The
kitchen in the model home, as one might well expect, was already quite
impressive with its professional quality Themador stainless-steel appliances
including a built-in refrigerator/freezer, TWO built-in convection ovens,
a microwave, a 6-burner gas stove (with grill unit)...
...TWO
dish washers, and considerable cabinet/storage space. However, we added
the stainiless-steel fixture above the center island for hanging pots
and pans and had custom-built wooden sliding drawers installed into all
kitchen cabinets for easy access to all items.
As
seen in the left side in this photo, we also had leaded glass windows
installed in the dish cabinet so as to coordinate with the other leaded
glass windows in the kitchen and breakfast nook area. Unfortunately, this
particular model home did not have granite counter tops, but, instead
came with a type of 'composite' granite counter top material.
One
irony, however, is we ended up having to buy a SECOND refrigerator to
put in our laundy area because our huge new Thermador side-by-side refrigerator/freezer
does NOT hold nearly as much stuff as our older...and MUCH CHEAPER...Whirlpool
refrigerator/freezer that we left in our old home!
The
master bedroom represented almost a complete make-over since our queen-sized
bed and Ethan Allen furniture from our old home were of much better quality
and appearance than the California King bed and accompanying furniture
which had been in the model home. We did, however, use the....
...pillows
and duvet from the model on our queen sized bed. In addition to the HUGE
'room-sized' walk-in closet adjacent to the master bedroom, we were both
impressed with...
...the
remotely-controlled gas fireplace which can be turned on/off with the
mere push of a button! Hey, for a kid from the cornfields of Ohio, this
is CLASS!
Needless
to say, our Ragdoll cat, Kesha, has been hard pressed trying to find his
'favorite' place in our new home and has practically worn himself out
trying each and every room and piece of furniture in this 4,200 SQ FT
house!
Of
the house's four bedrooms (each having its own full bathroom plus a walk-in
closet!), this is our designated "guest" bedroom.
We
simply replaced the bed (which was merely a 'prop') that had been in the
model home and used the duvet and pillows with our queen-sized bed from
our previous home.
A
third bedroom with a 'studio couch/bed' is actually a collection of furniture
from a couple of bedrooms in the original model...
...and
will serve well as a place for a child (or for a guest that we do not
want to feel too comfortable/stay too long) to sleep!
We
totally converted the original large "Teen Center" in the model
home into a more casual (or 2nd) "family room." This is the
area where we will actually spend most of our time when not sleeping (or
using the computers).
We
still have the entertainment center from the old home, but, Lena finally
convinced Steve to replace his two large 1970's era Pioneer wooden speakers
with four high-end wall and ceiling speakers plus a floor sub-woolfer
(or something like that)!
The
4th bedroom...located directly across the outside front patio from Steve's
office...was converted into an office for Lena (as well as Kesha's bedroom
and bath). Ironically, the...
...computer
desk had been ordered for our old home, but was actually delivered to
the new home at the time of our move. Kesha is quite comfortable in Lena's
new executive leather office chair! [On a totally different note/subject,
our last project...LANDSCAPPING and construction of...
...our
fence returns, gazebo, etc., was to have started on Monday, 22 OCT...the
day San Diego's "FIRE STORM OF 2007"
occurred. We, along with over 500,000 local residents faced mandatory
evacuation from our homes for over 3 days as fires raged through the area...with
the "WITCH" fire coming as close as 2 miles to our street! See
MAP for FIRE AREA.]
If
there were anything that rivaled the day we signed papers for purchasing
our new home (in terms of things which excited Lena), it would have to
be the day she got her new floor-to-ceiling cherry cabinets and shelving
installed in 'HER' MasterBedroom Closet!
Neither
of us can believe the quality of workmanship we got on these custom-designed
and fitted components—OR the incredibly reasonable prices our Vietnamese
contractor, ASAP Custom Cabinets,
charges for his work.
One
of our neighbors had gotten a quote from another popular San Diego custom
cabinet maker to construct cabinets in the same closet in their home which
was almost four times the price we paid for our work!
Steve
could not help but notice, however, that even though the size of the walk-in
closet in this home is about 6-8 times that of our previous home, HIS
allocated space in this new closet is still roughly the SAME amount of
hanging room as he had been allowed in the old home!
Lena
is so happy with her new closet that Steve is concerned that she might
want to SLEEP in it rather than in the bedroom!
After
completing our major landscaping project, both the front and rear appearances
of the property were changed significantly. The front entrance was 'opened-up'
by removing most of the original trees and planting strawberry trees on
both sides of the entry sidewalk and steps.
After
constructing a new fence return on the right side of the house, a new
flagstone-covered sidewalk was poured to connect the gate to the front
entrance of the house and flagstone was added to the original 'plain'
concrete steps and front sidewalk areas.
Also,
an iron gate was installed across the entrance to the front patio.
In
the rear yard, we covered all of the original 'plain' concrete areas with
flagstone and added a massive wooded and tile patio cover to create a
very nice gazebo overlooking our lake.
We
also added a fire pit, a new concrete pad with wooded overhead for our
jacuzzi, a BBQ, and a fountain.
After
finding a prefabricated 'fake-stone' fountain that we liked, we had this
mounted on a concrete base covered with fake-stone that matched our original
stone posts in the yard.
It
is wonderful to sit in this jacuzzi at night and look out at our night
time landscape lighting in the rear yard area along with the view of the
lake in the background.
Steve
had wanted a 'formal' rose garden in our new home and had the landscaper
install a 'French drain' underneath the entire area of the 75-plant rose
garden to ensure proper drainage of the roses. In addition, each rose
has its own 'bubbler' sprinkler head next to it for irrigation.
Since
our property is about 1/3 acre (huge by California standards!), it required
a huge number of plants to fill in the unsodded areas around the house.
Even worse, it required
400
cubic feet of rubber mulch to cover all of the exposed dirt areas in front
of the house and down both sides of the property. (We had the rose garden
and part of the rear area of the yard covered with speckled gravel.)
