#letsbuildafarmhouseTX Update 2015

If you've been reading my blog since the beginning, then you know Mark and I have dreamed about building a house on our land in the country since we got married.  It's taken us 10 years to decide what we wanted and about 3 years to make it become a reality.  We started from scratch.  We had house plans drawn to perfectly fit our land.  Before we started any of the building process, we got bids from different custom home builders and we selected the builder that was right for our project, budget, and family.  Our land in the country was a blank slate when we moved forward with building.  There were several things that had to be done before we were ready to build.  We didn't even have a physical address (also called a 911 address) or any utilities.  Once we took care of all of the start up, which included getting electricity, water, putting in a driveway, and having dirt work done by a bulldozer to build the house pad, we were ready to go.  Since our home is completely custom, I've often told people it is a blessing and a curse. The fun part of a custom home is that you have unlimited choices. The stressful part is that you have unlimited choices. Did that make sense?  Many people are frustrated when building a new home because they don't feel like they can personalize it.  With our home there are endless possibilities and it is 100% a reflection of our style.

If you're new here, and the title didn't give it away already, our style is farmhouse, which most of you already knew.  Have you ever heard the song by Barbara Mandrell, "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool"? I feel like, "We Were Farmhouse When Farmhouse Wasn't Cool".  We started planning this home about 3 years ago (before Fixer Upper) and we didn't know the farmhouse style would become so popular.  It doesn't bother me that so many people are building homes that are this style.  It is classic and timeless in many ways.  There are numerous benefits of building something that's a popular style and one is that finishes are readily available.

I haven't been as good about blogging about the process as I thought I would be.  I plan to share more of the specific details about finishes on Angela's blog Unexpected Elegance.  For now I've put together a timeline to help me remember all that's happened this year in regards to our new home.

Photo taken in November

Here's a timeline of how things have evolved.

2015

January 

Received bids

February

Chose builder/general contractor

March

Worked to get utilities, address
Link {here} to a blog post as we prepared to start the dirt work.

April

Dirt work for house pad

We were very fortunate that we had a few days of dry weather to get the dirt work done because May brought record amounts of rainfall to Texas.

May

Not much since it was the rainiest May on record

June

Continued to get utilities put in place

July

Worked on selecting interior finishes

August

Continued to work on selecting finishes, specifically plumbing

September

Foundation work, piers were poured

October

Foundation was poured
Decisions were made about exterior siding, exterior doors, etc.

November

Framing 

December

It was a BIG month!

Soooo much that I don't even know if I can keep a record of it all. 

Follow my instagram @redbirdblue and you can see progress updates.  I've kept a record and dated most of the photos so I can remember all of the details.

This photo below was taken (by my mother-in-law) around December 19, 2015 and shows the progress made to this point.  We don't have a rigid timeline of when the house will be complete.  It could be end of March or sometime in April, and if it is sooner then we'll be pleasantly surprised.  We have a place to live currently and that takes away the pressure of needing it completed by a certain date.  

Of course there have been challenges along the way, but overall we couldn't be happier with the house.  We feel very thankful that this home has become a reality.  I know I say this often, but I truly mean it.