Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Two Months to go!
I had to make a quick trip out to our new housing development today to take some measurements for our new appliances, and while I was there, I took a picture of our house. It's coming along really well! I'm surprised at how fast it's been built so far- about a week and half ago, when we were there last, it had only been partially framed. As of today, it's been fully framed and some of the wood siding has been installed. Exciting!
Friday, December 18, 2009
Design Appointment
Today was our meeting with the design company to pick out our finishes and upgrades for the house. I was really excited to plan out everything- the countertops, the cabinets, the floors! As you could have guessed, Eric was not quite as excited as I was… but, after 3 ½ hours, I think we picked out nearly everything that we wanted and walked out on budget! (well, close to it at least :) haha)
The design center itself was smaller than I was imagining, but the options were plentiful- there were walls of tile choices, books of carpet samples, tons of countertop options- you name it, it was there. We were first presented with the standard choices for our house, like the standard tile, carpet, granite, and cabinetry. Some of the standard options were not that exciting in my opinion, so we chose to upgrade a few things here and there, providing the upgrade cost wasn’t ridiculous (such as, we learned that the cost of upgrading the fixtures in ONE bathroom was $2500!! And if we wanted all the interior walls painted, it would be upwards of $4k!! So obviously we passed on these options). We knew that many of the upgrades they quoted us for would be far less expensive if we did the work on our own or hired someone else to do the work. But, there were a few items that made sense to do now, as opposed to later. Plus, we had that incentive package from the builder to spend, so we had fun choosing a few (reasonably priced) upgrades!
So, in the end, we chose just a few upgrades, like espresso cabinetry, cream-colored granite with brown and black specs/swirls, surround sound wiring (Eric’s chioce), and a creamy-tan colored tile for the entry, bathrooms, laundry room, and kitchen/nook:
I was hoping to upgrade the appliance package and the carpet, but the costs were just astronomically overpriced. So, we’re going to stick with the standard carpet for a few years while we save up for some nice berber to replace it, and we’re going to buy our own stainless steel appliances and then hopefully sell the boring, standard white ones after we move in.
The design center itself was smaller than I was imagining, but the options were plentiful- there were walls of tile choices, books of carpet samples, tons of countertop options- you name it, it was there. We were first presented with the standard choices for our house, like the standard tile, carpet, granite, and cabinetry. Some of the standard options were not that exciting in my opinion, so we chose to upgrade a few things here and there, providing the upgrade cost wasn’t ridiculous (such as, we learned that the cost of upgrading the fixtures in ONE bathroom was $2500!! And if we wanted all the interior walls painted, it would be upwards of $4k!! So obviously we passed on these options). We knew that many of the upgrades they quoted us for would be far less expensive if we did the work on our own or hired someone else to do the work. But, there were a few items that made sense to do now, as opposed to later. Plus, we had that incentive package from the builder to spend, so we had fun choosing a few (reasonably priced) upgrades!
So, in the end, we chose just a few upgrades, like espresso cabinetry, cream-colored granite with brown and black specs/swirls, surround sound wiring (Eric’s chioce), and a creamy-tan colored tile for the entry, bathrooms, laundry room, and kitchen/nook:I was hoping to upgrade the appliance package and the carpet, but the costs were just astronomically overpriced. So, we’re going to stick with the standard carpet for a few years while we save up for some nice berber to replace it, and we’re going to buy our own stainless steel appliances and then hopefully sell the boring, standard white ones after we move in.
Monday, December 14, 2009
I'm such a wimp
I had to get stitches today and it was not fun!!
This will be short, since typing is a bit of a challenge… the short story is that I sliced my finger open on the stupid paper cutter at work and had to be taken to the ER. I had to have an x-ray, and then I had to have 2 stitches in my right index finger to close the wound. The ER doctor was extremely nice, but unfortunately his claim that “I wouldn’t feel a thing” after being numbed was far from the truth!! I definitely felt that nasty needle when he stitched me up couldn’t stop myself from whining and yelling out a few times!
So now I’m all bandaged up and will be that way for the next week… the worst thing is that now I have to postpone my gift wrapping and baking projects!!!
This will be short, since typing is a bit of a challenge… the short story is that I sliced my finger open on the stupid paper cutter at work and had to be taken to the ER. I had to have an x-ray, and then I had to have 2 stitches in my right index finger to close the wound. The ER doctor was extremely nice, but unfortunately his claim that “I wouldn’t feel a thing” after being numbed was far from the truth!! I definitely felt that nasty needle when he stitched me up couldn’t stop myself from whining and yelling out a few times!
So now I’m all bandaged up and will be that way for the next week… the worst thing is that now I have to postpone my gift wrapping and baking projects!!!
Saturday, December 12, 2009
WE SIGNED A CONTRACT!!
After nearly 3 months of searching and 10 unsuccessful offers, we bought a house!! We finalized a deal with Brighton Station today- the new home development that we toured a couple weeks ago. We were able to negotiate the price a little bit and also argued for an incentive package to pay for some upgrades that we wanted.
We chose one of their smaller floorplans (smaller of their choices, that is- the house is over 2,200 square feet!) on a corner lot. The builder had three “elevation” options, as they preferred to call them- basically the exterior designs of the house. The choices included a Mediterranean look with rounded arches and iron work, a more traditional/craftsman style with a large porch, and a cottage-like design with stone walls and high pointed arches. Since every lot is assigned a floorplan and elevation, we didn’t have much of a choice, since we preferred the corner lot location that was available- so we were destined to have the third design mentioned, the one with the weird rock walls (obviously this elevation was not our first choice!). But honestly, we know that the exterior style of the house matters little when it comes down to it, and we were thrilled with the corner lot. Now we’ll have only one real neighbor to deal with!! And the design really isn’t that bad… it’s unique and I think it’s starting to grow on me at least!
After reviewing all the details and signing our life away, we were informed that our house should be ready on or around February 18th, 2010! Then we set up our design appointment, where we will meet with the builder’s design firm and select our finishes and upgrades, which I’m looking forward to! So exciting!!
Here’s our house as of today! The foundation has been poured and part of the house has been framed. We're planing to visit the house every week or so to document the process and progress as it's built :)
And here are some photos of the model home:
We chose one of their smaller floorplans (smaller of their choices, that is- the house is over 2,200 square feet!) on a corner lot. The builder had three “elevation” options, as they preferred to call them- basically the exterior designs of the house. The choices included a Mediterranean look with rounded arches and iron work, a more traditional/craftsman style with a large porch, and a cottage-like design with stone walls and high pointed arches. Since every lot is assigned a floorplan and elevation, we didn’t have much of a choice, since we preferred the corner lot location that was available- so we were destined to have the third design mentioned, the one with the weird rock walls (obviously this elevation was not our first choice!). But honestly, we know that the exterior style of the house matters little when it comes down to it, and we were thrilled with the corner lot. Now we’ll have only one real neighbor to deal with!! And the design really isn’t that bad… it’s unique and I think it’s starting to grow on me at least!After reviewing all the details and signing our life away, we were informed that our house should be ready on or around February 18th, 2010! Then we set up our design appointment, where we will meet with the builder’s design firm and select our finishes and upgrades, which I’m looking forward to! So exciting!!
Here’s our house as of today! The foundation has been poured and part of the house has been framed. We're planing to visit the house every week or so to document the process and progress as it's built :)And here are some photos of the model home:
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