TLD house update – we are framed!

Construction is well underway at our new home, and we thought it was high time to give you an update! Through the busyness of the holiday season our personal home got put on the back burner as we worked on our clients’ houses (a full-on Cobbler’s kids situation). We took a couple of weeks off at the holidays and my brain had the chance to focus on our project a bit.

The house was framed and wrapped in December, like a package ready for Christmas. Best gift ever.

We walked through with the boys and it was the first time they had been inside. In typical kid fashion they mostly only cared about where their rooms would be and tried to fall off of the semi-framed second story to their deaths at least 83 times. Also, it was pouring rain. It was super fun and not at all stressful.

It never ceases to amaze me how a house looks WAY too small when the foundation is poured and it is framed, but before it’s wrapped. Even though I do this for a living, it’s a shock every single time. “THE HOUSE IS TOO SMALL.” No, it isn’t. The second the house wrap goes on it is suddenly huge. Here we’re standing in what will be our kitchen and living room.

Things also seem to move very fast at this stage, but now we are entering what we lovingly call “the boring middle part of the construction.” Where things don’t seem to be changing at all, but it’s because it’s all the systems being installed (electrical, plumbing, HVAC) and none of the pretty stuff that you actually see is happening.

Also please notice how tall these ceilings are!!! I’ve never lived anywhere in my adult life where we didn’t have 8’ ceilings through the majority of the house. The kids keep asking what my favorite room in the house is, and strangely enough at this stage, it’s the entryway (another thing I’ve never had before).

The biggest blessing we have is timing (I hope I don’t hate myself for putting this into the universe). Construction is stressful because of 2 things – budget and schedule. Obsessing over them both will ensure you have a horrible experience. We chose to obsess over budget and watch spending closely, but totally let go of the schedule. The builder expects to deliver the home to us in March/April, but we don’t actually need to move in until June/July. Being able to let go of that piece of the puzzle that we can’t control is making this process go so much more smoothly.

Our plan is to come in after we close on the house and then make some changes and customizations before we move in. As I talked about in my post about the hidden costs of building with a builder, we have chosen to make some of the updates on our own and save the premium cost that builders charge. It’s a tradeoff because it does mean longer that we aren’t living in the house and having to remove some perfectly good (albeit hideous) new finishes to get what we want. But again, we’re trading time for money here.

Over the next 2-3 months, drywall will go in, as well as finishes, lighting, and cabinets. Then in late spring we’ll come in and make some pretty fun changes to make it our own. I’ll be sharing the design plans with you over the coming months, but the biggest changes will be to the kitchen, master bath, and boys baths. Oh, and each and every light fixture in the house (NEVER pay the builders for fancy light fixtures).

The biggest challenge may prove to be COVID-related shipping delays, which have been wreaking havoc on our projects for the better part of a year now. Particularly appliances. But I keep reminding myself that it doesn’t all have to be done the second we move in for things to be amazing.

Be sure to follow along on our TLD New House Instagram Highlight where you can see all of the progress! And if there is anything in particular that you’re curious about when it comes to the build process, please drop me a line and share! We’re happy to share it all with you.