Update on RKA

As most of you are aware, my wife, Carrie, keeps the blog for the company. She does a fantastic job and I can't thank her enough, but I thought I would hijack this week’s post to share a little bit about the company and what we are doing now and in the future.

Up to this point, the blog has mainly been a forum to share some of the spec homes that we have under construction. These are homes that are built or renovated for the purpose of resale. This however has become a much smaller piece of our work as a company. Our present focus and long term goal is to be the finest custom home builder in Memphis. A lofty goal perhaps, but one that I think is very attainable. We'll continue to share progress on our spec homes, but we'll also be sharing different aspects of our other projects that I think you'll find very interesting.

Many of you have asked about my business partner, Chris Clark, so I think it’s worth sharing who he is and what he means to the company. The execution of our goals start with Chris. He is not only one of the most talented craftsmen in Memphis, but also a truly great person. Chris started his career as a framer in Louisiana and found his way to Memphis as a builder in the 1980's. Here, he compiled a client list of the who’s who in Memphis and built many homes designed by some of the top architects in the area. I got to know Chris from our time at a previous employer, and when I needed someone to manage the field, calling Chris was an easy decision. Talking him into putting up with me full time was a little more difficult, but we have formed a great friendship and business relationship that yields a very good product.

All that being said, over the coming months and years we will continue to refine our business. Spec building will be something we continue to pursue, but will always bat second to our custom clients. We have completed in excess of ten custom projects this year and have three more underway. I feel very blessed with these early successes and we will continue to work hard to deliver a great product for a satisfied client.

Kitchen Before, During & After

I know I just showed you pictures of our kitchen in the last posts, but I feel to really appreciate the kitchen you have to remember what it looked like before...

Here is the very strange sink that stuck out into the middle of the room!

Here is the even stranger double oven tower in the middle of the room. This really divided the kitchen. You couldn't see around it so it made the kitchen seem much smaller then it actually is.


You can also see the the wet bar sink that stuck out on the right and the wall of cabinets on the left. Both of these divided the den and kitchen area.

We left the stove by the door but made it into a range. We left the sink in front of the window but of course moved it to a regular angle.

I didn't just want to show before & after. I feel like with before and after people are like wow that was fast. In reality there is a time when it looks like this. This was right after we obviously gutted the entire thing!! 

Then it looked like this. With the wood floors laid but not finished. The drywall hung but not mudded. This really gives you a better idea of the size of the room

We used carrera marble on the island and black pearl granite on the other cabinets. We used white subway tiles as the backsplash with a dark grout.

We have all Frigidaire Professional appliances, which I am really liking! You can see the microwave hidden below the island.

The knobs and pulls are from Marth Stewart's Home Depot collection. The faucet is from Faucet Direct. It has been so long since we bought these things that I can't remember exactly what the names are. 

The brass candle sticks to match my brass hardware is from my Mom. Thanks Mom!!

The red lantern is from Graham's, here in Memphis. They did not have a red lantern like what I wanted so they went above and beyond in getting this for me. I picked out a lantern that they had in stock. Then I went with our wonderful sales person, Patty Clark, to different places around town trying to find somewhere that could paint it and had the color we were looking for. I really like the way it turned out!!

I also wanted to include a picture of my inspiration kitchen. I pinned this on pinterest a couple of months before we moved and fell in love with it. So, when we were deciding on what to do in here I immediately showed Ryan this picture, (I didn't want the floors, just the cabinet colors and the red lantern!!)

How do you think I did? Does my kitchen look like this???

Upstairs

Here is Ryan's office space upstairs. One of the reason's we moved was so he could have office space for starting his new construction company. As you can tell by the clutter, things have been going well for RKA Investments.  If you have any construction needs, he would love the opportunity to help.

This is the TV area where Ryan basically just watches the news. The door you see at the end is access to the attic; which is huge by the way. To the left behind the duck is where we added a closet. That way this room can be considered a bedroom for resale value. To the right is the door to the bathroom.

 

 

We completely renovated this bathroom. The carpet flooring was replaced with black and white pin wheel. We also put in a new shower stall, sink, and toilet. The only thing we are waiting on up here is the shower door.

