The Doors- not the band

So, after waiting and waiting, our doors finally arrived. When we ordered them, back in February, we were told that they would take 30-40 days. Then, after signing the contract and putting 50% down, we were kindly informed that the doors would be finished during the first week of May. So, I ain't no wizz at math, but that seems to be 58 + days... Oh, then they kindly requested us to pay the remainder of the bill within the next 10 days! Having lived in Greece for nearly 7 years now, and learning a ton from the construction of the Jeny and Taki's house, we kindly refused to pay the remainder of the bill until we were informed that the doors in question were ready to ship and given an installation date. In retrospect, we should have withheld payment until the doors arrived, since only ONE of the three doors ordered were correct! Ok, here we go. above you see Alex at the entrance to the guest bedroom, the only correct door.

Now, lets move on. Here we have the side entrance to the house, which faces the street. Originally, I wanted this door just this way, with windows to let in more light. Incidentally, my sister-in-law agreed with me. We had decided, however, to save money and have a solid door that would be the same as the door to the guest bedroom since they are next to each other.

Well, even though we had, on repeated occasions, explained that the real front door is through the garden, the guy who measured everything out ( and his wife, who has never been out to the house site) decided that since this door is the largest, and facing the street, that it must be the front entrance. Wrong. Now, I am not too upset by this, since as you can see below, the windows do let in a great amount of soft light. So, in the end that is great. Problem is that our front door is rather dull, and we really wanted it to have the vintage look of the glass and iron work.But hey, Kelly, are you happy??? We did get what we wanted after all.

Above is a shot of the guest bedroom, with the new shutters.

This shows the area of the kitchen, now that the framework has been installed for the loft...still hard to invision what it will really end up looking like.

That is the loft framework and steps from the upstairs down to it....Don't ask me, they all say it will work out.

Another shot from downstairs looking across and up at those steps...kind of steep if you ask me.

Underfloor heating, old photos of how it was installed before we left for the US. It was finished while we were away, and now has the cement over it.

Storage closet under the stairwell..almost finished.

New Windows....wooo hooo....

Really not the color we were going for, but I think we are stuck with it now. The method is called Kourasani, and the color is in the plaster. We should only have to clear coat it every few years to keep it in shape, and not have to paint. Unless we just hate the color...We were going for something darker, to contrast with the roof tiles, but apparently that was lost in translation. A bit on the orange side for my taste, but I am sure it will change over time. I like the variations in shade and the depth of the color. Not flat like regular paint.

But, I love the copper gutters. Hopefully no one comes along and pinches them off the house ...I hope the neighborhood dogs bark, if they do. Maybe the ex cop from across the street will call the cops on any prowlers... like he did when Sammy went to install the gutter on the barn to help with the water problem our neighbor was complaining about.

This is my storage closet under the stairs... now with a cement floor! Still needs some plastering in there. Oh, and the steps up to the side door that leads to the guest room. If you are wondering where Sianna and Olivia are, they are sleeping in the car. Another missed nap for us...

the walnut tree

Today is the grand slam Blog update...I was able to get Sianna down for a nap, and Olivia is occupied with a pizza crust. So, you will find several entries for today, and it is done this way, as I can't seem to upload more then 4 fotos at a time. I tried to group them together so it makes more sense.

The house is coming along, and you will see the new plaster on the interior. Alex and I have started researching tiles and such for bathrooms. On our first visit to a tile and bath store, we found out 2 things. #1 is that I have really expensive taste. #2 is that Alex has more expensive taste. I fell in love with a handmade ceramic sink, from Spain. It was ONLY 600 euros. Alex, being the optimist, suggested we take a look at other models by the same group. His eye went to another sink that ended up being 1200 euro. Hold on...Sianna is crying.

Ok, she fell off the couch mid nap and is now happy with some ice cream to take the swelling down on her bubba lip. Wait, now Olivia is crying....

Just enjoy the pictures of the walnut tree.

upstairs

Sianna's room, now nice and plastered.

Olivia's room, looking towards her window.

Above is Alex and my room, looking from the door towards the tiny and weird balcony, and below is the shot from that tiny and weird balcony towards the opposite corner. Behind that wall is our bathroom.

The Stairs

The stairs from as seen from the front door. Fireplace should go in the corner to the left.

We have a cool spot here on the stairs for a nice piece of art work....hint hint, Rani. ;)

And below is the view from the top of the stairs. Behind you will be the door to get to the loft which will be over the kitchen.

the dining room

You got it, the dining room with the final plaster on it. The stone arch over the door will be cleaned off and stand out more.

Here are our cool niches, where we were able to leave the rocks exposed.

color options

Here we go, things are cleaned up a bit and the final coat of plaster is beginning to be applied to the interior of the house. The reason why you see color in some parts and white in others is because while they are doing the interior, we are testing colors for the exterior. Alex and I decided to give the colored plaster method a try. If it sucks, we can always paint over it. So, rather then waste the samples that Christos mixes up, he has it applied to the interior which will be painted with primer and paint anyhow.

Above is the doors leading to the bathroom and the dining room, as seen from the front door. Below is the view of the living room from the end of the kitchen.

Here you see the front door from across the room where the bathroom and dining room doors are.

Ok, and below are some samples of colors. The tile on the bottom is from the roof, and we brought it down to see how it would contrast. That red tile is the darkest color the plaster can be mixed to. We have opted for something between #2 and that red tile. Should be up next week, if we are lucky.

door frames

Like the title says, these are the door frames that are installed before the final coat of smooth plaster goes on. The workman was really good and timely, once we got him there...