House Progress

I've been writing about my new house for a while, but I haven't shown you any progress pictures yet unless you count Instagram. The process has been smooth for the most part. There were a few minor hiccups and pleasant surprises along the way. I'm sure that will continue as we head into the finish work that begins this week. It's going to be exciting!

Let's start with the cleared lot before this tropical storm knocks out my internet.

It was definitely strange to see a completely wooded lot cleared. It felt huge when we saw it for the first time without the trees. It's almost half an acre and I realized how large it was that day. You can also see there is a huge downward slope from the back porch where we're standing. I like the idea of having steps from the back porch so I'm okay with that. It's definitely better than having the yard slope towards the house.

After the slab was poured the framing went up fast. Our salesperson called it a framing kit, which made me think of Lincoln Logs.

I was a little disappointed to see the family room windows with just one transom above them. I had asked if we could have three. The one transom just looked odd to me. I was told it wasn't possible unless we wanted to pay extra for "insert technical term here that's so technical it asks a very high price." I decided it wasn't a big deal in the scheme of things and I can decorate around it. If you've been here a while you've seen me deal with the most awkward issues in my current house.

A few days later...a driveway and a second story

Future living room

Within a week the entryway and rounded doorways were framed.

 

I have taken many pictures from the car. The workers are there until dark almost every day. I don't want the kids in a construction zone in case they get hurt. One day the guys were throwing huge pieces of leftover plywood from the second floor to the living room a few feet from where we were standing. I figured from then on we need to get there at dusk to really look around. That was a little terrifying, too. I heard what sounded like coyotes fighting nearby. My husband thought it sounded like wild boar. I ran for the car and left him to figure it out. Even though the house is in a master planned community it's a very wooded area with lots of wild life. I'm going to keep my kids close to the house when we move in until the area is built out a bit more.

My mom checking out the back porch

Stairs!

A couple of weeks later

My youngest son asked, "Are we going to live in the G house?" The great thing about 7 year old kids is they would love to live in a house with a big letter stamped all over it. I guess adults aren't much different because I've seen women carry handbags similar to this.


I'm not sure what my husband is smiling at in this picture.

But, this is what made me smile!

Three transoms! The builder didn't even tell us. He decided he could fit three windows at the top and went ahead and ordered them. I love it!

A close up of the brick and stone

And done!

We were surprised to find the drywall installation going in early. Pretty much everything is going in earlier than scheduled. I'm not complaining!

This view is from the kitchen looking towards the living room. Most the guys had their shirts off as they were working and my boys noticed. I turned around to find my 7 year old half naked holding his shirt in his hands. These boys are crazy!

Here they are upstairs with a friend of theirs. There was a guy working outside the window and my older son thought it would be a good time to say hi. I think their friend was appalled and tried to shrink away from the window.

Ah the arches and windows!

Thankfully, they put in a temporary railing. That open staircase was making me nervous.

Living room

I have no idea why we have so many holes in the wall. My husband says it's right for the speakers so I'll just ignore it for now.

There's something off about these sconces in the master bathroom. The builder already has plans to fix them. This was a change I made during the pre-construction meeting. The original plan called for one light fixture above the mirrors. I asked for sconces on either side of the mirrors so it might have been confusing to the guys used to having them in a different spot.

The wood floors started this past weekend and the kitchen cabinets were supposed to go in today. I'm not sure if everything is on schedule with the tropical storm coming in. I'm more worried that we don't have a front door to protect those new floors. We're expecting more thunderstorms tomorrow so I probably won't be able to get out there for a few days. I'm crossing my fingers everything is okay when I do make it out to see the progress. I'll keep you updated!

If you want to check out a finished version of my house, Shelley at Crazy Wonderful built the same house! I was googling my house plan (totally normal, right?) and came across her blog. Her house is beautiful and such an inspiration as we plan for the décor.

A Modern Take On Old World Style

Clean and modern with a touch of Old World style. That's the look I'm gravitating towards for my new home. These are some beautiful examples of what I am planning.

Now, I just need to figure out how to do this on an Ikea/DIY budget!

New Pool Drawing

I just got this drawing back today! I'm so excited because it looks exactly like the drawing I sent the pool builder. There are a few tweaks I want to make but you probably won't even notice the difference.

I love it! The stairs from the house will be a bit different as well as the beach entry on the far side. We're also trying to figure out how to incorporate a slide for the kids. I can't say they are thrilled with the design. They really wanted a bigger rock waterfall similar to what we have now. I think they will come around, especially if we can figure out how to get a slide in there without disrupting the aesthetic of the pool.  They will forget all about that rock waterfall!

Cool Pools: Inspiration for Our New Pool

I've been trying to write this post for a week now! It's as much for my potential pool builders as it is for you. We're coming down to the wire on having to submit a pool design to our homebuilder and I'm not any closer now than I was a month ago, but it's okay because I have two potential designs in my head. Between my son stealing my computer to play cool math games, work and too much fun on the weekends (I won't lie!), I've been slacking a bit on everything else. My husband just shoved a pad of paper and pencil in front of me today and said to get this pool design done. I've got to work on it before he comes up with his own design, probably a grotto pool worthy of a Hugh Hefner party and a slide coming down from the second story of the house. Yes, he's more fun than I am.

We built our current pool a little over three years ago and while it's a process, it's so worth it to get exactly what we want. There are so many decisions to take into consideration and I'm happy to make each one. I love the waterfall with the moss rocks and freeform design we currently have, but I'm looking to do something completely different in the new house.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to find a picture of a pool that fits the picture in my head. I have been able to find certain elements I like in different inspiration pictures. The first thing I have to consider is the style of our new home. It's a traditional brown stone and brick, but it has a bit of European influence because of the roof line.

