Building on Dog Hill

Moving (online and in real life)

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Tue, 05 Apr 2016 09:21:00 +0000

We're leaving Dog Hill!

After a blogging hiatus lasting several years, I have a new project I want to document. There won't be much time for food and cooking at first, but I hope to add some of what I am up to in the kitchen eventually.

If you'd like to see what I'm up to, check out:

Pobuda Farm – Adventures reviving a homestead on the beautiful Leelanau peninsula

https://pobudafarm.wordpress.com/

This will be my space to ramble but you can find everyday posts on Instagram. There is a link in the sidebar of the new blog.

Wish me luck!

Yep, we're really moved

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Wed, 27 May 2009 19:03:00 +0000

It's hard to believe but we are really living in the new house!! I'm still trying to get a full set of photos of the house but for now you can see what else I've been up to at Living on Dog Hill.

Final Inspections

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:12:00 +0000

I'm actually packing! Not just clean out a closet and organize packing but boxes filling my house, bubble wrap and begging newspaper from family to wrap dishes in PACKING! The bubble wrap is almost too much of a temptation for Alex and I have to chase him away from it before it's all popped and I'm already worried about how heavy to make the boxes. Fewer boxes that are heavier or more smaller boxes that are easier to carry?

It "looks" (IE I'm not counting those chickens yet) like the final inspection will be next Wednesday. I could be swimming in the pool Wednesday night!! In the meantime, the builders sent pictures of some of the finishing touches. I'll be sure to get a full set of every room when we move but I might be a little preoccupied for awhile. The top photo is the front door which was just stained and installed. They're still waiting for the weather to improve before completing the exterior painting. We will most likely be moving in before they paint the outside.

The railing is stained and completed. The main floor hallway is now a color called dovecoat. I think it'll be a great color for art.The front door from the foyerThe dining room The master bedroom ceiling fan, now with more beamage The master shower grouted and with all the handles and sprayersThe other side of the master shower grouted, the shower door goes in Tuesday The fireplace has tile!!! A mirror is going in on Tuesday in the top section. A closer look at the fireplace tile

Lights and other details

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 10:46:00 +0000

I had more pictures in my camera from our trip last week. Mostly of the shots are of the light fixtures that were going up while we were there. I'm really happy with how the lights look. We're down to approximately 2 weeks until the house is ready for the final inspection. Unfortunately, not only can anything happen to add a delay in that time but the final inspection is a big unknown as well. The inspection in November was also from the county and we had a big hold up then. I'm trying not to think about it at this point and focusing instead on straightening and packing parts of the old house and working on some Easter projects. The builder might have some finished room shots for me later this week, meaning we'll be able to see floors, painting finished, lights and trim all together.

The foyer light and final coat on the blue paint. This color is awesome and looks great with the tile.
Light and medicine cabinet in the main floor powder room
Light from the side walls (on either side of my big tub) in the master bathroom
Closet system going up in the master closet
Alex in the dining room
The fireplace got it's final coat of paint and will have mirror and tile soon, the banister is up all the way and the handrail will be stained soon. It will be darker, like the flooring.
Light up in the top floor powder room and the darker color up on the walls
The uber-cool lights for the pool room (this one is horizontal over the sliding doors, the others are all vertical) A vertical pool room light with the duct to show how they make the ducts fit in better
Alex in the pool room, in front of John's office window
John's bathroom vanity cabinet
The fan/light up in the downstairs family room
The patio light, the same lights are on the garage, I loved the farmhouse look of these and the fact that they have large shades to protect the night sky view. I don't want to miss even a single star!
The garage with the exterior lights up

The pool is open!!

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:41:00 +0000

After several cancelled trips we're finally up north to see the house. When we arrived yesterday afternoon we got to see the pool uncovered, clean and being filled. I don't know if I've ever seen my son Alex happier. He had to take off his boots and play in the water. I was thrilled to see some of the lights installed. So far they look great. Here are some pictures from yesterday.

