Whoop Whoop! Weekly Weekend Visit

This weekend's visit was the most exciting BY FAR!!! As soon as we turned the corner I felt like a kid on Christmas. Why? The landscaping is completely done and my future home finally looks like a real house! This is the most dramatic and obviously noticeable change since the framing stage. It's still hard for me to contain my excitement.

The landscape package is a standard one and is described as landscaping typical of the master planned community and neighborhood.  Given that the neighborhood has a somewhat Tuscan feel, there are spiral evergreens, but color will be provided with knock out roses and crepe myrtle trees in the front. As part of the National Sales Event we were given an extra live oak tree which was planted in the back yard.

I can now get an overall feel for the size of the backyard since the grass is there and I am totally fine with it.  It's perfect for us.

The type of sod that is provided here in Riverstone is Bermuda grass which is the most popular type of grass in tropical and sub-tropical regions. Here are some positives about Bermuda grass from a website dedicated to information about Bermuda grass:

• Easy to start from seed. Full sun (warm season) grass. Tolerates heat well. Fast establishment time.

• High disease and insect resistance (except nematodes).

• Survives in a variety of soils from sandy to clays.

• Grows well on infertile, dry soils - Good drought resistant qualities.

• Withstands close grazing and traffic wear - Can be mowed low.

• Aggressive growth chokes out weeds.

• With proper care & fertilizer, creates a good green lawn.

• Responds well to nitrogen applications - creating darker green colors.

The view that made we swoon

Better view of front landscaping - tree on left is a crepe myrtle

View of backyard - size not that atypical for area

Also contributing to the excitement is that my front doors are in!! Also as part of the National Sales Event we were given a free door upgrade. If money were not a concern then I would have chose iron and glass doors because they are very Mediterranean and allow a lot of natural light in the entrance of the home. However, we chose solid wood doors stained the color of our choice - we chose the same color as the stair rail and trim stain. They are gorgeous!

View of doors from inside

Unfortunately, the construction manager must not have gotten to the workers soon enough after me mentioning that the back splash was incorrect because since Wednesday it grouted.  I am quite sure that will make it very difficult to remove only the accent tile portion but that is not my problem. I just want my correct back splash in so I can get the overall feel of the kitchen finally.

Yup, still wrong, but the subway tiles look great

The walls of the media room were painted the color we had chose at the design center. The National Sales Event allowed us to choose a different paint color for one room. We chose to the use the color for the media room. Most builders will include a different paint color for the media room because they are often painted a darker color. We paid for 2 pairs of electrical wiring to be installed in the media room for sconces. Today we actually have sconces and it looks great. For the first time, I think I saw my husband get a little happy :-)

In the master bath, the crappy shower door is in place. I refer to them as crappy because the thing shakes when you close the shower door. I can tell I will have to replace it with something sturdier down the road. Other than that, the bathroom looks great. I love the counter tops and the flooring together and I love having so much storage in the bathroom.

Issues

While we were walking from the foyer to the master bathroom we realized that flooring was not there and that could only mean one of two things. Either 1) they planned on putting carpet there or 2) they planned on putting hardwood there. Regardless of their plans, it would look absolutely ridiculous. The foyer has direct contact with the flooring in the dining room (hardwood), powder room (marble), great room (hardwood) and the hall to the master (??). My husband and I recall being in the design center and  choosing to continue the marble for the area from the foyer to the master bedroom, even though it would cost  us more. Well, there must have been a miscommunication because marble tile was not put down there and I am surprised that we just realized it.We are going to get marble tile there. Watch us.

Old picture showing hall to master and its relationship to foyer 

View of the actual entrance to the hall

My husband was a great sport and we went back to the house after it was dark so I could see it with the exterior lights on.

I think I'm in love