Hardwood Flooring Installed

We looked at many flooring options but it was really just a formality.  Nothing compares to the look that a real wood provides and I couldn't see our floors covered with anything else.

Floors are  3.5" wide red oak 

View of the loft as you come upstairs

All rooms except the baths will be red oak. The floors will be stained later.

Crown Molding Finished - Flooring Arrives

There is a lot going on but not much to show. The painter is beginning to prime. The exterior trim work is still going on. Our cabinet maker is building as I write. And the crown molding is completed and ready to paint. The crown has the look I had hoped for and we are very happy with the style and size. We actually took several boards of various sizes to the house and tacked them in place until we found the look we wanted.

It took some time for us to decide on the style and size of the crown. There have been assertions that I may possibly be, on occasion, somewhat particular. I'm not really particular. I just know what I like when I see it and I don't see things I really like very often.

The crown is a simple look using a 1x4 and a 1x3 

Just couldn't wait until completion to display such a beautiful thing.

Flooring has arrived.

"Hey Sarah, I'll give you $5.00 to cut the grass." 

The Confusion of Paint

It's time to choose interior paint colors. After trips to Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams, I am completely convinced that I am thoroughly confused. I'll try to explain. Our kitchen cabinets are going to be painted white by our cabinet maker, Morrison Custom Cabinets. The cabinet color is very important for us and we want to make sure we get just the right shade of white. The only problem with that is there are 437 different whites to choose from. Well maybe not 437, but certainly enough to make our decision more difficult. Back to Houzz photos to help us with this decision.

We've taken it from 437 whites to just a few. We painted four pieces of scrap trim different whites. I assure you each white does have its own shade. It came down to SW Pure White and BM Simply White. It looks like it may be BM Simply White.

My 7 year old ended up with "only" four samples for her bedroom. Considering she left the paint store with about 20 paint sample cards, I thought she did good. After some deep thought, she chose SW Spa (far left).

Rebecca really likes the purple for her bath. I tried to convince her we could use the purple color of the drywall and save some money on paint. She said the purple color on the drywall was just to dark. Well, I tried.

Sarah did a little better with 3 choices for her bedroom. She chose SW Charming Pink (middle).

Marilyn's Dress by Benjamin Moore is on the left and is one of my favorites for any room. We are going to use it for the master bedroom and maybe the master bath. SW Reflection is on the right and will probably be the color we use for most of the downstairs. 

After weeks of research - hours and hours in paint stores - dozens of questions - 33 samples of paint -  several hundred dollars in paint samples and supplies - we finally have some colors.
Now we have to choose which "kind" of paint we want. Between Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams, our choices are; Advance, Ben, Natura, Regal Select, Aura, Ovation, SuperPaint, Emerald, Duration, Cashmere, Harmony, ProClassic, Paint Shield, Eco Select, Eminence and more...
Once that decision is made we will have to decide on the sheen. The choices are flat, matte, eggshell, satin, low lustre, pearl, semi gloss, medium lustre, gloss, high gloss, velvet and more...
Then which type of paint -  Acrlic, Latex, Oil Based, Water Based and more...

Rebecca, probably like most of you at this point, had heard enough about paint and moved outside to prepare her family a dirt topped sand pizza. Looks pretty good.

Interior Window Trim

My wife and I agreed to go with a simple look for the trim. We both wanted the same style and size trim. No disagreements. No discussions. This is a bit worrisome

The top (header) and sides (casings) of the window trim are 4.5 inches.

The window stool is 1 inch thick and extends beyond the trim 1 inch on each end. The 6 inch wall creates a deep look for the stool ledge. I checked the overhangs with my calipers and they are within tolerance. The bottom piece (apron) is 3.5 inches and its edges are flush with the casings.

Living room window trimmed out.

This is a photo of a mulled triple window. Mulling is a process of joining the windows together into one unit. Notice the look of the mulling between the windows. We have three sets of triple windows in the house and I didn't want any of them mulled. The alternative is to have the windows installed individually and then have them trimmed out as one unit.

Our triple windows were installed individually and then trimmed out to appear as one unit. The trim between the windows is one solid piece of wood. I believe this is a far superior look to the mulled window but you must be careful in the placement of the windows. These decisions should be made in the early design stages before construction begins.

Porch Flooring

We wanted 3 inch wide by 3/4 inch thick tongue and groove pine for all 3 porches. After checking on material cost we decided that the upper porch would get the tongue and groove and the other 2 porches would be decking board. The tongue and groove material was more than twice the cost of decking board and is more costly to install.

Sarah's (upper front) porch in tongue and groove pine will be 23 x 10

Lower front porch - decking boards and also 23 x 10. And yes, it is screwed in place.

Small side porch (6 x 9) in decking board.