Colors and siding

This past week we had to choose colors for the interior of the house, and I called upon our color expert, Vicki, to give her advice and assistance. We sat around her dining room table for HOURS AND HOURS working out just what was to go where. I finally got to the point where I just didn't care anymore, so it was time to quit. The painter will start on the interior next week, so we'll see some big changes soon.





Most of the siding is completed at this point, and here is a shot of the west upstairs bedroom. The east upstairs looks just like this. I love the board and batten siding.



The driveway gets washed out easily so occasionally this cute little tractor has to come along and straighten out things again. This drive is only temporary, but I'm not sure what we'll do with it once the house is completed and all the heavy stuff is moved in.



This is the front porch with the siding completed with Joe walking around inspecting and doing what? Oh, of course, talking on his cell phone!



Here's the back of the house with the siding completed. The guys had to work really hard to get those heave pieces up to the second story and get them nailed in. The battens are actually mostly decorative, but every four feet one of them covers a seam where the big panels meet. That seam is caulked before the batten goes on as one more element of protection from leakage. This siding is called Hardy Board, and is made mostly of concrete or something like it. Each of the panels and even the battens are very heavy.



The upper porch (the Evita Porch) is being floored with a composite material that won't rot or wear and is guaranteed for 60 years. It looks like wood, but it's a sort of plastic made from recycled tires or coke bottles or something.



The upper porch from below. They should finish the ceiling today or Monday.



Another picture of the whole house from the front yard. The 18 columns will be framed in next week.



We rode out to see the cabinets this morning and to choose handles and counter top material. Here's one of the short ones to give an idea of what they will look like. They'll be installed next week. The counter tops will be dark brown formica with a wood trim around the edges. We decided to forgo granite because of the huge expense.




This is a house I passed out in the country yesterday on one of my tuning appointments. It has the same color scheme that we're planning for our house. The greens are not really the same, but the basic colors are -- yellow with green and white trim and a green roof. Our roof is not such a bright green since it's shingle where this one is metal.