Melia Detailed Tour Welcome to the Ashley Parade home. You may want to print out this detailed tour to keep as a reference, or as a tool to trigger or develop ideas for your own home. My hope is that you will read this several times and enjoy the details many times over. After you tour the house, I hope you'll come back and say that you're glad you read about the intricate details so you wouldn't miss anything! Keep in mind I'm not a writer....just a woman with huge dreams and a great team of people who helped make all of this happen. So, forgive me in advance for all the times I get off track and add in my own advice on everything from can lights to decorating on a budget. Remember, at the end there will be a test on the details in this tour. OK, I'm just kidding. Foyer, Den, Walk-In Coat Closet As you enter the two-story foyer, you'll immediately feel welcome by the warm tones of Golden Ecru paint, Candlewick painted trim, Saddle stained board-n-batten arched doors and wide-plank distressed hardwood floors. To the left, you'll enter the study through stained double French glass doors. My preference is to always use a 5'0 double door, whenever possible. Unfortunately there just wasn't room for the wider door and casing, so I chose to keep the 4'0 French doors in lieu of just a single door. Considering this is an office and not an active entrance--not as active as, say, an entrance to a master bedroom--the 4'0 doors are fine in a foyer area. Using oil-rubbed bronze, I chose to match the lights, door hardware and cabinet hardware as close as possible. The study is seventeen feet in length and has almost eleven feet of custom built-in cabinets. Yes, I said eleven feet of drawers, doors and bookshelves. With a wall-mounted plasma TV across from the desk, it will hardly seem like a work area! Through this project I've learned a lot more about the flat-screen wall-mounted TVs. Actually I've learned just enough to be dangerous. Between plasma, LCD, HDTV and all the other acronyms that people kept throwing at me, I felt like I was living in the world of the Jetsons. But I learned the most important thing of all: pay a professional! I didn't want to spend $3000 for a TV and have cables running down the wall or not be able to get high-definition because I had the wrong cable. I went with a company called Mid West Total Systems. I was very impressed with their showroom and knowledge of the details. With over $60,000 of high-end electronics in this house, I wanted to make sure the high-tech stuff was done by someone who does this every day. I didn't pay any more for the plasma TVs than I would have at any of the big-box stores. In an area that I'm not well experienced, I always try to use a professional one-stop shop. The study (or home office, or den) has wainscoting that is finished with a rich warm stain color that we call Saddle. I chose the beadboard look over the raised panels because I thought it was more of a relaxed look. I wanted this room to be a man's room or a woman's serious room. Whether personal or business, working from home doesn't have to be stuffy and corporate feeling. I used a wall sconce next to the desk just in case there wasn't room on top of the desk for a lamp. I personally love overhead lighting, so I use ceiling-fan lights in most rooms. They are double-switched on the wall so you don't have to bother with the pull chains. I also like can lights for extra lighting, but you have to place them carefully. Working under can lights can make you feel like you are turning 40 and having a hot flash! (Not that, ahem, I would know anything about that.) A bay area was designed more for outside esthetics but it also gives an added dimension to a rectangular room. A touch pad for the Elan home-control system, and custom damask fabrics complete this incredible study/home office. I have to confess that I didn't even know what a damask fabric was when we first started this home. Cheryl, from Draperies by George, helped complete all of the details and helped pull each area together. I've never had custom draperies made before. I was amazed at what a difference it makes. Even if you can only afford to do the main areas of your house, I highly recommend using a professional to help in the selection of fabric and design of the draperies. Back into the foyer: to the right of the study is a coat closet. The stained board-and-batten door opens up to a nice surprise: a 5'x6' walk-in coat closet. I'm sure you will notice there is plenty of room for both family coats and guest coats; there are solid-laminate shelves and hanging rods that curve around the entire room. All of the interior doors on the first floor are poplar, arched, board-and-batten style. The door hardware is by Schlage. The lever handles are shown in the new color aged bronze. It's very similar to oil-rubbed bronze but not as black in color. The first floor is accented in a combination of the warm stained woods and creamy painted trim. For example, the doors are stained but the base is painted cream. The contrast is beautiful on the distressed hardwood floors. Be sure to look at the hand-painted lights in the foyer. The ceiling lights alone almost cost me my first-born child. Around the corner from the coat closet you will see a hand-painted wall sconce. These unique lights were ordered from Canada. The collection is made by Lam Lee. Although the French collection was quite expensive, you'll see why I just couldn't resist. I wanted something that was different--something that you wouldn't see in the everyday stores. The Half Bath In the past, we have painted a few half baths deep red or dark gold and used a furniture-style vanity set. They turned out beautiful, so we repeated this successful trend in the Parade home with one change. But I can't take credit for this one! Jessica (our on-staff residential design planner) and Linda (our on-staff interior decorator) decided on a truly rustic French look for the half bath. The walls are painted Raspberry Truffle. The furniture-style vanity with curved legs is stained in a warm brown color that blends beautifully with the hardwood floors. I love the matching mirror and the curves at the top of the mirror. Jess & Linda picked