The pool room from the main floor hallway windows
Alex going in the pool A little more stair railing is up is getting paintedThe bench is installed in the mudroom We aren't going to have air conditioning (even though that will freak out some of our family) but we have are ceiling fans in all the bedrooms.The master bath vanity lights, a single bulb light will go on each side and I found this mirror to hang in the middle. I can't make up my mind about whether I want a backsplash or not. The master bedroom ceiling fan/light A closeup of the master bath shower accent tile, I love this green marble!

Pool room duct and master bath tile

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 22:28:00 +0000

I've been doing a lot of yard work and cleaning on our soon-to-be old house but wanted to quickly post some pictures the builders sent from earlier this week. Above is my first look at the tile in the master bath shower. I love the way it looks! The accent tile is a small green marble. I'll try and get a closer picture of it once it's grouted and sealed because it's such pretty stuff.

The pool room is getting it's final work done before they can remove the platform that currently covers the pool. Then they can clean the pool and install the cover. We're so excited about seeing the pool again! Part of getting the pool room ready for the pool unveiling is installing this hanging air duct. It's a necessary evil and I think it'll work better in the room once my industrial-style lights are installed. Here it is in all it's shiny, metallic glory.

Kitchen Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 01:52:00 +0000

Pictures of the kitchen progress are here on Dog Hill Kitchen.

Getting close

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 16:10:00 +0000

I'm approaching a full year blogging about building and the house is getting so close to being finished I can taste it. The trim for the windows and doors is finished, the fireplace has been trimmed out, and the railing for the stairs is going in. Toilets are installed, faucets are going in and the wall tiles are going up. The cabinets and floors are installed in the mudroom and the pool room is getting finished so that the pool cover can be installed. The counter tops were installing in the kitchen but I'm saving those pictures for my foodblog. Here are the rest of the pictures the builders sent of this week's progress.

There will be four of these decorative tiles on the fireplace (see the top photo).
All the fireplace trim will be painted white and the tiles will be all white.
(image from Meredith Art Tile)Stair railing going in
The stairs down with the railing beginning The cabinetry in the mudroom: a printer station, file cabinets and coat hooks and bench on the right
The mudroom with tile and trim, on the left is a mop sink for washing dog feet
The kid's bathroom with tile up in the shower and the toilet installed
The kid's bath vanity
The master bath with the toilet installed in the water closet
The master bath vanity with the counter tops and faucet
The main floor powder room with the mini vanity and toilet installed
The attic/top floor powder room with the sink and toilet installed
The attic with trim going up on the halfwall
John's red office with trim
John's bathroom vanity, without doors
John's shower
And John's baby, the sauna
Doesn't the color of the sauna cedar look awesome with the wall color?

More cabinetry

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:51:00 +0000

The builder sent some pictures. Almost all of the trim is up and it's being painted and some of the bathroom cabinetry is in.

The foyer tiles are all cut This is a mini-vanity for the main floor powder room
The kids bath cabinetry and counter top
Cabinetry with the counter top installed in the master bath

More trim and tile

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:13:00 +0000

I posted on my foodblog today about laying out closet units in the pantry, see Pantry Plans. I had a few more pictures left on my camera from last week's trip so I'm throwing them up. Here's more trim, doors and tile that were in place last week.

A better look at the main floor powder room colorCloset doors, trim and a door in the playroom/second bedroom The foyer tiles with more of the slate cut
The little window onto the pool room in the master bedroom
I have to get stops so this can't open more than 3 inches or

one of the cats will fall through for sure. Kids bath tile
Trim and doors in the downstairs family room, the glass is covered on the French doors.
Master bath tile Closer master bath tile, I still like it but I'm nervous

about how it will look against the tub now.
Tile and trim in the attic powder room, the tile looks more tan in real life
and I've asked them to paint the next shade darker in the green.Alex was pretending to kiss the tree.
He got his hair cut yesterday and no longer looks like Mowgli.

Doors, tile and my tub

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 04:38:00 +0000

With the dogs up with us last week the visit was hasty, so we're back up north again already. There are trim and doors to see, hopefully that will come along quickly. The more daunting work looks to me to be the tile. A task I worked on this morning was to lay out the foyer tiles. The floor will be a mix of slate with blue ceramic tiles from Pewabic Pottery of Detroit. I bought the tiles from one of their firehouse sales years ago and have eagerly awaited using them. Soon they'll be a part of our new house! I'm happy with the quasi-random pattern the builder and I worked out. We also placed the tub in the master bath. It's so comfortable and I love the way it looks. That's all that needs to be done now so I get a day to spend some time outside. The weather is good, it's not too cold and there is fresh coat of packable snow. I'm going hiking around the land tomorrow.

