Seven months ago when we decided to sell our home, I had no idea what our future would look like. We ended up finding a neighborhood five minutes away from our old house and decided to build a new home and live in an apartment temporarily until construction was finished.
We signed a four-month lease and optimistically hoped to be finished with construction in December or early January. As I’ve learned, there are always delays in construction! Here is is, at the end of February, and our house is finally complete. We’ve extended our lease at the apartment to complete some cosmetic upgrades on the house and plan to move in a little over two weeks.
The last few weeks have been a roller coaster and for a few days it looked like we might not move into this house at all. After some concerns with the inspection and issues communicating with the builder earlier this week, we actually spent a day house hunting for a different house.
We looked at some cute houses in older neighborhoods and some serious fixer uppers. It was fun, but I’m glad we don’t have to spend several months renovating a house and actually get to move into our shiney new house soon.
I’ve had several people ask about why we want to upgrade our brand new house. Our last home was done by a custom builder and we picked out every single detail in the house from the type of stucco finish on the outside to the type of light switch inside. We loved our home and living in a beautiful place makes me happy.
Our new home was built by big time national homebuilder and is pretty basic. They offered a few options on floor colors or upgrades like adding a separate shower in the master, but there wasn’t a lot of room for adding personal touches. We had a few upgrades put in but for the most part we decided to go with the standard and cheapest options so that we could upgrade things we didn’t care for on our own.
Here are a few of the things on our to-do list during our two-week remodel that starts today:
- Replace vinyl flooring and carpet in the main living areas with laminate flooring
- Paint entire house with custom colors
- Upgrade tile and install a better toilet in the master bathroom
- Paint a stenciled accent wall in the master bedroom
- Replace most of the light fixtures with ceiling fans, chandeliers and pretty lights
- Paint the exterior trim of the house and the front door
- Finish the garage with texture and paint on the walls and epoxy flooring
- Add a custom mudroom shelf and built-in storage shelves to the garage
- Paint the kitchen and bathroom cabinets and add hardware
- Replace the tile backsplash in the kitchen
- Frame and add window sills to the windows
- Replace wire shelving in closets
- Install a faux shiplap wall in the living room
Whew…I’m tired just writing all of that! We’ve got some other little projects, but these big projects will take the full two weeks before we move in. My husband is also getting started on some outside projects today- he can’t wait to get our raised garden beds built and get planting. Check back for more details about our garden and backyard plans.
Yay! Congratulations! So happy for you!