Meet & Greet

This weekend we were able to meet some of our fabulous neighbors!  Everyone was really nice and eager to get MOVED IN!  It was great getting everyone together and hearing about the building process.  Everyone is much further along than we are so it has been a tremendous help having their guidance throughout this process.  Abram and our neighbor to the right have so much in common.  You could call them both "tech-savy"! Our neighbors right now are great, but...there is a communication barrier, and we do not have a ton in common with them.  Abram and I both were both very excited about making new friends. 

We wrapped up our meet and greet with a trip to the Moo Thru.  I really enjoyed their cinnamon ice cream...  YUMMY!  It has been fun getting out there and trying new places in our soon to be new town.  The next trip out there we are going to try the deli in Remington, we have heard they have one of the best breakfasts in town.

Touring the Flooring

So we had our flooring appointment on Friday, April 17, 2015 with Coleman.  From what I understand Coleman is the new flooring vendor, different from a previous one people used.  There were not as many options I had envisioned and a lot of things were pre-set.  We stucks with a lot of the standard features but did get a few upgrades we thought were worth the investment.  Overall we spent around 4K, which in my book is reasonable.  Needless to say, hubby was happy I didn't go to overboard either.

Carpet & Padding:

We went with the basic carpet, the darkest shade (Baseline/Cobblehill) for the basement and the next to darkest shade (Baseline/Thornwood) for the main level and upstairs).  I really hate they don't allow you to have the same carpet on the stairs.  We did upgrade the padding and even that was still pretty pricey but hopefully it prolongs the wear and tear.

Hardwood:

We upgraded the hardwood to a Level B for the foyer, kitchen, and morning room.  The hardwood is called 3 1/4 Dundee/Espresso.

 

Here is a pic of the hardwood and main level carpet and kitchen granite
(really hoping the contract between the light and dark will make the kitchen pop)

 

Basement Bathroom:

We kept the basement bathroom pretty much 100% standard.  We chose the almond tile and bone grout. We also stuck with the standard vinyl flooring.  We are keeping the standard maple wheat cabinets and vanities throughout the house. We have re-done both bathrooms in our current home so the vanity is something we can fix later on at a much cheaper cost.

Main Level Powder Room:
We kept the powder room 100% standard as well. We are waiting to hear back from our sales rep though because I believe hardwood in the main level powder room was included as a part of the Dream Kitchen incentive. If this is the case we should receive a credit back from the flooring company and may use that to get another upgrade.

 

Upstairs Hall Bath:

Again, we kept the upstairs bathroom 100% standard as well.  We chose the white tile with white grout. (This will mainly be used for our son, so hopefully we can upgrade when he is a little older.)  We will have the maple wheat cabinet with standard white vanity top.  As of right now, I am planning on going with a little monsters theme, so eventually bright paint colors and accents. 

 

 Here is my current inspiration for the upstairs hall bath

 

Master Bath:

The bulk of our upgrades were in the mater bath.  We upgraded the up to a Level C for the tile and flooring. The design is called Heathland/Raffia, it is very brown in tone, and warm. We did get a corner shelf which was another $50.00 but we got it in the basic white to tie it into the standard white vanity top.  I really couldn't believe all of the small things they nickel and dime you for.  We did not get the mud pan reset, but we are considering changing it, it just burns me up the Ryan Homes charges you and so does the flooring place.

 

Here is a pic of the master bathroom selections

 

Reading & Research

So the stress is starting to dissipate and the excitement is starting to creep in.  I have immersed myself in other Ryan Homes blog sites to get ideas of options, decorations, and tips and tricks.  I will say I am slightly hesitant because many of the reviews are bad, but just as many are good, so here is to taking a leap of faith.

The really cool thing about reading these blogs, is I have "met" two other people who are building in the same development.  One of them is actually going to be my neighbor.  I love that these ladies are sharing their pictures, design option selections, and numerous questions.  It helps to have someone a few months ahead of you because their guidance can help you avoid some unnecessary steps and they can share guidance on what to get clarification on throughout the building process.

Tomorrow we meet with Coleman, this meeting is where we will pick out carpeting, flooring, tiling...etc.  This is probably going to be one of my favorite appointments because all my last few nights of HGTV will hopefully help me out :)

I saw some awesome color schemes in some other blogs that have really peaked my interest.  One of the things I really liked was a double shower head in the master bath shower, and hubby has already said I can get that upgraded option.

I will be sure to post more pics soon!

The Journey Begins

So AJ and I have committed to probably one of the most important purchases of our lifetime...our FOREVER HOME...at least until TJ graduates and heads off to college in 18 years!

We are blogging about this journey to help us document and share our journey.  This is a very exciting time and unfortunately sometimes even stressful. The process started off very rocky with a less than communicative SR, but things seem to be rolling along now.  I will say throughout this process it is very important to educate yourself so you can be your best advocate.

We purchased a home in Bealeton, VA called Mintbrook.  We are looking forward to the future development and are hopeful because we bought in early (Phase 1,) that this will be a great investment for us.  There are some pros and cons but over the long haul we are hopeful this house we build will soon be a building we love to call HOME!

Here are a few pictures of the Elevation we chose (Elevation C.)  We will have a full front porch but we will not have brick.  Brick and stone are not an option in the Mintbrook community.  You must pick something out of the scenic/traditional collection.  Abram and I are still undecided on the color siding we want but will update as soon as we know.

I will try and continue to update this as much as possible.  The first few months are slow as the builder pulls the permits.  During this time we will have our meeting with the Flooring Center and the Wiring Center to select any additional options we would like.

We want to thank everyone who has been on the journey with us from DAY 1, we would not have made it this far without God and our family and friends.  Here is to new beginnings in 2015!

 

The permanent temptation of life is to confuse dreams with reality. The permanent defeat of life comes when dreams are surrendered to reality. - James Michener