And now, for a house update (because I can't resist). The changes are more subtle this time, but here's what's happened with our house in the last month:
And now, for a peek inside: The entry:
Looking into the dining room: (the half wall is the kitchen island)
Standing in the dining room and looking into the great room: (the doorway on the right leads to the entry)
And the view from one of our master bedroom windows: (please ignore the scaffolding)
And some deets on upgrades:
The company we are building with was offering huge incentives when we decided to buy, so we were able to get several upgrades, many that we might not have otherwise splurged for. Here are some that I am excited about:
- Fireplace!
- Maple cabinets!
- Granite countertops in the kitchen!
- Beadbord doors!(Okay, enough with the exclamation points. Just know that I'm excited about everything.)
- Upgraded carpet
- Laminate (fake hardwood) on the main floor
- Loft converted into a fourth bedroom
- Maple banister
- Banks of drawers in the bathrooms (instead of just cabinets)
- 2-tone paint
Advice for anyone who plans to build a house in the future: When builders list their base price ("starting at $199,900!"), just know that you need to plan on spending several thousand more on upgrades, unless you want a very basic house. As in, a house with no blinds, no appliances, no garage-door opener, cheap carpet, one paint color...you get the idea. I think the average homebuilder spends about 15% of the base cost of the home in upgrades. It's frustrating, but I guess all builders do it to be competitive with each other. Our experience really has been good, but we knew in advance that we would need to plan on several thousand dollars in upgrades.
