Tuesday, September 20, 2011

New House Update

A few cliches come to mind as I write this post...

Rome wasn't built in a day
Good things come to those who wait
Patience is a virtue
Slow and steady wins the race

I just read through my previous posts labeled with "New House" and realized my first post about our new house was dated June 24th. This was probably a day or two after we received the first offer on our old house. So, we've been working on this for the last 90 days. That being said, we didn't do anything with it until we were officially closed on the old house. I figured it's time for an update!

Our floor plans are finalized and approved by the neighborhood association. I will be posting some sort of rendering of the plans, but am trying to figure out how I want to do this. Chad, our construction manager and architect, and Tom and I, have spent a lot of time on this and I don't really want it out there in cyberspace free for the taking!

Now that they have been approved, Chad is in the process of finalizing the full set of construction drawings.   In the meantime, Tom's been able to get the lumber package out for an initial bid and will be doing foundations next. A call has been made to set up the survey and we're moving toward actually closing on the lot. We have little desire to close on anything until we have all of our ducks in a row with everything else. Our hope is to break ground within days of closing, which will happen within the next three weeks.

So, this brings us to the next step which is selecting finishes for the inside of the home. We have a good idea as to the basics, but it's getting close to the time to make true selections. For instance, we know what type of flooring we want (carpet, hardwood, tile, etc.) and even the brand (Shaw) but we need to pick the specific line and color.

This brings up the broader issue of choosing a color palette for the inside of the house. We don't want to start picking colors for finishes without having a plan. I'm struggling with whether I want to go with browns or grays. Gray is so in right now! I think that's where we'll start. Here are some rooms I've found on Pinterest that appeal to me... We are definitely doing white trim and dark woods - adding a few beams in the great rooms.

Benjamin Moore - Antique Pewter
Not sure of the color but love it all
More Gray

On the not so exciting end of things, we looked at fireplace inserts today. Now, at first that may seem exciting, but it's truly just the inserts. Not the mantle, not the doors, not the logs, just the insert.  We are not doing a full masonry fireplace for a few reasons. We'll have one fireplace in the family room and one outside on the covered porch. The one inside will have gas logs but the one outside will be truly woodburning with a gas starter. We now know what we're looking for so we can go from there.

Finally, it's time to get serious about the exterior colors and stone. Tom is thinking he wants to go with a dry stack stone, maybe even the same as Timber Run. I'm OK with that, but could also go for something a little different. We've been doing drystack at Timber Run for three years and I'm ready to see something else I think. That being said, people love that stone and it's so versatile that it will go well with multiple different paint colors. Here's a pic of the condos...



So, there you have it. A glimpse into what we're thinking through right now. It's an exciting time, but also a lot to do. Which brings to mind one more cliche - How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

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