I also wanted to share my wall gallery that I put up downstairs. Most of them are pictures from our Wedding!

I also wanted to show how I decide where to put the pictures. I trace the pictures on newspaper and hang them up with tape to make sure I like the placement before I make a hole in the wall. I even put a mark on the paper where the nail hole should be. So, once I decide on placement I don't have to do any measuring.

These are hanging outside the guest bathroom waiting to be replaced with the actual pieces. I used the Elvis article because I figured it might be a while before I could get Ryan to actually hang them. Since they have been up for about three weeks now, I'm glad I at least get to look at Elvis :)

Our House II

Here are a few more pictures of our house.

This is our guest bathroom. We completely gutted this room and the only thing we left was the bathtub.  This used to be two smaller rooms which we made into one larger space. 


We are going to wallpaper this room and obviously get mirrors.
The wallpaper is in but is going to be hung next week.


Below is the hallway leading to the bedrooms. There used to be a door leading upstairs but we knocked out part of this wall to expose the stairs. There is now a door at the top of the stairs to allow for privacy.

This is the first guest bedroom on the right of the hallway. We don't have enough furniture to actually put anything in here since this house is one bedroom bigger then our old house. So it's pretty much a catch all room at the moment.

Here is the guest bedroom that is at the end of the hallway. This is all the same furniture/bedding we already had. I do think it looks better since this room is bigger. I do have a window treatment for the other window, but it's laying on the bed waiting to be hung.... hint hint

This is our master bedroom which is once again the same furniture/bedding that we already had. Ryan kind of wanted me to get new bedding but I was afraid if we changed it might not feel like home. But we did paint this room with a soft green color, which is different from our old master. We also are going to get a new rug since we put our old one in the guest room.

This is our master bathroom which is not completely finished. 




We are going to have a glass door and enclosure, which obviously hasn't been installed. So we are currently showering in the guest room. 


All of the bathrooms are also waiting to have the towel bars, tp holders and towel rings hung... hint hint again Ryan!!! You can see some of them stacked on the shower just waiting.


I finally got my all time favorite tile - the black and white basket weave - in my own bathroom!!! This tile was in my Great Grandparent's guest bathroom in Kentucky and I have always wanted it in my own bathroom!

Here is my vanity, which of course always looks this clean!! 


Well, maybe not quite this clean. Though I have been accused of having a slight case of OCD so its usually pretty clean. 


Ryan's vanity is the exact same as mine on the right side of the door.


I realized when doing this post that I never took any pictures of the upstairs, which is Ryan's office along with a small sitting area. It looks really good up there so I will be sure and take pictures to show you later. I will also go through and do before and after pics of some of the rooms in a later post.

Our House

Well, I apologize for the long time between posts. I have been very distracted for the last few weeks. I am also off for the summer and basically lose all of my productivity. 


We have been in our new house for about a month and are still getting settled. Even though we still have some things to complete on the interior, I wanted to go ahead and share some photos.

This is our den, which opens to the kitchen. Disregard the dog toys on the floor in case you were wondering.  We are really pleased that our furniture fit perfectly. This picture makes it look a little bare, so I guess its time to get things on the walls.

Here is our kitchen which we are really proud of. I will give more detailed pictures later.  You can see we are still waiting on the pendant that hangs over the island. It should be ready early this week.

Here is a picture showing how open the kitchen and den are. Also, you can see the built ins we had made for the TV. 

Please excuse this mess. It is kind of our catch all at the moment. We are going to have hooks hung on the left for jackets and stuff. I am also going to get a cushion to go under the window and I am going to redo the bar stools to match.

Here is the dining room, which turned out really well. I love the new chandelier. 

And here is the living room and entry on the far end. As you can see in a lot of these pictures we still have things that need to be hung on walls, such as that piece of iron work just propped up on the chair. You can also see stuff on the table to the left that I can't decide where to put.


I am going to save the rest of the pictures for a second post. Then I will definitely do a before and after picture blog later. 

On The Market III

Here are the rest of the pictures from Saint Andrews. I wanted to finish showing you the upstairs final pictures as well as some exterior views.