The foyer tiles laid out, I may try and get a better photo tomorrow.Every time I see it, I like the crazy red in John's office more. A door installed in the master bedroom My giant soaking tub; aligned nicely so that I have great views in either direction.

Our dogs go to Dog Hill

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 21:13:00 +0000

We're just back from a quick trip up to see the house. We didn't have our normal dog sitter available so we decided to bring our two dogs Roxy and Karmal up to see the property for the first time. The drippy weather was a mess, though the warmth that caused it was welcome. I spent my time in the house going over tile details while John and Alex took the dogs tromping in the woods a bit. Alex got completely soaked splashing in the snow melt and Karmal and Roxy found mice in a brush pile. The dogs seemed to like the land though Roxy wasn't fond of sinking into the deep snow. Things look good in the house, though we expected more progress. I'm happy with the majority of the colors and think that it will be great with a few tweaks and with all of the other details in place. We expect to head up again very soon.

Alex in the snow melt pond with Roxy sniffing around behind him John, Alex, Roxy and Karmal down in the valley behind the house

Paint, paint, paint

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 05:58:00 +0000

I'm figuratively foaming at the mouth wanting to get up to see the house. The builders kindly (or cruelly) sent a ton of photos today to help us get a better idea of the paint colors. While this sounds like a wonderful idea, it's also torture!! Ideally, we'll be headed up this coming week but life loves throwing curve balls my way and so I'm trying guess which direction the hit is coming from. For kitchen torment photos, visit my foodblog Dog Hill Kitchen.

The pool room now looks really light, I should be shot for my fickle nature.I love, love, love this green, orange, blue combination!!!The orange looks wonderfulThe slanted areas of the attic get their coat of yellow. I really think this looks much better.My son Alex's bedroom, I love this color with the floor.Alex's bedroom and the kid's bathThe colors of kid's rooms together: Alex's bedroom, the bath, and the playroom/second bedroomThe kid's bath and playroom togetherThe master bedroom and bathroomThe kitchen, blue powder room and darker green-grey dining roomThe dining room and foyer

More paint and the first look at cabinetry

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:58:00 +0000

The builder's sent pictures today of the painting going on downstairs. I love the look of the orange family room and the other smaller rooms but I'm a little worried about the blue in the pool room. Is it too dark? I can't decide and probably shouldn't without seeing it in person but...

We also got the first look at the kitchen cabinets! There's not much to see since the kitchen has a lot of activity going on but it's extremely exciting for me. Scroll down to the last photo to see. Here are the other rooms the builder's took pictures of for us.

The downstairs family roomThe exercise room John's officeJohn's office with the pool viewThe pool room wall with the doorwall to the family room and windows to the living room aboveAnd finally, the kitchen with cabinets!!!

Flooring begins

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 20:22:00 +0000

The installation of the flooring has begun. They started with the bamboo flooring, which covers most of the main floor. For those interested, I got this strand woven carbonized bamboo. Here are some pictures sent from the builders.

The southwest side of the kitchenInstalling on the east side of the living roomAnother view of the living room

A closeup of the flooringThe hallway to the bedroomsThe master bedroomMore master bedroom with a better image of the wall colorThe playroom/extra kid's roomThe massive ceiling in the pool room has taken a lot of time to drywall, you can see why.

The first coat of paint

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 05:21:00 +0000

Exciting news, most of the loft and main floor has gotten it's first coat of paint! The builders kindly sent these pictures from Tuesday showing some of the rooms that have been painted. Also the kitchen cabinets and appliances have arrived!! You can see a photo of the cabinets at the end of the post. The image above is the foyer. I can't wait to see it with the slate and blue Pewabic tiles on the floor!!

