I am still in disbelief that we finally moved into our brand new home! I am pinching myself that I am writing this from my own little home office instead of a room that served 25,678 purposes in our little 1,000 sqft. Seattle apartment.

If you didn’t know already, after years of research, planning, and finally good timing, we decided to go with a semi-custom house in an eastern Seattle suburb. We wanted this house to be the house we grow and raise our family in, so that took the main focus when making our decision. The construction process itself from start to finish took about 8 months, however, it felt like an eternity. It was SO exciting but we were so anxious to move into our new home. I never thought in a million years back then that we would have the opportunity to (semi) customize our first family home. I am overwhelmed with gratitude every day as soon as I wake up in my beautiful new home.

We ended up deciding on our particular builder based on a few factors:

1. The ideal floor plan/home structure we wanted
2. Lot sizes
3. Craftsmanship
4. Options to choose from
5. In our budget…duh

Floor Plan

Our builder had a floor plan that had:

• No formal living or dining room
• 2 story great room
• Large/Open Kitchen
• 3 Car Garage
• Tall Ceiling Heights/Big Windows/Tall Doors
• Perfect sized bedrooms/separation of bedrooms
• Upstairs laundry room
• Designated Office
• Mudroom
• Guest suite on main floor/In the back side of the house

It was the only builder that had ALL of the things we were looking for so we decided to choose a lot and put the deposit down to start the process!

The Lot

The lot sizes in this particular town are 3x the size as a standard lot size in Seattle, which was definitely one of the best appeals to move further out. Besides the size, we also loved the natural beauty and the breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains. We chose our particular lot because it would have mostly clear views of our favorite mountains, but also because it was across the street from the cute little neighborhood park, and only had one next door neighbor for added privacy and space.

Construction Begins/Framing

Now this was definitely one of the most exciting parts of the whole process! Watching our home take shape and form was so surreal and such an incredible experience. I will never forget driving up to our lot to see our entire first floor had been framed, it didn’t feel real until that moment. We loved walking through the rooms before they had walls and imagining what it would feel like to finally call it home.

 

Interior Work

This part was amazing because we slowly got to see the design and finish elements we chose in the “design studio” come to life. It’s one thing to see samples of your backsplash, counter, cabinets, floors, etc laid out next to each other on a table, but it’s a whole other thing seeing the finished work.

 

Exterior Work/Landscaping

This was my husbands (and dog’s) favorite part. Dave has this unique love for yard work, and Minnie has been using the potty on a tiny apartment balcony for 2 years, so this was a big moment. We can’t wait to experience our first Spring/Summer in our new yard!

Finished Product/Closing Day

After a few hiccups and delays (due to our appliances being backordered indefinitely) we finally closed mid-December and I will NEVER forget the feeling of walking into our new house with our keys and pride of ownership.

 

 

First Christmas

We closed two weeks before Christmas, that same week my oldest sister and my littlest nephew moved back to Seattle after living in Italy for 16 years, so we were planning on a little family Christmas with them, my mom and Dave. HOWEVER, my middle sister decided to surprise us with her husband and dogs on Christmas eve which was just one of the most magical moments ever! It’s been so long since we all had a Christmas together and having it in my first house made it my favorite Christmas of ALL time.

What’s next?

We have a long list of house projects we want to take on, right now we are planning and prioritizing. We still need to get lots of furniture but we are taking our time to make thoughtful and smart decisions and investments.

Some projects we have on the horizon:

• Building a pergola on the back deck
• Gardening shrubs and flowers
• Adding millwork to the master bedroom
• Wallpapering the powder bathroom
• Getting art/photos on the walls (surprising such hard decisions to make!)
• Furniture for the guest room
• King Bed/Furniture for the master
• Decorating the downstairs office
• Millwork/Builtins and Fireplace mantle changes in the great-room

I wanted this post to start of my blog series for our new home so I can share and document each project and room as we go. So look out for more and be sure to check out what posts I have here.

So, what advice do you have for new homeowners? What do you think of our project list? Comment below!

 

xx Kylie