This is the bedroom that is to the lest at the top of the stairs. This was the only bedroom upstairs and there was one tiny bathroom to the right of the stairs. That bathroom doesn't exist anymore. We left the paneling that was all over the bedroom and painted it. I think it gives it a nice, warm cozy feeling.

This is the big playroom area that is upstairs. There is also a built in desk around that right corner you see. The door on the right is attic space and the door on the left is a large cedar closet. Then next to that are windows with a built in window seat. 

This is the upstairs bathroom. The playroom, this bathroom, and the bedroom below are all new. We added them over the master bedroom addition.

This is another view from this bathroom, which is shared between the two upstairs bedrooms.

This is the other upstairs bedroom. It has great views of the backyard. I also love the color. We actually used this color in our master at our new house.

This is the view of the side of the house from garage/parking area. I wanted to show the portico over the back door. I love it. I think it is the cutest thing ever and with the trim color we used it really makes it stand out. 

This is a view of the backyard with the new patio and brick surround. Check out all the windows that are in the great room. The light is amazing and it looks out on the freshly landscaped backyard. 

I also wanted to leave you with this picture of the front of the house. This is taken from the parking pad to the side of the house. I think it shows how pretty this house is. The design with the windows, columns, and new paint colors turned out so well in the front of the house. The existing trees and the new landscaping really make this house stand out!!!

On The Market II

I hope that everyone enjoyed the pics of St. Andrews on the last post. I wanted to show you a few more photos of the finished product. I think I am actually going to have to stretch this into three posts. This is a big house and there are lots of pictures to show you.

Here is a picture of the dining room. Once again it has this huge new window that lets in so much light just like the living room.

This is the built in butler's pantry that is right off the dining room, which would be great for china storage. You can see how it connects the great room with the front dining room and living room. Off to the right of this picture is where the other two downstairs bedrooms and bath are.

This is the front bedroom. You can see it has a new ceiling fan and has fresh drywall and paint. 

This is the guest bathroom that is in between the two downstairs guest bedrooms. We left the original tile on the floor but ripped out the blue tile from the walls and tub surround. The floor tile cleaned up really well. The bathtub we had refinished and put new tile up on the shower walls. That is also a new toilet, vanity, countertop, mirror and lights.

This is the back guest bedroom. It was the original master so it is the largest of the guest bedrooms, although both of the downstairs guest bedrooms have two large closets.

Speaking of great closets.... I wanted to show you the biggest of the master's two closets. (Which will obviously be the woman's closet!!) I am so jealous of this closet, look at all of those shelves, think of all the shoes that could be displayed. There are also more racks that can't be seen in this picture.

This is the smaller of the two closets in the master bedroom. It is still very big and will give plenty of storage.

I wanted to show this picture that shows the view of the master bathroom from the bedroom. It is really calming to look in there and see the chandelier, the windows, and the beautiful soaking tub.


It just makes me want to get some bubbles and a good book!!


Here is another picture of the view that the master has looking out on the backyard.

There are still more pictures but I am afraid that this would be too long, so check back soon.

On The Market

St. Andrews is officially on the market and has exceeded our expectations - or at least mine. Remember the post I did where I said Scared? Ryan's not.?  If you don't remember, its worth going back to look at some of those pictures. When you walk through the house and it looks so good, it's hard to even remember what a mess it was before.

The exterior is so cool.  The new driveway, walkway, landscaping, sod and irrigation system make the front look amazing. Not to mention the garage that was converted back from a den.

The huge windows in front with the copper roofing are really cool and add a lot of quality and character to the front of the house.

Look at the great light that the windows let in to the living room. Also, check out that new limestone mantle. I was not sure what that was going to look like, but its really neat.

The kitchen is to die for. The cabinets are great, the countertops are beautiful marble, and the appliances are so nice!! 

The master bedroom is beautiful!! From its big room with soothing colors, its his and hers closets and the bathroom I mean wow.....

The marble tile is sooo pretty and classic looking. 

Ryan held an Open House this weekend and had to have set some kind of record. Probably close to 150 people came through the house. It was supposed to be from 2-4 but he was their until 5 with people. Check out his online listing here and you can see more pictures. There are too many to show here, so I will do a second post with more of the pictures.