Final Pictures!

We sign the final papers tomorrow, will move a few things tomorrow night, movers come on Friday morning! It's done and I can't believe it!

And a few pictures of Admiral exploring his new house and yard!

Landscaping

The landscaping is almost complete. We are just lacking a little grass in the front and on the side. Here are some pictures from the work that was done last week.

Before grass...




After grass... (front yard is not complete, pictures later)

This tree is a Magnolia... one of this Mississippi girl's favorites. It was naturally growing in our backyard so we saved it.

Back Fence
Side fence

We also got our exterior lights...



Woodfloor was installed last week (and immediately covered so no pictures). Carpet was installed Monday. We are now in the little touch-up/punch-out items. 10 days!

Ready for Landscaping

The landscapers are at the house as I write this, adding grass and plants. Here are some shots from over the weekend after the driveway and grading were finished. We finally were able to get some full house shots without a dumpster or a Port-o-Let!






The countdown has started. We move Oct 2... 15 days!

Furniture Shopping

On Sunday, we finally found some family room furniture. Before we found it, we were starting to lose hope. It felt like Ryan and I had been to every furniture store North of 610. I'm sure there are plenty of others we missed, but we had been to a LOT of them. Star, Rooms to Go, Ashley, Bassett, Ethan Allen, Macys, Star Clearance, Louis Shanks, The Dump...

If you are from Houston, you know one major name is missing from that list, Gallery Furniture. We had been there before when we were looking for bedroom furniture and the zoo of a furniture store that it just really turned us off. And by zoo, I'm not being 100% sarcastic. There are monkeys and birds that have habitats in the furniture store. Yes, I said monkeys and birds. Two of the monkeys are named Parker and Tidwell... the two streets that Gallery is between. Cute.

Anyway, Gallery Furniture and Mattress Mack are a Houston institution. Mack does all his own commercials, gives back to the community, sponsors the professional sports teams... he even answers the phones at the main I45 location. We really have nothing against the place, we just were so overwhelmed and unimpressed when we were looking for bedroom furniture that we said we'd never go back. I guess you never say never.

Sunday, we had stopped at the Dump and Louis Shanks after going to all the other places in the weekend/day before. I said, lets just go look. If nothing else, we can see the monkeys! :) So we go, fighting the traffic in the parking lot (that is too small for the place) and walking past the long line of people getting free lunch (hotdogs, hamburgers, bbq). We walk in there are people everywhere. You can smell fresh cookies, there is a Labor Day Cake on a table about to be cut, people handing out free ice cream sandwhiches, free lemonade. They know how to bring in the families, thats for sure.

We walked around the area of the store that is, we think, the better priced furniture and didn't see anything. It was mostly couches, which is what we were looking for but no luck. We went to the other side of the store that we assumed would be mostly bedroom furniture but found more couches. And there we found these... the perfect couches...

A good brown, deep enough for Ryan to sit comfortably, long enough for Ryan to stretch out, the nail heads were not gold. Really, the perfect set of couches.

Of course, they were packaged with this wonderful oversided chair and ottoman that we don't need but decided to get anyway. If we can fit it into the master bedroom doors, it will go there and we'll get something similar in fabric for the living room. I have to admit, I won't be sad if it has to go in the living room because I love a big chair with ottoman.


We are all set to move in now. We have family room furniture and Ryan bought a new TV. Everything else will come with time but at least we have our family room ready to go.

More of This, More of That

Today's installment of "This and That" features paint and lighting.

First, the finished product of our built in hutch in the breakfast room. We were trying to go for a furniture look, a little antique. With the grooved doors/backing, the antiqued faux finish and the old school hardware, we got exactly what were were hoping for!


And a few final lighting pictures. I didn't get to post the dining fixture until now because it just got its shades today. So, here it is, hung a little higher than normal since the room is two story.



And the fixture in the Wine Room. You can see that there is still some woodwork going on in here. We first had all doors next to the wine slots but decided to leave one section open.
That's all for now. They are working on the driveway and the dumpster is finally gone! More exterior pictures soon.