New Home: Custom Look on a Budget

I'm not a big fan of the whole "builder grade" look, but I have a "builder grade" budget, and we are trying to put the bulk of our money towards the framework of the house (like the overall square footage) and things that will be hard to change later (like upgraded insulation in the exterior walls, roughed in bonus room above the garage), so I've had to get a little creative to be able to afford my dream finishes. Here are a couple ways you can save on finishes if you are building or remodeling

Buy your own finishes:
My builder is awesome. Yes, I know I say that almost every post, but he really is. Any finish I decide I want to "upgrade" (which has been almost all of them), he gives me the amount of credit or allowance that's in the total house quote for purchasing it myself. While I usually end up spending more than the builder grade option would be, I'm definitely saving money on the upgraded price I would have to pay if I just told the builder to go get it. The advantage to this is that I can shop for deals, watch for sales (like my hardwood floors purchased from Lumber Liquidators by my builder when I alerted him the ones I wanted were on sale) and get exactly what I want. Below are some of the finishes I have actually purchased online (I heart Amazon and Overstock and their free/low shipping costs!) My builder is still installing the finishes, but I had so much fun doing the actual shopping for them! I'm not sure how my parents are feeling about their "already-full-of-our-moving-stuff-garage" being piled even higher with this stuff (and I'm not quite sure if the shower will fit in there when it's delivered tomorrow...), but I love the deliveries! It feels like Christmas when the FedEx truck shows up...I don't even mind them ringing the doorbell during Isabelle's nap time...

Not only do I shop online sales but I also look at stores for sales and the best way to remember the price and look of all the different items you like? Take pics with your phone! I always take a picture of the item so I remember what it looks like, followed by a picture of the price tag with dimensions listed. This way I can show Charles and get his opinion, and compare prices/styles wherever I am.

Invest some "Sweat Equity":

If you have the time (and skills) you can do some of the smaller things yourself to save money...painting all our own trim saved us 2K...I could have saved another 2K by painting all the walls myself but that is a huge job and by the time I figured in the price of paint, materials and time I wasn't really saving that much. We are also tiling all the bathrooms and master shower ourselves, assembling and installing kitchen cabinets and painting the half bath walls (b/c it's so tiny and will take me 30 min to do since there will be nothing in there I need to tape and I'm only painting the top half of the wall) and installing the bead-board in the half bath. Next month is definitely going to be busy for us, but I think we are doing just enough sweat equity to save money but not overwhelm us (I will let you know if I regret that statement or not in August...)

Only about 2 more weeks, and I have to have paint colors finalized. Yikes! I'm still undecided on the guest room/bath and Isabelle's room so I'd better decide soon...I really hate painting so I want to make sure the colors I pick are ones I will want for a long time. This week the roof is being shingled and by the end of next week the sheetrockers should be ready to start. Not much longer till we can actually see the inside start to come together!

New Home: Framing Almost Complete!

I had a meeting with the builder this morning to go over a couple details so I was able to take some more pics. I love our builder and am definitely writing a great blog post at the end of this about how awesome he was to work with throughout the process, and more about the whole process in general. It's getting so exciting to go out there and walk around the house as they finish more and more!

Front of house: Bonus Room above Garage

The guys were working away this morning finishing the framing of the roof

Left Side of the House: Our master bathroom window on 2nd floor and my cute little pantry window on the first floor

Back of house

These pictures were taken on Friday before the roof  trusses were in: Isabelle's Room

Master Closet

Upstairs Kids/Guest Bathroom: It's huge...bigger than our master bath, but there was extra room and Isabelle's bedroom was already big enough so...

Sitting area in our master bedroom

Master Bathroom

Window in our Master Bedroom

They will be shingling the roof and running plumbing and electrical next week, and should be grading the driveway/front lawn so it's not so steep in about 2 weeks. In another 3-4 weeks we will be able to go in and start laying tile (we are doing that ourselves in the bathrooms to save money) I can't wait til the sheetrock is up! That is going to really make it seem more "finished"!

Isabelle's Birthday

Isabelle's birthday party was a huge success! She had a blast, there were no melt downs, the weather was gorgeous and everyone left with presents...what more could you ask for? This was the first "kid's" party that I've thrown so I tried to keep the food easy and kid friendly, and I planned a couple activities for them.

She got her favorite stuff for presents: Dora toys and Books 

I always try to do a separate "drink station" so that people can come back for drinks and not get in the way of everyone else trying to get food. I also love have a tray to put the drinks on and lining it with cloth napkins  (or a dish towel) in case of spills or dripping when pouring.

I made these "frittatas" that turned out pretty well. This was a test run for a recipe I found that I really want to make for my soon-to-be sister-in-law's bridal shower. I want to make them for the adults with lots of veggies baked inside though.

Muffin/Cupcake tower~ I love these stackable cake stands. I got them last year at Costco for $20 and use them every chance I get. They create an instant centerpiece to any table or buffet.

Anyone having a Dora party? I have decorations you can borrow! =)

We made Dora bracelets as one of our activities. I found the beads and the plastic bracelet to put them on at Michaels.

We also made maps, and decorated them with Dora stickers

"Backpack" Party Favor Bags- I bought the bags at Party City and then printed out the face and glued it on (The boys got Orange "Rescue Pack" Backs)

Inside the favor bags was a Dora cup, Dora pencils, a Dora book and a Dora coloring book (thank you Target Dollar bins!) For the boy's party favors I did a plastic watch, bug catcher and Diego pencils.

I've already picked a theme for next year's party and am going to start picking up any cheap decorations/supplies I find in the next year...hopefully she doesn't decide she hates ponies anytime before next May =)

New Home: Framing Halfway Done!

We went past the house tonight and...surprise! It was halfway done with the framing already! I was so excited that we could actually walk around inside it! This definitely helped me visualize things better, and I'm already thinking of more decorating ideas!

Dining Room- Def the best view from the entire house

Living Room- My fave spot of the house with that gorgeous huge window

Stairs

Halfway Framed!

Standing in our future walk-in pantry

Back of the house- they still have to add the 2nd floor

Basement

Basement Walkout

I'm hoping when we drive by it next week that the 2nd floor will be framed, and I can post pics of the entire thing. Things are really starting to move quickly now, and I can't wait til July when we can start working on the interior finishes...I'd better hurry and find the rest of my bathroom tile!