The sweeping floor

The tile continues to move quickly across the floor.  Once the tile team hit the big fairway of the Great Room and foyer, the area they covered in a day sped up considerably.  Even though the tile is dirty and tracked-up at the moment, we like the look it gives.  

This is a porcelain tile which looks like wood.  The porcelain tile is colored through-and-through, so any chipping would reveal the surface color.  Ceramic tile does not have through-and-through color.  We like the look of wood, we like the ease of care of tile gives.  

Further north, one might be worried about having the entire house in tile, as the floor would be very cold in winter.  While this is true in the northern regions, here on the Gulf Coast our biggest energy spend is on cooling, so keeping the floor cool year-round is a good thing.  I expect the floor to be cool in summer due to the fact that the greater mass of the slab is two feet  (0.6 m) in the ground.

This picture isolates the finished Great Room and fireplace, in which
some imagination now gives way to some reality: millwork yet awaits.

This picture from the foyer shoots across the Great Room to the breakfast
bay.  The bay is almost complete, and if one compares pictures from previous
days, and realize the Great Room is almost 29 feet (8.8 m) deep, one can
appreciate the speed at which the team is working.

A shot of the Breakfast bay from across the kitchen near the butler's pantry
(no, we do not have a butler).  The windows of the breakfast bay and the
Great Room will be left open -- no window treatments.

The Conservatory a couple of days ago....

The Conservatory a day later, and work began on the dining room (the
corresponding room of equal size (23x13 feet, 7x4 m) opposite the this room
across the foyer..