the faucet, lights and bath accessories from Newport Brass. The color is called Verde Green. It reminds me of the aged copper roofs that have the elegant green patina. Although I've teased them about choosing a green faucet, I've secretly loved the color from the very beginning. And, of course, no bathroom would be complete without the matching trip lever on the commode. The Laundry Room Next to the half bath is the first of three laundry rooms. I know how important it is to have plenty of space when coming in from the garage, so the laundry room is quite spacious. The wall cabinets go along the entire wall and the base cabinets wrap around to the door. Under the countertop there is an area for a roll-in laundry sorter. You can do this in any home! Just leave a 3' open space. You can find the 3-bin laundry sorters at Lowes, Home Depot, or Bed, Bath & Beyond, etc. They don't sell them in oil-rubbed bronze....yet, so I'm going to have to get creative with the frame. As you look at the details of the house you'll see that I have a definite, well, illness. I just can't bring myself to use a chrome frame laundry sorter when everything else is oil-rubbed bronze. (I know, it's just a laundry sorter that is hidden under the countertop. But I just can't do it!!! Maybe in a kid's laundry...but this laundry room is, well…..it's just not meant to function with a chrome laundry sorter so somebody better start making the oil-rubbed bronze before I blow a gasket.) Late-breaking news: shortly after writing this, I found an oil-rubbed bronze laundry sorter at Walmart! But I digress. Back to the tour. The Silestone® countertop is a mixture of light green and cream colors. Silestone® is a product that looks like granite and Corian® mixed together (meaning quartz and acrylic). It gives you the thickness and performance of granite but yet the color choices of Corain®-type products. The warm green ceramic tile floors have rich undertones of brown that go perfectly with the saddle cabinets and stained board-and-batten door. Although the paint color is called olive gray, I think of it as a soft warm green. The white front-load washer & dryer make for a crisp clean look. The Infinity set is Energy Star-rated, saving you money on electricity. The front-load washers are more efficient and use less water and detergent. Both front-load appliances sit on 15" pedestals which are great for storage but most importantly helps reduce the pain in your b--- while doing laundry. (I hope you read that as pain in the back because that's what I was thinking.) My favorite part about the entire laundry room is not the joy of being able to wash clothes, but the awesome built-in that we designed. The bench is a little deeper than one you may find at the store. Below the bench are storage baskets for shoes. We know the kids aren't going to place their shoes neatly in a row, so this will allow them to just throw them into a basket and move on. In the center of the shoe-storage area is an arched area for the love of your life to take a quiet nap. (Of course I mean your pet.) The back is covered with beadboard and the hooks are oil-rubbed bronze. We gave up on the rear coat closet because no one ever uses it, except us moms when we are picking up after everyone else. On the top are more cubbies for all of that stuff we acquire. The laundry room organizer is painted dark barn red and is distressed with sanding and a stain coat called Jacobean. If you are building a new house or remodeling a house, I strongly suggest that you plan a drop zone in the area off of the garage. You know, a place to kick off your shoes, hang up a jacket, throw your keys, purse, charge your cell phone, etc. I know this is off the subject, but since we are only on the fourth room and you are still with me, I figure you won't mind. Here's a helpful hint: Each time I go to Lowes or Home Depot, I purchase a new book. They are usually $12-20 and in less than one year, thanks to these books, I have accumulated a great collection with some amazing ideas. Sometimes I look at the book several times before I find a hidden jewel that I didn't see the first few times I looked through it. Other times the pictures just bring out my imagination and I come up with something I may not have otherwise thought of. The Dining Room Let's go tour the dining room. As you enter the home, you will see the dining room on your right. The stained square pillars are encased by a wide, wood-cased opening. The cream-painted trim accents the hardwood floors. In keeping with the warm, inviting, French country theme of the house, we didn't want this room to appear too formal. What I love about French country is mixing the old with the new.... mixing floral fabrics with thin stripes, checks, plaids, thick stripes and ginghams. As I mentioned before, I wanted to do something different, so we designed the house with two chandeliers and a long table instead of your traditional larger chandelier in the middle. The oil-rubbed bronze candelabra says relax and enjoy while the shiny crystals let you know that this room is special! Although many dining rooms are red or gold, we chose to go with a softer color palette. Linda (our on-staff interior decorator who has decorated every inch of this amazing dream home) decided on a soft blue. The walls are created in a French color wash, a technique utilizing faux painting. Dawn, the faux painter, mixed three colors together to create the perfect blend of colors that we were looking for. With Cheryl's advice on the fabrics, the dining room is not a room that you will walk through and forget, it's a room that will set the stage for an awesome kitchen and great room. Just one quick note before we leave the dining room; look under the front windows. I always put an outlet directly under all of the front windows so you can plug in candles. Some people only use them at Christmas, but I like them all year round. If you are worried about kids or cats knocking the candles off, they also make a candle that plugs directly into the window sill. They are called Sillites. One of our customers, Darlene, told me about them, so we built her house with the outlet directly in the window sill. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure why I didn't do that in this home. I must be slipping. OK, chalk that up as a, ahem, minor mistake. The Kitchen & Breakfast Area Although you can enter the kitchen from the dining room, let's go back out into the foyer and enter from there. Then you'll get the full effect of seeing the entire kitchen! While in the foyer, you can't help but notice the beautiful staircase, but we'll get to that in a few minutes. Walking into the kitchen, you are surrounded by a built-in of two floor-to-ceiling cabinets, with the top cabinets showcasing seeded glass fronts, glass shelves and a small light from above to accent the dishes inside. The kitchen is spacious with an 8-foot island in the center. The maple cabinets around the perimeter of the kitchen are off white with an Espresso glaze. For the island, we selected cherry cabinets in a warm Brandywine stain color with the same Espresso glaze. The contrast of the off-white perimeter cabinets and the warm stained island cabinets make the kitchen feel rich yet cozy and inviting. Your eyes will also be drawn to the stone wall and wood mantle. But it's not a fireplace; it's the gas cooktop surround. The stone surround matches the stone on the fireplace and the inside is finished in a travertine tile. The center deco (a deco is a strip of decorative tile. You'll also see it on the tub surround and the shower) also carries our French country theme. To the right of the deco is a pot filler. The oil-rubbed bronze faucet is from Danze. The cooktop is a 36" pro-style gas cooktop in stainless steel. To the left is 8' of windows with a mixture of clear glass and prairie grilles. I always, always, always place a casement window over the kitchen sink. As a woman, it's just too hard to reach out over the sink and lift a double-hung window. Once I get it open, then sure enough, I bust a fingernail trying to get it closed. I guess you could call that a woman thing! This large window also sits out from the wall, creating a small bay roof on the outside and a great place to showcase window plants or fresh-grown herbs on the inside granite window sill. The sink is a bisque-colored apron sink, also known as a farmer's sink. There are two dishwashers in this kitchen--one on each side of the sink. If you are building a new home or remodeling, this is a great feature to add, especially if you cook for a lot of people or host large family meals. (Or if you're like me and just don't like to hand wash the left-over dishes each evening.) On the opposite side of the sink you'll see a wall of cabinets. The refrigerator, double convection oven and pantry take up the entire wall. I love how the cabinets are nearly floor to ceiling, with moldings and crown wrapping around the entire room. Knowing that the upper cabinets will be used sparing but definitely used, I plan to have a step stool built and finished to match the hardwood, so it can sit at the end of the cabinets and be part of the furniture (instead of an eyesore.) While the island is huge and makes for a great showpiece, it also has a lot of neat features. The end toward the cooktop is raised to make it easier for reading a cookbook or for food prep. It also has an open-end bookcase to store all of your cookbooks. On the side facing the sink and double dishwashers is the microwave and two open-end cabinets with four slide-out baskets. How cool is that! If I had that in my kitchen, I would be able to see the potatoes were just a little too ripe instead of sticking my hand in the sack to find out just how rotten they have become! I guess it is here where I will confess that the name Lisa and the word cooking very rarely appear in the same sentence. However, I can order a mean take-out and I have all of the good restaurants on speed dial! I'm quite proud of that! Now-- if I had a dream kitchen like this....well, I guess I would just have to learn to....step aside and watch my husband continue to do all of the cooking OK, back to the island. On the pantry side there's an overhang where you can put two or three barstools. I actually prefer a raised cushiony chair-stool. I may be creating my own words here, but with a kitchen this warm and cozy, I want people sitting at the island to be comfortable. (As we already know, that person sitting at the island would be me!) To maximize the cabinet space, the area underneath the island overhang offers more storage. The kitchen countertops are none other than granite. The color is Golden Leaf, one of my absolute favorites! It's amazing how much my personal tastes have changed over the years. Five years ago, I really didn't care for the colors of granite. Then I put granite in one of my first spec homes. After that I was hooked. Now I can't imagine living without granite. I'd have to go without furniture before I'd go without granite. But I digress. Finishing out the details of the kitchen are the unique light fixtures. Something rustic, in oil-rubbed bronze of course...and...well...you'll just have to see them! As for the breakfast area, let's just say it's almost as big as some living rooms. At 14 x 16, I wanted room for a settee on the side of the table. The large windows bring in lots of natural light. The sliding glass door is from Pella® and has a roll screen that stays out of the way. The double-tray ceiling gave me a chance to bring 2 more shades of paint into the room. While the walls in the kitchen and breakfast are faux painted, the double-tray ceiling includes the next two darker shades of our main-wall color, Golden Ecru. The Outdoor Living Area From the breakfast area, I know you are anxious to go into the great room, but just stay with me and we'll come back to that! Let's go outside! At its widest points, the deck stretches 41' across the back and 28' from the house. Everyone kept asking me if I really wanted it that big. Of course I do! I wanted plenty of room for grilling and for two tables. I wanted lots of room for conversation around the fireplace. The complete built-in bench around the fireplace allows for use all summer long as well as spring and fall when the weather just isn't nice enough to pull out the deck cushions. We all know how Ohio weather is: it can be 80 degrees one