What We Would Change About Our New Home Build And What We Love

I would like to start off by saying how thankful we are to have been able to build two houses. We have learned so many things during the process. This post is not a start-to-finish guide on how to build a house or how to be your own general contractor. Our hope is to share a few design decisions, we are very happy with and what we would change about our new home build.

Sometimes budget or time influenced our decisions. In the end here are some of our opinions and thoughts! General contracting a new home is not an easy task, but it can be very rewarding. Even if you are working with a builder, be prepared! You are in for a lot of decision making.

What would we change about our new home build?

Not Planning For A Regular Full Depth Fridge.

We are a larger family with 4 kids. Not planning for a full depth refrigerator was a mistake on my part (Dan). We used a counter-depth fridge. I totally agree with the use of a counter top depth fridge when remodeling or when absolutely needed. However, we could have made some small adjustments to the layout to incorporate a full depth fridge! Typical counter top depth fridges have 21 cubic Ft. of storage. A full depth fridge is around 28 cubic Ft. That difference is the equivalent of being able to store 7 gallons more of milk!

Black Tiles In Our Mudroom

We absolutely love the look of our black hex tiles in our mud room. However, is it something we would definitely change about our new build. The black tiles show dust, dirt, mud, paw prints, and just about everything else you could think of! This was not the best decision for our season of life, living with kids and pets in the country! 

Not Including A Vaulted Ceiling (Somewhere)

So….. We love our traditional two story layout. It works well for our family and we love the bedrooms all being on the second level. However, a simple two story layout makes it a little harder to incorporate a vaulted ceiling somewhere in the design. Sometimes, I wish we had at least one vaulted ceiling! They can be so pretty and appealing!

Larger Patio Sliding Door

We love using our deck, but we have a 5′ wide sliding patio door going out to it. Although it works well to keep out the cold, it could be a little wider! A typical 5′ patio door slides open about 26-28 inches. If we could change this, we would have installed a 6′ patio door, or perhaps some French doors!

What We Love About Our New Home Build

Location, Location, Location

We absolutely love our location and property! This is something that can never be changed, remodeled, or updated! Being happy with our acreage, views, locations is something we are grateful for everyday! 

Natural Lighting / Taller windows

We love the natural lighting that floods into our house in the morning and evening! Our 100 Series Anderson Windows casement windows are 6′ tall windows. This extra height allows for lots of natural light! Our 4′ x 8′ large kitchen window gives us some amazing sunset views and lots of golden hour lighting!

Master Suite Size, Function & Finishes

This is one of our favorite areas of the house to relax! We are very happy with the master bedroom and bathroom. We love the size, layout, and finishes in this space! The large window above the tub allows for more natural light! The hand made herringbone tile backsplash from Mercury Mosaics and custom vanity give the bathroom room some character! We also love the simple vertical planking accenting the headboard.

Our Wood Flooring Selection

We are very happy with our flooring selection! We are glad it was not over our budget and we love the color! Here are all the details about our flooring!

We hope this post will help a few of you during some critical design decisions! We would love to hear from you! What is one think you would change about your new home build, renovation or current house and what is one think you love!

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