Random Questions

Two come to mind at the moment

Do the kitchen cabinets come with hardware? I have been looking at different blogs trying to find and answer to my question but it seems as some houses have them and others do not. I can't tell if it is an after market add on b/c it seems like some of the pictures are final walk-through pics and I see hardware. Just a random question I thought I'd ask so I know if this is something else we need to add to the budget.

Also has anyone who has installed a closet organizer system been able to have them install the wall mounts during construction? We went to the container store the other weekend (actually it was Chris' 25th b-day and yes that is what he chose to do with it)  and saw the closet organizer systems that we both fell in love with BUT they are like 10x the price that they would be at Home Depot. So we went to HD and saw them for a great price (about $150 for a 7-10ft unit) and we know we are going to do 2 of these in our closet. I e-mailed our SR and asked her if during construction they would be able to install the wall mounts for us instead of the wire rack they were going to install . We know this could be a DIY project but neither of us is super handy and we want to make sure that the mount is screwed into the studs so it will support the weight of everything once the whole system is constructed ( we will do the rest of the system ourselves its just the mount we want done by Ryan).  Our SR doesn't think it will be a problem but she said we have to ask our PM when we get to that stage. I am just hoping this won't be a problem since it is pretty much just switching out the rack for the wall mount.

Lot Pictures & Standing Water

We went down to our neighborhood this weekend and while we were down there we went down our street to look at our lot again. they have expanded our street by about 2 lots on each side and all of the lots around us are starting to be sold. Both of our neighbors have sold signs and our neighbors to the right have stakes.

 ::Side Bar::- We know we are going to cause some disturbance in our neighborhood b/c most ppl will be post settlement by the time we break ground... We will bring cookies or something to try to smooth it over =-)

Anywho, while we were down there we noticed a rather large (to us) pool of standing water running along the easement behind the houses. I know that's what the easement is supposed to be for, but I was told there are storm drains every 4 -5 lots so there would be no standing water.

 This was something that bothered us a little as it was a decent amount of water just pooling in a few neighbors yards ( and the rain that caused it wasn't that heavy). We were told that day by one of the other SR's in the neighborhood that it could be due to near by construction. The dirt could be causing a shift in how the water drained... I am ok with that answer except for the fact that our street is going to be extended a great deal and there could be construction going on for a while. Has anyone else had a problem with standing water running along their easement and more importantly has it caused any basement flooding?


Here are some pics of the lot as well.

We went with the basement exit

So I forgot to mention in our last post that we went ahead and got the Single Welled exit for the basement. Everyone we know with kids tells us it will be a great idea for the future so we went ahead and did it. Also after reading a few other blogs I think I am going to ask for the higher top rack in the closet so that I can put another rack underneath. We are also thinking about getting a few additional outlets like on the island and on top of the cabinets ( I think that is it but I will double check to make sure) This is one of the good things about having a delayed construction date, we can still make changes... and the more I read the more I want to add/change.

Pictures as Promised

Here are pictures of the model in our neighborhood. I love the way this house is decorated and we will probably be borrowing a lot of design ideas from this house, especially the master bedroom. I also have pics of some of our selections. We did change the counter tops from Red Montana to Golden Mascarello after looking at pictures online and some other blogs (those2 colors are really hard to find, I guess not too many people have them)

The range we chose flat top electric

I love the way this kitchen looks so we are going to try and make ours look very similar. We are doing the upgraded laminate instead of granite though so it won't be exactly the same.

Our sales rep said the cabinets in the model are Wyoming Cherry Spice (which is what we chose) but they seem a little dark to me. They seem more like Cherry Bordeaux ... Either way I think we will be happy

I believe this is the fridge that we chose as well

Morning Room

Family Room

"Living Room" I think we may make this a study although I love this set up. Chris thinks it will be a waste to set up another table which it probably will be b/c we will be moving about 1.5 hrs away from our families so we probably won't have many visitors.

