As we continue on for Part 2 of The White House Design, we have finally finished the entire house! YIPPEE!!! 🎉It has taken quite a while to get here, but we are so glad we are done!!!
In my last blog post, we had finished the inside, except the laundry room, due to having to order custom cabinets and the installer was on other jobs and backed up. But I must tell you... they were worth the wait! But before I get to that, I am going to show you the finished courtyard patio, the front porch, backyard patio and landscaping, the front yard landscaping, the garage and finally... our laundry room. (I am saving the best for last!) So, let's get into it!
The COURTYARD PATIO is nestled in between Vel's office, the living room and kitchen. There is a sliding patio door and by being right off the kitchen, it makes it convenient when hosting a party or when you just want to eat outside. It is a nice sized area and perfect for just sitting outdoors. As for the design, it fits the rest of the house with neutral colors, but we added a pop of light blue. We hung some lights for night-time lounging and added a pretty large umbrella, that also have lights on it to block the sun during the day to light up the area at night. It is cozy and our little hidden sanctuary!
The FRONT PORCH was a little challenging to design. The color of the house is an unusual shade of red clay (we didn't choose it). We had to abide by the Homeowner's Association (HOA) rules and regulations as well so, I couldn't do too much that would make the HOA red flag the porch. But what I did do... we really like!
is cozy, warm and inviting. I get a lot of compliments when people walk up to the door. There is a cute bench with pillows on it, which I have had for the last (3) homes we have owned. There are faux plants and a faux Olive tree, iron artwork on the wall, a welcome sign, a beautiful rug, my bible verse mat, and a custom sign I had made with our trademark name (The White House) with the same verse on it. We want to cover you with the blood of Jesus before you ever enter, when you enter and when you leave! 🧡
The FRONT YARD LANDSCAPING is a favorite of ours. Michael at Arizona Homescapes designed our beautiful front and back yard. The front yard plants vary with color and texture but are all approved by the HOA (Homeowners Association). The plants low-maintenance, drought-tolerant and need very little care and watering. (except for during our brutal 115* summers). The yard has mounds with boulders or plants on them that make the landscaping prominent and interesting. We also have lighting for some ambiance. The stone facade on the house adds to the design and makes our house stand out (so does the color 😂) Any who... we absolutely love all of it!
We are happy that we have finished our BACKYARD LANDSCAPING AND PATIO. The outdoor fireplace will be a great place to roast hotdogs and s'mores. It will be nice to sit on the patio with our family, grill out and enjoy some meals! In addition, it will be wonderful at night and just sit by the fire. This night, it was a great night for night-time pics of our patio, lights and the backyard. The night-time lights twinkle and create a wonderful ambiance!
Our GARAGE space took a long time to complete. First, we had the garage floors epoxy coated with black, white and grey paint chips. Next was coming up with a design strategy that looked good, but also functioned and provided plenty of storage. I believe we achieved all three! The garage cabinets were purchased on Amazon.com and my husband, Vel put them all together, along with the work area, storage systems on the walls and ceiling. (Boy, did he do a good job!) They have a metallic, shiny and smooth finish with speckles. Most are charcoal colored, but we also have a few that are a lighter shade of grey because, I ordered the wrong ones, Lol... But we made it work!
We did a special wall treatment on the back wall using paint, tape and decal wall stickers (where I future electric bikes and golf-cart will go). I came up with the design and hubby helped paint it. In the cabinets we have all types of storage solutions from M-Design, at Amazon and the container store. The mats on the floor, can be removed easily to sweep and they protect the floors.
And last, but certainly not least, our gorgeous LAUNDRY ROOM, It's my personal favorite. We worked with the designer, Michael @homedepotqueencreek store to come up with a design for the space. I sent him pictures, measurements and an overall design style. Then when we met with Michael for our design appointment. We were blown away with what he was able to create! He totally nailed my vision for the space!
The second picture is of the countertop we chose, and a sample of the granite sink. The countertops are a brand-new product by @wilsonart called Thinscape Performance Tops. It is very thin, and it is the most durable product on the market. It is 1/4 the cost of quartz and even more durable. It will not stain, it is resistant to scratches, moisture and impact. They are mostly white, has a smooth finish, and we love the variation of colors in it (light grey, dark grey, caramel/greige and black). The granite sink is a full-sized kitchen sink, and it is super durable. It will be hard to damage it and will look good for years to come. This also will not scratch. We love it, because the sink is large enough to bathe a small dog. (That will be helpful if we decide to get one down the road). 😄
The cabinets are white shaker style, and they have beautiful decorative molding. Our ceilings are 10 ft. tall. The upper cabinets are 47" tall, 36" wide and 30" wide over the washer & dryer. They go almost to the ceiling for extra storage (We had to leave room for venting and air flow). The bottom cabinets are 36" wide, and equally have plenty of storage and pull-out shelves. I still have quite a bit of room left for future products.
The tall side cabinet was my idea. I wanted to have extra space for smaller items like handwash, dish soap, sponges, soap, Kleenex and such. It was important that this room also followed what I did in the other parts of the house when it came to organization, by using bins and other storage solutions. Now, it is very organized, and everything has a place, and every place has its thing! 😊
Although we had to wait (3) three long months for the cabinets to even get made and then another 3 months for the cabinets, countertop and sink to be installed, it was well worth the wait and money we spent. We absolutely love our laundry room! I now can fold the laundry in the space on the countertops and there is enough lighting with the addition of rechargeable LED undercabinet lighting.
It was so nice and a joy to work with Michael and Espi at Home Depot, David Reed - Choice Cabinets, interstate Express (delivered cabinetry), Westcoast Countertops and Delta Plumbing (install the granite sink). All of them were professional, kind and kept us in the loop every step of the way. Sometimes you have to go custom and spend more in order to get exactly what you want, need and get it the way you want it! 🧡
Although this process from building our retirement home was frustrating, took way longer than we planned and cost us double what we thought we would spend, it was well worth it to have the house exactly as we want it. Selling our old home, living in an apartment for 4 months until this house was built, dealing with supply chain shortage while working with a contractor, designing the interior and exterior with the landscaper, was quite the experience. But we prevailed and everything turned our beautifully!
So, I hope you have enjoyed the process with us! We look forward to hosting get-togethers, getting to know our neighbors and have our friends and family visit us. You are always welcome at The White House!
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