Porch progress

So here are some photos from this weekend of our porch. I am in love. I never thought I could adore a physical structure so much but I do. It really gives us another whole room to the house. Granted, we will only be able to use it for a portion of the year (!) but it will still be lovely for those months. I envision having my morning coffee on it, looking out over the hills...or having a glass of wine after a stressful day. Okay, so now I'm just thinking about drinking coffee and wine. Soon enough, I suppose.

Porch work

These great photos were taken by our builder, Bill Litchfield. The porch is going on! Scott is hard at work on the roof of it. Soon enough, I'm going to get a shot of the whole crew...Bill, Tony, Scott, and Nick. Also, some of our Marvin Integrity windows are in! Woohoo!




Another major accomplishment this week is that our fantastic plumber, Mike Lavoie, installed all the PEX tubing for our radiant heat floors. Ryan and I are proud of the fact that we placed and drilled all the black clasps that hold the tubing...


And finally, to clear up any confusion, the mastermind behind our project is Bill Litchfield of Speciality Design. I know I featured a picture of the Fine Homes trailer awhile back. That was Craig, the dynamite that came in and installed our SIPs. But Bill is top dog. So here is the requisite shot of his ride.


Next up: more photos of the porch once it gets its roof. Also siding and metal roofing.

Interior framing

So two exciting new accomplishments as of last weekend. One, some of the interior framing has begun. It's incredibly exciting to walk around what will be distinct rooms! Two, Moe and his crew have almost finished the exterior grading work. The stone retaining wall looks so nice and has a really natural feel to it. We're really happy with how it turned out. Next up: putting on the porch, the metal roof, the siding, and installing windows and doors. More progress photos to come soon!

Our living/dining room with side door that will lead out onto porch and backyard


Kitchen


Awesome walk-in pantry!


Master bedroom; bed will be placed between these two windows


Looking into master bathroom from bedroom


Our bathtub!


Top of the stairs, site of our home office


The nursery!


Second floor bathroom (with guest bedroom visible through the wall behind it)


Looking down the stairs


Stone retaining wall around the walk-out basement

Green baby furniture

The first place I started when planning our green nursery? Furniture. I was initially stunned by the prices of eco-cribs although I love the way some of them look. For example, I adore the Sparrow crib from Oeuf.

It's modern, sleek, and totally eco-friendly. It's also $690. The adorable matching dresser will set you back $740. Too rich for our blood.


So I was really excited to find this moderately priced, green, modern option from Baby Miro ($379).



According to Dax, the crib is "made from pine harvested from sustainably managed forests in New Zealand" and "finished only with certified non-toxic finishes and paints." Love it. I also like the matching dresser ($439).



Both items can be purchased on the website Baby Earth. While the site has some of the standard baby fare like strollers and pack'n'plays, it also has a great selection of eco-friendly furniture, bedding, clothing, and toys. There are not a lot of brick and mortar baby stores in northern Vermont so we've decided we will set up our registry online.

Roofed in!

It's amazing how much work the crew has accomplished in a short period of time. Ryan and I visited family in D.C. and Philly over the long weekend...and as we flew out of the Burlington airport, our flight path took us directly over the site! We could see the guys working on the roof! Imagine our surprise when we got back and saw that it had been completely sheathed and the second floor deck installed. It's an incredible feeling to walk up our stairs and around the second floor. It was particularly special to explore what will become the nursery.

In other news, our wonderful excavator, Moe DuBois, made us an offer we couldn't refuse-in trade for our excess topsoil, we received those gorgeous rocks you see in the last picture. They're going to make for a very natural looking stone retaining wall around the basement walkout.

The walls are going up!