Serenity

This last week has been very hectic, and yet extremely serene at the same time.

During the week, many finishing touches have been completed.
I am currently sitting downstairs in front of my computer in the "Geek Pit" listening to some of my favorite music drinking some of my favorite hard cider.  
Even though tons of organizing needs to be done, we have been putting things in place, moving them around, and gaining a lot of appreciation of details and planning.

The shelves upstairs and down have been delivered and put in place.  
Our kitchen backsplash is in place.
The permanent stair railing is in place and our permanent doors have started to be installed.
​Outdoor sconce lights and the rain barrels are in place.
All of the plants and stepping stones are in place.  At this point, all we are waiting for to complete the yard is a bit of turf.

And the fun is only beginning!
​We are starting to really, really appreciate the thoughtfulness and planning that went into this house.
Last week I showed you the hardware for the pocket doors in the house (there are five).  
Living with them for a week, I have discovered just how easy they are to use.  When the door is open, a hooked finger is all it takes to pull the door closed.  Partially open or closed it is easy to use either side of the "handle" to open or close the door.  These really are so much easier to use than the old ones we used to have.

And the setup of the drawers!  Phenomenal!  The image above on the right is a top down view of our dishwasher drawer and another drawer coming out of the lower cabinets around a corner from the dishwasher.
​The guys at Partner's Woodcraft calculated it out so both could be fully open without running into each other.  These types of details are all over the place.

Ooooooohhhhh, and the faucets!
OK, I am not one that normally gets excited over faucets.
However, the ones we put in our master bath are really cool, and will end up saving a bunch of water.
They work as a normal faucet does, with a single control on the left side, as shown in the first video on the right.
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They can also be operated by touch, anywhere on the spigot.  As long as the manual control is left in an "on" position, a simple touch will turn the water on and off.
But wait! There's more!

The faucets also have a motion sensor, set to detect motion with about a foot.  So if the manual control is "on" you can pass your hand in front of the sensor at the base of the faucet to start the water.  When it no longer detects motion it turns the water off.  
From what I have seen, this takes about two seconds, perhaps one and a half.
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I was quite happily surprised, to find my favorite view in the house this week.
When on our screened porch looking in, the view of our eagle statue is stunning.  
​Photos don't do it justice, but I had to try.

It is still a flurry of activity around here, but most of it know revolves around Kate and I trying to find where the best spot is for everything.  We did downsize from our last house, but it is far more 'rightsized'.  
We are striving to do this as quickly as possible, as this coming weekend (September 17th and 18th, 2016) our house will be house number 13 on the Homes by Architects tour.
So if you have any questions about it, want to talk to our architect or builder (or us) or just want to see what that view (or the faucets) I am raving over is all about, please stop by!