castle closets

The castle closets, stage (and arches, which aren't pictured) are all framed. I'm especially pleased with how the crenelations turned out. We'll paint the little area behind them dark blue and use a rope light to back light the top of the castle wall.  I hope it looks as good in reality as it does in my head!

I found some great theme lighting on sale today. This one is a Kathy Ireland La Romantica chandelier.  It'll be the main lighting for the playroom. 

Then there was this pretty little thing...

It's 9" wide and 12" high and I kept coming back to it at the store because the old rusty iron and elegant scroll work was such an obviously good fit for a castle.  But I worried about the fancy embellishments until I leaned in close to examine the crystals and they seemed to whisper to me... Hey, girls live in castles too!  Sold.  

I love this piece -- and I got it for about one dollar per square inch.

Finally, here's a peek at our rug for the playroom...

This is just a small swatch but I think it gives you the general idea.  It's a rich, lovely, mix of colors and patterns that were common in medieval times.  Or, at least I think they were since I'm not actually old enough to know.

This rug was discounted because it was discontinued and there were only three left in stock.  We took two of them at a HUGE discount and we'll stitch them together to form one room-sized rug then have that installed into the floor over a generous carpet pad (so it doesn't shift all over the place as the kids run across it.  We didn't originally intend to have something this nice in the playroom but the quality, price and appearance was just too appealing to pass up! Proof that being patient pays off!

left front of house

left front of house, a photo by Donna & Andrew on Flickr.

It's not easy to get a good pic of the front of the house since we have some lovely large trees blocking the view from the street. But here's my best effort anyway!

And the right front of the house:

right front of house, a photo by Donna & Andrew on Flickr.j

There will be a pretty arched window in the dormer over the garage.  We still have to frame that in.  

back patio

back patio, a photo by Donna & Andrew on Flickr.

We sacrificed a bit of space inside the house so we could have a few extra square feet of living space outside. I think we're going to love this area! From here, we'll be able to watch the kids play while relaxing in a nice shady, breezy stretch of covered patio! And in the winter, we'll have some natural gas heaters out here to keep us toasty!

kitchen (viewed from family room)

kitchen (viewed from family room), a photo by Donna & Andrew on Flickr.

Here's where the kitchen will be. The plumbing is pretty much totally in place and the electrical is mostly there. Next week, we'll meet our cabinet maker and figure out the plan for the kitchen and island.

Here's our inspiration kitchen.  Not thrilled about the ceiling but LOVE the look of the rest of it.  Sweet!

kitchen inspiration, a photo by Donna & Andrew on Flickr.

family room (viewed from kitchen)

family room (viewed from kitchen), a photo by Donna & Andrew on Flickr.

This is our family room. We won't have a Cathedral ceiling (as you might expect) but we're planning something nice. Stay tuned. ;)