Sunday, June 29, 2008
The stakes are in the ground!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Decisions, Decisions.
Ok, so this post is a little late, but things have been busy and this is the first chance I have had to update our progress on the house.
Both our current homes (Mom’s and ours) are still for sale. Mom’s house has been on the market for twenty five days now, and our townhouse is on day eighteen. There have been a few showings on both houses, and the feedback on them has been relatively positive, so all is well so far on the selling front.
On Friday, June 6th Mom, Donna (sister), and I went to the selection center at Woodside Homes office in Fridley. We met with an interior designer to select all of the interior and exterior options that we built into the price of the home. Teri, our designer, was flabbergasted at the absence of my husband. “He doesn’t mind that you are picking everything without him?” she asked with astonishment. Actually, Brad not only trusts me with the choices, but would probably gouge his own eyes out before we finished the work. He is definitely interested in the process, but will tell you he does not have the patience for it. So he was content to go to work and leave the details up to the three gals.
When we got to the selection center, we were greeted by Teri and taken to a room with a large island in the middle and some tall stools to sit on. The room was filled with samples of everything from flooring to paint, with every wood type and finish available to us. I am very grateful for Teri’s assistance because there was so much to choose from it was overwhelming. I can’t imagine what it is like to build a custom home from scratch. Without Teri’s guidance it would not only have been hard to choose, but to stay within our budget as well.
Mom and Donna were essential to the process as well. This is Mom’s house too. She had as much to say about the choices as I, and Donna was great at helping to make choices when we narrowed them down. Donna is the one who picked out the Cambria countertop for my island, and helped with the other color choices too. It was really fun to have her there with us.
We chose oak woodwork and cabinets throughout the house, and the entire first floor has a medium oak finished hardwood floor. This was something I struggled with, as hardwood is a little spendy. I’m glad we went with it. The flow of the house will be much prettier with a continuous look. Also, of all the things that we can change in the future, it’s the carpet that is easiest to rip out, so it made sense to us to put more of our money toward the hardwood. The doors and cabinets are solid and have a Mission style to them. The hardware is antique oil rubbed bronze throughout. When we chose the paint color, we were able to match the carpet and tile for the bathrooms. Mom’s side of the house has her own look and carpet choices. It was annoying to learn that if we wanted different paint colors in the house that it would be $400/room to have it changed. Oh well, we can paint the bedrooms later if we want too.
There are things that I wish for but would put us over budget. I refuse to fuss over that stuff. Overall, the house will undoubtedly be lovely. Mom and I easily agreed on the things that would be common to both sides of the house. Mom will have her own entry, washer/dryer, kitchen and living space. She will have hardwood in her kitchen a living room and she picked out the tile and carpet for her bedroom. She also has a different countertop in her kitchen. We will be close to Donna, Dennis, Nate and Aaron which is a treat. I think the most frustrating thing about the process is that we don’t really know what our house is going to look like, as they have never built this particular floor plan before so there was no model to look at. Oh well. I’m sure we’ll be pleasantly surprised!
God is good. All good things come from Him, and I don’t want to wrap this up without giving credit where it is due. I’m sure our homes will sell, and all the work to prepare them will be worth it in the end. He always gets us through and I can’t wait to see the end result.
Woodside Homes will be obtaining permits and conducting surveys of the land this week. Our next meeting with them will be to look at the lot with the stakes in the ground. Woohoo!
Both our current homes (Mom’s and ours) are still for sale. Mom’s house has been on the market for twenty five days now, and our townhouse is on day eighteen. There have been a few showings on both houses, and the feedback on them has been relatively positive, so all is well so far on the selling front.
On Friday, June 6th Mom, Donna (sister), and I went to the selection center at Woodside Homes office in Fridley. We met with an interior designer to select all of the interior and exterior options that we built into the price of the home. Teri, our designer, was flabbergasted at the absence of my husband. “He doesn’t mind that you are picking everything without him?” she asked with astonishment. Actually, Brad not only trusts me with the choices, but would probably gouge his own eyes out before we finished the work. He is definitely interested in the process, but will tell you he does not have the patience for it. So he was content to go to work and leave the details up to the three gals.
When we got to the selection center, we were greeted by Teri and taken to a room with a large island in the middle and some tall stools to sit on. The room was filled with samples of everything from flooring to paint, with every wood type and finish available to us. I am very grateful for Teri’s assistance because there was so much to choose from it was overwhelming. I can’t imagine what it is like to build a custom home from scratch. Without Teri’s guidance it would not only have been hard to choose, but to stay within our budget as well.
Mom and Donna were essential to the process as well. This is Mom’s house too. She had as much to say about the choices as I, and Donna was great at helping to make choices when we narrowed them down. Donna is the one who picked out the Cambria countertop for my island, and helped with the other color choices too. It was really fun to have her there with us.
We chose oak woodwork and cabinets throughout the house, and the entire first floor has a medium oak finished hardwood floor. This was something I struggled with, as hardwood is a little spendy. I’m glad we went with it. The flow of the house will be much prettier with a continuous look. Also, of all the things that we can change in the future, it’s the carpet that is easiest to rip out, so it made sense to us to put more of our money toward the hardwood. The doors and cabinets are solid and have a Mission style to them. The hardware is antique oil rubbed bronze throughout. When we chose the paint color, we were able to match the carpet and tile for the bathrooms. Mom’s side of the house has her own look and carpet choices. It was annoying to learn that if we wanted different paint colors in the house that it would be $400/room to have it changed. Oh well, we can paint the bedrooms later if we want too.
There are things that I wish for but would put us over budget. I refuse to fuss over that stuff. Overall, the house will undoubtedly be lovely. Mom and I easily agreed on the things that would be common to both sides of the house. Mom will have her own entry, washer/dryer, kitchen and living space. She will have hardwood in her kitchen a living room and she picked out the tile and carpet for her bedroom. She also has a different countertop in her kitchen. We will be close to Donna, Dennis, Nate and Aaron which is a treat. I think the most frustrating thing about the process is that we don’t really know what our house is going to look like, as they have never built this particular floor plan before so there was no model to look at. Oh well. I’m sure we’ll be pleasantly surprised!
God is good. All good things come from Him, and I don’t want to wrap this up without giving credit where it is due. I’m sure our homes will sell, and all the work to prepare them will be worth it in the end. He always gets us through and I can’t wait to see the end result.
Woodside Homes will be obtaining permits and conducting surveys of the land this week. Our next meeting with them will be to look at the lot with the stakes in the ground. Woohoo!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Set in stone!!
Having made our final selections for the house (i.e hard wood floors, a deck instead of a three-season porch, etc.) we signed an addendum to our original purchase agreement to set the final price. As much as we were determined to stay within our budget, we inevitably went over (but only by about $3,500). Ah, it's all good!! This is a home where we are going to live until they kick dirt in our faces so we better make it count. This week they will place the stakes in the ground and then actually start digging the hole in early July.
It seems more real with each passing landmark!
It seems more real with each passing landmark!
Monday, June 2, 2008
Mom's kitchen.
The architectural drawing really doesn't do it justice. Mom will have the highest quality appliances and wood work for her kitchen!!
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