River House Diary

Our project manager sent a photo of the kitchen cabinets yesterday. They are by CabCraft, a small semi-stock North Carolina manufacturer. This is the Allentown door style in Canvas. The island stain is Smoke. Kitchen cabinets; courtesy of Austin Bayliss

We originally selected Hallmark Floors Alta Vista Collection, an engineered hardwood, for our floors on the main level. However, we worried about the 7-1/2" wide planks and how they would fare in high humidity conditions ... and they cost quite a bit more. We ended up choosing stained-in-place white oak hardwood with 3" planks and they were installed a few days ago. Hardwood floors in the great room and kitchen; courtesy of Austin Bayliss

We made the most compromises for budgetary reasons on our selections for roofing and siding. Instead of Hardie cement board, we chose CertainTeed's CedarBoards , an insulated vinyl siding. We are using a 7" single lapboard and 12" board-and-batten styles. The color is Oxford Blue, a very light blue-gray. Screen porch area of the house; courtesy Austin Bayliss Master bedroom wing; courtesy Austin Bayliss

The postmaster said as long as we have a mailbox the Postal Service will deliver our mail. This enables us to establish residency before the house is ready and eliminates a bunch of future hassles. Our new mailbox; courtesy of Austin Bayliss

The mistake I made with the location of the closet door in Bedroom 3, or the back guest bedroom, has been corrected. The framing and the light switch have been repositioned and the drywall needs to be reinstalled. I can forget about this oversight ... until the bill arrives! Moving the closet door so there is room for a nightstand in the right corner of the room; left personal collection, right is courtesy of Austin Bayliss

I wanted the fireplace in the Great Room to look like this, except with Walker Zanger Duquesa Catarina ceramic tile in Aqua instead of a marble surround. Courtesy of Southern Living However the Duquesa Catarina tile is 4-5/8" square and requires four tiles to complete the design. So we would need the surround to be at least 9-1/4" wide with a smidge more for grout. Walker Zanger Duquesa Catarina ceramic tile in Aqua; courtesy of Walker Zanger That didn't leave enough room on either side for the wood trim to look in proportion, or "beefy" enough to support a mantle. Instead, we will be eliminating the wood trim and adding a third row of tile, which is the fireplace Zuniga Interiors had proposed all along. I, however, wanted a more traditional look since none of the houses we've owned had a "normal" fireplace. This is a very bad rendering of what it will look like. New fireplace design (mantle is too thick) with our mirror we af...

In 2011 Zuniga Interiors designed our Master Bedroom for our Virginia house. I wanted a British Colonial vibe and a room designed around some crewel embroidery bedding I found online. Virginia Master Bedroom; personal collection Custom pillows; personal collection Upholstered Bed; personal collection The design needed to be tweaked for River House as the shape of the room was very different and I left the drapery at our Virginia house. I can't wait to see what Zuniga Interiors will create!

The bank inspector visited River House a few days ago to inspect the progress of construction and declared the project 59 percent complete. Work included the roof, plumbing, electrical and HVAC rough-ins, insulation and drywall. Inside unit of the upstairs air conditioner system; courtesy of Trinity Inspection Services

The weakest part of the River House floor plan are the guest bedrooms. They are small, though that is mitigated somewhat by good-sized walk-in closets. But in neither bedroom is there the perfect place for the bed. So we made compromises. In the front guest room (Bedroom 2) the headboard of the bed will be in front of a window. In the back guest room (Bedroom 3) the headboard will be on the same wall as the entry door. I'm a big believer in having a nightstand on either side of a bed sized to sleep two people. They can be small but everyone will want to place something -- a book, a glass, a cell phone, jewelry, etc. -- on the nightstand. And that's something I overlooked when working on the floor plan modifications with our architect. One of the nightstands in Bedroom 3 will block the door to the walk-in closet. Why I didn't notice this in August when the electrical rough-ins weren't yet complete, I'll never know. Instead, I noticed it during our last trip when ...

Our contract included an upgrade to include three ceiling beams in the Great Room. During our last meeting with our project manager, we discussed in which direction the beams should go, how many beams were needed and where they should be positioned. The location of the ceiling fan and recessed lights dictated two beams instead of three. We relied on our builder’s interior designer for guidance on positioning and used a house she previously designed to give us our answer. Ceiling beams in the Great room of the Southern Livin g Shook Hill house plan built by TAB Premium Built Homes; courtesy of TAB Premium Built Homes

We’re in North Carolina, dropping off one of our cars prior to our permanent move next month. We stopped by the house yesterday afternoon. They’ve made a lot of progress hanging drywall but have not yet started on the exterior siding. Standing in the Great Room looking at the perimeter wall of the kitchen; personal collection