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We’re Building a House | All the Details

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We are building a house! I’m sharing how we came to the decision and a peek at our overall design!

I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to the point where I could write this post! This has always been a dream of mine, but we started the journey to get here about two years ago. It’s been a little crazy, but also a whole lot of fun! Let’s dive right into the who, what, where, when, and how. I did attempt some watercolor renderings today. I’m no artist, but this helps me visualize so I thought I’d share those with you guys! Plus I have nothing else to share visually at this point ;).

Watercolor rendering of a modern rustic home with white siding, black trim, and black windows.

The Beginning

As I said, this has always been a dream of mine. My dad was in construction and he always talked about building a house. I would just watch him build things all the time as a kid. My parents actually build this little tiny house (before it was even a thing) on a piece of land we had. It was such a fun little space, I remember thinking it was like a playhouse for adults. Unfortunately, they ended up selling that and never finishing off that dream. But ever since I was a little girl I’ve dreamed of building a house. Girls all around me would draw butterflies, rainbows, and all the girl things. Meanwhile, I drew floor plans, and there was always a balcony in my floor plans! There won’t be a balcony in our new house, but maybe one day I’ll make that dream happen! ; )

Let’s fast forward to the present. We were right in the middle of remodeling our historic home in downtown Appleton. We were exhausted and had poured everything we had financially into the idea of flipping this house. My kids were growing more and more frustrated with the constant construction zones and all of our spare time was going into the house and not our kids. It was honestly one of the hardest times of my life. We’ve done some remodeling in the past where we lived in the house, but this one was different. It was a HUGE undertaking, and to be honest, we grossly misjudged just how difficult it would be to live there during the renovations. So we went to a Parade of Homes one day to just look at what a finished house was…… and because I love floor plans remember?

That was it…. I knew this would be our next step!

Deciding to Build a Home

After that parade of homes, I think we talked with a few builders very casually. We weren’t even done with remodeling the house we lived in yet. However, we also had no clue about the cost of building new in this area and just wanted some basic research info. We gathered some information and started figuring out how we could make a new build happen. Ultimately we started powering through our remaining projects (which was a time in which I fell behind on blogging), we poured every ounce of energy into moving past this chapter in our family’s lives.

Once we got closer we went to another parade home and started having some serious conversations with builders. We have some good friends who built a while before us, and they were really happy with their build. We interviewed that builder as well and it was just a gut feeling and we went with them. While touring the parade homes, while not all their homes weren’t necessarily “my style”, I was most happy with their finishing touches – how their tile was installed, the way different floorings met up, just little things like that. With this being my job I didn’t really need to find a builder who built homes in my EXACT style. I needed somebody who could interpret my vision. I can make our home my style, I just need help putting the pieces together.

Why We Want to Build

So many people have asked me why we want to build. It’s not always a negative question (though some people strongly disagree), but it’s the number one question I get. Here are just a few reasons…..

  • The absolute number one reason is because we wanted a little land. I would have prefered several acres, but we couldn’t find that in the right location, at the right price, with everything we wanted to do. We ended up on a piece of land that is just over an acre. Balancing all the options with where we are in our life was key to deciding on a piece of land.
  • We are tired of living in remodels. I would still be open to flipping houses and all the DIY projects as long as I’m not living in them. I will still do simple DIY projects, but I never want to live in a house where I have to gut entire spaces out of necessity again. It’s one thing to remodel a kitchen. It’s another to remodel a kitchen, and two bathrooms, with one toilet, in the dead of winter with 6 people in a house.
  • I want a floor plan that works for us. My husband and I both work from home and so far we haven’t been in a house that works for that lifestyle the way we would like it.
  • I just like seeing things go up from scratch, it’s absolutely amazing to me.
  • And so many more that will come up as we chat more about this process!
We are building a home! Our family standing in front of our new piece of property!

Building a Home

Well, here we are. We are a few weeks away from breaking ground. It took us a while to get here with lumber prices skyrocketing, basically all of 2020, and a few personal things that popped up over the last couple of years. We made it through though. We were patient, though I often felt very impatient, and I cannot wait to get moving. I plan to document the entire thing on IG stories and video so if you’ve ever been interested in building, or are just here for the design decisions, I hope you find this information useful!

