GROUND IS BROKEN!

We have been waiting for quite some time for this day to arrive and while it was frustrating that things were out of our control and in the hands of the town offices (building department), I did my very best to stay calm as there really was nothing we could do to speed up the process.  I know our PM (project manager) was all over them and ultimately, we reached our goal of a fully completed permit!  

The good news about the delay is that it's spring now, my son is home from college and can bear witness to it coming to life, and everyone is just in a better mood working in the warmer weather so it's our hope that things move quickly and we can get back some of the lost time.  

Gavin, my older son, and I stopped by on the official ground breaking day to see a smallish hole taking shape.  This will transform to a slightly larger rectangular hole over the course of the week and we will move to pouring the footings on Monday and then foundation after that.  I am a very visual person so while conceptually, I see what is coming, I need to get in the space to really feel it.  Once the foundation is poured, I definitely want to walk around and discover if there are any nooks and crannies we can find to create additional space.  What I love about older homes is the charm and hidden spaces so with this new build, if I can create I love a surprise closet and utilize any dead space, I want to capitalize on it!  

Next week we are going to do some appliance shopping.  I did a preliminary search but I needed to fine tune the elevations and spaces so I knew exactly what to shop for.  The builder recommends Thermador Professional which I had in my last home and it was perfect for us.  While I appreciate how lovely the Wolfe, Viking, Sub Zero level of appliances, I think I would rather save the money as we have a few bar areas with appliances, and that difference could well cover the costs of those secondary spaces.  The other option is Monogram which has some cool features to consider- perhaps more of the clean aesthetic I like with brass knobs and details and also their burners are larger.  That all said, I like to cook but not to the level of Giada so I think either will work just fine for me!  The ancilary spaces are where I need to do some poking to determine which wine fridge, beverage drawers, ice maker make the most sense and fit our design. 

I have begun to think about the exterior design elements as well.  Going back to the fact that I need to see things in person to "get it", making siding decisions was challenging.  That said, I think once the house is framed and wrapped we will do things on site and decide what material works best.  It's really the wood element I am struggling with- how wide, how dark, etc.  I think we have decided on doing some very light cream stucco on the top peaks, horizontal siding below and some warm wood detail around the front door and garages.  If you scroll through the photos below, you'll see some of the exterior elevations.  What do you think?  The colors are off but this is the general look and feel.  That's my big reveal :) 

Overall, I am finally getting excited about the process as I love making decisions, am obsessed with design elements and can't wait to have our own space again after renting for a few years.  I think we are perfectly aligned with our project manager who is our direct line to the builder.  COASTAL has been doing high end, quality construction for some time so I am going to try my best to learn from them, not nitpick on every detail and not go overboard!  After all, this our #downsizerhome!