The first round of paint and trim is complete!  Our new home will come painted entirely in Dover White by Sherwin Williams- I'm not sure the color of the white trim.  Dover White is, in my opinion, a much better all-over color to start out with than the beiges of our former rentals, and not so "white, white" that it will be completely unbearable.  Of course, we plan to add our own paint choices to each room as we build a plan for our decor.

Living Room in Sherwin Williams Dover White

Loft

The capped wall at the loft is the only "non-standard" request we asked for and were granted from the builder.  Typically, with hardwood stairs like we will have, the loft is entirely done in balusters as shown on the right side of the stairs above (not yet stained).  In order to keep noise down and to enhance furniture placement for the loft, we were able to change one side of the balusters to the capped wall that is offered when you choose carpeted stairs.  We're really happy we were granted this request!

This lovely window is actually in one of the front guestrooms.  We thought it would be in the loft by the way the elevation looks from the outside, but we were wrong.  This guest room will arguably be the most charming extra room in the house!  The window will be trimmed in white as well.

My neighbor chose her permanent paint colors in advance of their move and had a paint crew come in and paint the whole home before she and her fiance even moved in!  It's awesome that she won't have to worry about moving furniture around or doing "one room at a time" in terms of paint.  Me on the other hand, I have a bunch of jumbled Pinterest boards I still need to sort through to choose the final inspirations for each room.

How long did it take you to paint the rooms in your home to your liking?  Do you know exactly what you want, or will you have to take some time to choose?

Windows & Drywall

Our windows were installed right after the framing was complete.  We chose beige exterior windows to compliment our beige exterior trim (garage door, molding, gutters).  The beige windows were actually required with the beige trim package, and the interior windows had to be beige (also called almond) as well.  At first, we were skeptical about beige interior windows because typically interior window trim is white, but after researching the look of the almond windows online I am really excited about them, and they won't look awful if we decide to install white trim.

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Now for our REAL windows!

Hopefully, we'll get lots of natural light in our morning room.

The drywall went up quickly and was at the "mud and tape" phase during this round of photos.  

Living Room

Morning Room

Loft

There were some areas of the framing that needed to be re-secured, such as the wall at the top of the stairs shown above, but it was no big deal to point it out to Ryan Homes to correct.

Much more progress to come!  You can definitely see things coming together here.

Framing

At one point our home went from this:

To this, seemingly overnight:

Really by the day we knew the framework had started, our entire house was up!

Morning Room

Living Room

Looking through the walls of Bedroom #1

Stairs

Even with the weather delay we experienced in the very beginning, at the time of framing we were still on track to close by the end of April, and once the roof is on, weather is no longer a problem.

The entire process really flew by after this!

30 Days Until Closing! The First Big "Oops"

Today marks 30 days until closing!  Here's to hoping it's not so much of a bumpy ride.

It seems every big milestone in life is sometimes accompanied by an "oops."  On our wedding day, the chairs were late for delivery, delaying the start of the ceremony.  For our neighbor's Ryan Homes build, the big oops was their kitchen island (later corrected).

Well ladies and gentlemen, Ryan Homes installed the WRONG STONE on our home.

The sample at the bottom is the stone we selected, Arizona.  Rustic Suede is the stone that is installed.

We did not discover this mistake ourselves.  Our project manager sent us a sweet little email last night, almost like clockwork with 30 days to go, saying honesty is the best policy and somehow it was determined the wrong stone was installed.  We have seen the stone on our home once in person, and we asked about how the stone looked scuffed up (apparently it will be pressure washed back to normal).  We didn't look hard enough or remember that the stone we selected is actually lighter than the stone installed.  The "Rustic Suede" stone has pieces of grey and red in it, and the Arizona does not.

The stone installed is a stone that Ryan Homes does not even offer (at least in our community).  Of course this can be corrected if we want it to.  Basically, our project manager gave us two options:

1.  We can keep the stone that was installed.  We will be the only ones in the community to have it (a mistake laced with positives)!

2.  We can have the stone replaced with the stone we actually selected.

This mistake does not bother me that much because it can be fixed, and I've already seen the stone once and didn't think to question it, but it certainly makes you wonder what other mistakes happen that are overlooked, hmmm?

We plan to visit the neighborhood this week and knock on the door of the house we modeled our selections after, so we can examine the stone on their porch (as we've only really seen it from our car on the street).  Then we will simply decide if we prefer the "Rustic Suede" mistake stone, or the stone we actually chose.

Have you had any big things go wrong during your home building process?

Exterior Elevations

Before we started the process of buying a home I had no idea the term "elevation" referred to the look of the exterior of a home.  You would think it had something to do with how high the home sat on a piece of land, or something having to do with that.  However, the term exterior elevation refers to the overall look and feel of the outside of your home, aka 'curb appeal.'  When you drive up to your home, you want to feel like you LOVE it.  You also want your home to appeal to others, so if and when you go to resell, it is easy.  Choosing an elevation was one of the most important parts of the new-construction process for us.

