Exterior Plans...

Just thought I would share some updates on where we are with the house...

I found it hard to believe that Andy was already having me pick the exterior materials for our home so soon, but after the progress made this weekend we are not that far away from needing them!

Our house is located on a beautiful piece of land that is perfect for anyone who enjoys a lovely view and the outdoors; because of this, we wanted to stick with natural tones for the exterior. Although these pictures don't do any justice for the colors, they are close to what it will be.

The siding we have chosen will be a sage green, the cedar shakes are a natural clay, and the trim will be in a wicker/tan color. The shingles are a mixture of brown, green, gray and black and work really well with the siding we have chosen.

We also decided to have stone on the front of the house which really suites the style of home we are building. We decided on a natural ledgestone that looks great with the other exterior materials.

We have double hung windows that have grills in the wicker/tan color to match all of the exterior trim (which are white on the inside to match the interior trim), and a beautiful wood front door that will have door length windows on both sides.

It is all coming together and I am hoping to post a rendering of our home so you can visualize it all together. Stay tuned for more updates and pictures of the house being built!!! Take care...

P.S. I forgot to mention I am exhausted and don't have the time or energy to re-read this so I apologize for any misspellings and incorrect grammar! :)

Kitchen Help Continued...

I forgot about the counter tops! As I mentioned in a previous post, we have intentions of granite counters in the future but for now we will be doing something else...more than likely a laminate counter only because where my husband works he can get it for next to nothing and seeing as how we are ripping it out, I don't want to spend a ton on the counters. So does anyone have an ideas on lighter vs. darker? I would like to do a laminate that looks like natural stone so if you have any suggestions please share them. I also forgot to mention if any of you have pictures you would like to share of things that you are suggesting based on what you have in your home please do! The laminate company we will more than likely be choosing from is Wilsonart http://www.countertop.com so take a look and let me know what you think!
thanks again,
megan

Kitchen Help!!!

Other than the fact that I am being really indecisive; I for some reason am not trusting my own judgement when it comes to the kitchen decisions...(it could be that this is the most expensive room in the house and I would prefer it not look rediculous with the amount of money we are spending on it)! So here is the deal, I am trying to upload a picture of the floor plan as well as some exterior rendering; however, the format that my husband has sent to me is not working with blogger so be patient it will be here soon.

With that said I can tell you I love my kitchen layout and would love input on flooring, cabinet, and wall color suggestions. The cabinet line we are using is Prestige Cabinetry http://www.prestigecabinets.com and the door style we have chosen is Windham in a full overlay. We prefer cherry but are considering maple depending on the stain/glaze choosen. We really like the chestnut glaze in both woods, but I am wondering what all of you that tune into my blog think? I personally do not care for a really red tone in the wood which concerns me about the cestnut glaze in cherry, but my husband loves cherry as the material/wood for the kitchen he thinks it is better quality and so on and so forth. Hey, if he was ok with the 19% upcharge for cherry over maple who am I to complain!

Now, if I haven't confused you enough without a picture, we do have a center island that he is willing to let me do painted (which is a cardinal sin to him to cover up with beauty of wood) so I was thinking of of the vanilla paint either plain or with a rust glaze. What are your opinions on this?

And as far as flooring, we are doing a wood laminate from either Quickstep Flooring http://www.quickstep.com or Wilsonart Flooring http://www.wilsonartflooring.com and do not care for light floors or extremly dark, kind of in the medium to medium dark tones but we are open for suggestions. I am not sure if I need to wait to choose the flooring until I have finalized the cabinets or what so any of your thoughts or favorites or maybe what you have in your home would be something worth sharing!!

Paint...oh the many many colors! I do reds, greens, and yellows and am looking for kitchen color paint opinions. Are there colors that are an absolute no no to put in kitchens or ones that are an absolute must? We will be using Benajmin Moore Paint http://benjaminmoore.com and so if you know of any great ones feel free to let us know. Paint looks different on a little swatch compared to a whole room! If you have a paint color in your home that you love that is not benjamin moore, please share it anyway!

Thanks for your time and please let others know of my blog that may have helpful input as well. I am knew to blogging and still trying to figure out how to use it! With that said, how do I add you all to a list on my blog? Thanks, and god bless-
megan

Building Our Home and Needing Advice!

My husband and I purchased a beautiful 10 acre parcel of land last summer with the intentions of building next summer...but as usual unexpected things happen and it turns out we are building this summer. After I freaked out and cried for days I decided this was the push we needed to begin this exciting adventure in our life. I have been told by many that building a house is one of the most difficult things a married couple goes through...so far so good!

We are building a ranch style home that has a french country feel to it and used several homes as inspirations but in the end Andy designed the exterior and floor plan of our home and I couldn't be more excited. It is around 2,200 square feet on the main level with the master suite and 2 bedrooms. The main level also has the master bath, kids/guest bath, and a 1/2 bath. The laundry room is also on the main level which I am excited about. The kitchen layout is probably my favorite part of the house. It is open to the dining room and great room which are also open to one another so it should be prefect for entertaining. I have found that this is where people seem to mingle so I want to be able to accommodate all of our friends and family.

