We sold our home but weren’t sure where we should move to. We decided on building a new home for our family. This is how we are making decisions while we wait for our home to be finished building. Check out our first episode here!
This month has been a whirlwind of birthdays, back to school activities, and making a lot of choices for our new home we are building. My brain hurts from making so many decisions! The problem with being your own interior designer is it creates a lot of pressure to make it super pretty while being your own worst client. You know???:)
The exterior of our new home has a modern west coast feel to meet the requirements of the subdivision. The flat roof seems to be a growing trend around here. Though I love the look of a great modern styled home, I would like to create a cozier interior with a slightly vintage feel aka the modern farmhouse:). Our local subdivisions usually have requirements for how the exterior should come together. Note: If you are thinking of building, look into the subdivision or city exterior requirements before you purchase your lot to make sure the requirements will fit your bill. I decided to go with a modern farmhouse/coastal style exterior to suit the modern farmhouse look on the interior. Check out my Pinterest board for the vision I am loving for our new home. Ryan has been very graceful with me with my design ideas. I did change slightly from the industrial look to a more farmhouse feel to accommodate some of his ideas;). I promise it will be pretty when it’s finished, Ryan!;0
We spent an entire morning going over the measurements on how to create this beautiful fireplace at Simplify by Camille Roskelley.
The fun of building your own home is you can customize all of your ideas. Click To Tweet
We worked out the best layout to scale the fireplace together. I came to the house later that day, and he had built it so beautifully! It’s not finished yet of course, but he framed the base. The scale is perfect! I still don’t understand how he can just build something from nothing. He is trying really… hard… not to get frustrated over so many of my crazy new ideas I have for him to do… :).
Some of our decisions and battles currently include carpet vs vinyl hardwood upstairs. Do we go hardwood on the main? But hardwood is slightly out of our budget. Vinyl still costs a pretty penny for a better quality option, but vinyl is super functional to live on.
Wood vs Vinyl vs Laminate vs Carpet flooring
Wood flooring
PROS- Wood flooring has a high-end look with the cozy warm feel. It can possibly be restained if need. It has a better resale value.
CONS- Can dent or scratch easily and can be susceptible to water damage if installed in a kitchen or bathroom
Vinyl Flooring
PROS- More cost-effective than real hardwood. The price can vary depending on the quality of product you buy. Vinyl holds up to water well so will work great in kitchens and bathrooms. With the beautiful wood looking click together vinyl available now, it’s a really nice alternative to actual hardwood. There are some vinyl options that don’t require a subfloor which can keep the install costs down. Glue down vinyl on a concrete floor is a functional option in a basement as it is the warmest option on your feet next to carpet. Being a vinyl product, it is the warmer option for your feet.
CONS- Vinyl flooring is still vinyl so maybe not as good for resale as it may not look quite as good as authentic hardwood.
Laminate Flooring
PROS- The function of a hard surface and mimics the look of hardwood depending on the quality. It seems to dent and scratch a little less easily than hardwood and slightly better against water drops, but still not as good as vinyl against water. More cost-effective than hardwood.
CONS- People are turning away from laminate due to the wonderful vinyl alternative now. So may not be as good for resale. Cold on feet when installed directly to concrete.
Carpet
PROS- It is cozy and warm underfoot. If you choose a muli-fleck color option, it can hide spots a little better. There really is nothing like a cold room with a cozy carpet to curl up in. More sound dampening which is nice for bedrooms.
CONS- Life happens. Kids happen. Carpet is just much more difficult to clean up those wet messes. Can stain easily. Wears down over time especially high-traffic areas.
DESIGN UPDATE– I now have lived with all of these options. Hands down I love the function of Vinyl. Still not quite as warm and authentic looking as actual hardwood but the function of it is worth it for me at this stage of life being the messy cook I am. I was also able to run it right into my bathrooms so no transition was needed there. And even though carpet is cozy, an area rug adds the cozy still and is easy to roll up and replace if needed
Ryan would like carpet in the bedrooms but I have too many memories of little kids with accidental carpet messes. Myself included from all my coffee dribbles:). Going into many homes for color consults also makes me hesitate over carpet after seeing so many “well-used” carpets that needed replacing in the home updates I would assist in. One of my mottos is; if you are going with carpet… make sure it is coffee colored?
My kids have their opinions too! They want carpet in the hallway and their bedrooms. Haha, since when does my son have such a strong opinion on home decor? While we should be somewhat responsible for our home, I don’t want to live for my home. I just don’t want to get upset if life happens and things spill. There is more to life than saving our flooring. Nobody ain’t got time for worrying about their floors;).
I think I will just have to go the vinyl option upstairs and on the main floor… and maybe even the basement. We will do carpet on the stairs though. Carpet is a cost-effective option to doing a hard surface on the stairs. Hard surfaces can get is quite costly on the stairs due to needing nosings, and can be slightly more dangerous if there is a tumble. Also, the blessing in only carpeting the stairs is it is easily replaced if it gets worn looking. We like to add stair caps on both sides to give it more finished feel. Your railing installer may be able to customize this for you.
Do you prefer carpet or hardwood? Or do you like the function of a great looking vinyl hardwood? What is your preference?
So many decisions
Our next question we are faced with is; which appliances should we go with? We have had problems in the past with some appliances, and while nothing is fool-proof, we would like to be within budget and quality for our everyday appliances. Being a large busy family, we need a reliable source.
The cabinets we have chosen are a farmhouse style, with full glass doors. Will I actually love being able to see in my cabinets? Will they look messy at times? I really do love the look of the glass. And it seems to suit the style of the house so nicely. Keep posted to see all these details come together.
So many decisions!!! Have you ever built or renovated a home? If you have, then you know the decisions that go into this process. Check out this post to help you with some of your life decisions.
We hope to be insulating later this week. I am now going crazy to move in!!! And now comes the countdown to being in our new home before Christmas. I am so sad to not give my international student a true taste of Canadian Christmas decor.
As I write this, I am smelling my turkey cook away! mmmm, it smells soooo good! Now to cook the pumpkin pie and stuffing to go along with it. We do need to keep up some of our seasonal traditions while we are in our little temporary kitchen right?
Building tip
At insulation stage; Confirm your final color, cabinets, lighting, and flooring selections. Make sure all is ordered and ready to go as your getting closer to everything being installed now!:)
Do you have difficulty making important decor decisions? Feel free to contact me for my online services if you are needing direction to successfully start your design project. And don’t forget to sign up below for post updates and more design advice!
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