The stairs and wainscoting

Thank you, Lord!  Wow, do I love the stairs!  They are going to be gorgeous (look for pictures of the finished product later).  I highly recommend doing the things you really want in the house even if they cost more.  My husband and I both loved the look of a rounded staircase along a rounded wall, and although it is harder to do, the result is well worth it.  My builder had his trim guys do the staircase on site instead of ordering it pre-manufactured, which saved us some money and made it truly custom to the house.  It was so cool seeing how they make the curved stair rail - they took several thin pieces of wood and glued them together, then put a vise on every other step and connected the rail to the step, then left it that way for a week or so.

The wainscoting is in the dining room and is so sharp-looking.  There were lots of decisions that went into this.  How many did we want, how far apart, should the smaller wall have one or two, etc., but we love the result.