Kitchen Window & Drywall

We're so happy!  The drywall is up, and our kitchen looks more like a real kitchen now. 

Look at that view!  We can already see the leaves changing for Autumn.  There is a very old Dogwood tree just outside, and in the Spring time it is going to bloom and be stunning.  I'm putting a birdfeeder there so I can watch the birds from the kitchen.  I am so happy that we decided on a design that made this window explansion possible.  The light that this lets in is just wonderful.  It makes the large space even airier.  Our vision for our new home is slowly coming to life; it feels so good to see our ideas come to fruition.  Thank you Walt and P.J. from American Design & Build.  They have done a fantastic job on our windows.  We highly recommend their services.

The carpenter has patched the window we removed so that we could move the location of our range.  This is what is looks like from the back porch:

We are going to make it look much better a bit later when we select period-appropriate siding and renovate both porches. We spent some time trying to select flooring for the kitchen and dining rooms.  We thought we made a selection months ago, but we decided to create a more seamless look between the rooms.  We have some considerations for the kitchen that make selection a little tougher.  Because of my herniated disc I really need a soft floor since I work in the kitchen so long each day.  I also need the floor to be durable, flexible, and very easy to clean.  I love the look of natural stone.  My back could never take natural stone, but I wanted a really quiet and calm look that would not compete with the granite countertops.  We decided on a stone look vinyl.  I wanted so much to be more green, but with the time constraints and soft requirement/easy care there wasn't too much of a selection.  It is made of recycled material, however.  I worry a bit that the floor won't look appropriate with the cabinetry and counters we chose.  It's really about comfort though.  I may have to replace the floor more often.  You can see one of our cabinet doors, a sample of our granite, and the paint color we selected. 

We think it will look nice together.  I really wanted white marble for the dining room, but it just wasn't in the budget.  We really couldn't justify spending over 5K (my jaw dropped!) on a floor for one room.  I figured if I couldn't do stone in the kitchen because of my back, why not in the dining room since I don't work in there?  Later on we will do it, and shop around for a better price but there are are too many other projects that we need to complete first.    We also learned that steam mops are not good for any floors except for on carpet:-(  The salesman we spoke to told us that all of the advertising for these mops really do a disservice to customers because they compromise the health of the flooring.  They are so easy to use (especially with my back problem).  I'm disappointed that I cannot use the Shark that my aunt and uncle bought me as a housewarming gift.  I'll find some way to use it. 

We are so impressed with the way our team has worked hard for us.  We wanted to do something nice for them, so we bought them a case of Coke and I made some of my pumpkin bread for them. 

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We saw birds pitching down in the evening in the old oak tree, and I thought it was a cool looking scene:

This looks like a Halloween type of picture.