More Decisions! - Interior

Guess what! We finished digging last Friday! Things are finally starting to pick up speed :-) This week two main things: laying (not pouring!) the foundation and setting up underground plumbing. Will have to make a trip to the jobsite to get you some photos!

In the meantime, we have a lot of decisions to make... Help!

Flooring

We need to decide which type of flooring we want and where, and I think we have! Hardwood in the foyer, hallway and kitchen. Ceramic tile in the laundry room, mudroom/mudhall, and all the bathrooms. Carpet everywhere else. But we also need to decide

-Hardwood
We're hoping to go tomorrow to pick out the one we want.
*Species of wood - main ones we are considering are maple, walnut, and cherry (but not oak, I don't like how the fibers show). Probably won't go with cherry either because it's pretty expensive.
*Width of the hardwood pieces - the wider the more expensive... We are thinking around 3 1/2 to 4 inches.
*Color - we want it dark!!

Ceramic Tile
We need to figure out which tile we want in which bathroom. We'll probably go with a 12x12 in the master bath and laundry, and smaller (10x10, 8x10, or most likely 6x6) in the other bathrooms.
We also have to choose the tile for the bathroom walls, and for the backsplash in the kitchen.

Carpet
We still have a lot of time to decide this, but we'll probably choose one tomorrow at the Flooring store since we'll be there anyway.

Countertops

We want granite countertops in the kitchen and need to choose:
*Color - have NO idea!! We need to go to see our options
*Edge type. There are standard types as well as ogee, waterfall, and half-round details. I like ogee, will probably go with that!

In the bathrooms, we are thinking of laminate countertops that look like granite (that's what we have in our condo now), but we aren't sure! We might do granite in the master bath.

Other decisions

We have more time before we need to decide on-

*Electrical Decisions - include where we want recessed lights, fan prep, dimmer switches, under-cabinet lighting, what type of switches (decora or toggle), if we want to pre-wire for an alarm system, or intercom, or stereo system, where we want phone, cable, and data lines.

*Appliances - What type of appliances, and choosing specific ones (gas v. electric, etc). Stain-less steel baby!

*Interior Trim - Includes fireplace mantle (color, wood? (probably not), and type of marble surround)

*Paint - Color and type

*Plumbing - Still have a lot of time for this! I do have a pretty good idea of the kitchen sink I want, though! BIG, stain-less steel :-)

Yay! Finally chose a brick!

Score! Finally, a brick that is available in our price range that I actually like! Take a look at the pictures and let me know what you think!

The roof shingles are "weathered wood," which is what we were leaning towards anyway, it matches quite well with the brick, right? I think we'll do the same trim color too. Three birds with one stone - Great! Success!

I just need to choose a shutter color... Any ideas?? I'm so confused!

SOOO many decisions to make!!

Had a selection meeting with our builder today; oh my! there are so many things we need to decide on!! In this post I'll discuss decisions having to do with the exterior.

Roof - http://www.gaf.com/

*Color - Thankfully, there aren't too many options in this department. And I'm pretty sure we will go with "weathered wood," which is a grayish color. It's either that or "slate," which is a darker gray. I also liked "charcoal," but it would look nice with dark red brick, not the lighter one we are going with.
*Type - Two types of shingles basically, flat and dimensional. The flat is just shingles placed next to each other (also called 3-tab), while the dimensional is more 3-D.

Siding

We only have siding on the sides and rear of the house, and very little on the front. But we still need to decide on:
*Type - We are considering two types, vinyl and concrete. Concrete's a lot more expensive, so we are thinking of putting it only in the front of the house since there is only a little there. The rest will be vinyl. We also saw some new types of designs in a magazine, with different shapes of vinyl siding, but I think we'll stick with the traditional ;)
*Color - There were two colors of vinyl that I liked, "wicker," an almond color, and "heather," which has a pinkish tone to it. For the light red brick we are hoping to go with, these two match well. Read this: some things to keep in mind when choosing siding colors.
Here's a website that has a bunch of siding colors.

Exterior trim

We need to choose the color of the trim under the roof as well as around the windows and stuff. I wasn't even aware of this wood that we'd have to trim, so apparently I have another decision to make! Thankfully, all we have to do is choose a color. We will wait until we've finalized the siding color then try to find a match in trim color. Some like to have the trim contrast completely with the siding, but I'm not creative enough for that!

Windows

We've already decided on the type of windows we want, (double-hung) the color (white), and the grills (only on the top half). Here are a list of window types. We plan on having a box-out window in the dining room (similar to bay), and an awning window in our master bedroom.

Shutters

Our elevation has fake shutters that I think give the house some charm. We need to decide on
*Style - there are paneled and louvered. I like the paneled more.
*Color - we will match the shutters to the roof, brick, and exterior trim.

Brick

We thought we had finalized our brick choice, but we have to do more homework! It's been a pain getting the brick we want. The house we liked, turns out its brick is way too expensive. Haven't had the chance yet, but will check out this website for help in choosing soon. Builder said brick needs weeks to come in so we have to decide asap!! Most likely, we will go to a brick store and take a look, because this process has become tedious!

HELP!!

