Rite Rug Flooring Appointment

I was greeted by a lovely young lady named Lauren at Rite Rug today. She was able to tell me what was popular with the color theme I was going for. She wasn't pushy at all, allowed me to make my decisions and only butted in when she knew I was struggling. The whole appointment only took about 2 hours.

On to the fun part! PICTURES!

Ladies & gentlemen! I give you....MISTY GRAY!

I went into the appointment knowing what hardwood I wanted from all of my blog surfing. I found the blogs so helpful, but some from years ago = Why I started this one :) You're welcome!

Bungalow-Steel carpet.

It looks different in every picture. This was a level C upgrade. I had the free choice of 3 different tans, the next level had the stain guard everyone talks about but not as many fibers, the next level level, the level I selected, had the stain guard and more fibers making it softer and more comfy. Lauren wouldn't allow us to go up to a level E and we didn't see a good reason to go up to D. 

My bathroom cabinets are Maple Expresso and would meet the carpet in the hallway. That being said, we selected a vinyl that had browns and grays in it. 

Pinnacle Peak - CAVIAR TOAST!

Many people will tell you not to get the backsplash. That it's too expensive, not a lot of options and so forth. Well, we don't listen, Carrara with a pewter grout was just the look I wanted and I didn't want to have to touch a thing when we moved in. This tile was a Level C upgrade and it was only $1195! What's that when you look at the fact you're spending a ton on a house anyways.

We also decided to go with an upgraded 8lb padding through-out the whole house. It wasn't that expensive and I feel like it will make the carpet last longer and we have 3 kids jumping around our house like a bunch of crazy baboons, SO WHY NOT! ha ha

I will post a break down of all selections and prices on "Our Selections" page. If you have any questions, please let me know! I'd be happy to help anyway I can. 

Color Selections Appointment

Today's Lesson: DO NOT go to your color selections appointment with your heart set on any color or stone!

Our color selection appointment was my most feared appointment. The not being able to change something if I decided on different flooring scared me. When I arrived at the appointment, I knew already that I wanted a dark gray siding with a lighter gray accent siding, black shutters, black door and dakota ledgestone. That was my first mistake. We go in and Adam says "I have already taken away all of the colors and stone you cannot have." WHAT!!!!! Apparently, you can't have the same selections as any of your neighbors or their neighbors for that matter. My, I believe it was going to be graphite gray, siding was out and so was my dakota ledgestone. I actually started to tear up, I'm such a spoiled baby.

So I am obviously very upset with the situation and that I wasn't told about this rule before my appointment or deciding to build with Ryan Homes. Anyways...Adam then says "We do have some darker colors that I think you'd like BUT they are an upgrade! Of course they are! Why wouldn't they be!

Sagebrook & Irish Thistle was our final pick in the upgraded SCENIC SCAPE siding.

Fieldstone PA Sierra was my pick when I couldn't get my ledgestone.

My thought on this was the black and gray will go good with my shutters and door and if a lot of rusty, tan stones are placed then tan and the sage colors will go better than if I picked a gray siding. Whew! Anyone follow that? 

Siding colors, white trim, black shutters, black door :)

That beauty on top was my #1 pick and the bottom was my second choice.

I went with white cabinets all around and gray for the island.

My two choices for granite were Luna Pearl on the left and New Caledonia on the right.

We selected New Caledonia. It went better with the white cabinets.

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This appointment also allowed us to make the changes to the house that we had been thinking about. We originally opted to have the 3rd floor added but wanted to take that away to get all of the extra pretties I wanted. We were able to add the metal balusters on the stairs, garage door opener, tray ceiling in master, metal accent on roof, and attic storage. 

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Oh, I also asked if there was any way possible that I could buy the paint and pay extra for them to PLEASE not paint my house that builder grade cream. I got a BIG FAT NO! Wishful thinking! If you can't tell I really dislike all things tan, cream, and brown. ha ha

Protection by Design

Our Protection by Design (wiring) appointment was yesterday. We didn't quite no what to expect and were just hoping that it didn't cost us a fortune. 

***Already included in price of the house***

1. Pre-wired for security system. (front door, back door and garage door)
2. Family room pre-wired for 5.1 surround sound
3. Four technology jacks (phone, cable, internet)
4. Direct TV pre-wire (they will do it for free, you have to ask)

***The things we added***

1. 6" ceiling speakers for family room $497.00

    Only the pre-wire was included in the price of the house. This is not how the Ryan Homes rep             made it seem when we were doing the contract.    

2. Two outdoor speakers for the back patio $266.00 + $99.00 to bring wires to that "zone" 

    We decided to go with speakers on the patio. We picked our lot because it back up to nothing but          land and figured the kids would spend a lot of time out there and we enjoy cooking out. It seemed      like a good fit for our family and this wasn't something I was comfortable doing myself. 

3. We choose to add cable into the other two bedrooms $125.00 per room

     The children don't have TV's in their rooms, at their age, I don't think they need them. It's just how      we roll in this family! The sales guy explained that it's good for the resale of the house and one            day they will be teenagers. Not if I can help it!!!

***Things we decided against****

1. The security system (It was the old school kind. If I'm going to have a security system, it's going to be one of those fancy touch screen high tech gadgets)
2. Central vacuum (That baby was expensiveeee! $2000 something. I can lug my vacuum around for 2 grand)
3. Intercom system (Again, super cool, but expensive, I will continue to yell through-out the house when dinner is ready)

They had a lot of other options, none of them were overall that interesting or necessary for us. I'm high tech, I love computers and all things gadget-y but I will be building my own smart home after I move in with NEST products and ones that sync with NEST. SUPERRRR GREAAATTT! Check it out if you haven't.

Meeting with NVR Mortgage

Yesterday we met with our NVR Mortgage loan officer, her name was Toni. The meeting all together took about 2.5 hours and was very simple. Before our meeting they provided us with a loan application checklist, we gathered all of those papers and had them ready as she asked for them. Be prepared to show paper trails of any and all "large" transactions within your back account. They also asked up to pay $450 upfront for our appraisal (which we were not told about before hand). Toni was able to explain the entire process to us and she was extremely helpful. It seems that she will stand by us from application to closing.

Our Dream Home Awaits

Tonight, we had our first meeting with Ryan Homes.

We had already put a lot of thought into Benn's Grant before the appointment, so after seeing the model, we signed the contract!

We were given out sold sticker to put on our lot. What a beautiful lot of dirt and rocks. I couldn't be more proud.