#31 Kitchen After Photos

The location is great. It’s proximity to the garage makes carrying in the grocery bags a short trip. It’s right off of the foyer and serves as a welcoming place for guests to gather. Last but not least, it’s close to the patio for grilling out.

We really are enjoying the semi-openess to the dining area. It is nice not being able to see the mess involved in food prep while we’re sitting down to a meal.

The arch top window is a nice balance to all of the straight lines. This area with the dishwasher on the right and the garbage on the left is highly used and we’re happy to report it is very efficient. The spacing between the perimeter and the island is perfect. We love the farmhouse style sink too! The maintenance is less than we expected based on reading reviews. Whew!

We really like having all of the appliances and the sink on the perimeter. It leaves a nice open countertop at the island for eating, working, and gathering. We really like having the microwave in the pantry too. Now if we could just install an automadically closing pantry door…that would be perfection!

The countertop was a difficult decision. One of the last, in fact. We both love it. We love the minimal pattern and the brightness of it. It doesn’t need constant wiping to look nice either. Crumbs don’t stick out like a sore thumb.

We went with brass finishes and we really like the warmth of it with all of the white. A mix of traditional and modern lines keeps things balanced.

Below is a look back at the process and how it all started with some sketches, renderings, and product selection. Many choices changed through the process but take a look at the SHOP OUR HOUSE page to see the final selections.

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Sketch

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Renderings

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Products

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Progress

#30 Outdoor Living

We live in Wisconsin where there are very few weeks during the year where outside dining (and sometimes sitting) is comfortable. Instead of lions, tigers and bears, there are mosquitoes, flies, and bees. Oh my!

Even with the pesky visitors, outdoor living is awesome! Nothing beats grilling out with a cold beer on a warm summer day.

When designing the house, we thought about how these outdoor spaces relate to the indoors. We put the grilling patio near the kitchen. In fact, the kitchen sink is on the other side of that window with the arch top - only 5-ish steps away from the patio. Then we added the screen porch on the other side. Perfect for bug-free dining and lounging. All in, these two areas seat 12 people comfortably with room for extra chairs to be brought in.

We actually love how the patio is tucked away instead of out in the open. We also love that putting the screen porch on the side of the house instead of the back allows for a better view from the dining room.

Besides dining, we also wanted the screen porch to accommodate some lounge furniture. The result is a comfortable mix of dining and lounging with some additional floor space to accommodate larger groups when needed.

Like many of our rooms, it could use a few more decorations but we're keeping things simple for now and loving the extra space.

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This is a view of our inspiration photo from houzz. It’s nice to have photos like this to reference when construction is happening.

Check out the Shop Our House page to learn more about the products and finishes we selected for our outdoor living.  

#29 Paint Chip Art

Brent, August, and I went to the Art Fair on the Square here in Madison this summer and the last booth we stopped at was Lydia's. I am captivated by her unique art. She paints on paint chips - you know, the little swatches of color we use to select paint colors for our walls.

I had one wall left in my office that needed some art. I collaborated with Lydia providing her with pictures of the room and a pintrest page of things that I like. I requested a series of 3.

I absolutely love the paintings she did and how they incorporated into this gallery wall in my office. I purchased shadow boxes with linen backgrounds and white frames and the painting really look beautiful and feel so personal.

Her paint chip art is personal to me because of my profession but her subjects are so diverse reflecting holidays, animals, food, and much more! Check out Lydia's website, instagram page, and etsy shop. It's really awesome!

Click here to visit Lydia’s website!

#28 Building a House: Frequently Asked Questions 2.0

Thank you SO much for your interest in our project. Whether you're interested in having a custom home built, considering a remodel, or have a decorating project, we REALLY hope you find the blog helpful. We've been asked some excellent questions over the past year. We thought we'd share a few of those with everyone.

1. How long does it take?

For us, it took 7 months.

2. There are so many decisions to make, how did you decide to do what you did?

Our education and experience helps - no doubt! But, there's more to the building process than interior design and flooring. Over the past 15 years, we have been careful listeners and observers and we've used that to cultivate our own list of wants and needs. That includes listening to our clients as well as the professionals we work with. We also utilize resources online (houzz, Pinterest, blogs, etc) and use images to inspire our own ideas. We also love a good home and garden TV show. We've actually learned a lot from This Old House and it's good family entertainment. We love walking into the house during construction and saying, "Wow, that is so cool!" when we we get to see some of our ideas finally put in place.

3. With all of the work that you have done in preparation, has everything been seamless?

No. We make regular (daily) trips to the house to check on progress and make sure that all of the details are being done to our specifications. There have definitely been some “slap the forehead” moments and definitely some “tear up and re-do’s” but we are very happy with the outcome in those situations and the way that they have been handled by the people we are working with. If you want seamless, a custom house is not for you!

