we are getting there: the stucco and most of the exterior trim is done; the garage is done, the radiant heat tubing is laid in, the flooring in the basement and attic are (nearly) done and the flooring on the 1st and second floor are this week.  Also as you can see the forms are set for the retaining wall -- the concrete will be poured on Tuesday.

         

As you can see there are paint samples everywhere in the house... we're figuring out colors.  Jesse the designer has some colors in mind where he's alternated 70/60/50/40% gradation of the same color on adjacent walls... it makes a nice depth effect and brings the light in.

It is a race to June 5th when our furniture arrives after nearly a year since we left Denmark.  Our goal is to have one bathroom done and live in the basement until the house is completed which will be close to July.  With a little luck we will be in the house on June 5th.

Comments

[elizabeth]

Michael:
I looks great! And the yellow is perfect. Does it have a sort of Danish charm? We are all ready to celebrate. Home Sweet Home.
E

[misha]

Thanks E!
You were right a few weeks ago when you said that yellow is a hard color for our locale; When they first put up the paint, on the first day, I nearly had a heart attack because it was so bright and, um, *orange*. I panicked and phoned the designer and asked him to leave the scaffolding up in case we wanted to paint over, and he said "you're freaking me out, man". Luckily I listened to him and waited a few days and now it is fine; it totally changes after drying and oxidizing a bit.

But anyway, yes, 'Danish' and maybe 'Japanese' was what we wanted; You can be the judge if we actually achieved that. Here's the Danish variety:

http://planetmurray.org/mh/photos/ideas/images/115/original.aspx

and here is the Japanese variety:

http://planetmurray.org/mh/photos/ideas/images/46/original.aspx
http://planetmurray.org/mh/photos/ideas/images/34/original.aspx

Honestly 'earth tone' stucco finishes can be found the world over, from North Africa to Italy/Greece to Denmark and in Asia, but the challenge is to make it work in our climate. We assume we can make it work here because it worked well in Copenhagen, for example, which is often grey and overcast like Seattle. But let's see how we feel in a year :).

We are ready to celebrate as well... as soon as they finish!