day and snowing the next! I think the fireplace and the wide staircase leading down to the water feature will allow for many relaxing evenings overlooking the golf course in this luscious back yard! As for the decking itself, maintenance won't be an issue. The Timbertech® decking is made of composite material and won't warp like a typical treated-lumber deck. The color is brand new! It is called Tropical Walnut. This is also the first year we used black railing. The colors couldn't complement our dark rich tones any better. (The designers for Timbertech® must have been reading my mind!) OK, let's head back inside. The Great Room The two-story open great room is just one of the many rooms in this home where I can imagine the homeowner sitting down to relax and thinking "Wow, I really love this house!" The rear wall is loaded with windows that have an awesome view of the 6th green. The double-sided fireplace can be enjoyed both inside the great room and outside on the deck. The 7'-wide stone surround and raised hearth just make it feel like home. I'm going to warn you in advance, when you visit the Parade you're going to want to sit there and never go back home. And actually that's OK; you can do that. You'll just need to bring your checkbook with you and sign a few papers and voila-- you can stay there for as long as you like. As far as furniture placement, the room is large enough to accommodate one seating area facing the 50" plasma TV above the fireplace and one conversation area set back by the staircase. For the Parade, we've decided to include a black, baby grand piano. By now, you've already noticed the amazing craftsmanship in the beams running across the ceiling. I have to admit the layout and design was a little tricky. I wanted the beams to come from front to back and side to side to create several boxed-in beams within the ceiling. With the angled staircase and the ceiling continuing through the foyer, I had a tough time deciding where to stop the boxed-in beams. After much deliberation on paper and on the job, I decided to let the beams follow the angle of the staircase. It's absolutely beautiful and I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out. Watching them build the wood beams and running crown inside of each box was exciting. The talent of the trim carpenters and painters continued to impress me throughout the entire job. The other detail that I love about each individual boxed beam is the ceiling color. The walls are painted Golden Ecru and the ceiling is just two shades darker, called Applesauce Cake. It matches the darker colors of the breakfast room's double-tray ceiling. Let's continue our tour as we head toward the open staircase. The angles and the multi-levels make the staircase a true showpiece in the home. In a French country home, we couldn't imagine the amazing staircase without the wrought iron. Isn't it funny how the styles from the 70's are back! My dad built our house when I was a child and my mom would make me dust the iron railing on our staircase. I sure hated that iron railing back then. With the ease of central vac and all the attachments, the many types of swiffers out there, I'm sure the children who live in this house won't mind cleaning this iron railing! (Nah...not at all ) This is the first wrought-iron staircase we have done. I was amazed at how many decisions I had to make, such as: Do you want post-to-post, or over-the-rail, open-end treads or closed, volutes, box newels or post, knuckles, knots or baskets, boots or not? So when you look at the details of the staircase, just know that I lost sleep over some of these big decisions….so let me know how I did! Before we go to the master suite, let me make yet another little side note. We've all heard the rumor that building a house can be a nightmare. Or that if your marriage can withstand building a house, it can withstand anything. I have to say that I just don't believe that. I have built 2 personal homes and 4 spec homes. (A spec home is built on speculation that the buyer will come.: In other words, it is not in contract in the beginning, so I choose the design, the lot and the décor and the buyer comes along during or after construction.) Both times that I built my personal home, it was during or shortly after a tragic event in my life. During my first build, my parents had passed away just 9 months apart. During my second build, my husband Mike was diagnosed with leukemia. (His treatments are going well!) In both cases, building a house gave me something to look forward to during a time of great sorrow. I didn't plan it that way; the timing just worked out like that. The house we currently live in started out as a spec house. When my husband was diagnosed, I asked him if we could finish it for ourselves and move into it. At first he wasn't excited about it. It's a small house but it's very close to both of our businesses and I thought that would be important while we went though the first few years of treatments. To him, we were moving because of the leukemia; to me it was the proximity to the office and the fact that it would be a fun project....something to take our minds off of the cancer. It didn't take long for Mike to change his mind. He started enjoying the process and even enjoyed the hunt for those special things that I wanted to go with our home. Although he'll never admit it, my loving, Harley-riding husband picked out the silverware for our kitchen! If you want to see his Harley basement and OSU garage, go to the plans and photos section of our website and look at The Amy. This is my humble house that we call home! OK, let's get back to the tour. Let's head up to the master suite. Because this home is a five-level split, the master is on a level of its own. It creates a little more privacy than the typical first-floor master, but is less than half a flight of stairs from the main level. The Master Suite It's been said that the master suite is the size of a condo. The bedroom alone is 15' x 25', but some of that space is used for the staircase leading up to the master sitting loft. At 6300 square feet, the house definitely didn't need any more square footage, but if I could have added a few feet to the