Window Magic

I've become quite enamored with uploading videos now that I finally took the time to figure out how to do it. I'll do my best to spare you from my high pitched 'talking-to-my-kids' voice and let them do the talking. Today was Dr. Seuss's birthday...and in turn, we attended his birthday party in Maple Grove with our friend Braeden (and his mama Stacy). It was a fun little morning of activities for the kids and left Rosemary talking about the Cat In The Hat all day. In fact, over dinner she came up with this little number:


The grown-up big event today was the installation of our window treatments.



Wow. What a difference a little something on the window makes. I kid you not when I say that Jeff and I have not had window treatments in our married life. Not at our condo, our last house pre or post remodel or this house. I think I will actually need to train myself to change clothes without turning out all the lights, closing the door and slithering around on the floor.

As I imagined, having 2" faux wood blinds and shutters definitely fills the rooms up a bit more and makes them feel smaller. On the other hand, the rooms feel so much more homey and cozy...not to mention finished. And of course the real bonus is that we will all sleep a little more soundly without street lights in our eyes. With this step behind us, all that is left to accomplish on the upper level is the light fixtures in the bathroom (which should be in next week...more to come on that), a light fixture for our bedroom where currently 2 light bulbs hang and some drapery for the main wall of our bedroom. That is definitely a to-do list worth tackling!

Speaking of to-do lists, I checked a few more items off mine by ordering the entryway, mudroom and powder room tile. Yes, yes, you've seen this tile before. In fact, it's the same tile we put in our last home's mudroom and bath. But I think it may have been my favorite thing about that house, so it's coming with us here! Here's a picture I managed to scrounge up of it (starring Rosemary as the temper tantrum thrower!)


This tile is by American Olean (the checkerboard pattern is done using the colors "Sidewalk" and "Coffee Shop" from the Avenue One series). It's a porcelain tile, very durable...great for a high traffic area and very modestly priced!

I also had my wallpaper installer through the house today to tell me how many rolls I need to order of the entryway paper so I can place my order through Hirschfield's tomorrow. While we are a long way from hanging wallpaper on the main level, I don't want them unexpectedly discontinuing my color or pattern now that our entire palette is planned around it.

Tomorrow we meet with our architect and exterior contractor to fine tune all the details of the exterior trim and brackets and make selections on all of the exterior materials. One final note that I added a tab at the top of the screen called "Twin Cities Notables." I did a post on them a while back but have gotten quite a few emails for contractor suggestions. I thought I'd post them in a more accessible area that's easy to find should the need arise. We are just 5 days out from demolition mania!