OUR FOREVER HOME BUILD

Welcome back TLB friends!

I hope this week finds you well! 

Things in my world are busy, but a good busy. I've adjusted to our new lifestyle here in the  Northwestern U.S., and am beginning to feel ready to conquer what lies ahead. What lies ahead you ask?  Lots of airline miles!!

We have begun building our "forever" home in the Florida. Much travel, and of course all of the subsequent holiday celebrations that go along with this time of year will complete our 2019!

The biggest challenge I've completed are the selections for the new house. I just have some lighting yet to order. Those of you that have built semi-custom homes know the drill. You have a design center that houses most or all of your selections, many are in vignettes so that you may get a good visual, however, there are some that are in a catalog
that you must choose from. Not a task that should be taken lightly!!!! Go in with your photo album of ideas....it helps immensely! 

We were able to make the hardcore selections, flooring, cabinets, countertops, etc. from the showroom. We decided to take the lighting fixtures that were included in our base price and have them installed. We cannot close if there are not fixtures installed, so after closing we will hire an electrician to install the fixtures and fans that we purchased to replace them for us. We are planning on donating the other lighting to "Habitat for Humanity" which is always in need of donations in Florida. 

I've been very fortunate to be able to work with my lighting sales lady from Texas who helped me so much with our lighting in that house. We worked together thru phone and emails and she shipped everything to Florida for us.

I started selection choices with the flooring.I did allot of research first!! We knew it would be the most costly selection (outside of the pool) for the house. The flooring will be in at least 3/4 of the house. I chose a Mohawk oak engineered flooring that withstands heat and humidity. (Metropolitan Lights, color City Loft Oak)     https://www.mohawkflooring.com/engineered-wood/detail/14842-182986/Metropolitan-Lights-City-Loft-Oak Once that selection was made I knew how much I had left in hubby's budget for me to spend on everything else AND the color family that would coordinate
with the flooring.

We both loved the kitchen in Texas and though I cannot recreate it exactly, I chose to
use the black and white theme once again. Island and butlers pantry black cabinets, perimeter of kitchen and top and bottom cabinets are white with all countertops gray marbled quartz. I kept my simple white subway tile with white grout in a staggered pattern in the kitchen, and herringbone pattern in the butlers pantry. All cabinets will have black matte hardware this time. I'm still "in love" with this color combo. I'm currently working with my
lighting lady on the island pendants. They will be black also.

Below is a photo of the kitchen/dinette area from the model. We chose a bit different
perimeter layout and appliances.

Hubby wanted a pool so we re-created many of the features from the Texas 
house with the Florida designer; shape of the pool, most of the same materials and color, but changed the waterfall stone to a Ledge stone slate veneer.

We also enlarged the outdoor patio for entertaining, and added decorative pavers. (instead of swirled concrete like Texas) The pool and entertaining area will be entirely encased
within a screened lanai.

Well, as things progress I will continue to share. But this gives you a taste of what's
to come.

Have a wonderful week!

 Kathleen

IT'S TIME FOR THE PORCH RENOVATION!

Wow----Welcome to all of our new friends! We sure are growing, and I am so thankful to share my days with all of you. I hope you all had a great weekend. Ours was busy, but fun. 

We've got an upcoming renovation project that I've been working on, and in prepping my selections list for the carpenters, I thought maybe it would be helpful to share a bit of our history with you.

When we closed on our home 2 1/2 years ago, we had already chosen our contractors and completed all of the selections for both inside and outside. As soon as the ink was dry from our closing........the very next morning the house was a buzz with workers. Our neighbors will attest to the driveway full of trucks. I am sure they wondered, "What and who do we have moving in here!"  No worries.......we now have a bunch of new friends!

• Landscapers
• Carpenters
• Gutter Company
• Roofers
• Pressure Washers
• Electricians
• Plumbers
• Granite/Tile Companies
• Appliances
• Wood Floors
• Wood and Marble Floor Restoration
• Carpet Cleaners (Basement and Upstairs Bedrooms)
• Paint/Wallpaper Company
• Security Company

You get the idea........it was a flurry of activity that lasted for nearly two months.  This was a real test to my abilities as a General Contractor. With 13 moves under my belt, from new construction to this latest renovation being my largest renovation undertaking........you could say I have learned a lot. But, I am not naive enough to think there will not be those unforeseen things that happen along the way. Like, the wood floor that arrived originally was not of the quality we expected so a change in vendor meant that we moved into the house without the wood floor being completed. No big deal. We LOVE plywood sub-floor with carpenter graffiti sprinkled on it!

So the biggest renovations are completed inside, but as usual with any home, there's always a project. For us, it's now time for a Front Porch renovation....unfortunately it is made of wood that has begun to rot in spots.  I  came up with a plan, have done my research, and have interviewed carpenters.

My idea is to change the design by removing all but 2 pillars, (we are hoping this is all we need to bear the load)  which will be at the forefront on each end of the porch.  Since we didn't build the house from scratch, I still like to put our personal stamp on whatever we can. I like to change things up a bit if possible.

The new pillars will be larger in diameter and won't be tapered. The tops of each will have a decorative cap on them. We have already had to replace the roof so the roof will remain flat.

Below are some of the materials I have been advised are all good products so that we don't have to worry about rotting wood ever again!

With selections completed, now we wait for our estimates to come in. We always start out with what the hubby affectionately calls, "NICE TO HAVE" choices to be priced out. Hence, the beautiful caps I have chosen!  However, cost prevails always, and I promised I would stay within the budget. We'll see where these final numbers come in. But hey, that's life......I'm just excited my hubby said, "Get it done!"

Hope you enjoyed this part of our journey of our home renovations. I LOVE this stuff!

Wishing you a creative day!

 Kathleen

****Are you doing any renovating right now? What project are you up to your elbows in?

Share with us!