it down.

Things I want to make sure to put into the plan - light and plug in the laundry room closet, ceiling fans in family room and other?, lots of lights and plugs, where are the phone jacks, door stops, bathroom rods with screws on outside rather than inside, make sure there is plenty of space to take big TV and pool table down into the basement or else want to put them down there before the mainfloor is put down, lots of lights outside especially in the back yard and want a large security light out there as well, the wall by the stairs is part full wall and part half wall, molding and French doors and ceiling should be painted bright white (if molding is white shouldn't base boards be white too?), order an extra box of wood flooring so if get a scratch someday will have a piece to replace it with.

Other Ideas to Consider: Built in lockers of cubbies for coats and shoes in the garage, Audio prewired as well as for possibility of theatre and video games in basement, stained concrete basement floor, full-extension drawer glides in drawers, pull-outs in cupboards, skylight, can part of the mechanical room be under the stairs?, polyrock or some kind of stone work along the front.

Well - I have other stuff I can add to this post, but it is on the other computer so I will wait and add that information tomorrow, and hopefully a house plan too.

Oh, and by the way, Erin got a job at the Sonic that is going to open on Road 68. She is so excited as she is now getting paid to roller skate!