width, I would have. This would have allowed for a double-door entry into the master bedroom. Since there wasn't room for the double doors, I chose to increase the door size to 3 feet and set it on an angle. As you will notice, I've switched from stained doors to painted doors. This is the first time I've used the arched, board-and-batten-style doors. I absolutely love them, whether they are painted or stained. I think they add a unique touch and the painted doors are the same cost as a 6-panel door. The master bedroom has soaring ceilings which makes the large room seem even bigger. From the rear of the master, there is a second-floor balcony that overlooks the golf course, the main deck and the water feature in the back yard. I think it would be a great place to enjoy your morning coffee. Back inside the bedroom, there is a full-service coffee bar. The cabinets are warm saddle brown and the granite top is another one of my favorites: tropic brown. The sink is a round bar sink, in bisque and the bar faucet is…………you guessed it, oil-rubbed bronze. One coffee machine makes individual cups of coffee, cappuccino, hot chocolate or hot tea while the other machine makes a pot of coffee or espresso. I'm not old enough to drink coffee yet, so you'll have to let me know how I did on the coffee bar! (I hit the big four-zero this year so maybe I'll take a cup of cappuccino!) Above the coffee bar, to the right, is a wall sconce that perfectly accents the bar. The coffee bar is also surrounded by the wrought-iron staircase and balcony of the loft. But we'll get to that later. Let's go into the master bath. With 12 feet of vanity and linen cabinets there should be enough room for him to keep his toothpaste and his whisker shavings on his side of the bathroom. Good. Now that leaves me the rest of the space to spread out all of my perfumes and body lotions and makeup and moisturizers and well....you know, its not easy being beautiful. Us gals have a lot of stuff. I'm not sure just how many fragrances Bath & Body Works has in production, but I'm pretty sure I have all of them. While we are at the vanity, how do you like those beautiful mirrors and candelabra-style light fixtures? I love the chandelier over the makeup counter and the larger chandelier in the center of the bath. As for the granite, I choseGolden Leaf because it looks great against the Saddle Brown cabinets and blends nicely with the cream trim. The lavatory faucets are from Newport Brass and are called a bridge faucet. The hot and cold taps are spelled out in French, making it perfect for our décor! The walk-in shower is 5'x5', which is just big enough for the two of you! Personally, I would have like to have done 6'x8', but I just didn't have the space. It's funny how I hated those shower rooms in junior high, but now that I'm married, I think they are awesome! OK, focus, focus....back to the tour. My other thought on the shower was to do a steam room, but that would mean closing in the ceiling. With the soaring ceilings carrying through from the closet to the bath, I hated to give that up. Now for the spa tub. I'm not a big fan of a 5'-long tub, so even in a modestly priced house I still try to fit a 6' tub in the master. This tub is called a spa tub because it has both the whirlpool jets and hot-air bubbles. I like lots of sunlight, so I usually design the tub to have a large casement window over it. Even though any window over a tub will be tempered glass, it's much safer to crank a window open then to try and lift or close a double-hung. (That's another woman thing.) Above the foot of the tub is a plant ledge. I'm crazy about plant ledges. I try to design them in every house. The private water closet (which is just a nice way of saying private commode area) has a small window in it and an outlet for good-smelling good things. If you are married you know what I'm talking about. Why is it that men think that stuff is funny??? Anyways, the most important part of any bathroom is that the trip lever on the commode must match the lavatory faucets!!! This is the 11th commandment in the Bible: "Thou shalt not put a basic chrome trip lever on the commode when the lavatory faucet is oil-rubbed bronze or satin nickel." Now for the master closet. It's approximately 15'x10'. That's 3 feet bigger than the bedroom I grew up in! The built-in bench allows for blanket storage while the custom mix of single-hang, double-hang, shoe shelves and hutch cabinets make this closet something I think I could, ahem, live with. With all of this space, someone's gonna have to do a lot of shopping to fill it all up. Speaking of clothes, what better place to wash and dry them than right there in the closet? For this convenience we have a stack washer/dryer set, a place to hang delicates while they dry, and a hamper. There is also a built-in ironing board. This is one item I strongly recommend for any new house or remodel. They are fairly inexpensive, and they bring tremendous ease of operation. The iron plugs into a timer that allows you to actually forget to turn it off!! It also comes with a heat shield that allows you to put the iron away while it's still warm. Above this mini laundry station is a plant ledge and in the center is another chandelier. I know it's just a closet, but I just couldn't help myself. As you walk back into the master bath, you notice one door that you haven't opened. It's probably just a linen closet, right? Well let's open it and find out. Wow, that's different. It's a private staircase with a window. As we climb up the 7 stairs, I can just hear you now..."Oh my gosh….. it's a massage room!" Yes it's a massage room! The private staircase leads to a relaxing and enchanting private massage room. With a transom window and double pocket doors, the massage room can be shut off from the rest of the loft area. Cream-colored base cabinets and an Ivory Coast Silestone® countertop make this room even nicer than going to Charles Penzone! The massage table and hot-stone massage heater stay with the house. There's only one catch. Whoever buys the house has to have their favorite builder in for a monthly massage! (And of course that would be me!) All of the walls in the master suite are painted