I haven’t done a house progress update anywhere on social media or here on my blog since some time in early March, so I thought it was time for an update on what’s been going on the last 8 or so weeks. Obviously, the pandemic has had a great effect on many industries and in PA, construction was one of them (I mention this because not all states stopped construction, for instance Ohio home and “non-essential” construction was still able to continue).
Around early March, our house (pictured above at the time of the pandemic beginning) was framed with the sub floor installed, and the roof and walls were up. However as time went on and the house was left exposed, there was a concern regarding an impending issue of water damage since the house was not sealed off. While a framed structure like this is meant to withstand elements while construction is going on, it alone isn’t built with the intention of withstanding long term exposure. With the concern of possible water damage and no dates in site, we had asked local municipal authorities if we could have our our windows and doors installed to avoid any major issues (other municipalities near our location had allowed this). Ultimately, this request was not granted and we were instructed that only temporary seals and coverings were allowed based on the governor’s orders. This would entail something like having a crew come out to board up the house, sealing off windows and doors and tarping areas. Given that this would have meant more crews coming out to install the temporary coverings and then having to come out again to remove them once construction restarted, it seemed counterintuitive to us to go through this whole process given what the orders were trying to attain. Luckily, in the midst of this (and with our timeline for a decision getting shorter) the governor had instructed construction to be restarted on May 8th, but then changed that order to reflect an even earlier re-start date of May 1st. Thankfully there was no water damage to the subfloor and we did not have to go the route of temporarily sealing off the house.
This blog post with my design boards has been sitting in my drafts for months, it just didn’t feel right talking about the house design with all the unknowns surrounding us. Given that we’ve been working again for almost 2 weeks now, there is some reassurance that the project will be able to be completed. And while this has complicated things with our rental and living situation, I’m being hopeful that this works out considering the circumstances we are all under. It’s kind of funny because when we first sold our house and rented the apartment, we looked at it as a temporary living scenario (which, realistically it still is). However, we really thought we’d be there for around 9 months to a year at most! We are now looking at closer to a year and a half if things go well. Essentially, between switching builders and the current pandemic we have lost somewhere around 6 months. And while I probably don’t have to do this, I feel like I need to clearly state this here: I’m not complaining in this post and am grateful and relieved that things are able to progress at all. Things everywhere needed to stop and I was a proponent of the state at home orders. I’m simply trying to paint a picture and create a timeline to explain what is going on since I’ve shared so much of this process with you so far!
With all of that being said, the intent for sharing my design boards in this blog post is two fold. First, to give you a visual idea of how our “fixed” rooms in the house will look. When I say fixed rooms, I’m referring to areas like bathrooms and the kitchen. These serve as the design foundation of your home and are the first things you will be picking out in this process. And second, to share how to organize your room selections for these if you are looking to renovate or are building a house.
If you are building a house or doing a major house renovation and are interested in creating a specific atmosphere in your home, I cannot suggest this enough: Look at room elements you are interested in ahead of time and choose (or have a good idea) of the finishes you want- then (this is key) build each room with all those elements at the same time. This is not a fast process, it’s takes a bit of independent leg work, but I guarantee you will be so happy you did this before heading into your selection meetings. There are simply so many choices when you walk into the showroom, this helps tremendously to have things narrowed down before going to your final selection meetings. Granted, you don’t have to do it this way and can certainly go in and choose everything at your meetings and in the showrooms, but keep in mind that this will be a big stress reducer and time saver if your intention is to create a particular type of setting. For me, it wouldn’t have worked to choose all of our plumbing fixtures (the first part of our selections) without having the rooms designed that they were going in. If you are having commitment issues, let the board your create be your guide! If you see something you like in person go with that! But having a guide to go off of will make this process imminently easier when the time comes to finalize decisions.
Start by looking at finished rooms online, save your favorites then go from there. While you could certainly just stop here and bring those to your reps, I do suggest taking it to the next step and looking at the specifics of the room. The tile, the sink, the cabinets, lighting etc. Break it down and then look at the your builders vendors and the brands they carry, and filter choices based on your budget and taste to find similar things. If possible, go the the showrooms before your meetings to browse and take photos of items you are really drawn to. Then save those images and names, and add the next element. When you put them together you will start to see what will work together and you continue until you build something you love. It’s like putting a puzzle together in each room! I have used my boards so much during this building process and really they come in handy to send to your builder as well!
Below I’ve included boards for our great room/kitchen area (which is a bit of a general board), the master bathroom, the guest bathroom and the 2nd upstairs bathroom.
Master Bathroom Tile, Cabinet Stain, Hardware, Lighting
I don’t even know what to say about this room other than I cannot wait to not share a bathroom with everyone again! But in all seriousness aside from that, I’m so excited for how this room is going to come together. I wanted something classic, yet different and was inspired by a few specific designs that I pulled inspiration from. For instance, a vintage cupboard in a beautiful bathroom inspired the wood and stain for the cabinets!
Great Room/Kitchen Inspiration, Decor and Furniture Contenders.
While our kitchen is designed, I’m still working on the great room furnishings and decor portion of the room. Given that our great room, kitchen and dining room are all essentially one open space, it’s super important that everything be cohesive. I use this board whenever I look at furniture options/lights/rugs/etc.
We are definitely getting a modular sectional, and while at first I thought we would do an “L” shaped configuration with 2 chairs, I’ve really come to like this “U” shape.
This is our first floor bathroom attached to the bedroom with a standing shower.
Right now, this is mostly for my mom to stay in when she visits! In the future would be perfect if we have another baby (c-section and I can’t go up the stairs) or if one of the kids wants this room when they are older. The other big aspect of having a bedroom with en suite on the first floor came from when I was initially looking at house plans. Just about every cape cod style home had a first floor master and would get frustrated because we didn’t want that. It really wasn’t until learning from our realtor about the value that having a first floor master brings because once someone becomes older they prefer a room on the first level. I’ve joked with my husband, but am also pretty serious that after this experience I will never move from this house so this bedroom will be ours down the road when we are old and can’t go up the stairs!
The boys shared bathroom upstairs.
We are creating this tile pattern with individual square ceramic tile to cut cost. I wanted to do something interesting with their tile but nothing that would get dated quickly, and thought this pattern was perfect for their space and they will be able to grow into it as time goes on. All of our cabinets are custom, but I was inspired by this vanity from pottery barn for their space and chose a wood type and stain that would give that same look.
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And here is a look at the progress we are at today! I cannot tell you how much relief there is knowing everything is *almost* all sealed off from water! And honestly, it feels really good to have something to look forward to right now. Seeing our home that I have literally worked on for years come together is a bright spot in a very dark time that I am so grateful to have.