The kitchen, the big space on the right will house the fridge and ovens.The kitchen from another angle
Looking into the mudroom from the kitchen. The same darker green

will be an accent in the kitchen and in the dining room.
The master bedroom and looking onto the master bathroom, two shades of the same green
One of the kid bedrooms, we (by which I mean "I") are calling this the playroom.The kids bath and looking onto Alex's bedroom
Alex's bedroomThe loft, the color is going to go up higher.Some massive piece of dehumidification equipment taking up valuable cake pan storage space in my basement.Bwah, ha, ha! Don't you love the photo of the cabinetry! They're still in the boxes

and I made you look at that air dehumidifying/conditioning thingy. I feel better now.

Indoor paint colors

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 00:45:00 +0000

Today, I sent in the indoor paint colors. While this is one of the easiest things to change it still is scary since a mistake will make a big impact. However, I'm been living in a beige nightmare for four years now and anything interesting (even in a bad way) at least will be a change. Either way it's really exciting and a sign that we are truly nearing the end. Here's the floorplan with indoor color going from the top to bottom, all trim is white:

Top floor: main space is pale yellow, light green in the bathThe foyer and bath are a very deep cobalt blue, it doesn't show up well here.

The living room/kitchen is a light grey green which also doesn't show up too great.I am so in love with this orange and the blue for the pool room. I think John's

red office is going to take some getting used to but he wanted it and it is a great red.

Frost pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 19:53:00 +0000

Tuesday morning we stopped by the building site to see the pool room drywall. It was a sunny morning and we couldn't help tromping around and enjoying one last look at the fields and forest before heading back to the asphalt and brown grass of Detroit. Everything sparkled with feathery frost and I attempted to capture some of it. The above photo is my favorite, it's a paper wasp nest we found in the scrub. I loved it's striated greys and the frosty edges. Here are some other pictures of Dog Hill covered in frost:

The fields of the property are over-run with invasive spotted knapweed.
The purple flowers are pretty for a short time in the summer but then
it becomes a scratchy menace. It was nice to see it covered with the finest feathery frost. Curly dried grasses with more feathery frost
Sumac bark (from a dead bush) covered in lichen and then a layer of frost
Morning sun shining on feathery frost on a boulder
Autumn olive berries turned into raisinsStaghorn sumac
Sparkling autumn olive branch
Some twigs and a stump covered in frost

Drywall hung in the pool room

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:29:00 +0000

Before we headed back south to the Detroit area we got to see the drywall hung in the pool room. Yes, there really is a pool hiding under that giant plywood platform on the floor. I'd like to not think about how grungy it's gotten but the drywall in the pool room looks great! The windows and the view out are spectacular and I love how the skylights are framed (even though they are covered with snow now). Here are pictures:

The western wall of the pool room The framed in skylights
Some of the southern windows
The eastern wall in the pool room
(the lower window goes to John's office)
Half of the northern wall of the pool room
(top windows go to the main floor hallway)

Drywall and a furnace in my kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 23:07:00 +0000

After an extended period away from the building site, we started the new year off with a trip up north. The insulation is installed and drywall hanging has begun. The change is dramatic and makes the inside feel much less like a pile of sticks with a roof, suddenly rooms are defined. The first change we noticed is that the garage doors have been installed. This lead us to walk all the way around the house checking doors before realizing that we should manually open a garage door to get in. We were told that they put in temporary furnaces to keep the house warm, which is especially important so that the pool water doesn't freeze. That didn't prepare me for the furnace in the middle of my kitchen!! I got word a week before Christmas that the cabinets have arrived in town are are waiting to be installed-- no way is that happening soon with a furnace there! We lost a considerable amount of time in November and December which has pushed our "completion date" to late March (if we're lucky). Though I love how the house is coming along, I'm battling with panic over the new completion date. With our house to sell in the Detroit area (is there a worse place to try and sell a house right now?) we're moving past the dates when we would like to move and into the time when we need to move. We need time to paint and catch the prime time to list the old house. Alas, this is a problem I just have to mentally deal with since there is no easy fix. I just have to keep thinking about how fabulous it'll be when it's all done...whenever that may be. Here are some pictures to see the progress so far:

