River House Diary

I believe I’ve found the fabric for our Pantry sink skirt. P. Kaufman Buffalo Check fabric in Seabreeze ; courtesy of Online Fabric Store The pantry will have open shelves because we didn’t want to pay for cabinets in this room. But it also has an under-mount sink where I will hand wash things that can’t go in the dishwasher. This means the the front of the sink and the associated plumbing would be visible when you enter the pantry. A sink skirt will cover up all that not pretty stuff. Pantry sink skirt fabric sample and backsplash tile; personal collection I got the idea from the For the Love of a House blog post about her kitchen  (last photo).

Our paint selections were due to our builder yesterday. So I asked Zuniga Interiors if they thought we would be using any more paint and wallpaper then I already knew about. And they sent this beauty as a wallpaper option for Bedroom 2. I had no idea dandelions could be so pretty! Carolyn Light Blue Dandelion Wallpaper by Advantage; courtesy of Home Depot

The bank loan inspector says the foundation is complete and the house is 20.25 percent finished. Pete says he's ready to move in. I'm holding out for hot water, electricity, and a roof at the very least. And I wonder if the 0.25 percent isn’t a bit of false precision. Standing in front of the garage looking towards the river; courtesy of Trinity Inspection Services, LLC

Today our builder sent a new photo. They are prepping the garage for the concrete pour. Framing materials will be delivered next week, and the framers are supposed to begin work before the 4th of July holiday. Standing in what will be the back entry hall looking towards the garage; courtesy of Austin Bayliss

Because you can never have too many table linens. Of course I got placemats and napkins, too. Pottery Barn's Le Mer 16" x 90" Table Runner in Blue/Aqua ; courtesy of Pottery Barn

We have five exterior double doors in the house -- the front entry doors, doors to the workshop area of the garage, two pairs of French doors in the Great Room and a slider in Bedroom 3.  When you have double doors, you have to decide which door of the pair will be active, or movable, by default. We are following the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) theory of decision making for this one. We're following what our builder and Pella representative recommend. Red stars indicate which door will be active; courtesy of Austin Bayliss

Our house plan specifies twelve 2870 windows and three 3070 windows. This is secret code to the average homeowner, but can be cracked using this decryption device . 2870 = 32" x 84" 3070 = 40" x 84" Seven-foot tall windows! That's big. And it turns out Pella doesn't make them. Well they do, but the horizontal thingie, or sash, would not be centered top to bottom. Who would want that? Not us. Single hung 2-over-2 window with even sash; courtesy of the London Sash Company So we are going with shorter windows, which will be 6-feet tall. We don't think it will affect the view of the river at all.