A Free Tool

We have been doing a lot of research on furniture over the last few weeks but even though we have an idea of what we want, every time we go into a furniture store we get overwhelm with all of the choices and styles. We have taken measurements up the wazoo but still struggle over what the best floor plan for furniture will be….that is until I discovered this great tool on the Basset Furniture website. It is a room planner in which you can put in exact dimensions of the room, fireplaces, doorways, windows, and furniture. The best part is…it’s FREE!! It was a great help for figuring out what to do with the living room so now we know what specific pieces to look for. Hopefully it will make our next shopping experience a successful one.

Interior First Glimpse

You'd think that with the exterior coming along, the interior would be making progress as well. I guess we could say it is but electrical and plumbing aren't very exciting to me....Chris on the other hand, loves it :-) Most people don't get the opportunity to see inside the walls of there houses so we are lucky ones. It is great to have a say as to where we want phone and cable hook ups, surround sound, flood lights, ceiling lights, etc. All of these need to be done before drywall can start going up. As of now, studs are framing each room.

Foyer looking in from front door

Looking into Kitchen and Dining Room from Family Room
Family Room
Fireplace in Family Room

Let the Shopping Begin!!

Appliances, check!!

We made our first big purchases this weekend....range, microwave, dishwasher, refrigerator, washer/dryer and an under counter wine cellar as the manufacturer likes to call it. After endless research online, trips to Sears and Lowe's we ventured out to Whitco Sale, Inc. in Spencer, MA. We had heard great things about the place and were told that the deals were amazing. The owner was super helpful and beat any prices we had seen online or in stores. We walked out of the store after about 2 1/2 hours, with a handful of rebates, dreaming about our new appliances. We will be throwing lots of dinner parties and family functions in the future to get the maximum usage out of every square inch of the appliances. And if we don't want to cook, we will rent them out to friends and family for a small fee :-)

Also, we went to the "Sleep Lab" at Jordan's furniture and picked out a super comfy, latex mattress. No springs make it better for sleeping according to the sleep technician. We tried the Tempur-pedic but it it was kind of weird and too spongy for us. We are excited to upgrade to a king size bed. It will feel like we are sleeping in a hotel every night!!

Much Better

The bulldozer has finished clearing most of the front yard and now it is starting to look less like a construction site. The back yard is another story. Siding is complete and looks great. The shutters should be arriving any day and the painter will also be onsite to paint the front door classic burgundy a la Benjamin Moore in the next week or so.

Progress Report

I always like seeing the comparison from week to week so here is an up-to-date version. They have started to level our front yard so the bulldozer is blocking the view. Lot 17 and 18 are looking good as well. Lot 18 closed today...lucky them.

19 BHL/Lot 16

Lot 17 and 18

Let There Be Yellow

Our weekly Sunday visit to the house presented us with our first glimpse of Heritage Cream siding. Looking at the small swatch during the selection process lead us to believe that it would be more cream then yellow but we were very pleased to see a light yellow house when we turned the corner on BHL. We are excited to see how the black shutters will look; they are on back order and should be installed in the next couple of weeks.

$$$$

Nobody ever said that buying or building a house would be cheap (especially in MA), but until you do it you don't realize how expensive it really is. Thankfully we knew what we were getting into...well, slightly. Now that the house construction is in full swing we have started to put more thought into upgrades and the pressure is on to select lighting, fixtures, cabinets, granite, appliances, etc. My head is spinning almost literally and Chris is even talking in his sleep about home inspections, tee hee.

I have been perusing design blogs, website after website, countless magazines for ideas and folding over/ripping out pages of things we like all the while dropping my jaw at some of the prices. A year ago when I was doing the same thing, everything was so beautiful and pretty.....that was before we actually had to buy the stuff!! My strategy is to find expensive pieces we like and try to seek out more affordable options. They do it all the time on HGTV so hopefully it works for us too!! After all is said and done the house will be just the way we want it and and the best part will be that we own it!! Yay!!

Our First Visitors

Chris and I had to go by the house yesterday to mark where we wanted phone and cable hookups installed by the electrician so we were able to have our first visitors!! Mom, Sis (in NH from Pittsburgh, PA for the weekend) and of course, the cuteness that is Lilly.

The ladies got a tour of the house and I think it was the first time that Lilly had the opportunity to walk through walls dragging Mom in tow. She was on sensory overload and didn't know what to think of the place. Little does she know that she will make lots of visits to the house :-) We then proceeded to walk through Lot 17 which is in the next stage of development and has walls, some paint, etc. Lot 18 was our last stop and is almost complete. The new owners are supposed to close on 9/15.

It was nice to see an almost exact replica of our house to get ideas for improvements (aka upgrades) we would like to make. Bouncing ideas off of Mom and Kerry was just what we needed. Our brains have started to hurt thinking about all of the options and making decision after decision. I just love waking up at 5:00am envisioning cabinet finishes, furniture placement options, paint colors..........

Thanks Mom, Sis and Lilly!!

Mom, Sis, Lilly and Sarah in what will be the kitchen.

Chris and Lilly chilling out in Lot 18.

Exterior Color Selections

The time has come to select exterior color options for the house. I have always loved yellow houses and thought they were so beautiful. We had a couple of yellow options and decided to go with a more neutral cream with yellow tones. The other yellow was just too "yellow" and we thought we would get tired of it. Black shutters will flank the windows and the front door will be a burgundy color. I was leaning toward more of a plum or eggplant color but Chris liked the burgundy better. Since it will be his house too, I decided to compromise. That's what marriage is about right :-)

Exterior Color = Heritage Cream

Black Shutter and Burgundy Door Color

Chris's Desire

What more could a guy want then a larger deck? So we decided to upgrade and add 4 feet in length. It was constructed in record time on Wednesday. Lookin' good....the perfect space for a grill, chiminea, table, chairs and of course family and friends.

The Roof, The Roof, The Roof is on Fire!!

We went by the house last night with our realtor and to get the P&S squared away (it still isn't but that's beside the point) and dropped in on some roofers. Windows were also put in yesterday. We took a tour of lot 18 and were happy to see that it was almost complete. It really helped us to envision what our new home is going to look like and what changes we potentially want to make. We hope to meet with the builder in the next couple of days to discuss ideas.

Taking Shape

Alice, our realtor, took a ride out to BHL last week to check in on pro- gress and found that #19 (aka Lot 16) was in the midst of being framed. Chris and I made the 1/2 hour drive to Ashland to check it out and were very excited to see an actual house taking shape. The yard is coming along too with lots of the piles being removed, and a nice stone wall with steps leading to the front door being constructed.

We are scheduled to sign the P&S tonight and plop down our 5%....then the fun really begins!! Colors, options, and upgrades OH MY. Lot 18 is scheduled to close on 9/15 so hopefully we can get a tour of the house to get a better idea of what ours will be like finished. Exciting stuff!!

Back of house

View of street from front door