Ryan Homes Naples Elevation D

When we did our initial pricing meeting with Ryan Homes, we chose our elevation based on blueprint drawings.  Our floor plan only has one elevation with a front porch available, which we knew we really wanted, but later we initially eliminated this choice in favor of a less expensive elevation, due to seeing how much costs were adding up.

The most frustrating part of this entire process is there are no real-life examples of most of the options you can select.  We chose our elevation from a blueprint, and then chose some colors based on small samples in the showroom.  We later changed both.

Ryan Homes Color Selection Process

Looks good enough here.  After selecting our colors we asked our sales rep could we pretty please have some addresses of the houses in the neighborhood that have our chosen elevation or colors?

Ryan  Homes Naples Elevation L, Graphite Gray Siding, Silver Mist Shake, Roycroft Copper Red Door

I always wanted a red door, but at this point we realized we didn't LOVE the contrast of these colors, or the elevation very much.  It was time to make a change.

Now for my father's visit! He helped us determine what upgrades to add now and what we may be able to do ourselves later.  For example, crown moulding can wait.  We were able to move some money around on our selected options in order to get the elevation we really wanted, the one with a porch!  There is only ONE house in the neighborhood with our elevation!  There are other homes with front porches, but not with our floor plan or other exterior features.  We have a chosen elevation example and a color example, as we will be the first house with both used together (pictured separately here).

Ryan Homes Naples Elevation D with Partial Stone

We are getting a porch!  I definitely zoomed in on this house from way across the street.  Sorry neighbors.  Future home-buyers are welcome to creep on my new house.  I won't be allowed to mind one bit, considering how many times we circled through the neighborhood while doing our research.  The home pictured here is our exact elevation, including the cute oval window!

Now for the colors!

Ryan Homes Color Selection Process

Ryan Homes Pebble Clay Siding, Sandy Tan Shake, Brown Shutters, Cream Exterior Trim

We must have researched every color color option available in the neighborhood when we were researching our colors.  Seeing the colors in "real life" was important to us because how can you fully visualize your home?  Our home will look very similar to the "real life" example above but we will have beige windows, that will blend into the overall color scheme even better, since we have beige/cream trim.

Ryan Homes Front Porch with Arizona Stone

Again, trying to not "creep" so hard on the neighbors.  House numbers have been removed!

We have seen a lot of progress on our home since I last posted, but once they started framing everything moved so quickly! Lots of picture updates to come.

What color scheme is the exterior of your home?  I'd still love to have a red door someday!

Our Kitchen Selections: Granite, Cabinets, and Lighting

Selecting the options for our kitchen was fairly easy because we pretty much knew what we wanted.  Luckily, the model home at our community features our selections, so it was easy to know and love what they will look like in "real life."

I love a timeless, white kitchen.

Ryan Homes Naples Kitchen Model

Ryan Homes Kitchen with Morning Room (source)

The only thing hard to picture about our kitchen has been the actual layout.  The kitchens above have become the "old" kitchen models as Ryan Homes frequently changes their floor plans.

Our kitchen layout moves the fridge to another wall, adding extra cabinet and countertop space.  We have a morning room, so we will lose the window above the sink in the first picture and instead have bar space overlooking the morning room, as shown in the second photo.

The refrigerator will now be on this wall, alongside the hallway leading to the dining room.  The pantry is on the right of the hallway to the dining room.

As mentioned, luckily our granite is installed in the model so it is easy to see what it will look like.  However, if you are interested in building with Ryan Homes, your granite samples to choose from are small squares.

Santa Cecilia Granite

The Santa Cecilia granite has two different shades to it, and can be either of the variations shown above (one has more gold to it).  So it is important that if you choose Santa Cecilia (and can't choose your own slab, which we are not sure we can at this point) that you love both variations.

Santa Cecilia Granite

You can see the different variations in color actually sometimes run through the granite as in the photo above.  Also note too when choosing a granite the granite names are standard.  We were able to go to Home Depot and pick up a small sample of our granite to have on hand.

Under-Cabinet Lighting

My father suggested we add the under-cabinet lighting and I am so glad we did.  It looks beautiful in the model, but it will also simply add more light in the kitchen, and it will be nice to not always have to burn the can lights overhead for our recessed lighting.

Timberlake Rushmore Painted Maple Glaze Cabinets

We are really happy with our cabinets, the Timberlake Rushmore Painted Maple Glaze cabinets.  The Timberlake brand also offers a "hazelnut" glaze but we were worried they would look too dark, and liked the look of the cabinets in the model.

The next step for our kitchen (besides it actually being completed) is coming up with a "design" plan.  We will want to find a kitchen island, choose and DIY a backsplash after move-in, and determine what color to paint, as well as a color scheme for decorative accents.  It should be fun!

Do you like a white kitchen, or do you prefer darker cabinets?  Both styles will be around for years to come.