Icicles on the pool room (a picture from our exploratory walk around the house)The patio view in the snowThe kitchen furnaceThe kitchen
The living room
The pool room windows in the living room
Alex in the hallway to the bedrooms
The master bedroom
The master bath view and Alex
The foamy Icynene insulation in the master bath showerThe top floor bonus room, west
The top floor bonus room, northeast
Alex is standing the powder room doorway
The top floor bonus room, south
The view from the southern window of the bonus room
The basement stairway The basement family room
John's office The pool room, west
The pool room skylights The whipped cream like insulation in the pool room

Insulation

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:07:00 +0000

At long last the construction on the house has resumed! The insulation went in last week and now drywalling can begin. It looks like we won't be going up until 2009, but here are some pictures of the cool Icynene insulation.

Looking into the dining room
The master bedroom
Looking into the master bathroom
The bonus room

Pictures in the snow

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 21:32:00 +0000

It's been over a month since we've been up north. In that time the construction has been held up by inspections but they finally have permission to proceed. Insulation should begin by next Tuesday with drywall following soon after. Since there isn't anything new to see I've begged for pictures of the house in the snow. Down in southeast Michigan we've barely gotten an inch or two but up in Traverse City they've had a lot. (I'm terribly jealous.) Here are some of the pictures the builders sent:

The front of the house in the snow
The west side of the yardThe snowy view out of a pool room windowThe house in the snow from the road in

Choosing tile and a first look at the exterior paint color (at the end)

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 13:01:00 +0000

After a long dry spell with no pictures, we travelled up north on Tuesday (after voting of course) to see the house. When we arrived at the house the large mudroom patio and it's retaining walls were finished, all of the siding was up, exterior doors were in and the painters were prepping to start the exterior painting. During our days up there I spent my time looking at tile while Alex and John got to romp in the forest. There was some sticker shock after seeing the initial tally but we found alternatives for some things and kept my favorites. I'm pretty happy about it right now though I haven't seen a full recalculation yet. I hope to have gotten the total much closer to the budget allowance so I can afford to have flooring in the bonus space.

I'm really excited about using some blue Pewabic firehouse sale tiles I'm been saving for years in the foyer mixed in with slate. They are a gorgeous collection of glaze test tiles and samples in various sizes, finishes and shades of blue. I bought them around four years ago with the hope that I'd find a way to use them. As John can tell you, I take them out to look at every six months just wishing for the perfect place to put them. Now finally they will have a home! My other favorites were some green marble accent tile I'm using in the master bathroom and the Meredith Art Tiles I plan to use on the fireplace and kitchen back splash.

Now were home and they will hopefully have the rest of the exterior painting done (weather permitting) and drywall will be installed inside. Here are pictures from this trip:

The driveway is in!The front walk The front door
More exterior doors in place, this is the patio off the master bathroomOur first look at the siding and exterior doors on
the south east side of the house, this door is to John's office.
The west side retaining wall is finished
The patio off the mudroom on the top of the retaining walls,
it has a fantastic view!
Around the corner where the mudroom patio ends,
I think this would be a perfect spot for a brick bread oven.
Since we couldn't return the windows we changed in the kitchen we added them to
the pool room. The hallway behind them is so much nicer now with natural light.
The window is in place on the breakfast nook side of the pool room.

Just before we left, we got to see the paint color up. I love how cheery it is!
I think it'll look wonderful with all the white trim.

Kitchen Details

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:03:00 +0000

I posted about the new kitchen on my foodblog here.

More pictures from our latest trip

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 20:02:00 +0000

Here are a few more pictures from our visits to the building site on Thursday and Friday. I have to do some reading on how to take better forest images because I'm at a complete loss as to the camera settings, light and angles to take the pictures and the woods are so beautiful right now! The violent reds of the sumac, the cheery golds and oranges of the maples, and the deep rich green of the white pines captivate me.

The south side of the house The north side of the house with siding and the front walk
The patio outside the master bathroom door
The patio outside John's office and the pool room The retaining wall with more work done
I'm thinking this spot would be perfect for a trellis. The forest where I planted the morel spawn
My soon-to-be morel patch (expertly hidden)
The blazing colors of staghorn sumac