What Will the Style Be?

This is another thing everyone has been asking me. Truth be told I have been working on the designs for this house for about as long as we’ve been in this process. I’ve changed my mind many many times, and I’m probably likely going to do that again. A few things I’ve known I want to do from the very beginning that has not changed are my kitchen cabinet colors, the flooring color, and a few architectural details. So when I sit back and think about what those things are, it has really helped me nail down a style. I’m honestly not sure what to call it yet, but I’ll try describing it for you.

I’ve for sure been very influenced by the “pacific coast” look lately. Obviously, I live in the midwest and I just can’t have all the things that you find in coastal towns, like giant walls of glass that open up. I mean we would be able to utilize that for about 4 days out of the year, hah! But it forced me to dig into the details. I’ll go into all this more in its own blog post, but for now, here’s my plan.

Clean straight lines, with arches for a softenest to break everything up. Neutral colors (obviously) with a focus on lighter – medium-toned wood and a very organic feel with a modern edge. Let’s look at a few photos from IG that have been inspiring me lately. Maybe you can tell me the style I should call this.

Watercolor rendering of a modern rustic home with white siding, black trim, and black windows.

I cannot wait to share all the design ideas I have! Make sure you are following along on Instagram to keep up to date with everything we have going on! You can also subscribe to my emails to be the first to know when new posts go live! So much more to come!

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About Ashley

Ashley is a stay at home mom to three beautiful children. She and her husband recently settled in the Midwest after spending the beginning of their marriage in Texas (what a change!). Together they are raising their children, and turning their house into a home one project at a time. Ashley enjoys decorating and crafting, but her true passion lies in redoing old furniture and making things look old.

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Comments

  3. emma says

    Let’s fast forward to the present. We were right in the middle of remodeling our historic home in downtown Appleton. We were exhausted and had poured everything we had financially into the idea of flipping this house. My kids were growing more and more frustrated with the constant construction zones and all of our spare time was going into the house and not our kids. It was honestly one of the hardest times of my life. We’ve done some remodeling in the past where we lived in the house, but this one was different. It was a HUGE undertaking, and to be honest, we grossly misjudged just how difficult it would be to live there during the renovations. So we went to a Parade of Homes one day to just look at what a finished house was…… and because I love floor plans remember?

    Reply

  5. Alex Maddyson says

    Thank you for the exciting news, I am an engineer-architect and I am engaged in interior design and take orders on the Engre.co engineering market and I want to say that your house is really very beautiful if you want you can look at our marketplace and find contractors and builders for your house, I wish you success in your endeavors. Hope that all your dream come true in your life.

    Reply

  6. Fabrication says

    In the start of the post i have saw just a house draw. And in this post you have show us hour kitchen and family phots. Can you share some your house phots. I want to see what have you don in your house.

    Reply

  8. Karen Harrison says

    I have always loved your style and your watercolor is beautiful. I would make one suggestion. I would simplify the overall roofline to just one taller top level and the two ends at the same (taller of the two) height. The more complicated the roofline the more expensive. I also think as is, it takes away from the smaller details on the front elevation.

    Reply

  9. Anonymous says

    Good for you, your uncle and I enjoyed our build, they said we couldn’t do it… You can and it will be wonderful! Congrats, stay strong and be flexible – Hugs!

    Reply

  16. Bliss says

    You came across my IG feed today and since like you I was drawing floor plans at 10 years old, my love of new builds sent me right over to read what you’re up too! I’m a California transplant to Minnesota, we “Bliss’s” seem to have some parallel’s. 3 new house builds and six kids later, I can still feel that excitement for others when the walls go up and I can even smell it! The house is going to be amazing, your gonna nail the blissful style, and I’m gonna call that style “Midwestern Bliss”.

    Reply

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    I admire such an idea. I really want to have a small garden and a house built just for myself. I really dream about it!
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  40. JackAldride says

    Oh, that’s great! I totally support your idea, and at one point, I decided to build a house instead of buying one as well. I can tell you that it was really time-consuming, but it was all worth it. I didn’t have any problems with the interior, I managed to find the best kitchen cabinets on https://kitchensearch.com/ even before the house was finished, and in general, it was pretty easy to work on the inside of a house.

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