Hi loves. So, it’s been awhile, huh. I don’t really think I need to get into why I’ve had a hard time blogging (right now at least). I just want to share with you how our house came together.  Last I left off, we had just finished framing.  Naturally the next stop on the house checklist would be drywall.   Since drywall is SO exciting, I obviously took about 300 pictures.  I’ll spare you the deets and just give you one.

They painted all our interior doors, and all I could think of was Monsters Inc.  I wished they had them on a revolving track.  I mean, that would be an effective way to paint, right?  I’m going to mention that to the builder.  And of course I’ll expect royalties.

And then there was a HUGE mess with the flooring.  We had had a few bumps along the way, but the flooring was a massive debacle.  We wanted our planks to be entire main level.  We didn’t want carpet, especially in the great room.  I knew if we did get carpet, down the road I’d change my mind about wanting carpet, and trying to match the floor would be costly and time consuming.  It was better to do it now.  However, that message was apparently not communicated to the builder.  They eventually fixed it and redid the floor, however it took awhile and really set them behind schedule.

Meanwhile, the exterior was slowly getting worked on.  Our friends enjoyed the adult jungle gym scaffolding.  I enjoyed staying on the ground.

They poured our concrete at an unusually wet time, and built this incredible rain gutter system.  I mean, I really think they’re onto something.

The siding got installed which was fun to watch.  It really began to take shape and really look like the house we had been dreaming of.  I don’t think anyone was surprised when they saw that the siding was green!

The carpet came, and then Evelyn really loved visiting the house because she could get down and explore.

And then, it was finished!  (Well, almost.  The builder had to bond with the city for our landscaping.  They were responsible for the sprinkler system and sod in the front yard.  We just got it installed over the weekend, however I do not have an updated exterior picture yet.  Maybe sometime next year I’ll show you.)

 

I made a video tour for you guys.  It’s a little boring since there is nothing in the house.  But it will give you a good idea of the layout.  The chandeliers are all builder grade, and are getting swapped out.  We have some projects lined up for the kitchen to give it more of a custom feel.  It wasn’t our first choice of finishes, but the builder didn’t offer what we had in mind.  Lucky for us, kitchens aren’t a project that scare easily.  This kitchen is kind of a downgrade from our last kitchen, however the rest of the house is a major upgrade.  So we will happily take the trade off for now.  The plan with our new house was to get into a place with good bones where we wouldn’t need to rip down walls, but have a place where we could still do projects and leave our mark.

If the embedded video isn’t working for you, you can watch it directly on youtube here.

We are building.  However, this is going to be slightly different than a “custom build” that you might be used to.

Most people when they build a house are doing it so it will be perfect, move-in ready, project-free, and good-to-go.

Not us.  We already have a project list started.  (More on that another day…)  So why are we building?

There are projects we like doing, and projects we don’t.  And honestly, we are tired of tearing down walls.  We wanted a blank canvas with great bone structure.

There are things we put on a must-have list for our new house:
-Formal living room
-Formal dining room
-Front porch
-Master bathroom

You guys, formal living rooms and dining rooms are a thing of the past!  They are SO hard to find (in Utah, at least)!  But it’s really important to me to have a place for the piano, a place for conversation when people come to visit, a place for Thanksgiving dinner.  You could say I’m traditional.

As our own real estate agent, I did a TON of house hunting, and could not find a house that checked every box, within our price range.  Then, we stumbled on a builder with a house plan that met literally our exact needs and wants.  And of course, the name of the plan is The Traditional.

Total square feet: 3864
Finished square feet: 2478
Finished bedrooms: 4
Finished bathrooms: 2.5

I’m in love with the elevation.  It has all the curb appeal I fancy.  I’m dreaming of sitting on a porch swing eating a popsicle with Evelyn, of a porch with carved pumpkins and flickering candles, and gables covered in Christmas lights.

My all time favorite feature on the main floor is a trap door from the walk in pantry into the garage for grocery pass-through.  It’s going to revolutionize shopping trips in unimaginable ways haha!  I love that the main level has the traditional elements I wanted (formal living and dining) as well as a modern open concept family room and kitchen.  In my opinion, it’s the best of both worlds.

Things I love about the upstairs: bedroom-level laundry baby!  I enjoy all the closet space too; something that was definitely lacking in our old house.  You guys, in my WHOLE LIFE I have never had a walk in closet.  This is a first for me, and I’m dying with excitement.

This is the basement floor plan.  We aren’t having the builder finishing the basement for us.  This is something we plan on doing in the future.  4 bedrooms is more than enough for us right now.

This is our house.  These are our rules.  We can’t stop.  We won’t stop.