Tuesday Site Visit

For todays post I'm going to take you on a field trip.  Once a week (more if required) I do a site visit to my SGG house, well, actually it's not really mine.  Lets start again... today I'm taking you on a visit to one of Moving Designz ongoing construction projects.  We've nicknamed it the SGG house. 

 

Work is progressing at a feverish pace, which was clearly evident by the amount of work vehicles in the driveway when we arrived today.

Bayside Builders, the general contrators and builders extraodinaire.  They are doing a top notch job.

  http://www.baysidegroup.ca/

And just around the corner,  3 more vehicles, one is clearly not visible in this photo but I assure you it is there.  The electricians are here as are the flooring and surface contractors Tops to Floors.

http://www.topstofloors.com/

And another pleasant surprise!  Ralph is here, which means the staircases are getting installed.

 http://www.ravenwoodstairways.com/

Oh look, they rolled out the blue carpet for us.  Actually this blue film is a protective covering for the flooring that is being laid throughout the house.  Though technically a mudroom/laundry room there is no mud here.  I love that they cover the floors like this... it's a great extra step that some contractors miss.  It keeps the floors clean and protected.

A November flashback, in case you haven't been here with me before.  This is the great room.

A little further along our timeline and now the fireplace is framed and the drywall is installed.

Last Thursdays site visit.  The fireplace is looking WOW.  The last time I uploaded pictures the masons were hard at work applying the stone.  And that amazing light fixture is now up.  I just love it!  In this picture to the very right you can see the hardwood flooring has just started to go down, with more blue film.   

And the biggest reveal for today.  The striking railing and stairway system is well underway as you can see the bridge looks fantastic.  I along with most of the other people on site are happy and relieved to have this now installed.  It was getting kind of scary walking across it... as the barracades came down to allow for the flooring to be installed.

Ashley and myself striking a pose.  We're both fairly tall but as you can see we are completely dwarfed by the size of this fireplace.  We were busy checking on the progress and taking window measurements.  Custom built in cabinets will be installed on either side of the fireplace later this week.

Here's Ralph working on the other side of the bridge and the main staircase.

Craig from Tops to Floors busy installing the beautiful dark hardwood flooring.  Lets look at what else is going on in the house today.

Here we have Paul, the project foreman, and Sean checking the location of the diningroom light fixture box.  I think it might have to come a little to the left, like 12".  

Ronny from Tops to Floors holding up the master shower wall tiles.  We're laying them in a stacked vertical pattern.  Lets see who did we miss?  Ah yes, the electricians.

Guess they're both camera shy today.  That would be Dons legs and boots, I think it's Don but kind of hard to tell.  They were busy installing the electrical wires for the infloor heating system in the master bathroom. 

Lets look at some other work details that are getting checked off the to do list...

The guest bathroom shower tiles are done complete with a gorgeous glass tile detail band.

The girls bathroom showers are done with their pale blue glass detail border and shampoo niches.  On the floor we were checking out the tile pattern for the large grey tiles.  Yes, a perfect complement to the tile border!

Here I'm trying to show you a close up of the barrel vault ceiling in the great room which is completely finished in beadboard.  It's light and airy and lends itself to a seaside atmosphere.  On a house like this it is all in the finishing details... and everything is looking fantastic thanks to all the hard work by everyone on this job site.  Kudos to you all! 

The entry light fixture on the other side of the room is now installed too! 

This picture is just inside the entry below that fixture.  Now that that last high light is up, it's time to remove the scaffolding.  I hope someone remembered the lightbulbs...kidding!

 I hope you enjoyed the tour.  It's clearly obvious that the custom cabinetry is missing, plumbing fixtures and remaining lights need to be installed.  Yes there's still lots to do.  However with everyone working so hard it won't be long before we're delivering furniture and decorating this beautiful home.  In the meantime, I'm off to check on Number One Grafton, in Charlottetown, tomorrow.  This project is beyond the construction phase and the decorating has begun.  I hope to post some images on this fantastic soon to be open B & B over the weekend. 

Thanks for reading.  Have a great week!  

Susan 

Dinner with Style at Home Magazine

Normally I read Style at Home Magazine for decorating inspiration however for the past couple of issues I've also been intrigued with their recipes section.  Since I love to cook (and eat) I decided to test drive a couple of  their recipes.

It started with Novembers issue of Style at Home magazine. And I have to say their cover shot room is amazing. Loving the white room, the low laquered table and most especially those amazing velvety green cushions.  However, my dog simply would not allow me to have these white sofas.

Since PEI is known for growing potatoes, how could I not resist making "Lemon-Scented Potato, Dill and Bacon Soup. In fact, It was super easy and delicious.

Ingredients:

- 5 slices bacon cut into 1/2 inch pieces

- 4 cups chicken stock
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 large Yukon Gold potatoes cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 stock celery finely chopped
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp grated lemon zest
- 1/2 cup 35% cream

Instructions
Cook bacon in small skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.  Combine stock, garlic, potatoes, celery, salt, and pepper in large pot and bring to low boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and puree. Return to stove over medium heat. Add lemon zest and cream. Simmer for 5 minutes. Garnish with bacon and lemon wedge.

My newest Style at Home magazine January 2010 issue.  What's Hot Now or High/Low depending which side of the magazine you open first.

My favorite room from inside the pages.  Fresh traditional.

I'm starting to sense a pattern here.  This is my livingroom :)  A softer more muted colour scheme but basically the same room.

I went to the recipe section once again... after browsing the beautiful rooms, I found yet another recipe to try out in the Dinner Tonight section. 

Ricotta + Spinach Pasta

Since I love pasta and this picture made my mouth water, this recipe seemed like a no brainer.  It was so easy and fast to prepare it truly deserves its descriptive title as A Fast Five.  You should try this super easy and delicious pasta recipe by Style at Home food editor Donna Hay.

Ingredients:

-4 oz. (125 g) fresh ricotta cheese

-7 oz. (200 g) cooked warm, short pasta

-Baby spinach leaves

-Lemon juice

-Extra-virgin olive oil

-Pinch sea salt

-Pinch of basil

-1 tsp. cracked black pepper

-Fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Add fresh ricotta to cooked warm short pasta. Toss with baby spinach leaves, lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, cracked black pepper, sea salt and basil. Serve with grated Parmesan.

We arrived back from the furniture show late this week.  We bought lots of new and fresh spring merchandise for Moving Designz Home & Cottage.  If you are in the market for a new sofa or chairs, we are clearing out last years floor models at up to $400 off to make room for our new items.  I will be sharing some of our finds in upcoming posts. 

In the meantime this is one of our interior design projects currently on the go. 

A Craftsman Style beach house overlooking Confederation Bridge. Photo taken November 28/09

2 weeks later Dec 12/09 and the house in almost weather tight.  And note winter has arrived.  I needed a hot bowl of soup after that 2 hour site visit.  We have just finished choosing and getting approval on all of the interior surface finishes and materials between Christmas and New Years.  The construction schedule should see this house complete by late June. I'll post some updates as we progress further along.

Thanks for reading.  Have a great week!

Susan