Garage Doors

Today we installed the garage doors.  Since our garage is insulated, we went with a 2" insulated garage door.  We also chose a belt drive rather than chain drive system since the kids' bedrooms are above the garage.

The doors are incredibly quiet.  They came with an outdoor keypad and remotes.  We went with a contemporary, clean look on the outside.  The doors are ready to be painted with a latex outdoor paint, and we plan to go with the brown color on our soffits.

Staining continues inside the house.  At least 2 coats of lacquer complete the cabinets.  Here's the entertainment center/bookshelves after the first coat.

Here's a shot of the entertainment center next to the floor.  The idea was to pick up the lighter highlights in the floor rather than going dark to match the floor.

The master bath looks great.  Even though they are dark, the rest of the bath should lighten it up a bit.  Much of the tile is white or gray glass tile, the ceilings will be white, the faucets polished nickel, and the vanity tops and bath surround are carrara marble.

The pictures don't really capture it - here's part of the same cabinet as above from a different angle - the actual color is more like the above picture.  Looking at the brown color (no red) it is hard to believe it is actually cherry.

For our kitchen backsplash, we had originally planned to go with a smooth travertine subway tile, and a decorative insert of small cut travertine/glass tile mosaic.  However, this choice was pushing us into paint colors we didn't really like - a lot of beige and tan.  Since we want more neutral colors we went back to the drawing board and selected different materials for the same backsplash pattern.  We picked subway tiles in a natural stone - grey Jerusalem stone.  It has flecks the same color as the travertine floor.  The new material for the decorative insert is a mosaic of calacatta marble, Jerusalem stone, and travertine.   Here's a pic of the floor, kitchen cabinet color, and the backsplash stone (the actual stone tiles will be 3"x8").

Tomorrow the excavator comes to remove the pond in foreground below, a few stumps, and grade around the house.  I wire-brushed, primed, and painted the swing, but it will probably get moved to the woods in back.