The Study (Upgraded Formal Living Room)

We chose to upgrade the formal living room by adding a wall between that room and the dining room and adding a set of french doors to enter the room.  While I really like the idea of a formal sitting area, it had the potential to never be used and we thought a designated office area would be more practical instead of sacrificing one of the upstairs bedrooms.  This room is the only room downstairs we chose to leave carpeted (we would have loved wood but we had to draw the line somewhere as we priced out upgrade options).  The room could also make a great enclosed playroom area.  Here are some pictures from the model:

Ryan Homes Formal Living Room Upgraded to Study Option

Ryan Homes Formal Living Room Upgraded to Study Option

The Footings are Poured

What is a footing?  If you are anything like me and/or don't have a construction background, you likely have no idea.  The footing is part of the foundation and you can read more about footings here.  Basically, some concrete looks to be haphazardly poured in preparation for the concrete blocks that will be laid prior to pouring the concrete slab over the entire floor plan layout.  But, we have footings! Check out our red clay and concrete.

Left Side of Home (Garage) Footing

Our garage is on the far left side of the front of our home.

Front Door and Front Porch Footing

Front Porch Footings

We are building the Naples (reverse floor plan) Elevation D.  We have a front porch!

Morning Room Extension and Rear Fireplace Footing

In the above picture you can see the outline of our morning room extension off the kitchen and a small stick out for the rear fireplace.  You can also see the bit of yard on that side we will lose to the morning room compared to our neighbor's yard next door.

The next step is pouring the concrete slab over the entire thing.  Unfortunately, Charlotte is due for 4-6 inches of snow this week due to the harsh winter the southeast has had this year.  It is unusual for it to snow much in Charlotte.  We think this may delay the pouring of our slab, but we'll have to wait and see what our project manager says.

Oil Rubbed Bronze vs. Brushed Nickel Hardware

The standard plumbing hardware in our Ryan Homes community is chrome, so during the upgrade selection process we were able to consider upgrading to oil rubbed bronze hardware or brushed nickel hardware for all of the plumbing fixtures.  We are going to have bronze hardware on our interior doors, but for the plumbing we wanted brushed nickel.  Our fixtures will all be Moen brand, specifically from the Eva collection.

Ryan Homes Upgraded Garden Soaking Tub (James Joyce Model)

I am looking forward to our soaking garden tub.  We have one now in our rental and I love to relax and catch up on TV shows on my iPad.  The faucet shown is the Moen Eva Brushed Nickel Two Handle High Arc Roman Tub Faucet. The tub we are actually getting with our upgrade is the rectangular one below.

Ryan Homes Oil Rubbed Bronze Option (Naples Model)

Oil rubbed bronze hardware or (ORB) is known for showing water spots, so that is one thing to consider if you like the look.  Choosing between these two finishes is mostly just personal preference.

Choosing a Floor Plan

Once we decided we wanted to build with Ryan Homes, choosing a floor plan was actually one of the easier parts of the process.  There were certain aspects of the layout that we knew we wanted, and not all floor plans offered.  Ryan Homes builds for modern living, so all of the floor plans available to us to choose from had kitchens that opened to the family room, which many people look for.

Naples Reverse Floor Plan

Surprisingly, not all of the floor plans with a formal dining room had the dining room connected to the kitchen, so we made sure to choose one that had a connecting hallway.  We are also really excited about our Morning Room (or Sunroom).  It can be used as a breakfast area or as an extension of the family room.  The "study" downstairs shown above is actually a formal living room that we chose to upgrade to a study.  The upgrade closes in the study from the dining room and adds two french doors.

SOLD! Building a Naples with Ryan Homes

One of my best friends, Lauren, started looking to purchase a home with her fiance around the same time as we did.  Lauren and I work for the same company and can chat online throughout the day.  One Monday morning she started telling me about her weekend and that she and her fiance were going to build a home together!  That weekend was the first and only time they had been out house hunting.  I thought Lauren was crazy to be jumping into such a big decision so quickly, but I was so excited for our friends.

Fast forward to a few weekends into our home search, having seen several existing homes and not loving any of them.  Lauren's new neighborhood sounded like it had all the right things, but my husband and I remained calculated in our home search, going over all of our options until we had exhausted them.  We never thought we would build a home together as our first house.  But were we starting to come around to the idea?

SOLD!

We had driven through Lauren's neighborhood but not stopped at the model home.  One weekend we went to check it out.  It was beautiful!  You should have seen Ryan's face as we walked into the master bedroom.  All things considered (new vs. older home, schools, commute to Uptown Charlotte) we decided the new neighborhood was the best fit for us too!

Everyone approaches home buying differently.  Lauren went with her gut and saved herself a lot of time on weekends.  We went to home after home and never found the right combination of things- the right location, the right school district, the right floor plan, while Lauren shopped for furniture.  We are so grateful to be living in the same neighborhood as our best friends.  In fact, we ended up purchasing the lot right next door to them due to it being the only one left with a wooded backyard.  We couldn't ask for better future neighbors and we're so glad our friends are excited to have us swoop in on their great initial decision!  We're so excited for the future of our neighborhood and hope we are just a few of the other young couples moving there as well!