Building the Lodge: Fireplace & Details

The countdown is really on now! Alex and I have shifted from thinking about big picture items and decisions at The Lodge to narrowing our focus on the finishing details and moving in. It is finally starting to feel like our move in date is approaching – and it really is! We’re within two months now.

Here’s what’s happening at The Lodge now:

We pulled up to the house on a snow-covered driveway! Chains were required on all vehicles {except all-wheel drive, which both of our cars are} to cross Stevens Pass on our drive up. It was beautiful. The snowflakes were huge and puffy and it was really coming down! We loved being up at our house for the first snowfall of the season.

The biggest update is the stone on the fireplace inside! We absolutely love it. The mantel is a chunk of local wood and our cabinet maker made it for us.

Much of the great room was taken up by a gigantic pile of cedar boards. This wood is hanging out inside the house adjusting to the climate and will soon become our ceiling. All of the second story ceilings will be cedar.

Another big update is that the bathrooms and front entry are prepped for tile! This is the main floor bathroom – the floors have the radiant heat coils laid and are ready for tiling to start.

We were surprised to see most of the light switches and outlet covers had been installed, along with some of the actual lights. We were able to turn on some lights in the house!

Alex and I made the trip just the two of us. Hannah is getting to the age where she’s not super thrilled to be strapped into a car seat all day, so we left both of our kids with Stacey and headed out to meet with our cabinet maker to decide on some stain colors. Here’s what we decided:

Our lower kitchen cabinets will be painted the gray/green color above. We’ll have mostly open shelving up on top of the counters except one corner cabinet to anchor the open shelves, as well as a cabinet around the refrigerator. The uppers will be stained the gray.brown on the sample above. We’ll have white subway tile as our back splash in the kitchen.

We also had the pleasure of seeing the raw wood cabinets before they got finished. They look so gorgeous!

{These are our lower cabinets in the kitchen – they’ll be painted the green/gray color. They are beech wood.}
{These are our Pacific Northwest Wild Cherry bathroom cabinets.}

We know we’re about two weeks out from interior doors getting installed, then comes trim. In between we’re hoping for some tile and maybe wood on the ceilings.

Hopefully next time we’re out at the house there will be even more snow on the ground – and hopefully we’re even closer to the finish line!