Here’s hoping you survived (and enjoyed!) the first day of back to school. In my part of the world, the kids went back yesterday after a very full summer. There were lots of smiles, great vibes, and my favorite – a mom carrying a huge tumbler of what I thought was coffee until she raised it towards me with a wink. I think she’s got this all figured out… With the start of school came the inevitable scramble of paperwork, immunizations, supply runs, and last minute panic – of course, now that school is in session, we are in for more of the same. I run two weekly to-do lists; one for personal/family stuff, and the other for my business. Between preparing for the return to school and starting construction on a new home, it feels as though I’m adding to the list more often than crossing items off as completed – not the best feeling. In the spirit of celebrating those completed items, here’s a round up of this week’s successes:
The Harper has been listed for sale! Please click here to view the listing: www.har.com
The HOA sent notice of conditional approval for the construction plans, including the exterior color selection, St. Bart’s by Sherwin-Williams.
The Cottage Wall is coming along and features the smoothest wall in our house. I’m definitely enjoying the look of it as it reminds me of home. It also reminds me of the incredible mess and long time frame to have gotten to this point, so I may be willing to take back some of the mean things I’ve said regarding textured sheetrock.
In terms of your home’s to-do list which may or may not have been replaced by a Pinterest board, here are two lovely refresh projects that could easily be completed in a small room such as a powder room or child’s bedroom fairly quickly and affordably. My second grader is begging for the wall treatment below (not sure if it’s paint or wallpaper) – I’m glad she hasn’t figured out how to add to my to-do list!
If you’d like a consultation on a similar project, please don’t hesitate to contact The Ashbury Construction Company today. Here’s to crossing items off our to-do lists while remembering to enjoy the space in between.
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The month of August (September where I’m from) is full of promise and new beginnings – the start of a fresh school year has always been one of my favorite times of the year for many reasons, not the least of which is the end of those pesky summer camp bills ;) We’ve been busy buying school supplies, purging clothes that no longer fit, and talking at length about what this school year will look like in the second grade and kindergarden. Wishing you and your family luck over the next week as we prepare to send ‘em back, and much gratitude to the teachers and administrators for all that they do. I’m beyond excited to introduce you to what feels like a new addition of different sorts – the home I’ll be building in the Quail Valley neighborhood of Missouri City. We are still tweaking the rendering, but here she is: This 2016 square foot home will include three bedrooms and two and a half baths, a mud room, covered patio, and golf course views. Design fixtures will be chosen from the contemporary farmhouse style, with a white/gray color palette inside. Each bedroom features a walk-in closet and there is a bonus space large enough for an office, playroom, or craft area on the second floor. The home will back onto the El Dorado golf course and with views like these, who needs vacation? I’m finalizing the material selections and hope to have a mood board to post here shortly. A sincere thanks to the vendors who have been part of this project to date, including Houston Plans & Permits, BDX Renderings, Sherwin-Williams, and the Quail Valley Fund HOA. Looking forward to adding more names to this list shortly!
Finally, the name of the plan. Harper was my grandmother’s maiden name and I’m proud to remember her with this design. She was a strong lady and has a lot to do with how I’m in business for myself. She passed before my “something borrowed, something blue” time so the color is a homage to her as well. The Harper will be listed for sale on www.har.com soon but if you have questions or are interested in receiving further information about the home, please contact us directly or the listing agent, Realtor Extraordinaire Philip Monkhouse at 832-774-3578 or phil.monkhouse@exprealty.com .
There’s a meme circulating that proclaims August is like the Sunday of summer and it didn’t feel more real until yesterday afternoon, when the sky darkened, the rain poured, and there was enough of a chill in the water to remind us that yes, fall is coming. Of course, this being Texas, fall is still considerably warmer than even the hottest days where I’m from, but it does encourage one to sit down with a coffee (PSL?), thumb through some inspirational home photos, and make plans for the upcoming school and holiday seasons – which hopefully include some remodeling/refresh projects for your home!
This week, we finished the kitchen project I’ve been writing about and it turned out even better than I imagined. The scope of work included removing one of three columns, relocating the electrical that ran through that column, removing the breakfast bar, backsplash, granite counters, and all plumbing fixtures before replacing everything with new and improved versions. The column was not structural (while the other two are) and relatively easy to eliminate. I still can’t believe how much this change opened the kitchen/breakfast area:
Taking down the raised bar also helped heaps:
The client opted for Carrera Marble counters and they are stunning:
In lieu of traditional subway tile, she chose a larger size with bevel details – it made a huge difference and while there was a slight price difference, I would recommend opting for this upgrade wherever possible. The addition of a stainless steel farmhouse sink, new Kohler faucet, air gap for the dishwasher, and counter button for the garbage disposal unit completed this remodel.
We were also able to give a little facelift to the laundry room sink:
I’ve had tile on the brain, and it seems I’m not the only one. Houzz featured an article this week about adding color to your bathroom and most of the designs included a tile wall behind the sink. My handy friend and master of all pieces of painted wood was well-ahead of this trend curve having, incorporated white subway tile behind her navy blue vanity last year. It was one of the best bathroom refreshes (extra points for working with a production builder bathroom) and I’m only a little jealous. Working on sharing a picture here soon for you to admire ;)
The new build I’m working on has a small main floor powder room with an interesting layout and I was originally going to install shiplap on the wall behind the sink but am now torn between that option or tiling the wall instead. As always, your thoughts and suggestions are welcome! Here is what the area will look like – not large by any means which is a win when it comes to a feature wall as it won’t be overwhelming or terribly expensive to pull off.
The rendering is in the works and I will share it here soon. I’ve submitted the plans and exterior color selections to the Architectural Review Committee at the HOA. This spec house (which will soon be listed for sale on har.com) will feature Sherwin-Williams St. Bart’s as the primary color with Extra White (also by Sherwin-Williams) as the accent color. Looking forward to hearing back from the Committee next week, fingers crossed until then.
The door in the photo above is the St. Bart's color - not the best representation but it seems to be the truest showing of the color I can find on the internet.
Please check back for further details on the new build, and if you'd like a consultation on a kitchen or bath remodel or any other projects please get in touch today! |
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April 2020
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