TOP 20 - #14 - POND VIEW

I LOVE how we can capture the pond view on all levels of the house.  Our lot is angled to capture three different views and the pond is my favorite.  I love seeing the geese waddle and some other strange bird that looks like a stork waddle through the pond. We can capture the pond view while we are sitting in our morning room, dining and living room, in the basement morning room, my dressing room and our master bedroom.  Thank God for an angled LOT #28!!  LOVE IT!

HELP!!

DOES ANY KNOW HOW TO SHUT DOWN YOUR BLOG OR MAKE IT PRIVATE??????

TOP 20 THINGS I LOVE - #15 - DOUBLE VANITIES

I absolutely love the double vanities in the master and guest bathrooms. I really enjoy having my own side of the sink in our bathroom and separate cabinet space.  We no longer have to share the space in the bathroom.  I also love that there is extra storage in the double vanity in the guest bathroom for guest tolietries.  When we have guests over, for instance, our grandchildren or one of our family members that have children or a couple--the guest bathroom allows them to utilize both sinks and get dressed with ease and comfort.  LOVE IT!

TOP 20 - #16 - Our Floor Plan

I love the Rome's concept with the floor plan.  The Rome is a HUGE big box which allows for every square footage of the home to be used.  The small little black box that you see on the floor plan is the only unusable space and it runs through the house on each level.  I love that we were able to customize the home even though RH is NOT a custom builder.  One of the many features that captured my attention was the open loft on the second floor, the side by side living/dining room which shifted from the traditional set up of putting the living and dining room on opposite sides of the front door and lastly, the freedom to knock down walls.

TOP 20 - #17 - Water Closet

I am thrilled to have a Water Closet!! This one speaks for itself!!  LOL

TOP 20 - #18 - Cabinet Space

Okay, here is my #18 favorite thing I LOVE about our NEW HOME:

The cabinet SPACE!!!!  We have so much space to store all of my goodies and STILL have a bunch of empty cabinets in the kitchen.  On one side of the gourmet island, I have ALL my kitchen cookbooks stored out of site and within reach instead of keeping them on the bookshelf in the library.  I also I have plenty of cabinet space on the Wet Bar too!  It is an awesome feeling to have my things organized in the appropriate storage location.  

TOP 20 - #19 - Two Guest Bedrooms

Our Rome is a four-bedroom home with the potential to convert the loft into a fifth bedroom which allows plenty of space for a large family or guests to stay over for special occasions.  Since it is just my DH, Harley (mini schnauzer) and I we have plenty of space for family to visit and spend the night.  We have our master bedroom and Harley has his own house inside and outside the house.  This leaves us with two guest bedrooms on the second level.  We chose not to convert the loft into a fifth bedroom because we chose to use the loft as a study lounge--not to mention we did not need a fifth bedroom. We are empty nesters!  This leaves us with two guest bedrooms because Bedroom two is serving another purpose.   Bedroom #3 is designed for the adult guests and Bedroom #4 is designed for the children's guest bedroom. The adult guest room is currently being used the most because we put our existing queen bedroom suite into that room.  The children's guest bedroom is still without the full over full bunk bed with trundle that I desire to put in that room for our grandchildren or other little people that spend the night.  The full over full bunk bed with trundle leaves plenty of space in the room for the children to have a play area.  Honestly, the full over full bunk bed will allow for adult guest to sleep comfortably in that room, if necessary.  I love the idea that we have two guest bedrooms that sit on the opposite side of the house away from the master bedroom.  I love the idea that we have plenty of space for our family to stay at our home.  Not to mention again, that there is still room in the basement and family room because the family room has a sectional with a queen sleep sofa.

These two bunk beds are similar to what I would like in our childrens' guest room.

I am still searching for a set that doesn't look too childish as the picture below.  I want the workmanship sturdy as the bed in the picture above in a full over full bunk bed with trundle and steps with storage.  I did find the full over full with storage steps; but I cannot seem to locate the site I found it on while we were building our home.  The furniture above appears to be real wood and the picture below appears to be veneer.  I prefer to have a bed made with real wood.  #stillsearching

TOP 20 THINGS WE ENJOY IN OUR HOME!! - #20 - HOUSE KEYS

I am snatching this idea from Jon and Erin who snatched this idea from another blogger!  Thank you Jon and Erin. I think this is a great idea and it puts me back on the blog.  So why not share the LOVE of our HOME!!  I will engage in the same concept of the top twenty (20) things we LOVE about our HOME!  Okay, it would be great to start with 20 and lead my way to the number one favorite thing; BUT this means I will put too much thought into it and never get back to blogging.  So my desire is to just share about them as they come to ME!  

Side bar--when we were building our house, I had plenty of time on my hands to focus solely on the building of our home.  Now I am back to work and school which leaves less time to blog; however, my desire is to stay connected by any means necessary.  So, again, this Top 20 List will get me back in the game of blogging and I invite the other silent bloggers whose desire is to still blog try this concept as well; because we would definitely want to know how you are enjoying your new home.  

Top 20 - #20 - House Keys

Let me start with the easiest thing that is coming to my mind to get this ball rolling.  LOL  I love the smell of a new HOME!  We have been in our new home for 182 days and it still smells fresh and new.  When I walk through the door it feels like the first time, each time.  The beauty of having a new home is we never have to check out by noon and we never have to wait to check in at 3 pm until a room is available; nor do we have to leave our credit card on file to reserve our room(s) and potentially get charged for not canceling our reservation within 24 hours of check-in.  After a year long WAIT of getting the keys in our hands.....We will forever have the keys.  YES!

THUMBS UP FOR HOUSE KEYS!
I am sure many of you can relate to these statements:
 "I won't relax until I get those keys in my hands."
or 
"I can't get excited until we have the keys."

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!