Hardwood is in, and I’m in love.

We stopped by the house today, and everything looks good. Dusty, but good!

The concrete driveway, steps, and sidewalk were poured yesterday. Unfortunately, some smart asses must have walked by right after the crew left, because there is now a bootprint and some… choice wording… written in the concrete right near the street. It ticks me off, but I’m sure the concrete guys will be able to come back and fix it up. {Good thing it’s the builder’s problem, not ours! Ha.}

But the most exciting news is inside. The carpet is being installed today, so there were lots of tools and clutter in there, but I did get to check out the first floor. And the hardwood is in, baby!

So pretty. It’s tongue-in-groove oak flooring, with a gunstock-colored stain. The best part is that it is handscraped, which means there is lots of character and rustic divots/scrapes in the wood. We have kids and dogs, so we are NOT a shiny, smooth hardwood kind of family! It has to have some character, so we can add our own “character” to it without it looking like crap. Heh.

The hardwood is installed throughout the first floor, except for the laundry room and the family room. We opted for carpet in the family room so we have a nice soft place for TV watching and family wrestling contests.

The powder room is almost done!

The staircase banisters are in! They look so pretty. I’m very glad we paid the extra $100 for the white rails… I hand painted the rails on the stairs in our old house and it was a total pain.

Light fixtures are in, including the pretty pendants over the island.

And the faucet, too!

Even the “builder grade” light fixtures, like this one in the foyer, are very nice. I love that their standard finish for all lights and doorknobs is brushed nickel instead of that cheapo looking faux-brass.  {Which, by the way, is what all the fixtures were in our last home.} I’m glad we will be able to focus our energies {and money} on other house projects beside replacing lights!

And one more picture of these beauties, just because they’re so pretty. :)

Our construction manager said they plan to have everything finished in about two weeks. Then the builder needs about a week to 10 days to finish permits and paperwork. So we are looking at closing on the house around Valentine’s Day. Perfect timing, as our lease on the apartment is over as of February 26th! {Keep your fingers crossed that everything goes well and we don’t hit any snags!}