olive gray but the ceiling of the massage room is painted one shade darker and is called Rattan Palm. We had originally planned on draping a shear fabric from the ceiling light to the corners of the room, but after seeing the contrast of the walls and ceiling we decided not to use the fabric. As you leave the massage room, you'll notice the double doors are pocket doors and are inside a double-thick wall. I did this because of the sound spray that we use inside the walls. I wanted the room to have sound protection, but didn't want the pocket doors to take away from that. Another side note: pocket doors are wonderful for conserving space. If you want to have sound protection, stay with a solid door, but just know that they are a little heavier to open and close. If you have arthritis in your hands and fingers, you may want to stay with a swinging door. Also, if you have small children using a door daily, I would use a swing door over a pocket door. Leaving the massage room, you step into the master sitting loft. At 15'x11', it is cozy but yet large enough for a full set of furniture. The sitting loft includes one plasma-screen TV on the wall but is wired for a second plasma-TV location in case you want to move the furniture around! I've also wired for a floor TV but that connection would probably be used for Road Runner or another cable internet connection. As you step down from the master loft, the staircase is the same design as the main staircase from the great room, featuring open-end treads, over-the-post handrail, wrought-iron railing and volutes at the bottom stair. As you come down the stairs, you'll notice a niche on the right. I like to accent these with a can light. We also have another niche just outside of the master-suite entrance. The Second Floor Let's head on up to the second floor. From here, you will get another look at the boxed-in beams in the great room as well as the hand-painted lights. You'll also see the details of the Juliet balcony, in the great room, that I failed to mention. The second floor has a nice-size open area that I thought would make a great study area for the kids. We've included two desk areas that I call a laptop station. In the ceiling above is a WAP (Wireless Access Point). The cabinets are Saddle Brown and the granite top is Golden Leaf. The Kids' Laundry Let's start with the first room on your right. This is the kids' laundry room. It is equipped with a stack washer/dryer and is decorated in a trendy blue-jean theme. The bright-blue ceramic tile floor and blue grout complete the fun of kids learning to do their own laundry. (By the way, that is the third laundry area in the house!) The Teen Suite The next room to the right is the teen suite. We had originally planned on using colors that either a teen boy or a teen girl would love, but had a hard time finding something to work. So we decided on a teen suite for a girl. Painted in a soft pink with one wall in a darker shade, our theme is: My Life...My Friends...My Music. I think those three words really sum it up! As for my life, we chose an oversized calendar to keep track of a teen's busy life. Under the heading my friends, there are lots of fun pictures from childhood to the senior prom! For those of you who don't know my story, the company is named after my daughter Ashley. All of the pictures are of Ashley and her friends. Completing the wall of my music, we plan to somehow tie in the Ipod theme. As for the music, we are using American Idol. Music can be a deeply personal subject, so I chose something safe! Using the two tones of light pink and a white bed, we chose black as our accent color. The desk and the bench came from a Pottery Barn sale! In this room as well as the kids' laundry room, I changed the trim from cream to white. Keeping with the Pottery Barn look, we chose Bruce® hardwood floors in the color Espresso. Shopping for the black swivel chair in the corner and the cute chandelier above it made the scavenger hunt a lot of fun! It's amazing how we were really stumped as to what theme to go with in the teen suite. We looked in many stores, reviewed many magazines and catalogs and I personally spent about 5 hours searching the internet for ideas. While tossing up the idea of pink and black, our seamstress, Cheryl, found the perfect comforter. After that, all of the pieces just fell into place. It is extremely exciting to search for all of the details that make a Parade home look like the perfect dream home. When working with a tight budget, it's amazing what you can find and where you will find it. Fortunately, our decorator, Linda, is a thrifty shopper. Rounding out the teen suite is a full bath with a garden soaking tub/shower. This is a one-piece unit. This Aqua Glass® unit is much larger than the typical tub base and tile-wall surround. We use this unit in most of our kids' baths because we know kids like to have fun soaking in the tub too! Before we leave the teen suite, be sure and look at the walk-in closet. By expanding the room out into the trusses, this 5'x9' closet has much-needed storage for all of the stuff that teens collect! The Pirate's Room Across the hall from the teen suite are two more kid's bedrooms. We decorated the first bedroom for a boy. We had the bed made by Roger from The Canal House in Chillicothe. Linda designed the bed with a ship's wheel at the foot of the bed. The wheel actually turns! She also made a ship's sail to attach to the end post of the bed. The room is painted tan with one accent wall in a red color called Burning Bush. Across from the bed is a full-wall mural painted by Pam Kellough of Chillicothe. The mural consists of a ship on the water and a sand bank with a treasure chest off to the side. The theme continues: Linda set up a full-size treasure chest and Cheryl carried the theme into the curtains by accenting with gold coins and a captain's hook as the rod. As for the details of the room, Linda is just amazing. I can't tell you how many times she would bring her treasures into the office and everyone would say " Ohhhh that's so cute!" Especially the guys. We've really got them trained! Sometimes I get so wrapped up in the details of the bedroom, I forget to look at the