Home Build Update

The past several months have probably been the most fun part of the build process so far because we are starting to see the interior finish out and exterior coming to life. It has been a long time since I have given you all a formal build update so I thought I would share some snippets of where we are with everything. I do plan to do more videos once the paint is done and I can show you all the cabinetry, flooring, etc in more depth.

Cabinetry

This is such a big step in the build. It’s what takes your home from feeling like just one big open space to an actual home. Right now, all the drawers are pulled out and everything is covered because it’s getting painted, but I am so excited to see the final colors and hardware put on. There are a few places we added extra details and they make me so happy!

The kitchen is a mix of white oak and painted cabinetry

Can’t wait to use this built-in banquette daily

Love the diamond door detail on the family room built-in

Paint

Speaking of paint, that is the stage we are in right now! This is the longest part of the process so far because not much else can happen until paint is done and it just takes so long to prep, prime, prep again, and paint. It’s a multi-step process and the more trim work and cabinetry you have, the longer it takes.

Trim

We are (for the most part) finished with the millwork minus a few minor areas. After the floors are installed they will come back to put in the baseboards. We chose to install all of our baseboards after flooring so that we would get as clean of a look as possible and we could avoid having a “shoe molding”. It creates one extra step/trip, but I highly suggest asking your trim carpenter to do this. The most fun part of trim was seeing the paneling in the foyer and stairwell come to fruition. We paneled the walls in our Primary bath, Sloane’s bath, our family room and added various trim details throughout the house such as tongue and groove, coffered ceilings and dentil molding. Even seeing all the window casings and doors primed and painted makes the biggest difference!

The handrail will be painted glossy black, the posts will be white, like the rails and the steps are white oak

The study will get a coat of gray paint all over except for the built-in white oak desk

The dentil molding in the formal spaces might be one of my favorite details

Tile

At this point, tile is almost fully complete! We only have a few areas left to go. Everything is covered with paper and I can’t wait for the day that we can take it all off and admire it!

Counters

We have a mix of quartz and marble throughout the home. We have installed all the quartz, but held off on installing the marble which we have in our kitchen, bar and primary bath. We were advised by our fabricator to wait until after paint so that our marble (which is a more delicate material) doesn’t get chipped, cracked or etched from paint cans and other tools resting on it and hitting it. I will do a whole video or blog post on why we chose the counters we did and why.

Exterior

We had driveways poured, our yard graded and leveled out, our retaining wall and fence installed and the wing walls for the electric driveway gate built. In the backyard, they finished the fireplace and the outdoor structure is looking more inviting by the day! Next up is irrigation, drainage (gutters and downspouts) and sod. Then we will finalize the landscaping closer to moving in. We also had tongue and groove wood ceilings installed on all the outdoor porches and living spaces. I am so excited to see the railing, shutters and stone lead walk go in next, because then the exterior will start to feel complete! Oh, and the entire exterior was painted white! We chose to go with…drumroll… SW Alabaster!