THE MOST PINTERESTING THINGS OF THE WEEK

I am constantly dreaming of what the interior of our house will look like.  I simply cannot wait to get in there and decorate the heck out of it!  The thought makes me giddy.  :)

So, naturally, I browse Pinterest every day and soak up every beautiful house photo and good house idea that I can!  I have an entire board dedicated to our house!

For those of you who follow me on Pinterest, you probably have already seen these pins.  Nevertheless, I thought it would be fun to share what I pinned for the house this week and tell you what my thoughts were of each individual pin.

I will try to make this a weekly post.  This week I pinned ...

... this adorable little wooden box to corral small countertop items:

via

 

I could totally make one!  I have made little wooden boxes before - so easy!  Hmm ... if only I had several small and attractive cutting boards to display like that.  I will have to start collecting!

 

I also pinned these combination cabinets and bookshelves: 

via

 



I absolutely love the idea of those built-ins, especially in a dining room where more storage is always needed.  I could hide the less attractive items in the cabinets below and decorate the shelves with the pretty things.  It's too bad I can't really think of a place in our house to put something like that.  Our dining room is pretty open to the other rooms with no blank walls.  Maybe something with shorter cabinets for a TV wall?  Hmm ... wheels are turning ...

 

Next up, I pinned:

via

 

Aaauuhh!  Those letters!  I NEED to do something like that for our laundry room!  It is so stinking cute!

 

Here's something a little less attractive but more practical:

via

 

Definitely need to install that on our TV wall to hide all the cords!  I was already thinking of something like that ... maybe have the framers hide some type of a PVC pipe in the wall so there is one opening behind the TV and one on the ground for the cords to come out?

 

Check out this cool contraption:

via

 

We are going to have a fireplace, so wouldn't that thing look cool in our living room?  I know I could build that.  I pretty much have already built a very similar cart all by myself, so  I would just have to add the plumber's pipe.  (For our very first Christmas together as a couple, Carleton bought me power tools.  It was right then and there that I knew he was the man for me.  Haha, just kidding!  But, my first project with those tools was a cart exactly like the one above.)

 

And, I saved the best for last!  Check this beautiful photo out:

 

via

Did the clouds open up and angels sing while viewing that photo??  They did for me!  The initial reason I pinned it was for the floors.  I absolutely love the color of those floors - especially the variances in color between the individual boards.  Upon closer inspection of the above photo, I realized that our house's entryway will be a tiny bit similar to it.  Our stairs are in the foyer (but on the left side, not the right) and we will have a balcony like that to look up to the top of the second floor.  But, I think our balcony will be pushed forward a bit and our foyer is much smaller.  But, I want to copy that white board and batten on the stairs!  Just gorgeous!

Well, I hope that was as fun for you as it was for me!  Can't wait to show you my pins again next week!

QUICK UPDATE

My goodness!  How the last month has flown by!  I am just dropping in to let you all know that, yes, I am still going to blog about our house!  So, here is a quick update.

Since I last posted, we closed on the loan!  (Yay!)  I thought it would be exciting and dramatic, but really we just signed some paperwork at an attorney's office and then left.  With a check in hand.  Woo!  So, although it was a little less exhilarating than I thought it would be, it felt a little surreal to see such a big check!


Here is my *brief* explanation of the loan:

We have what is called a "construction mortgage."  Basically, the bank gives us chunks of money in increments which we use to pay the various sub-contractors to build the house.  (The bank doesn't give us the full amount of our loan up front.)  They will periodically inspect the progress of the build and give us more and more money as the project moves forward.

Then, once construction is complete and we obtain our Certificate of Occupancy, everything rolls over into a mortgage, so there is no need for another closing.

We do have to pay interest on the money we have been given starting now.  (I guess this is good practice for when we have to make full-blown mortgage payments!)

Moving on....


Our concrete company has already poured the footings and has set up the staging to pour the full foundation!  It was pretty crazy to see the staging set up to pour the walls.  I have to admit that when it was just a giant hole, I panicked a little bit - thinking that we were building a way-too-humongous house!  But, after the staging for the foundation was put up and we got a sense of the walls - it closed it in a little bit more so our house seems like it will be more modest.  Phew!  (It's crazy how my perception of everything totally changes ... it's hard to visualize an entire house in a spot where nothing is there!)

We are hoping the foundation is poured and done by the end of this week ...

Also ... we have a framer!  We went through quite a few framers to find "the one."  We had our hearts set on a man who apparently is the equivalent of a gold standard for our area.  Everybody and their brother recommended him.  We tracked him down and met with him.  He took our plans and he was pretty confident that he would be able to "squeeze us in."  We were pumped!  Unfortunately, though, after reviewing the plans, he ended up declining the job because he didn't think he would be able to start and finish before another big job that he already has lined up is scheduled to start.  So, we were pretty bummed about that.

But, we did have another recommendation for another framer and we met with him and both liked him a lot.  His company is from another part of CT so he will have a little bit of a drive every day, but he seemed really knowledgeable and confident after reviewing our plans.  He was very business-like and professional.  We are excited that we found him.  He even mentioned certificates of insurance without having to be asked for them - so of course he had my vote, haha.  (For those who might not know, I work for an insurance company and am a stickler about documentation... hehe.)  I think he is ready to start framing in mid-January.  I might will freak out the day I come home and framing has started!

