My two new favorite things

So, work continues, but nothing too major to report on. Kitchen cabinet tweaks are ongoing (and though I've had requests for photos, M says NO! Not until they're finished! I'm dying to show them, though), electrical, and trim also continues. Since I have no exciting photos (though soon I need to share the story of the bathroom vanities) that are of the moment, I thought I'd share two of my favorite new things.

What is it?

It's the left side of the pantry under the stairs. It's small, but should be pretty functional. It'll all get painted white once complete. Here's the right side view: aren't those insets neat-o?

Right inside of pantry. Insets will get shelves.

The pantry is right off the dining nook and kitchen, and in the hallway that adjoins the mudroom and laundry room. We're still trying to figure out how to put some kind of door or closure on it, since there's another door (to close off the mud room/laundry room area from the main room) and a door to the pantry would kind of get in the way to the other door. We shall see.

Here's my other favorite thing. The mondo HVAC unit (guess I'll have to show you all a photo of that, too!) has ginormous ductwork that goes through the loft area (behind the wall), through the guest room out in the open, and then through the ceiling to the ground floor. It was pretty unsightly, but look what M built!

Close up of the unsightliness

It's the base of a window seat that will likely also have built in book cases on each side. Here are two pics that give better perspective:

Guest room window seat base, view out the back of the house

Same seat, different perspective

It's great to get all this little stuff checked off--this is all the stuff that I fear will delay us in the end. But every day, something new is resolved/built/finished/started, etc. Last night, M spent most of the night sketching and designing the kitchen island. It's challenging to work within our increasingly low budget to get everything we want. M is amazing at modifying things to make them just right. You'll see what I mean when I show you the before and after of the master bath vanities. The before will be soon. You may have to wait for the after, since the vanities are still in the "before" state!