Great Lakes Superior Walls

It's almost time!!! We got the building permit and are just finishing up last second drafts of the site plan and stuff so we can begin excavating and building! Hot dog!

We're sort of excited about the basement. We are seriously considering going with Great Lakes Superior Walls, precast foundation that is finished in a matter of hours! So let me try to explain it; instead of pouring foundation and having to wait a week for it to set, Superior Walls is foundation that comes in blocks of concrete that are ready, and are simply put into place in a matter of hours!

The even better part is that your basement is nearly finished when you use it; just add drywall and carpet and you'd have a finished basement! So if you think you will finish your basement in the n ear future, then the superior walls is a great investment.. We got some quotes and it seems that it would cost us somewhere between $1000-2000 more to use Superior Walls, but we think we are going to go for it! Will let you know if we do, and how we like it!!

Straight from the Superior Walls website,

For superior new home comfort, Superior Walls foundations are custom-designed and built to demanding specifications to be dry, warm and smart. Superior in every way. When your new home is built with Superior Walls, you can enjoy increased building efficiencies—with your assurance of superior living.

For a list of advantages of going with Superior Walls, click here.

Choosing a front door

Been thinking a lot about our front door. Our builder told us to start thinking about the kind of front door we want. He guided us to the Therma-tru website to help us design the door we want. We knew a steel door was out of the question for us. At first, I designed this beautiful mahogany door, and had our builder get us a quote--it was almost $4000!!!

We had to decide what was most important to us. Three factors affect the cost: How close it is to wood (real wood is most expensive of course, then fiber-classic that can be stained like wood, then smooth-star that can only be painted); How much glass; And the glass detail (the more intricate the more expensive).

For us, having glass was most important, as well as privacy. For this reason, we are leaning towards the Smooth-Star line; it's cheaper in general and so we'd be able to get a lot of glass while staying within our budget ($1000-2000). Smooth-Star can't be stained like the Fiber-Classic line to look like wood, but it can be painted. We also would have liked a transom (the arched glass above the door), but our budget wouldn't allow it.

I really liked the Thermatru website because it lets you design the door you like, then you can also check how much privacy the glass you chose can afford you. The only thing I don't like is that you can't get the price estimate from the site.

The door above is the one I am leaning towards now. It's exactly in our price range and I love it! On the privacy scale rating (where ten is most private) it rates a 8. It's important for us that we have a lot of privacy, but don't need blinds on it, because I think that's ugly. What do you think? What color should I paint it? Do you like the glass design or should I choose a different one?

I'm just a little worried that the door we chose might not match with our red-brick theme. I am considering getting the same door but in Fiber-Classic if we can get it at a decent cost. That way it can be stained to look more like wood.

Change in plans

We've had a few changes made to our plans, nothing major. We added some flair to our original elevation with some cultured stone and a break in the huge wall of brick on the left side. (We also got rid of the wing walls, don't remind me!) As for the main floor, the main difference is the larger foyer to make room for the now L-shaped staircase. There were a few other adjustments, but nothing major. And finally, all we changed on the second floor was our walk-in closet, we removed the wall in the middle. Since the staircase is now L-shaped, we also gained some space on the landing.

Here are the pdf files for the elevation, the main floor, and the second floor.

On another note, we're getting the building permit on Monday!! Hot dog!

[We haven't decided yet if we are going to completely finish the bonus room, i.e., the space above the garage. Actually, I have decided, lol, I want it done! But I'm still trying to convince the hubbby. Basically, it would be cheaper now to finish it than later, and we might as well, it would be a nice workout room/game room for the kids. I plan on putting our elliptical in there, and then when the kids grow up we can put them a desk and chairs, instead of them going in our office downstairs. Hubby wants to know exactly how much it would cost to finish before he decides. Stay tuned.]

Flooring - to hardwood or not to hardwood, that is the question

Deciding on flooring has been difficult, to say the least. Let me explain...

So my dream kitchen has been like this: dark, rich hardwood floors, stain-less steel appliances, dark granite countertops, dark wood (maybe cherry maybe maple or mahogany) cabinets. This has been my dream, and now that I'm building our "dream house," well it only made sense.
But my husband and everyone else have been trying to convince me otherwise. Just about the hardwood. It's hard to maintain. It chips and dents, especially with kids (we only have one now, but who knows?) It gets ruined by water.

I thought long and hard, and I think they've convinced me. We are still going to do hardwood floors in the foyer and hallway, but I think I'm going to go with a dark (to hide dirt) ceramic tile in the kitchen (take a look at the picture, isn't that beautiful? and it's not hardwood!). What do you think? Do you have hardwood, is it hard to maintain??

Yesterday we also considered the possiblity of hardwood in the den, dining and living rooms, but specially the den. Take a look at our main floor plan to see why we are considering this.

I still want the stain-less steel and the dark cabinets. Not sure which color of granite I want though! I've been taking a look mostly at this website for granite countertops, but also this one. It's really hard to decide without seeing in person, I think we will go looking at some model houses or something to make a better decision.

July 17th, ETA: Okay, back to square one! I want hardwood floors in the kitchen again! I am just concerned that I will constantly be worried about it, what with kids, spills, water, etc... I am so confused now! I know that my dream is hardwood, but ... I found these two kitchen flooring that I like.