Whew!  There is my mini-update!  I will be back soon with updated pictures and more details about everything that has happened!  I want to show you some pictures Carleton took of the property - he has some progression shots and they are pretty cool!  I also want to post about the property layout (for my family who doesn't know) as well as the house layout.   I promise I won't wait a month for the next update!  Stay tuned!

HOLE-Y MOLY

Hi, readers!  (All four-ish of you!)

So, you all know how excited I was last week when I saw a big excavator on the property digging up tree stumps.  Well, imagine my even greater excitement when I got home from work on Friday to find a massive hole in the ground!  A hole even bigger than a house!!  It really was surreal! 

It was around 6:00 p.m. when I got home, and by that time it was pretty dark.  So, imagine being in the dark, standing on the edge of a massive hole in the ground, with a gigantic pile of dirt sand way over your head on the other side of you.  In my head, I was singing "I'm on the edge!!  Of glory!!" (Lady Gaga reference) out of pure giddiness.  It was amazing!

Carleton came home from work on Friday at lunchtime and here is what it looked like:

Unfortunately, we weren't able to take pictures of what it looked like Friday night because it was so dark.  But, here is what it looked like Saturday afternoon, after the excavator man came back to smooth out all the piles:

Look how white the sand is at the bottom!  That sand was not placed there - that's just what it looks like after they dug the land.  (Are we going to be living on a beach??  It looks like it!)

The hole seemed slightly less-large on Saturday compared to Friday night, but only because it wasn't accompanied by larger-than-life piles next to it.  Carleton and I had fun pretending we were standing in the basement of our new house.

Carleton took some really nice photos with his fancy-schmancy camera from several pre-determined vantage points and I will share those in a different post.  I think it would be so fun to periodically update the views from those vantage points - sort of like a time-warp.

So, behind the scenes, our site plan was approved by the planning and zoning department as well as the health department.  We should have our building permit next week.

Also, the bank is coming out next week to check out the property and appraise it.  After the appraisal is complete, we can schedule our closing with the bank (hopefully the week after Thanksgiving).

We have already touched base with a concrete company to pour our foundation and they are scheduled to come out very soon!  And, we are currently looking for framers and getting some quotes on lumber.  We need referrals for framers!  Does anybody know of a reputable framing company?  If so, please let us know!

Carleton and I will be heading to Western New York this week to see my family and celebrate Thanksgiving.  I can't wait to hug my mom and eat her delicious Thanksgiving feast!  This holiday, I definitely have a lot to be thankful for.  I am thankful for family (both my family and Carleton's family).  And, I am really thankful for my hard-working boyfriend who shares my dreams and is making them come true.  And, maybe next Thanksgiving, the turkey can be at OUR house!!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

DIRT NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD

This morning when I woke up, Carleton told me to look out the window.  And guess what I saw?!  A gigantic excavator on the property!  Oh, my goodness, I was so excited!

That is the view through the window.  I was in my pajamas and there were lots of men over there, so I stayed inside.  :)

After more than six months of thinking, planning, organizing, preparing, and sweat-equity (on Carleton's part!), we are finally breaking ground!  What a glorious day!!

They are digging up all the stumps from all the trees Carleton and his neighbor have already cut down.  There were a million trees over there, seriously.  Carleton cut down most of them himself and then his neighbor (who cuts down trees for a living) helped him cut down the big ones.

Anyway, after the excavator men had finished for the day, I walked around over there.

That is the view from standing at the very back of the property and looking forward, towards the driveway and the road.  The building in the photo is the big garage which already sits on the property.

Our "dirt" is literally sand!  Look!

 

In several spots, the sand is literally white.  It is identical to the white sand you would find at a really nice beach.  How cool!  Is it weird that I want to save the sand somehow??

I know, I'm so excited about this dirt, it's ridiculous!

These pictures are taken from my cell phone.  I am really going to have to start using Carleton's nice camera.  Although I'm not sure how nice pictures of dirt can really be.  :)

Until next time!

THE SITUATION

Don't worry.  This post has nothing to do with anyone or anything affiliated with Jersey Shore.  Hehe.

I just wanted to explain our current situation in case there are friends or family (or strangers) who are not up to date on what is going on at this point in our lives.  Let's see how easy and non-wordy I can make this......

1. Carleton and I are building a house.
2. The property for our house is located right next to Carleton's mom's property.
3. To save money and closely monitor construction of the house, we have both moved into the basement of his mom's house until construction is complete.
4. We have decided to be our own General Contractor.  (So, basically, Carleton is the General Contractor and I just ask him ten million questions about what is going on because he is good at keeping everything straight and I am not ... hehe!)
5. We have no idea what we are doing and are just winging this.  But, so far, so good!

And that's it!  Wow, only five things and everybody is up to speed!

And now for some family photos:

That was Take 1 .... haha!  Here is Take 2!

Awwww.  Aren't we cute??  :)

GETTING STARTED

We are building a house!!!!

It's exciting and overwhelming and going to be so much hard work, but we know it will totally be worth it!

We wanted to be able to document our entire house-building journey so that we could share it with family and friends ... so this blog was created.  We hope to update it regularly with photos and details of our progress.

I hope you follow along and are just as excited as we are!

-Rhonda