Third Week of August — Granite Selection and Tiling
One of the things that I love about working with Drees Homes is that they’re all about the details. So when we made our design choices in March, and I wasn’t feeling 100% about the granite that we selected, I was assured that we would have the opportunity to choose our specific granite slab before it went into the house… and I did!
On the morning of August 21st, I drove over to the warehouse before work and had a chance to check out large slabs of all of the different granites that they had to choose from.
The woman at the warehouse was even nice enough to grab a cabinet sample, so I could see how the granite would work with the color of our cabinets.
When we first chose the granite, I was nervous about the weird purple splotches that seemed to dominate, but as you can see in this picture, they appear to be little dark areas in our slab, and I can live with that! A few days after choosing the kitchen slab, I headed over to the house after work and was amazed to find brick as far as the eye could see!
As you can see, the sides and the back of the house will have a brick wrap around the entire main level…
…but the front is completely bricked on both levels! (Or will be. They hadn’t quite finished yet.)
When I stopped admiring the brick and finally walked into the house, I immediately noticed two things: 1) We had stair railings! They’ve been stained to match the color of the hardwoods that will be installed on the first level.
And 2) They appeared to be finished with tiling since our fireplace had its tile surround. I’m still not sure how I feel about this tile; it appeared much more colorful when we were in the design center, but I suppose you can’t go wrong with neutral, so I really shouldn’t complain.
I apologize for the terrible quality photo, but it really is difficult to get good pictures of bathrooms with no windows. Neither of us are too excited about the tile that they used in the hall bathroom, but once again, it’s neutral, and we’ll just have to cover dress it up with a nice shower curtain.
We are, however, in love with the tile that we upgraded to in the bathroom. I’m sure I’ve shared it about a million times already, but this marble look completely covers the shower walls, floor, and tub façade in our master bathroom, and it was worth every penny. Plus the grout brings it all together, and they even laid it all so the veins run at the same angle, which really makes all the difference (and would’ve driven me up the wall otherwise).
Fourth Week of August — Countertops and Lighting
Alright, before I show you how the house looked during the last week of August, I must warn you that woohoo, the lighting was up throughout the house, but ugh, we kept the standard, no upgrade necessary, very boring and at times just bad light fixtures that came with the house. In fact, the only ones that I probably won’t be changing ASAP are…
…the exterior lights. Thank God! For instance, I’m actually a huge fan of these carriage lights flanking our garage door. There’s a light on the back of the house that may need to be replaced, but the lights over our front porch are also A-Okay. We’re going to go inside now, but you have been warned.
Like this monstrosity in the dining room! What is that? Why wouldn’t you just not put up anything at all? How much money can I get for this light fixture? Basically it will have to go because 1) I think you get the point, and 2) I have great ideas for adding a little character to this room, and one of them has to do with the ceiling.
Does anyone else have a husband who hates the word “character?” I feel like my new obsession with Fixer Upper, in which they use it a million times per episode, probably doesn’t help matters. His inability to recognize, quantify, and evaluate an abstract quality like character might also have something to do with it. Engineers, am I right?
Look at our beautiful little kitchen! Once again, you know that the pendant lights will have to go. I do love that they’re right over the island though. (And sorry for the can lights, Mom. I know you’ll hate them!)
One other exciting addition were our new countertops! They were already installed, which absolutely blew my mind, and looked pretty awesome. Plus I’m dying to get to use this sink because it actually looks like it could hold a week’s worth of dishes. Not that I ever let that many dishes pile up in our sink…
Oh hey! Now that the lights had been installed downstairs, you can actually get an idea of the layout of our basement. I’m standing right in the doorway of the unfinished storage space, but just imagine a pool table a little over from where the giant dark-colored square is, and you know everything you really need to about what the finished space will look like.
More ugly lights in the bathroom. Oh well, that’s life. (Look how awesome the tile looks around the tub, right?! Okay, I’ll stop now.)
And finally, they had also put in our super fancy thermostat. It’s technically more than just a thermostat, and after our Homeowner’s Orientation session yesterday morning, I feel like I semi-understand how it all works. I’m actually thrilled at the idea of being more energy conscious since Drees builds their homes with energy efficiency (and lower utility bills!) in mind.
We close on our house next week! Isn’t that crazy? In just a little under four months, it has gone from hole in the ground to beautiful home. My plan is to post an “Early September” update on the house in the next few weeks, and then give you all a tour once we’re moved in. It will be huge house + no furniture, but that’s what happens when you buy a house at 23!
Leave any questions about Drees Homes, our building process, this stressful financial process, etc. in the comments!
P.S. There’s a lot more to see of the home building experience! Read my entire series of building our house with Drees Homes.
Thanks for reading! Posts on An Aspiring Heroine may contain affiliate links. When you click and shop the links, we may receive a commission. Learn more.
