My beloved carrera marble making another appearance

Today I made the official decisions on our flooring.  I've known from the beginning that I've wanted dark, distressed, hardwood downstairs and I picked our carpet for the upstairs several weeks ago.  Today, I tried to design our entryway flooring.  Our entryway is not very big because it opens up into the great room, but I want it to stand out and be an elegant entrance into our home.  I want it to sparkle and set the tone for the rest of the house.  So really, under those parameters, choosing the material was a no brainier.  My cherished carrera marble.  Once that was decided I had to come up with a design that would work in the space and make a glamorous statement.  I'm excited with the design.   Fingers crossed that it creates the look I want and doesn't end up a total mess.

We are going to incorporate a bit of this herringbone pattern in the design.  In my head it looks fab!  We shall see...

Memorial Day gratitude

I can't begin to express my graitutde on this holiday to all the men and women who so bravely gave their lives so that my family could live in a country where we feel safe, where we have an abundance of freedoms, and where I feel proud to be an American.  I am well aware that this is the reason for the holiday, but I am also quite aware of all the amazing Memorial Day sales inendating my inbox.  Being the good American I am, I did my part this weekend to boost our economy.  From Pottery Barn Teen I bought Madelyn her desk, dresser, bedside table and a cozy chair to read in.  Score!  From Restoration Hardware I bought our dining table and a few chandeliers and from Z Gallerie I purchsed our sectional for the Bonus Room.  Major score!  Looks like I will be parking in the driveway once all these items get delievered.  Oh well, it's just for a while and it's not like it gets hot here in the summer (insert sarcasm and a bit of regret).

This Z Gallerie couch is exactly what I have wanted for the Bonus Room, and at 20% off and $100 flat rate shipping I just I couldn't pass it up!  Happy Memorial Day!  

Raise the roof!

We have roofing framing! 

Spent some time at the house over the weekend.  I could be there all day, wandering from room to room, daydreaming what it will be like when we live there.  Gazing out of what will be the windows, envisioning how our view will look at night.  In the morning. And in the rain.  The kids don't share the same affinity for all this daydreaming and retreat to the car with their iPads after about 5 minutes, screaming from out of the windows every few minutes asking, "How much longer????"  But honestly, what would a childhood be without memories of being bored to tears while your parents are quick to respond to your plea to leave with, "We will leave when we leave."  

Hanging out of one of the windows in our master bedroom, picturing us all cuddled up on a Saturday morning, looking out onto our beautiful hillside filled with citrus trees, grape vines, olive trees, and lavender plants.  Yes, I pretty much want to look out my window and not know if I am in Southern California or Provence.  

We met up with Carlos and Kristi this afternoon at the house to discuss our future wine room.  Carlos owns Closet Wine Cellars and turns unused, boring spaces into the most beautiful wine displays you could ever imagine. He's a good friend to have!  Lucky us!  They are also incredibly sweet and brought us some bubbly to toast our new house.  So we popped open the first (definitely not the last) champagne bottle in our new home.  While Madelyn, Hayden, and Gracie played, we strategized and planned what our future wine room will look like.  I am so excited to see what Carlos will create, I know it will be fabulous and a gorgeous statement piece.  Cheers to that!

Making our mark...

Our visit to the house today was by far the most exciting one we've had.  We walked up the stairs for the first time, and ventured into our respective bedrooms.  We had the chance to look out of each window and visualize the view we will one day have.  We also came with a few sharpies and made our  own mark on our home.  It was a pretty good day!

Madelyn writing on one of her bedroom walls

Hayden writing on his bedroom wall

In our master bedroom

In one of my most favorite rooms of the house.  My closet.  

Well hello gorgeous...

Got these shipped to our house today, crystal knobs for the master, guest, and Madelyn's bathrooms.

Kitchen and master bath decisions...

I spent another couple of hours at the design center today to plan out our kitchen and master bath.  With my Starbucks in hand and my inspiration photos readily accessible I was totally ready for this appointment!  I was even prepared for the questions that have previously stunned me.  Such as, "Do you want your tile staggered?" And, "What size do you want your grout lines?" Our master bath is going to be all Carrera Oro Marble.  I wish I could use it in the kitchen too but apparently marble stains and is super high maintenance.  And while I don't have any issues with high maintenance (wink, wink) I do not want to be upset if my guests spill some wine or my kids knock over a blueberry smoothie on my counter.  Therefor, in the kitchen, my beloved marble will only make an appearance on the back splash and the counter top is still to be determined.  I'm taking a field trip next week to the stone distributor to decide on that.

And we have a second floor

I pulled up to the top of the cul-de-sac today and couldn't believe my eyes!  We have a second story!  Just like that.  Literally, overnight.  So exciting.  Looking forward to walking the house this weekend with Preston and the kids and checking out what our view will be like upstairs.

Safety First!

Preston got me my own hard hat for my daily visits.  It is quickly transforming from a "lot" to a house.  The framing for the first floor is complete!  

After weeks of changes, alterations, and tweaks I finally signed off on our secondary bathrooms and laundry room details. Up next, the kitchen and master bath!

A few of the tile and marble samples for Madelyn's bath, Hayden's bath, the guest bath, and powder room.

Bi-fold Doors

When I stopped by the house today the guys were installing an aspect of the house that I am really psyched about, bi-fold doors in the great room.  The entire back wall of our great room is going to be made up of bi-fold doors.  It is the ultimate in CA living, it is the cool new trend in home design, it looks incredible in the model and it is going to bring in thousands of flies.  Sigh.  I'm pretty sure we are going to have to add fly swatting to the kid's chore charts just to keep on top of them all.

The guys carefully placing the bi-fold door track in place

Here is an idea of what it will look like

OK, fine.  Ours won't open up to the ocean.  Here is a more realistic idea of what it will look like and this family of four seem to be enjoying their door and not worried a bit about the flies (and other creatures) coming in.