Nice wheel(barrow)s!

There's a wheelbarrow in the once & future kitchen. Actually, there were two. And multiple ladders. It just made me laugh.

This weekend I spent about 3 and 1/2 hours at the house with John the Builder, Jason (Realtor to the Stars) and the Wonder-Husband. (The last two bailed part way through, but John and I worked on!)

We got to see the future basement--no photos since it was dark, muddy and low-ceilinged! Upstairs I got to see more progress on the framing and then we spent lots of time walking through determining where all the light fixtures should be, as well as the lines for cable and phone and any specific electrical outlets. The phone & cable part was funny for us since currently we don't have a land line or cable. The light fixture decisions took a loooooooooooong time. But I am happy with the game plan! Now I just need to start pinching my pennies for those pretty light fixtures I found last week!

Design dilemma - please advise! See that photo of John the Builder by the wall of brick & metal? Note the chimney (coming up from the fireplace in the living room) there in the photo--note specifically how it is not centered. Well, that is the 'bed wall' in the master bedroom. We need to design something so that they can build out that wall. I think they are going to just have to build out a dummy wall flush with the chimney and it will be about the width of the bed so the bed will be centered on that part - which will just be drywall. Then, in the recessed areas left between that part & the walls on either side, we'll probably do some built in bookcases BUT in theory our nightstands will need to sit in front of those bookshelves. John the Builder suggested just having it empty & closed in on the lower part with shelves on the upper 2/3rds'ish. I can't stand the idea of NOT using that bit of storage space. What should we do on that lower part--a base cabinet or open shelves that our nightstands would then be in front of? Find a way to incorporate the needs of a nightstand into the built-ins? Suggestions and photo ideas are welcome!

The other photos are just a stack of lumber in the future living room and a shot of the master bedroom floor joists as seen from the living room. I just thought they were interesting. When do you get to see your floor joists that way? (Hopefully you only see them that way once, I'm thinking!)