photo michele1.png  photo michele2.png  photo michele3.png  photo MIchele4.png

Thursday, December 31, 2015

#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.



2 comments:

  1. I love these home updates! Such an exciting time for you and your family. Can't wait until the reveal posts to see all your hard work and decisions become a reality.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I CAN NOT WAIT to see it in person!!!!!

    ReplyDelete

Comments make my day! I'm so happy to hear from you!

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails