Kitty Deschanel

Excerpt from an email I sent my BFF on 12/13/11:  A few months ago, Sexy Nerd and I were browsing land and houses online, not really planning to buy anything, and came across a listing for a 13.1 acre property in the mountains. It was described as having "various meadows and views of 4-5 mountain ranges", which seemed funny to us. We walked the property and, although we didn't find anything we would consider to be a meadow, we bought it. Now we're designing a home to build on it.  4.5 years later, I received this nifty email from Old Republic Title: Congratulations, we have closed, funded and inspected.  You may start construction. Happy Homebuilding! That's right. WE'RE BREAKING GROUND TO DAY !!! Can you believe we're finally, FINALLY going to build? Woo hoo hoo! We spent the weekend shopping for tile FOR OUR DREAM HOME THAT WE'RE ACTUALLY BUILDING! (Not this exact tile. Ick.) Oh, and now I finally get to use this :

You've all been very patient waiting to see our new home. The bank admits we "fell through the cracks" (their exact words!) but now we're finally, finally going to actually build this thing. The bank actually took so long that we have no choice but to close on our construction loan next Wednesday, because waiting until next Thursday would be outside the application window and we'd have to start over from the beginning. That said, next Tuesday would be too soon to close on the loan because the bank "can't possibly have everything ready" on their end by then. I just have to keep reminding myself that we got a screamin' deal by going with Compass Bank. Our house is going to look just like this (pending HOA-approval) but with a few nifty details Sexy Nerd's computer program couldn't show - yellow shutters around the big square window and a white (or possibly red...no, definitely white...I think...) arbor above the garage door. We're

After waiting 3 months from our latest floor plan change, we finally received our quote from the builder today. I asked if it was at least in the ballpark of our budget and he said "sort of". Oh, it's just ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS OVER BUDGET. Sexy Nerd is diligently reworking our design to lower the cost. Many drastic changes and many hours later, he has saved an entire $9,035. While he scrimps and saves, I'm browsing real estate listings. My search hasn't been very reassuring, to say the least: This is the most terrifying cozy mountain lodge I've ever seen. What did they spill on this carpet?? It's so hard to choose the perfect flooring. Let's just get them all! Apparently, this broken TV (computer monitor?) comes with the house. Flamingos and tropical fish in the middle of the desert? Sure. I don't know if it quite fits the 1.3 million dollar asking price though. This is on every listing

While designing our custom mountain home, our biggest fear has been that we might build something boring. I mean, we don't want to end up with a crazy, zero resale value house, but what's the point of going through the hair-graying experience of building if we're just going to end up with something everyone else has already done? The design process has taken a looooong time for this house! There are 3 bedrooms and each is connected to its own bathroom. We still have a few tweaks to make before finally breaking ground, but here are our bathroom floor plans so far: Guest Bathroom/Mudroom Bathroom   I'd like to have a stunning mural behind the shower, framed with real curtains. The floor to ceiling window is going to be stained glass, which will reflect in the mirror across from it. Guest Bathroom/Hallway Bathroom Whether you have the door open or closed, it's impossible to see the toilet from outside the bathroom. There is going to be a river rock s

Open shelves and glass cabinet doors are popular right now, but the stress of keeping them tidy can be a deal breaker. A great solution is to create a display that won't change often. Think fine china instead of everyday dinnerware. Cookbooks instead of your go-to coffee mugs. My favorite idea ever? A delicious wall of candy and sprinkles! We're going with an all-white kitchen in our new home and a colorful display like this will be perfect ...as long as I put everything out of reach. I had to take a break from posting this to go grab a cookie! Feeling sentimental? How about a wall of sand, each jar a reminder of a fun vacation. As soon as we're done building our mountain dream home, I'll be dreaming of a beach house. (Who am I kidding. I'm dreaming of it now!) These neat photos, along with scrumptious desserts, are from bakerella.com .

A while back, Sexy Nerd and I had the opportunity to purchase a unique house in our dream neighborhood, Glenwood Hills. It had a charming bridge to the double front doors, incredible views of Albuquerque, and an interior practically glowing in natural light, but also a few flaws. The cosmetic fixes, such as a new kitchen, new bathrooms, new walls, new everything, we could tackle, but there were also severe structural issues. After much debate (and finding the skeleton of a bat inside the house), we decided it wasn't a good fit for us. Still, I wonder if we made the right choice. We drive by it sometimes and see that the new owners are slowly destroying it, little by little. They cleared every living thing from the yard, leaving just a wasteland of hot dirt, and replaced the garage doors with ones that are super-boring. The house is crying out for a modern, contemporary face lift - boring garage doors are all wrong! We should have just purchased it. I mean, where else are you go

Sexy Nerd never gets to spend 4 days relaxing at home. Over the weekend, however, that's exactly what happened. He tidied up our patio, did some telecommuting (because even during a holiday weekend, he misses his job.)(Also, he's insane.), rearranged his cactus collection, did laundry, hosted a barbecue for my parents (though one of them stood us up), caught up on his schoolwork, and watched hours and hours of racing. Then, he was bored. There was nothing left to fix or build or dismantle. In fact, he became so bored he got the itch to buy a new house, rather than wait to build our own, simply for the sake of having something to do. The plans are out to bid, Sexy Nerd. Be patient! (Truth be told, I actually really like this house . Isn't it charming? It would be like living inside a Mexican restaurant.) When it was finally time to return to work this morning, Sexy Nerd was thrilled. He got up, stepped into the shower, and... ...discovered our hot water heater had di

My lovable, wacky boss finds it concerning that the internet knows so much about all of our lives. Google a product and suddenly ads for the exact same thing appear on every website you visit. If I search for something at work while logged into my boss's Gmail account, it affects my browsing when I go home, though I'm using a completely different account on a completely different computer. The internet even knows who-knows-who. Well, my boss is going to be FREAKED OUT by this one. I was browsing through old design magazines last night, trying to get ideas for the house we're building . I was reading an old issue of Country Living, from 2007 or so, and came across a photo of a kitchen with the most amazing wooden chandeliers. Where a typical chandelier would have dangling, sparkly crystals, this one had wood hanging from each light. They were perfect for our mountain home! The article detailed where to buy everything in the house, from the valences down to the throw rug

We're just a few months away from breaking ground on our dream home...assuming we ever finalize our design!  Update: Construction has finally started - so exciting. Another update: Our dream home is finished and we stayed true to our Rustic Glam design style. Check out our home photos . Rustic Glam Decor Here are the things we know for certain:   Our dream home will be rustic and glam. Glamstic? Rustam? Our dream home will have charming doors leading to a private courtyard. The driveway will be lined with fragrant, drought-tolerant plants. Our dream home will have as much character as we can cram in! Reclaimed wood where the hallway turns the corner? Yes, please. Three of the living room walls will be stone, floor to (very high) ceiling. The fourth wall will be wood, matching the windows. There will be a wall of fire at the edge of our Endless Pool, visible as guests approach our house. In our dream home, all the floors will be brick, incl