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Our Next Big Endeavor

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February 8, 2013

I mentioned this in my 2013 resolution/goal post and I had some of you asking for details on when we are planning to build, what we’re looking for, etc so I thought I would start the fun now…

How did you decide to build? Jeff and I knew when we bought our current home that it was a 3-5 year house for us…something for us to live in as a newly married couple, and possibly the home we’d have 1 MAYBE 2 kids in before needing to upgrade to something bigger. Well, as you might guess, space is becoming an issue and we’ve maximized it the best we can with adding in built-in storage and such, but it’s plain and simple…we are outgrowing the space we have and we need more room.
We knew at some point we would want to build a house, our “forever home” as we lovingly call it, and we are fortunate that it seems like this next year is the right time to bite the bullet and make that move.
Any ideas on your overall house design? Looks? Size? Etc?  This is when sites like Houzz and Pinterest come into play and become extremely helpful for people who are as picky as us. Let’s face it, if this is the house we will raise our family in and plan to stay here for years and years, we want to think of all the miscellaneous little details that truly make a house a home. When we sat down with our builder and brainstormed ideas of what we want, we came up with southern, traditional, and comfortable. In terms of specifics, we want loads of windows, space for the kids to play/craft/do homework, a formal dining room, huge kitchen (oh a girl can get carried away), a few extra bedrooms for overnight guests, an office that either Jeff and/or I can work out of, lots of outdoor space for entertaining, endless amounts of storage room for keeping items organized, and a massive master walk-in closet (yes, this is my must-have).
What’s the timeline? We have a LONG way to go…as of now, we are in the introductory stages. We have set our sights on the development we are looking to build in and will select our lot within the next 3-4 months. Until then, I will be searching for the perfect house plan with everything we are looking for and then we can modify as necessary to meet our needs. Luckily for us, my uncle is an architect and so is my best friend’s dad so I know we can get all sorts of advice of what/what not to do from them which will be a tremendous help. Even better, I’ve watched my parents build 3 houses so I know they will be there to jump in and offer help, too. As of now, it looks like we will begin building the latter part of this year with a scheduled completion of summer 2014.

We are so excited to embark on this next “challenge”…I know it’s going to be a lot of work, but the end result is going to be oh so worth the wait! You can visit my Design and Decor Board on Pinterest to see all kinds of ideas of our style and such…and as always, feel free to send me your advice/tips/tricks if you’ve built before. I am ALL ears!

  1. Sarah says:

    My husband and I have built 2 homes in 6 years- one without a child and one with a child. If you have any hardwood get it distressed so all those toys being dropped/thrown will not destroy the floor. And do not get white everywhere! We almost did white cabinets everywhere and a dear friend told me story after story of doing nothing but cleaning cabinets after her children left "fun" marks on them with with food, crayons, juice, etc. No matter how well behaved or how many areas you have for children to play this will always still happen!

  2. Oh my goodness!! So exciting!! I cannot wait to see the plans and hear about the experience. I know we want to build our next home too, but lots are limited in Tahoe! 😉

  3. Tess says:

    Girl – this is amazing news! With all that you have going on in your life right now, summer 2014 will be here before you know it!

    How exciting! Cheers to you and Jeff!

  4. Tess says:

    Girl – this is amazing news! With all that you have going on in your life right now, summer 2014 will be here before you know it!

    How exciting! Cheers to you and Jeff!

  5. Arielle says:

    yay that is so exciting!! 🙂 let the house planning begin!

  6. Emily says:

    this will definitely be a big adventure! i dream of one day building our "forever home" and i know when that time comes, i will easily get overwhelmed with all those little details! can't wait to follow along and see how everything goes!

  7. We are starting on the paperwork portion of the building process too. There are so many hoops to jump through to build your own home! It is ridiculous!

  8. Kate says:

    Hooray for another crazy home builder like us, haha!! But really, it's soooo totally worth it. It was definitely one of the most stressful (so much pressure we put on ourselves), yet rewarding and exciting experiences of my life. If you ever have any question, hit me up! Good luck and enjoy the ride… lucky you to have 2 architects at arms reach!

  9. Congrats! Looking for a house is much tougher than I imagined. I had no idea I was so picky. I can't wait until the next time around when we will be building!

  10. How exciting! I totally agree on all of your "wish list" items for the house! I cannot wait to follow this next journey of yours! So fun!

  11. genevieve says:

    what an exciting undertaking! very much looking forward to following along with your process! we hope to build one day, and I have no doubt your experience will offer amazing inspiration! xoxo

  12. So excited to follow along with your building process! I've followed your blog for a while and have a baby boy who just turned 12 months so I think we were pregnant about the same time. We are also now in the process of buying a lot and begin building within the next two years, so I'd love to see how it goes for you guys and any tips/tricks you have. I am right there with ya – massive walk in closet is a MUST!!!!! I own a women's apparel boutique in the Upstate of SC so our builder is probably going to think I'm asking for another bedroom. Um, no…just a space for my clothes. Yes, please!
    http://www.sandimcclain.blogspot.com
    http://www.scsugar.com (my store! check it out!)

  13. yay!!! we're building a house this year too 🙂 we break ground in March! can't wait to go through this adventure with you, my dear… xoxo {av}

  14. Kaity says:

    What an exciting step! Hubby and I have talked about doing something similar. Renting until we can afford to build OUR dream house, not buy someone else's. Can't wait to see what happens!

  15. Jess Norden says:

    How fun!!! I can't wait to check out your board and watch the progress! We are building, too!

  16. Day Old News says:

    What an undertaking, that is very exciting! I would love to start from scratch someday too.

  17. Megan says:

    SO exciting!!

    We just broke ground and had our basement poured! It is such a fun and exciting process!!! 🙂

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colorful life + style blogger | native nashvillian | wife and mom to two darling little ladies | bringing you all the happy you can handle

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