Cabinets are being finished, doors are being stained, walls are being painted and ooh! our beautiful floor has been re-sealed. We're starting to see these gorgeous glimpses of the finished house. Witness the glory of my all yellow pantry: The genius of our entryway cabinetry: ...which on the other side makes my dreamy office cabinetry (needs a little work but you can see how it's shaping up). These tall beauties: The laundry room floor: The beauty of our polished concrete floor:

It's all about the details at the moment. Since the house is long since framed and drywalled we have a lot more time and energy to dedicate to minor details like the precise distance between the slats on our roof and garage door, or exactly how the stair rods should go into the stair treads. These are the details we had never thought about before. We may now be at risk of over thinking them. The point at which Ash started debating between a gap of 1-1/2" versus 1-7/16" gap between the slats I had to call time.  Honestly, now the roof is done, I'm not sure any of these would have been the wrong choice. Or if we'd even notice if the carpenter used a different measurement altogether. But it felt like an important decision at the time. The debate about how to insert the stair rods into the treads was easier. We want them to look as slick and seamless as possible. The slickest and most seamless option will cost an extra $10 per stair rod, as it involves hand machining ...

Since we began the build, despite delays (shoring permits and windows being the most painful), the builder has maintained completion in July is feasible. Every week I ask him 'Are we still thinking we can move in in July?' and he sucks his teeth and says 'Yes', or 'No reason why not.' More recently he's taken to saying 'That's what we're shooting for', then listing the remaining jobs to get done, and then saying 'But yes, we should get there'. I have come to understand that this means that the house will be done in July. If by 'done' you mean it's weatherproof,  has finished floors, is painted, and has passed code. But. We won't have a fridge till August, nor an an oven till September - despite ordering them in August 2021. Supply chain and all that. We looked into ordering an alternative but the leadtime on pretty much any high end appliance is 18-24 months. We may keep an eye out for floor models. Or we may just live...