The white chairs are fine in many houses…my opinion, however, they are not fine with CB’s current house.
is there even an eating island in this house? All I remember is the walnut shelf…not an eating spot.
We did not configure the walnut top to be a bar style eating area because the dining room got smaller with the kitchen expansion. So, it would have seemed weird to have bar stools sticking out right next to the dining room table. It would have been cramped. But, after living with the large kitchen for awhile I truly think that there could be a nice skinny table/island in that kitchen with some stools for the kids if that is what the buyer wants
Update on the Garage Buyers
The parents of the couple who were looking at the house twice are a friend of my retired contractor friend. He stopped by yesterday and told me the whole story.
Parents live on other side of the hill, bayside. Their other son just recently got his contractor’s license. They purchased a home in front of them, gutted it and remodeled, put on a height restriction and sold the house… to preserve their view. The contractor son did all the work. So the young couple were looking for something they could totally renovate to their liking.
They went into contract on the Novarra house because it had 2 garages. But he wanted to add even another garage and they went into the City and found out that the City was going to make it very difficult to build another garage on the property. So, they cancelled the transaction within 2 days.
That couple needs to buy an empty lot or a lot with a tear-down shack and build a new house. The entire first floor could be one huge garage. Or they could find a hill situation that would enable them to have one garage down and one up, and build the living level(s) above.
Or they should buy or rent cheap garage space in a cheaper inland industrial area for his overflow.
CB…checking for clarity. If that couple was looking for a house they could totally renovate to their liking…WHY were they looking at a house (yours) that has been totally renovated? And doesn’t have enough garages.
Wasted a lot of people’s time!
I think the wife really liked the house and the views and was hoping the husband could build garages he needed here. Maybe looking for renovation ideas? I don’t know.
Today I have to endure a HERS test. This is an independent company that has to come in and seal all registers and check the two HVAC systems for duct or system leaking. It’s a piece of paper (and $$$) we have to have in order to call for final inspection.
After the glass railings are installed the only item left for final is the staircase handrails
Forgot to mention that I like the staircase pendant a lot! 
That was the winner of 3 I had purchased. Luckily it went up first and I didn’t have to bothet opening up the other boxes, assembling lights and then trying to pack them up for return. I can return them intact in their boxes.
The $400 living room light is still a giant box in my garage waiting to get returned
I’m eagerly awaiting photos of those pretty sconces in situ. Will help me decide if I should order some. Right above my dog’s head in my avatar is a dreadful fake antiqued bronze sconce with a globe shade left over from the previous owners. That’s one of the spots I’m contemplating using them.
How do you think they would look in a room with either a Waterford crystal or traditional brass candle-type chandelier?
You will need to see them up close. They are more muted champagne gold with mottled speckles of pewter and a mica shade. Unfortunately they will be the last thing installed because there is a complex set of cabinetry and trim going into master and I’m just crossing my fingers we can get done before Broker Caravan next Thursday. No hope of getting done before photos
I just loaded a couple more photos. Nothing exciting. Right now we are painting, doing details and scrubbing scrubbing scrubbing. I have lost most of my fingernails from getting down on hands and knees and meticulously scraping paint overspray off the floors
Today we cleared out the master bedroom and cleaned the floors. I am very upset to find a lot scratches in the walnut floor right at the entrance to the master bath. They were obviously done by the tile guy when he came to finish the grouting and some final pieces in the bathroom. It is very distressing because it is located where it won’t be noticed or could be covered up with some furniture or a rug or something. It will have to get repaired but don’t have time to let him buff and refinish the floors again because furniture is coming tomorrow!
No news from the agent that came through to preview the property. She was hesitant to let them come through before it was completed.
cb, I’m assuming that the scratches in the walnut floor appear lighter than the rest of the wood. I bet the floor guy could rub some stain into the scratches to minimize their appearance for now. Even though it wouldn’t be a complete repair, it might make them less noticeable.
cb: Can’t you use a razor or one of those glass top scrapers to get the paint off the floors, instead of your fingernails? This idea may be too late to help.
Even without the glass installed, the deck railing looks fabulous. IMO, that’s one of the things that’s going to sell the house. You absolutely couldn’t have gotten away with anything other than the glass. It’s awesome.
I had paint spray on one of my floors. I didn’t want to use my fingernails! I was concerned that a razor might scratch the actual finish. So I used a plastic spatula.
I use a plastic spatula to get rid of paint drips that are like little bubbles. Your guys must be using paint + primer. That stuff drives me crazy! Difficult clean up and yet it doesn’t cover as well as separate coats of each.
ETA - cross posted with thumper! You could spray a little Bona on and then scrape with the spatula.
I’ll try the spatula! I have several areas where it’s obvious the drop cloth didn’t cover. My painter said to rub it with paint thinner. He guarantees that it will not affect the finish on the floors. I have made every mistake in the book over the years trying to remove paint over spray. There are several varieties of the paint overspray, but mostly it’s little micro dots and some areas it’s like a film with micro dots.
One time I thought… Magic Eraser! that will do the trick. Well, that dulled the floor finish right where I was rubbing and of course it was in the middle of a hallway with a light above it! Never could fix that stupid mistake. Then I tried the scrungy rough side of a sponge once… dulled the floor finish in that little area. I just gave up and use my fingernails because it is the most effective solution. I get it soapy wet and then go to town with my fingernails. It’s a laborious task that I cannot get my guys interested in. Then there’s always areas with caulky film, usually around the baseboard corners
We always paint 1 coat primer on the new drywall and then 2 coats of paint to make sure there is a good rich coverage of color
Very busy day today. I’ll try to remember to take pictures
Installing more lighting in master bedroom, master bath and the kitchen chandelier
Moving the path lights into staggered pattern (involves digging trenches and running longer wire)
Planting some color outside the front gate
Tempered glass panels getting installed in 3 decks
Bedroom staging
Moving all the sink plumbing around up in the master bath because, of course, I purchased a configuration of cabinets that do not match where the drains and water lines are set !!! Carpenter is just livid with me right now… he thinks I do it on purpose or something
Patching and painting drywall holes where I moved the powder room sconces down because they were too high and moved the sconce wiring around up in the master bath to match the cabinet configuration
Installing more closet doors and working on master bedroom door to install old original hardware on the double doors
Scrubbing outside of white stucco where the rains caused dark dirt around the house (because we don’t have gutters!)
Cb, I was looking at houses yesterday and peeked at one new $3M listing (way beyond our price range, but I was curious if it had the chairs and gawdawful stools, lol).
The photo of the master bath has a caption that says the spa shower glass panel will be installed 12/14. Lol. Judging by the size of that spa (shower and tub enclosed together behind a giant glass wall), it is supposed to be a monster of a panel. I cannot even imagine how it can be carried up to that third floor! Must have been a major oops.