Favorite House Of The 2015 Parade Of Homes

I saved my favorite Parade of Homes' house for last. Let's start with the kitchen because it's what we buy houses for right? Not to cook in, but to decorate.

 This kitchen had two granite topped islands. The pictures don't do it justice.

 To the right you can see the edge of the second island...

The second island would not be necessary for me, but then I don't cook a lot.

Here's a close up of the granite and the wood floors, which ran throughout most of the house.

 The picture below shows the view into the breakfast room from the middle of the kitchen. One thing Texas builders do is leave out the trim on windows. I finally figured out it's because decorators in Texas have a love affair going with plantation shutters. 

Notice the windows below have none of my beloved window framing. That's because the plantation shutters are built on their own frame, so windows are left frame-less so as not to interfere with the installation of the shutters.

It's taken me 5 years to figure this out. I often sat in our front room and wondered why would the builder put lovely trim on all the doors and leave the windows unfinished. Yeah, I'm slow...you girls probably knew why they did that already, right?

This doorway, which is next to the breakfast room, leads to an outdoor oasis.

The covered patio with outdoor fireplace is perfect for conversation.

Around the corner to the right is the outdoor grill...

And the perfect sized pool...

I didn't want to spoil it for you, but you can see the pool from the breakfast room windows.

So, on to the laundry room...

You have to admit the finishes are unusual in this house. The floor was a little busy for me, but the stone tile is high-end.

Leaving the laundry room, there is a mudroom in the hallway. If you turn left you're in the garage. If you turn right, you're in the kitchen.

A Close-up of the mudroom bench with bead board.

Master bedroom suite downstairs...

 Close-up of the bathroom's tile and walk-in shower...

Dining room -- kind of bland compared to the other finishes...

Entry and stairway to the second floor. In this picture, to the right of the front door is a study with planked walls...

 I am definitely finding out what shade of gray this is!

The second floor has another master bedroom with its own bath, a large game room, and two other bedrooms with another hallway bathroom. I took a picture of the bathroom to remember how pretty it was. I'm a sucker for a towel hook!

If you're still with me after all these pictures, you get brownie points for sticking in. Here's a few of the front of the house in closing. Landscaping is due in a week or so.

  Troy Miller is the builder. I'm sure it won the award for best house on the tour. I think the flier said it was over 4,000 square feet. It's not for sale though, I think the Millers moved in this week.

Thanks for dropping by!

Laundry Sign And House Tour

Yesterday was the local Parade of Homes tour. We never miss it, so out we went. At our first stop, the laundry room had a sign I thought was cute.

Truth be told, I am a fanatic laundress. I love to do the laundry. I love to fold the laundry. My towels have to be folded exactly the same way and rolled so they are the same size and stacked on a shelf perfectly! Roll 'em right or get out of my way.

I learned to iron when I was 8 or 9 and earned a nickel for each piece of clothing I ironed. I would've ironed for free, but don't tell my mother that! When we visit our middle daughter, I iron all my son-in-law's button-collar dress shirts for him. I guess my love of ironing didn't get passed on to our three daughters.

Sorry, got a little side-tracked there...
The laundry room was OK, but nothing unusual. No place for folding, which is the problem we have with our current laundry room. I liked the gray color on the cabinets.

Outside the laundry was a hallway with stairs leading up to the second floor, which had one guest room with its own bath and shower. Loved the wood and the look of the stairway.

The kitchen ceiling was dark gray with white cabinets. 

Pretty house, well built. Energy saving touches like sprayed in foam insulation made it quiet and comfortable.
I did fall for the master bedroom's walk-in shower. It made me want to go home and change the tile in our own shower.

 The bedroom closets were large and well laid out. Again, gray and white, which was throughout the house.

 Here's the hallway bathroom for our last look. Having a small window high on the wall makes sense to me. Long ago in 1987, when the girls were little, we had this same bathroom with the high window and all. I guess some things just stay the same.

The next house on the tour has a kitchen and laundry room to die for. I seriously would do their laundry for free just to spend time there. Here's a peek:

Yes, gray and white again, but with a little brown thrown in too.

Thanks for dropping by!

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