1-24-2010

Before heading over to our friend's house to watch the Colts/Jets game we stopped by our lot to check out the progress. They started the framing for the foundation!

Side View:

When I saw the foundation outline I thought it seemed small, but everyone we know who has had a house build said when they saw the foundation that's what they thought too!

Garage is on the left and the little area pushed back is where the front door will be:

Backyard:

The little area in the foundation that sticks out will be our fireplace. The yard does go back farther than the orange fencing. There are poles that determine the property line which are a bit farther down towards the lake.

Guest Room #1...inspiration!

I have been looking around online for good places to find room decorating ideas. Roomenvy and Under a Paper Moon seem to regularly post things that I actually like! I have also been doing basic google image searches. Below are some inspiration pictures for one of our guest bedrooms. The bed going in that room has a red comforter set and we are planning on putting white furniture in there. I kind of like the idea of a red, black and white room however, I also like the red, white and khaki used in the first pic. Decisions, decisions....

The comforter we have is a solid red so I know I want some patterned pillows to break up all the color. We have an old white dresser and cheap bookcase to go in the room so I'm looking for some decorative pieces to give pops of color throughout the room and tie in with the red. I'm also thinking of printing some pictures I took of the Eiffel Tower, while studying abroad, in black and white to frame and hang above the bed.

I feel like I have a million ideas swimming around in my head about each room!!!

Pre-Construction

This morning James and I met with our building contractor for our pre-construction meeting which is the final step before they break ground. Today is the last that our lot will be empty!

Soon this will be there:

Tomorrow they will begin digging up the dirt and setting up the wood frame as well as doing the plumbing before pouring the concrete for the slab. He said the lumber should come in the beginning of February which is when they will start framimg. Our next meeting will be sometime in the middle of February and will be at the pre-drywall stage. He told us that if all goes well the house is scheduled to be completed during the last week of March! That is about a month earlier than we had originally thought which will leave plenty of time for bad weather building delays, painting and moving-in before our lease is up at the end of May. We looked over all of the plot-plans and blueprints to verify all of our layout options and wiring. There are so many little details that go into a house it's amazing they can do it all so fast!!

After the meeting I drove around the neighborhood to look at the lot again and checked out just a few of our community amenities. Here is the clubhouse and pool area:



Playground area with sand volleyball court in the background. This area also has a picnic shelter and an entrance to walking trails:

Decor.

Even though we aren't moving in for over 3 months, I'm already decorating our house in my head! We will be transitioning from our 1200 sq. ft. 2 bedroom apartment to just over 2000 sq. ft. in our 2 story, 3 bedroom house. That is A LOT of new space that needs some decor!! This weekend I set out to find a few things on clearance and work on some small projects. I figure if I keep my eyes open for good deals I should be able to accumulate some good pieces so the house isn't completely bare when we move in.

Once of the first projects I worked on was framing posters from our rehearsal dinner. We had the dinner at a steakhouse and decided to have a western theme for fun. My sister made these awesome wanted posters that were hung up all over the room! They were made using a template and were printed on 4 sheets of regular printer paper and covered with contact paper. We wanted a nice and durable way to display them. I framed all 4 of the ones we had in these basic black frames from Michael's using the paper that came in the frame as a mat.

I used 18x24 sized frames. I think they turned out great!! We are planning on hanging them in the loft area upstairs!

This weekend I also found a decoration for our coffee table. I have been looking around for something kinda unique and affordable to go on our coffee table for quite some time! I found this candle holder on clearance at Kohl's for a few dollars. I got some cheap pillar candles at Michael's and VIOLA!

Right now this is on our coffee table in our apt. I'm not sure if I'll want to put it with our current furniture (that will be going in the loft) or in our great room downstairs. It just depends on what our new furniture ends up looking like. I thought this was a great piece since I can change out the pillar candles easily depending on the holiday, season or room decor!

Another decoration item I'm super excited about are these hurricanes my mom got me for Christmas:

She set them all up for me with potpourri and candles in red. I think they are so neat! I'm planning on putting them on our fireplace mantle in the great room downstairs.

I have TONS of other decoration ideas in my head right now! I think spreading out the purchasing of these items will not only be great for our budget, but help keep me excited for the house. I tend to get really antsy waiting for things, this gives me something to work on and keep my mind occupied up until move in day.

Design Center

After spending 2.5 hours at the design center this morning we finally have EVERYTHING for our house decided on. Luckily James and I had already looked around previously or we could have been there literally all day!!

First, we decided on all the electrical items in the house. Any extra outlets, lighting and fixtures, pre-wiring for speakers or ceiling fans, cable hookups, Internet connections and appliances. After all of that was figured out we moved on to the fun stuff!

Exterior:
Our house will be mostly the tan siding with a little brick accent around the bottom. We decided on a red brick with a brownish color for shutters and our front door.

Bathrooms:

Here is the flooring, cabinets and counters for the bathrooms.

Kitchen:

Flooring, cabinets and counters. The cabinets and counters will be the same as in the bathrooms.

Flooring:

Carpeting will be in the great room downstairs as well as in the loft and all 3 bedrooms upstairs. We have planned to put the wood in the foyer and powder room by the front door, the kitchen and in the dining room. The vinyl flooring will be in the 2 upstairs bathrooms and the laundry room.

Everything:

Here it is all together, including the tile on the far right for the fireplace!

While some of the decisions seemed overwhelming at times, I thoroughly enjoyed this process. When I tell people we are building a house sometimes they react saying "we could never do that" or "I wouldn't like making all those decisions". Personally, I think building fits James and I perfectly. We LIKE making these kinds of decisions. James could decide on all of his electrical/network items that were important to us and I could make sure we'd love the cabinets and flooring. All in all building is a great fit for us and even though I didn't think it was possible, I'm now even MORE excited for move in day. :)

Decisions, decisions...

Tomorrow morning we have our long-awaited appointment with our builder's design center. After we choose all of the specifics it's time to start building! This is really the final step before they break ground.

We have visited the design center a few times to get ideas on different flooring, cabinets and counter tops, but as of now we are still debating on a few things! We have decided on cherry wood cabinets and a speckled tan counter top(resembling granite), but aren't settled on the flooring. Originally we were planning on doing a ceramic tile in the foyer, kitchen and dining room. However, we have had several people warn us about their difficulty to keep clean and issues with repairing if an area gets cracked. Our other option we are considering is a laminate wood flooring that is very durable, easy to maintain and looks similar to traditional hardwood. I'm leaning towards the wood option, but am just nervous about how it might look against the cabinets in the kitchen area. I've been looking online for pictures to help me visualize what it might look like:

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I think depending on the color options they have available, the wood will be what we end up going with. It will look fabulous in the foyer and dining rooms and as long as the shade goes with the cabinets, I think it will work!!