details of the bathroom and closet. In the bathroom you will find Saddle Brown cabinets, oil-rubbed bronze faucets and Tropic Brown granite. And what color is the trip lever on the commode? You guessed it--oil-rubbed bronze. The closet features solid-laminate shelving. It includes both single- and double-hang space. The Princess Room We know that every little girl is a princess. With a French country theme, a Juliet balcony, and the perfect setting for a romantic little girl's room, we just couldn't see anything other than a princess room with a castle mural on the wall. Pam, the muralist, had a tricky job ahead of her. I wanted a castle off in the distance of the country hills. I also wanted a winding road of cobblestone leading back to the castle. Linda wanted a few bunnies in the scene and some daisies. In less than a week, Pam created beautiful scenery that every little girl will love. The details are amazing. I love how she pulled both of our ideas together to create an original piece of art. (If I lived in this house and didn't have a young daughter or granddaughter to spoil in this room, then I would make it my personal office and surround myself with a collection of castles to constantly remind myself that dreams are meant to come true.) The soft romantic blue walls are painted in Holly Glenn, while the bathroom is three shades darker and is called Morning Fog. These colors are the same colors used in the French color wash of the dining room. The cream trim and the chandeliers over each window make the room absolutely charming. The Juliet balcony is painted cream on the inside but is stained on the great-room side. When the doors are open, the colors contrast beautifully. When you visit the Parade, you'll have to take the time to look at all of the details Linda has created in this room: the daisies on the little table, the bunnies on the floor, the crown above the bed with jewels attached to it, and all of the accessories that she personally covered with our fabrics. I knew she was really, really good but she continued to blow me away with her ideas--to the point she had me in tears. She had brought a car-load full of items that she had been working on. When she pulled out the little glass slippers with our fabric as the inside sole of the shoe I couldn't help but cry. I know she has spent countless hours shopping, decorating and making items for this home. I hope that you will have the time to see all of these many details that she has planned. Cheryl, the professional seamstress, did an amazing job on the custom fabrics and curtains--not in just the quality of her sewing, but also in the quality of her installation. She really listened to what we wanted and created exactly what we were picturing, right down to the rods with oil-rubbed bronze and crystals and the draperies that puddle in the floor. The bathroom is painted one shade darker than the bedroom. With cream-colored cabinets and cream Silestone® countertops, the oil-rubbed bronze fixtures keep true to our lovely theme. The tub shower unit is also a 42" wide soak tub and shower in one piece. These Aquaglass® units are treated with Microban®, so cleaning with be even easier. The walk-in closet has solid shelving with a combination of double-, single-hang and storage shelves. The Kids' Cove By now you have been in both of the kid's rooms and noticed a ladder in each room. The kid's cove is only accessible by these ladders. It's the kid's secret get-a-way place. When I was a child, my father built our house. It was a 3-level split home. Because the entrance was at a different level than the family room and stairs, I could climb up on top of the entry closet and hide, or read up in that little space. Out in the back yard, we also had a tree house. So the idea of the kid's cove came from those childhood experiences. The space in the attic that is over the kid's bathrooms and walk-in closets is set up with attic floor trusses which allows us to be able to finish this space. Using a ship's ladder is just a fun way for the kids to get there. Although we have a full-size window for a fireman's egress, a full staircase is not needed because it is attic space and not a bedroom. Once up in the kids' cove, you'll be amazed at the awesome painting on the walls and ceiling that has turned this attic room into a tree house! The walls are painted to look like old boards and the upper walls and ceiling show the tree limbs coming out from the tree and the sky-clouds above the tree. Pam, the muralist, spent many hours making this room come to life! The attic is warmer than other rooms in the house and she completed this project long before we had the A/C hooked up. Once we had decided on a tree house for the kids' cove, figuring out how to put in it was not so easy. I sat down with several children to ask what they would play with in this tree house. Boy do they have an imagination! We researched everything from The Littlest Pet Shop to Webkinz, from costume dress-up including a fireman, a princess and Spiderman, to a toy store where kids could shop. From playing house and kitchen to school and restaurants (Subway, McDonalds, Burger King), and of course all kinds of computer games. But the most common area that seemed to fit for both girls and boys was the topic of animals. There is everything from pets to zoo animals, jungle to farm animals. CALGON…take me away!!!! Well, after many trips to Toys-R-Us and Walmart, Target, etc., I finally decided on pets as the main theme! One side of the tree house is a vet's office where kids can be the doctor or the groomer. We even have a countertop with a sink and sprayer (no real water of course). The other side of the room is a pet store complete with a real cash register, pet toys and supplies for the kids to shop for. We also have an area with a TV for older kids to shop on a virtual pet-shop computer program. And for those fans of The Littlest Pet Shop, we have a play area with that game featuring the toys from TLPS. It's funny to see how the people have reacted to this area. Kids have climbed right up the ladders. Some adults were a little nervous about going up a ladder, but once they got up there, they were just amazed and sure glad they