Waiting on a Word.....

...about our pre-construction meeting. So to fill the time I'll talk a little about our flooring & cabinet selections and some other upgrades we decided on. Our meeting with Rite Rug was several weeks ago and it could not have gone smoother. Our flooring rep was fantastic - very knowledgeable and brutally honest about which flooring options were best and which were a waste of money. So here goes (I'm blogging from my phone, so the pics of our choices are below - I'm not entirely sure how to incorporate them into the body of my posts. I'm sure I'll figure it out, but bear with me:)

Flooring:
Carpet throughout the house(basement, living, dining, & family rooms, office, & all of upstairs) is Intuitive HGL57/00702 Sweet Tea. A very, very exciting beige w some darker flecks here & there - all have the upgraded 8lb carpet pad underneath. Kids bath, laundry & basement bath all have a vinyl - Memories 62658. Foyer, kitchen, morning room, & powder room all have a goooorgeous wood laminate - Cumberland 77721 American Cherry. And now for the piece de resistance...the master bath. We'd upgraded to the separate shower & garden tub. We knew we were going to do a tile floor in there, so we chose Stratford Place SD92 Willow Branch 12x12. Initially we'd thought to just use the standard fiberglass surrounds and do the decorative tile surround on our own at a later date. But shortly after our Rite Rug meeting we visited a friend's new home - their master bath surrounds had the most stunning tile and the decision was made. I contacted our sales rep and made a change order the next day. Because who are we kidding? We take for.ev.er to do anything (we've been talking about moving for 5 years) and we aren't really do-it-yourselfers - and isn't that the point of building new anyway? To avoid "projects"? We're sticking with the Stratford Place Willow Branch for the surrounds as well, but in a 10x14, the accent is Stone Radience SA54 Wisteria Tortoise Blend. It's going to be fantastic. All the flooring is Armstrong, except for the tile which is Daltile.

In the kitchen we went with 42in Fairfield Maple Spice cabinets with the cabinet crown moulding. Our countertops are standard Formica in Labrador ( we have the gourmet island w the morning room, so the granite was a little spendy for us - I think the Labrador is going to look terrific, though.) Backsplash tile is Stone Bluff SB53 4x4 in a diagonal pattern. Appliance package in black - getting the fridge on our own though - home depot has the same one Ryan was offering for $500 cheaper! No brainer there. Recessed lighting package, satin nickel hardware, upgraded faucet.

In the bathrooms the vanities are the same Fairfield Maple Spice cabinets like the kitchen with double sink bowls. That's all really. Nothing too earth shattering about bathrooms that aren't the master. Ha!

Morning room - ceiling fan rough-in, no optional windows, though we did spring for the 14x16 deck off the sliding glass door in the morning room. Very excited about that!

Hmmmm - I think everything else we did is pretty standard. Recessed lighting package in the finished basement. Full bath down there, too. Didn't really get any optional extra windows anywhere. Really loved the look of the stone fireplace, but after upgrading to the cul-de-sac lot and elevation C w the front porch, we had to compromise on a few things.

I'm also attaching a pic of our exterior choices. The brick front is a lighter color called Falls Canyon. Black shutters and front door. Wood siding is Monterey Taupe (the one directly left of the deep green. And I'm not 100% about the "Monterey" part - hard to read in that pic and i honestly don't remember)

So here's a few pics of our choices, though I'm not sure they're done justice - the master bath tile looks much, much lighter in the pics than it does in person, so I've added a couple directly from the manufacturers site.