One of the regrets I have about not getting the stucco and stone exterior is that I passed up an opportunity to incorporate the tropical look I love so much. But, when I was searching for a vacation rental recently in Alys Beach/Rosemary Beach, FL I realized a lot of their homes (and pools) have a European flair. Hmmm...I could do a little traditional, a little contemporary (because too much traditional is stifling to me), and a little bit of Old World style ala Alys Beach. That's a lot to take in when I describe it. I'll just show you in pictures.

What's not to love about this pool? I know you're probably thinking how am I going to incorporate this look into my suburban backyard. It's the rectangular shape and the Old World fountain that I want to take away from this design. I really do love it all, too. Maybe I can vacation there if I book at least 6 months in advance. If you follow my Instagram you know what I mean!

But, I also like the bowls on pedestals as a waterfall option.

And, while I like the simple rectangular shape of these pools I also love this more formal design for the hot tub and sun shelf. 

 

I can't decide if this is too fussy for my taste even though it's beautiful.

The waterfall has to come off a wall of some sort. I toyed with the idea of a cream colored stucco wall for more Old World style and a way to make a few palm trees work. It will probably get too wet for stucco and be a pain to maintain. There are stucco-like options that I'm looking into or I could just go with a cream colored smooth tile. I think I'm pretty much sold on an arched wall regardless of the finish I choose.

Traditional Pool by Spring Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers Absolutely Outdoors

This one has a brick arched wall that's pretty, but there is so much brick on the new house I will go for a different material.

 

 

Another look I like is large planters partly built into the pool.  It softens the edges of the pool and keeps it from looking so flat.

 

Eclectic Pool by Houston Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers Marquise Pools

 

Tropical Landscape by Newport Beach Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers Mark Scott Associates | Landscape Architecture

 

Isn't this pool just amazing?

 

And, the last item on my wish list is a beach entry.

 

Mediterranean Pool by Spring Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers Absolutely Outdoors

 

The mosaic tile on the edge of the beach entry is just amazing!

 

I'm glad I was able to find pictures of what I have been dreaming up in my head even if it's a combination of many pictures. Once I get a drawing back with the winning design I will definitely share it with you!

 

 



New Home Selections

The most exciting part of the entire building process is choosing the finishes. I had a very good idea of what I wanted before I stepped in the design center after looking at other homes the builder had for sale and other communities models. I might have been a bit of a home stalker, but it completely paid off in the end.

 

Let's start in the kitchen! The kitchen is going to have these white cabinets with the glass uppers and that hood. I love, love, love that hood! Mine will have a little different trim on the bottom. The lower cabinets will be white, but the island will be gray.

 

 

I know we've all seen white kitchens with gray islands, but let's take a look at one for kicks.

Here is a sample of the gray island cabinetry. I love that mosaic backsplash sample in the picture, but it was insanely expensive so we decided against it once we got the pricing back. The alternative we chose is a white subway tile with a beveled edge and gray grout. It was still an upgrade, but a quarter of the price of the mosaic tile. The countertop will be carrera marble. I'm a nervous wreck that I'm going to destroy it, but after seeing it in another house I just had to have it. I was absolutely giddy when I first laid eyes on it and by my husband's expression I probably looked a little crazy. I should have told him it would be like his reaction to top of the line golf clubs. He would have understood!

 



The next big decision was the master bathroom. I was so excited to find a porcelain tile that looks exactly like the marble countertop sample. The tile will be a rectangular 12x24 size instead of the square in the picture. It will be on the floor and the walls of the shower. The hard part was choosing a grout color. I immediately thought I would want white, but it looks too white against the tile. I ended up choosing gray grout. I never imagined grout colors would be my Achilles heel in this entire process. I am not thrilled about the mosaic tile below for the tub surround, but it's such a small area that I didn't want to spend a fortune on more marble. You would think because it's such a small area it wouldn't be inexpensive. Nope!

Here is a close up of the gray and white grout samples next to the tile. The white looks fine in the picture, but it really is much brighter in person compared to the tile.

Pretty inspiration picture

I'm considering painting the walls a dark gray if we have enough natural light to offset all the white.

The cabinets will be white and the countertops are going to be marble. The guest bathroom and powder room are also going to have the finishes as the master bathroom. Yes, more marble!

On to the boys bathrooms. There will be no marble in here! All three boys will have their own bathroom and I decided to go with the same finishes in each one. It's easy and there will be no fights over who has the best bathroom.

The cabinets will be white to offset the slate gray floor and dark gray granite counters. I chose an inexpensive standard tile for the shower since the shower curtain will cover it anyway. I can make each bathroom a bit different with the wall color and accessories to go with their rooms.

Similar bathroom

These are my favorite lights for above their vanities, but I found so many I like that I might choose a different one for each of their bathrooms.

I made a last minute switch at my second visit to the design center when it came to the flooring. I had initially chosen an engineered floor after finding out the wood tile I love so much was way out of our price range. I had mentioned I would love stained on site floors to the design consultant and she mentioned the narrower boards were about the same price as the engineered floor. Here are the two floors side by side.

I love the way the real wood floor on the right looks with the gray kitchen island cabinet. I was told the narrower boards would be better with the humidity in our area. The wider boards have a tendency to buckle so I'm feeling a bit better about choosing the 2 1/4".

There are so many other little details we chose that I love as much as the big decisions. The front doors, the fireplace and the beams are details I can't wait to see be installed. We have a while before that happens. It's all sawdust, dirt and rusty nails right now. It's still exciting and it finally looks like a house now. I can't wait to show you the building progress next!