took the climb: I hope you will join us in being a kid again and visit our kids' cove! Let's head back downstairs to the lower levels. Lower Level Game Room & Theatre Room From the main level, you'll only go down 5 or 6 steps to get to the entertaining area. Entering through the double doors, you'll think you have stepped onto a set of World-Series Poker. The large oval Texas Hold'em table is surrounded by gorgeous black leather chairs. The light above is a Tiffany pool-table-style light. In the back left corner is another round game table that others can use for board games, Euchre, etc. While traveling on vacation, I have often seen teens playing cards or games against each other only on their laptop. Even though this is a manly room, we wanted to include the whole family. We chose to do a small kitchen with a sink, under-cabinet refrigerator and dishwasher. I know from experience: where there are people, there is food! We allowed plenty of countertop space for snacks, dips, drinks etc. Because we wanted this area to be enjoyed by all family members, I chose not have a bar or pub theme. Texa's Hold'em has become a popular game just like Monopoly. It can be played by people of all ages. It doesn't have to be for money! In my experience, women and kids just love to play for the most chips (just like in Monopoly you try to get the most properties or money). However, I have found that most men would rather play for money--even if it's just a $10 entry from each player. Either way, the room is there for just family fun! By the way, did I mention this room also has a plasma TV on the wall? In case you are counting, we are up to 5 plasma TVs so far. Now for more entertaining: It appears that since 9/11, more and more people want to stay at home where they feel safe. The finished-basement concept has exploded. Knowing that a finished basement is an important feature to many people, we chose to build a theatre room with seating for 12 people. The game room and theatre-room furniture is courtesy of Scioto Valley. Three levels of seating, where the seats also have pop-up mini tables at them, make this room a favorite; it can be enjoyed by family members of all ages. Whether it's watching a movie or hosting an OSU football party, you will love the state-of-the-art sound system! The Finished Basement The full basement has 9' poured walls. This added height allows us to still achieve an 8'+ ceiling height in the finished area. The finished area showcases 830 sq ft of open space. This is the only area that we will not be furnishing during the Parade of Homes. So use your imagination and let us know how you would use this space. The finished basement also contains full bath #5. There is a media closet that has a fixed smoked-glass panel on the finished side and a locked door on the other. The lock is keyed the same as the mechanical-room door for both the children's safety and the convenience of only needing to keep track of one key! The Unfinished Basement The unfinished area will show organized electrical wires, HVAC lines and plumbing lines through the I-joist floor system. The engineered I-joist floor system supports larger room spans with the use of fewer basement poles. The Garage As we find our way back up stairs, we'll go through the laundry room to get to the garage. I sure do love that distressed red bench and cubbies against the warm green ceramic tile floors. This laundry room is more than a place to do laundry, you just may feel the need to set up a table and have guests over for dinner in here! OK, out to the garage. As you step out on the landing, there is a bench to your immediate right. This is a place to put wet boots or muddy shoes. You'll notice that the bench, the landing, the steps and the rail are made from treated lumber so water won't hurt it. Now that you've had a chance to look out over the garage I'm sure you are thinking the same thing I am: my man sure does deserve this! Or you might be thinking this garage is nicer than the bedroom you grew up in. Either way, life is good! The epoxy floor looks like something an artist created. Well, actually he did! Paul from Premier Garage completed the floors and the professional organizer system. Keeping in tone with the warm colors of the outside, I wanted the garage to blend with those colors when the door was open. I chose a warm Cognac color for the cabinets that compliments the exterior finishes. The wall paint is a few shades lighter than the main color inside the house. It is called Almond Brittle. By the way, did I mention the organizer system is 14' long? The over-all garage is 36' x 28' with the third bay being slightly shorter in depth. We did this for esthetic purposes. From the third bay there is also a half glass door than allows some natural light in the garage and leads out onto the back yard. Looking up at the garage lights....I just couldn't leave the white porcelain bulbs hanging there. This garage is like the laundry room (There's that illness again)--it's just too awesome for that! So I splurged, again, and put in the 2'x4' florescent lights that have white crown molding around them. Now for the garage doors: A French country house has to have a carriage door. These doors are from Clopay®. I ordered them with all of the accent trim so it appears that they pull open from the outside like the old-style carriage doors, but they are modernized and each door has its own opener. You'll also find a keyless entry pad on the outside wall, so the kids don't necessarily need to carry a house key. But before we leave the garage, I hope you'll notice one more thing. The flat-screen TV on the wall!!!! I know what you are thinking. This TV is just there for looks during the Parade of Homes, but it's not. I thought maybe someday I'll get to live in a dream home like this and I would want my wonderful hubby to have a TV in his garage!!! In Closing Well, I hope you enjoyed the tour. I know we took a few side trips, but you must love me or you wouldn't still be reading this, right? Well, come see all of us at the Parade on June 9-24th. And after you've toured the home, please give us your thoughts and comments. Blessings, --Lisa Mets Visitor Number 2260 since May 31 2007