Due to not having the extra year or so we had planned on, we are doing some things slightly different than what will make it our dream home. For one, we are waiting to put granite counter in, as well the stone fireplace in the great room. We are also waiting to finish the basement which can potentially add another 2,200 square feet which will include 2 more bedrooms, a full bathroom, a bar area, game area (pool table), family room, and possible an office. This is is all in the air depending on how many children we have and so on...we are finding it is difficult to put anything in stone for the basement not knowing how big our family will actually be someday so it is kind of a blessing that we are waiting to finish this part. There is also a bonus room above the garage which will eventually add around another 600 square feet of what could possibly be another bedroom, play room, work out room, etc. This space's purpose is still undecided, but if nothing else it will be great for storage!

Due to our time crunch, we may also be staying in one the smaller bedrooms and using the kids/guest bath just to get us in the house. The master suite will be the last main floor area finished and because my husband is a contractor he will work on it as we are living there. Which is not ideal, but seeing as how we have no children currently, these bedrooms are not being used.

The exterior of our home will be a combination of siding, shakes, and stone. We are sticking to natural tones that will compliment the beautiful land as well as style of home. The siding is a sage green, the shakes are a tanish brown, the stone is natural ledgestone, the roof is a dark grey/brown, and the trim will all be in a creamy tan. The front door I have picked it is fabulous... but we are waiting back to hear on a price so we shall see! The front porch has two columns that will be stone at the base and the creamy tan of the trim on the remaining part.

This is just a start...there are many more details to come and I am open for advice and suggestions!!! I am looking for input on great paint colors, an inexpensive soltion for counters so that I don't have to feel uneasy about ripping them out in a few years, and whatever else you have to offer...I decorate with a french country feel...reds, greens, yellows, roosters, etc.

Thanks for stopping in, check back for updates and more questions!

Megan

My Girls...

Maid of Honor: Lindsay Sherlock (best friend of bride)

Bridesmaid: Lauryn Kowalski (best friend of bride)

Junior Bridesmaid: Rielley Kate Himes (cousin of bride)

Bridesmaid: Sarah Spence (cousin of bride)

Bridesmaid: Julie Vargas-Plaggemeyer (best friend of bride)

Flower girls: Paige Walton, Cassidy Palmateer, Allison Flannery, Emily Morrow, Maddison Morrow (cousins of groom) and Valerie Yuncker (cousin of bride)

Becoming a Mrs.

I was recently married on August 25, 2007, in my hometown to my high school sweetheart of seven years. The day was everything that I imagined and more...



I awoke early in the morning to rain and a dark sky, my bridesmaids tried desperately to keep my mind off the weather and the windows, but little did they know I already knew...



I am sure they were expecting a "bridezilla" moment due to my concern for the weather all week, but I didn't even care and looked at it with the best attitude possible. I was the one that brought it up and I said okay ladies, start thinking of where we can take pictures if they can't be taken outdoors. All at once they were so relieved that I wasn't upset!



As the day proceeded we got our hair done while drinking mimosa's and snacking on bagels and I was as calm as ever. I had been a basket case the last few weeks leading up to the wedding, but apparently had my game face on the day of! They were the ones that kept getting emotional and I had to tell them to try and keep it together!



After our hair and makeup we walked outside to sunshine and the most beautiful sky I have ever seen...looking back on the day and after hearing the song "Holes in the Floor of Heaven," I knew exactly who was responsible for the weather, rain and sun! Having to lose one the most important and influential people in your life during one of the most important times in your life was a challenge I faced leading up to my wedding. I lost my grandma the day after Christmas 2006, in the midst of wedding planning. However, she did get to see my in my wedding dress a couple of months before she passed which I will cherish forever! I know it was her tears raining down that morning and her her joy shining down that afternoon! (thanks grandma)



After some pre-ceremony pictures and a glass of wine, it was finally time...my bridesmaids were getting emotional and I still had it together...that is until the ushers opened the door and my dad and I were walking down the aisle! The minute that door opened and I saw a room full of all the important people in my life, that were there to support Andy and I, I got very emotional. I managed to make it down the aisle without tripping; however, my pictures weren't so great as my face is puckered and eyes closed!!! oh well...



For those of you who were unable to be there, things went smoothly other than Fr. Don forgetting the exchange of rings. Here I was thinking I messed up the program, but it completely slipped his mind. It was supposed to be after our vows which were emotional as is so it was probably best that we did the rings at the end!



Then we were off to pictures and finally the reception. It was so wonderful to walk in the ballroom decorated, and to see the cake for the first time, a years worth of planning and hard work paid off! We kept things pretty traditional so I won't take you through every event, but I will make mention of the beautiful slide show my cousin Marcus put together for Andy and I...it was pictures of us when we were little through high and then he put pictures on it from the wedding which was really neat.



Just when I thought the day couldn't get any better, Andy and I received a wonderful surprise from my brother, Mike and father, Andy. We had asked them to play "Wonderful Tonight" for our first dance, but my dad had written us a song instead!!!!! It was beautiful and emotional and the best surprise ever!



Another surprise I had that night was being pulled out on the dance floor and be serenaded by my bridal party. They all sang "You've Lost that Loving Feeling," while I sat in a chair, it was great...



The night went on and it was full of family, friends, and dancing!!!! It was wonderful and I am truly blessed to have become a MRS.