Cabinet Refacing

It was announced today that the developer has decided to discontinue its relationship with the original cabinet maker, European Standard Enterprises (ESE), and has now negotiated a deal with IKEA. I'm somewhat concerned about the quality of the IKEA product. However, some information has been posted on the Agave neighborhood group which leads me to believe that the IKEA cabinets are of the same quality as the ESE product.

Who knows? Maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised. So far, the surprises have been anything but. Fingers crossed...

Waterworks

I was just innocently window shopping on the www when I came across these lovely ladies.

She should grace our kitchen sink











and she should grace our master bath sinks.

Illuminata

Since we'll likely replace the fluorescent light sconces in the baths, the ceiling fans, the kitchen pendants, and the exterior lights going into/onto our house, I've been searching for a good source for replacements of all those things. I finally found it. Lighting Universe has an astounding number of lighting options, in addition to very reasonable prices. It's definitely worth a look. Be forewarned, there are thousands of lights.

Closets - and the doors that cover them

I'm resisting the urge to make any closet jokes and instead just posting some pictures of the sliding closet doors being installed in the homes. For me, when it comes to doors they're really striking out. I've requested that the high end floor tracks be omitted from our house. It's a sacrifice in style - I know. Supposedly, the brass pulls will be replaced with ones that have more of a nickel finish. These doors look like they came from a mobile home supply store. You know, from certain angles our FAB house does look like a double-wide with a metal roof. These doors will feel at home there. Happy, happy doors.

I love our FAB double-wide, mamma!
(but we'll be changing out these doors)

Dreaming of Doors

We went out to Agave today to check on the progress. Things seem to be moving along at a nice pace. Our misplaced living room window was moved ... to the wrong place. Sigh. We walked through a couple of the other houses again. The tile work does seem to be much better than it has been in the past. However, there are still some finish-out decisions that are being made that don't make a lot of sense - and really look half-assed.

We got a glimpse of what the sliding doors to the patios are probably going to look like on our house. Another disappointment. So, we're looking at another additional expense to upgrade something on our own that will make the house look like it should. The sliding doors being installed look pretty low budget. They are three sections wide, but only one section opens. It would make more sense to have at least two sections open out onto the front and side patios. I'm also not a fan of the storefront door that is being installed. It looks great on some of the other home designs. I'd prefer something that looks more contemporary and has cleaner lines. This company has amazing stainless steel entry doors. I covet them. They start at $5k. I'll continue to covet them.


















Here's a picture of the style of sliding doors that I'd like to eventually have installed. I must have these doors.

Los Colores

Cedar Edge is the color for the body of the house.
New Linen is the color for the metal roof supports.
Fortune Leaves is the color for the rafters and possibly the front door (depending upon type).

Other Homes in Agave

Here are some pictures of other homes being built (or already built) in Agave.
(click on an image to enlarge)

Taking shape

Happy October! This year is flying by.

Our house is finally taking shape. The walls are up and the frame for the roof is going in. Everything seems to be progressing rather nicely. The only hitch so far is a window in the living room that was put in the wrong place. I've been assured that the builder is aware of the mistake and will move it to its correct position.

We've also been informed that the architect has chosen some new colors for the exterior of the homes. We're excited to see the new options as we weren't really crazy about the choices we had several months ago. Once the colors are confirmed, I'll place a swatch up here.

Although concrete is our only flooring option throughout the house, we're looking at upgrading the flooring once the house is finished. The unfinished concrete floors in the more recent builds aren't nearly as nice as the earlier ones. I'm favoring a recycled glass terazzo, but we'll have to see what the budget allows after we buy fencing, more landscaping, an exterior storage building, better appliances, furniture, new light fixtures, new ceiling fans ... you get the idea.