4. Did you enjoy going over to check on progress?

Yes!!!  Most definitely. However, building a home is like having another job that you aren’t getting paid for. With all the planning, site visits, decisions, electrical walk through, HVAC walk through, cabinets, countertops, flooring (Ha Ha), lumber, doors, windows, on and on and on……..  You have to commit yourself to some late nights and full weekends.  Even 2 professionals like us can suffer some burnout (not to mention the poor kiddo, thank goodness for some well-placed tech-time #Ithinkweregoingtobeoverondatathismonthagain).  

5. How did you deal with ...(insert whatever you want)?

Knowing that not every decision you make in prep is going to work the way you want it to and being able to move past that is paramount to making the home building experience a good one.

Every contractor that works in our home has an opinion on how things should be done. We always listen because his/her experience can definitely lead us in the right direction; however, we also need to trust our instincts. We spent a lot of time thinking through the decisions we're making so we recognize the value in that too.

Thanks again for your interest. If you have any other questions you'd like answered, be sure to send them our way and we'll be sure to answer them in another post!

#27 Window Treatments

We L.O.V.E. our new blinds. Really, we do!

There are 8 windows in the front of the house. We wanted all of the windows to have a similar treatment so the look is consistent.

We love the look of plantation shutters but we felt that the shutters would mostly be covering the windows with the vanes either open or closed. We wanted something that would open up the windows a bit more.

So, we went with Silouettes by Hunter Douglas. The wide vane creates the look of shutters but they roll up nicely into a head rail at the top of the window for a clear open option. They come in wide widths as well so we were able to do just one blind for each set of windows. 

The layering of the sheer fabric allows for light to come through but still allows for privacy.

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Three reasons why we love THESE BLINDS:

The design allows each vane to magically float between two sheer panels. Creating a sculptural look.

Adjusting the vanes in different angles diffuses sunlight and creates ambient light throughout each room.

Each shade has ultra-sheer panels that allow you to see outside clearly while still protecting you from UV rays.

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Even easy to use for august

Because there is a large built-in under our daughter's windows, it would've been a reach to get to a controller on the wall. We splurged a bit more and went with a remote controlled blind to allow for easy up and down. Her blind also has a second layer that blocks out most of the light so she has lots of flexibility in how much light comes in. It's been helpful during the summer when her bedtime is before nightfall. 

And now for the cream of the crop…

For the master bedroom and for my office, we installed Hunter Douglas Softtouch™ Motorization blinds. The quick touch of the wand signals the blind to automatically roll open or up. Yes, this feature is expensive but for us... it's SO worth it. We spent a lot of money on these windows and we want it to be easy peasy to see them during the daytime. We know that if we would've had to manually open and close 8 separate blinds every damn day (excuse my french)... it just wouldn't have happened.

We can pop into every room each morning and touch the wand or push the button on the control and we’re ready for the day.

H&R Carpets sells these blinds (and many other brands and styles). Visit hrcarpets.com, stop in, or call (608) 849-7482 to find out more!

#26 Doggie Design

Okay pet lovers, here's what we did to accommodate our fur baby. Meet Toby. He's a 6 year old yellow lab and he's suchagoodboy! 

Eat

Toby's food is kept in the mud room. We have tile floor in there which is great for easy clean up when he splashes water all over when drinking his water. The cabinets in there have a higher toe kick than normal. This allows us to scoot Toby’s dishes under the cabinets. We also like having the extra under cabinet floor space for shoes and packages.

We kept his food container in mind when designing the closet. We wanted it sit on the floor but have plenty of room above it to take the lid off and get a cup scooped out with ease. These are things we do twice a day every day so we wanted to be easy peasy.

Click the photo of the food container to purchase!

Poop

We're lucky to have such a big yard but we had visions of last minute poo clean up before letting our daughter and her friends roam free so we have a designated area for Toby to go to the bathroom. We hope this also prevents dead spots in the grass. Of course there's a bit of training involved and it was all going so well until the sprinklers came. Once the lawn came in and the sprinklers went away - he’s back on track!  

Sleep

Toby is a mama's boy so he usually sleeps in the master bedroom on his bed. He usually spends his days with with Angie as well. Curled up watching her work. Sometimes he sleeps in our daughter's room and on those nights we slide his bed into her room. It's a pretty flexible arrangement.

photos by: Beth Skogen

We kept things pretty basic for the old Tobster but there are some super fun design ideas for your furry pet. Check out our pinterest folder if you want more inspiration!

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Some of Toby’s (and our) Favorites

Click on each image to find out more!