Burnerblog

Sherry and I visited the design center to pick the options for the new house, and we made a lot of nice choices and very few compromises (fortunately). The only area in which we were both underwhelmed was the choice of faucets: two. Basic or “upgraded” for $2700 more. Umm, no thank you. The “upgraded” faucets are similar to what we currently have in our home, but a bit larger and more exaggerated (which means they are not nearly as attractive, in our opinion). The standard faucets are just fine and if they present any problems ergonomically or stylistically once we move in, I can replace them.

Otherwise, everything we picked is pretty darned nice, and we’re super-excited about going back tomorrow and making the decisions final. Tomorrow is the point of no return; the money that gets put down tomorrow is non-refundable. They start building the house next week (well, digging the hole for the slab, at least).

I didn’t take any photos during our first appointment, but I will take some photos tomorrow and post our choices. The railings are one of my favorite features and will remind me of my dad.

On a somewhat related note, I found out that I can get PVC ceiling tiles that look like stamped tin for a fraction of what the tin costs (and if you’re going to paint it anyway, why not save the money?). I’m going to do my office in the same color it is now (a sort of sage green) with the white ceiling tiles, wood floor, dark crown molding at the ceiling, and perhaps a light chair rail around the room. Of course, this won’t all hap

pen at once, but it’s the “plan” for the room. We may initially put in the wood/laminate floor in the family room prior to moving in, but we haven’t made a firm decision on that yet.

On the list for me after we close on the house (in December) is put up 18 sets of blinds and 4 ceiling fans. That alone will be a day’s worth of work. Then, there’s painting Brendon’s bedroom, Gelli’s bedroom, Jamie’s bedroom, the master bedroom, the master bath, and my office. We plan on doing all the painting prior to moving in so that we have as much room as possible to move around, etc. Also, we’re pretty efficient and fast at painting now, so it really should only take us a couple of days to get that all done.

Also related is that I found a decent set of plans to our new house that give me measurements for the rooms. This is useful because Sherry and I can start planning where furniture will go, etc. The rooms are all larger (some by quite a bit), so we’re having to try to decide where we will put things, and what areas will need to be filled in with future furniture, decorations, etc. While we like things to be a little spread out and sparse (something we couldn’t do in our current home), we need more sitting surfaces in the family room (for example).

…like Donkey Kong.

We made the decision on Saturday and got the confirmation we were looking for this morning; we’re moving.

The house is going to be built, beginning within the next few weeks and completing in December. It is a house called the “Longhorn,” and is 4,549 sq ft with five bedrooms, three and a half baths, study, dining room, family room, living room, media room, game room, breakfast nook, and kitchen. It has lots of closet space, and will accommodate our six-person family as Sherry’s mom joins our household. The picture above is the elevation Sherry and I chose, although a bit different color.

The logistics are all being worked out, but the emotional and financial parts are covered, so from this point forward, it’s just a matter of getting our house fixed up and on the market and having the new one completed. Fortunately, our moving and buying the new house isn’t contingent on our selling our current house, although it’d be nice to sell our current home as we move out of it and into the new house.

Location-wise, the new house is within 2 miles or so of where we live now, ensuring the kids can continue attending the same high school. We also like this area, and its proximity to I-45; we didn’t want to live too far away from a major highway. We will miss being on the same power circuit as the water company (which always guarantees our power being back on before everyone else’s when it does go out), but the new house has a lake in front of it with a park and a 50′ easement behind our house where nothing can or will be built. The homes all around ours are quite nice, and the neighborhood is very nice as well. The surrounding area is all residential with only a few commercial areas on the main street outside of the subdivision (Kuykendahl Road).

We are excited and looking forward to the new house and with being able to host parties in it. The best part: we’re building a pool!

Big changes, indeed, but they’re for the better.