Family Room Pictures

I received a request from another blogger that lives in a Savoy to share some pictures of our family room, and most important, how I configured the furniture in the space.   To be honest, the family room in the Savoy is an odd shape. If I could do it all over again, I would have paid for the 4 ft bump out in the room. I think this would have made a big difference from a space perspective. But, one can't cry over spilled milk, especially when it is a structural change.  So for all of you folks currently in  construction--think about how the bump out will effect your everyday living before you decide not to pay the extra cost.  

However, getting back to the room, I think what makes the space odd is the alcove where the hall closet meets the family room. When building the house, I wanted the fireplace to be the focal point in the room. I think the fireplace elongates the room, and gives the space the illusion that it is bigger.  I should note that all the furniture and decor in the room are things that we already had--the couch, table and chairs are about 7-8 years old.  However, the window treatments are new--found these panels from Bed Bath and Beyond for $20 a panel and the scarves were also $20 from a local linen place in here in South Jersey.

Now for the pictures:

Here you can see how the closet cuts off the room.

Here is a view of the "alcove" area.  Excuse the messy pillows, I should have fluffed them before the picture…sorry! 

Thanks to the iPhone, here is a panoramic view of the room. 

A little Progress...

I wanted to share a little progress on the baby room. Here is Tene drawing the first of 3 pictures for the wall mural. 

And the finished product...it looks great!

The picture from a distance. The crib will be placed under the pictures so it will look better once the furniture is there.

I can not wait to see what the wall will look like when all 3 are completed!  Hopefully it will be completed in 2 more weeks. Happy building...

Baby Steps...

 

We're taking our first steps at customizing a room in our house... we're constructing the nursery for our daughter.  Therefore, in honor of our baby girl, I think it is only appropriate to share a clip from one of my favorite movies, "What About Bob?" Check out this  infamous  scene entitled "Baby Steps"...

 

 Decorating a house is similar to what Bob experienced when he tackled his fears and problems. He  learned how to take baby steps or doing one task at a time.  With this strategy, Bob accomplished getting over his phobia. In taking baby steps with decorating, I've learned how to create my own style and to do so on a budget.  To be more specific, I have learned to trust my own judgement and to have fun when creating my own unique look.  I also learned not to play it too safe, you have to be willing to take a risk and see an end result.  So, here are a few pictures of the room in progress.

Here is the white wall with added crown molding.





You can see the molding a little better here.
 





Now for some color on the walls...the molding really pops.

Now for some fun stuff, I needed to purchase another light for the space because we did not get a ceiling light (note to all you just currently in construction folks, get ceiling lights in all your bedrooms and make sure you confirm which wall your main light switch is on), so a searched high and low for a floor light.  I came across this light from PB Teen--it was perfect and on sale!

 

However, the shade was an extra expense.  I almost paid the $50 for the shade until I looked closer and said to myself, "hey, you can totally recreate that look!" Recreate is exactly what I did...I found the dimensions of the lamp shade and did a quick google search and found a plain white shade on  Wal-Mart.com for the great rollback price of $15.77. I saved on shipping by opting for a store pick up and then headed to the craft section of the store where I found ribbon for $2.07. I whipped out my trusty hot glue gun, and here is the finished product for $18.00!  What do you think?

I used a deeper color pink, as it will match the rocking chair and the mural that will be on the wall. Here is a picture of the exact lamp shade that PB Teen had in the color that I planned to get:

Looks the same to me!  There will be more updates to come, as I continue to chronicle the coming together of the room.   Just in case any of my fellow bloggers are in the South Jersey area, I found a great contractor, UTRS Construction to do our crown molding and painting. If you're interested in getting their number, leave a comment, and I will send it to you.   I also have a very talented friend, Tene who is our muralist.  She is super talented and creates original canvas work too. Check out her blog here to see some of her work: http://exo31artist.blogspot.com/ 

In the meantime, happy building!



Green Briar Estates Meet and Greet

Over the weekend, Patrick and I hosted a "Neighborhood Meet and Greet" at our house.  It was so much fun to meet our new neighbors.  We had a house full of kids and adults.  I love all of my neighbors--they're really nice people!  We already set up a few upcoming events once the weather breaks...an around the world party where each house will feature a different cuisine and a summer block party with BBQ food and games for all to enjoy. 

We have a total of 8 houses finished of the total 17. There is a ton of construction happening in our community and it amazes me how quickly they can frame a house! We also have a ton of kids in the neighborhood,  so Halloween should be very fun next year!  Many of my neighbors read my blog.  They said my blog was informative and really helped them through the building process.  I'm glad someone is reading!  I know that I was armed with a ton of information thanks to this Ryan Homes blogging community.

Well, I should have taken pictures on Saturday, but next time...
In the meantime, hosting a party was a great way to meet the neighbors.  I highly recommend the experience.  Happy Building...

Plumbing Update

The plumber came today and fixed our leak in 2 seconds.  I'm not joking about how quickly he came in and fixed the problem.  All he did was put tape around the end of the shower head that screws into the pipe. According to the plumber, they used tape on the actual shower head but used putty on the other piece that goes into the wall.  Ok...that sounds like someone took the easy way out, and look a problem ensued!

Now, I have to contact Ryan Homes to have the drywall repaired.  I will also let them know that I don't want them to simply sand and repaint the area, but I want the wall cut out.  I'm sure that water has been running for quite some time (remember my husband and stepson use that shower and do not observe anything) and I think the drywall has been compromised.

The plumber suggested that we use the shower for the next couple of days to make sure that we fixed the problem. Then I will email Ryan to get drywall repair ball moving.  So, on to the next one for another plumbing update. Still, I can't complain about having this issue--it is still minor.

Well, happy building everyone...and for those of you that are still in the construction phase, see if you can check that your faucets are being secured by tape and not putty!

Uh, Oh...Plumbing Issues

Now, I've always said that we've had a great experience with building a Ryan home.  And I'm sticking by that experience even more now. On Saturday it was brought to my attention by my sister-in-law that our hallway bathroom had a leak. Despite the fact that my stepson and husband are the only people that use that shower on a regular basis, it amazes me that neither one of them noticed the leak.  After all, from looking at the shower head, the leak had to be going on for awhile. 

I just chuck it up to the two of them not being observant...I can write a novel about that, but I digress... Anyway, I took pictures of the damage, went on the Ryan Homes website on Saturday and Monday received a call from a plumber to fix the problem this week.  I'm pleased that they worked fast and so far the problem seems painless on my end from a coordination perspective. And that's always a plus. I really do not like chasing people down and being given the run around.

So here is a picture of the damage.  From what it looks like, it appears that the pipe and the showerhead was not tightened, but I'm no expert, so I will fill you all in on the problem once the plumber makes his assessment of the issue and the destruction.

Other than that, I've decided on a paint color for the baby's room! We selected a nice pink appropriately titled, Ballet Slipper by Benjamin Moore.  I will add crown molding to the room as well. I think everything will get started next week. I will have pictures to share of the progress. We've decided to paint one focal wall in the room. Thanks to my MIL, she suggested that I would grow tired of an entire pink room, so the other walls will remain off white and the pink wall will have the mural on it. Here is the color swatch:

 

That's all I have for now...happy building everyone!