Hallway pics

Hi Chris

These are all basement photos

Guestroom closest to the Master

Guestroom Closest to the hall bath

Biggest Guestroom with the "squinty window"

Hall Bath-I love the tile package in here but I couldn't convince Chris to do it in the Hall Bath. We have it in ours and have the standard white tile in the hall bath

Master Bedroom- We are going to decorate very similarly

Master bath

Washer package B- We chose this one

Golden Mascarello Laminate, Butterscoth Hardwood (Kitchen, Morning Room and Foyer) White Fox Carpet

Wyoming Cherry Spice Cabinets w/ the Golden Mascarello. I'm not sure if it is the flash but this is why I think the cabinets in the model are Cherry Bordeaux not Cherry Spice, they seem a lot lighter. Either way the Cherry Spice really compliments the colors in the laminate so I am happy =-)

ceramic tile package (master bath) in Mushroom

1st floor powder room tile ( I can't remember the name)

Hall Bath and laundry room color (I can't remember the name of this either )

Here are our Siding and Shutter colors. Sandtone siding with Black shutters

and here is our little spot on the planet. I am so excited about all of this especially being able to start a great life with my best friend. July is going to take FOREVER to get here, but it's ok b/c we have a lot of wedding things to get out of the way in the meantime.

selection pictures coming soon

We are going down to our community in a little while to talk w/ our sales rep (about changing the color of the countertop) and while we are down there we will take some pictures of our selections. We will also take some pics of the model since we want to decorate somewhat similarly.

So here is what we chose

So as I already stated we chose the Venice Model. This was after much deliberation and debate. We started this whole process thinking about a Sienna, that changed to a Florence. Chris really liked the layout/floorplan of the Florence, but I liked the size of the bedrooms in the Sienna. So we went back and forth about it for about a month and then one day out of the clear blue I suggested getting a cost estimate for a Venice b/c that is the house that I really wanted from the start. We thought that there was no way that we could afford a Venice but our sales rep (who is awesome by the way) showed us that if we cut back a little on upgrades we could afford it. When she showed us cost estimates the Venice and the Florence (that had a few more upgrades) were the same EXACT price in monthly payments. So when we saw that we knew the Venice would be our house. It has the perfect layout for me and more than enough space for us to start and grow a family in. We are really excited to just be starting our lives together let alone in a beautiful house like this one!


Ok so enough of my rambling. Here are the options/upgrades that we have:

In our neighborhood Elevation A is the one with full Vinyl Siding and that is what he chose.

• Finished Basement- with 3 piece rough-in's for the bathroom
• Recessed Lighting in the basement
• Morning Room
• Gourmet Island in the Kitchen
• Wyoming Cherry Spice cabinets-w/ crown moulding
• Laminate upgrade in Kitchen ( we are still going back and forth with this one. We chose the Red Montana Laminate but we think we like the regular Butter Rum Laminate better so we are going back down next weekend to talk to our Sales Rep and make up our minds)
• Stainless Steel appliance package - Flat Top Electric Range (we both like cleaning those better than any other option) Microwave and Fridge
• Recessed Lighting in the Kitchen
• Washer/Dryer package B
• Double Bowl vanity
• Luxury Owners Bath- But instead of the soaking tub we are doing the Roman Shower w/ double shower heads. 
• Ceramic Tile upgrade in owners bathroom 
• We are upgrading the cabinets in the owner and guest bathrooms but I can't remember to what ( I will write it down once we go next weekend and post it then) 
• 3 Ceiling Fan Rough-ins - Morning Room, Master Bedroom and The bigger guestroom 
• Hardwood in the Foyer, Kitchen and Morning Room in Manchester Butterscoth
• Carpet and upgraded padding-Everywhere else in WhiteFox (except for the laundry room and bathrooms but I can't remember the names of the tile there either but I will have pictures) 

So that is what we have right now, there are a few other options on the table that we haven't decided on yet like the walk-out basement for example. For the most part we are pretty set on the choices we have made and are happy about them.

For those who have the walk out basement has it come in handy for getting furniture and things like that into the basement?

A little bit about us...

Hi everybody!


This is going to be my 1st experience blogging so I hope I do a good job. I am Dannielle and my Fiance Chris and I are taking the plunge and building a Venice in the Hickory Hollow community in Smyrna DE. We are getting married in Nov of this year and have been able to work it out so that we are closing on the house in Oct. Everyone tells us these are two most stressful events we will ever take part in so I guess we figured we might as well get them both out of the way =-). We are excited for both though.

Our process is a little different from everyone else that we have been following on the blogs. They are not starting construction on our house until this July, but we have already signed the contract and picked out most of the details for the house. So we will be able to post a few pics of some of the options that we chose over the next few weeks. 

I really enjoy reading all of the blogs that we follow already and I have learned a great deal about this whole process from them. I look forward to learning more and getting great decorating ideas for the future.