Clean Slate

At the site of our future home!

After almost a year of planning and dreaming, our house if officially under construction.  It was a hectic few weeks in the States and now that the jet lag has ceased, I can breath a sigh of relief knowing our part of the job is done...for now.

We knew going into the design center that our style would be too modern for Drees' typical home.  We had a priority list of what we just had to have and what could be completed at a later date.  When we were negotiating the price for our home, we included a design center budget that we were adamant that we were not going to go over.   We had to remind ourselves that a fallacy of building a home (at least through a corporate builder) is that the design is done as soon as you are handed the keys.  There will be a lot of interior design work as well as possible upgrades down the road to make our house a home that reflects our personal style.

I knew it would be a stretch to even ask, but we couldn't do the cable rod staircase that I showed in Pinspiration.  We instead chose a simple square antiqued bronze vertical balister with an Arts and Crafts style newel post.  The shaker style cabinets were a huge upgrade expense since they switch out the entire cabinet and not just the cabinet front. We stuck with their standard one and will invest in some modern hardware to accent it.

Since we were planning on upgrading those two items originally, we had some money left over that we were able to add to the actual construction of the home.  We squared off the end of island in the kitchen to make room for a built in wine fridge.  Where I was planning on doing a micro/oven combo, we turned that into a micro/DOUBLE oven combo (perfect for hosting parties).  Another fun surprise was that when the builder was looking at our blueprints he noticed behind the shower in the master bath, was dead space.  A couple of walls will be expanded into an ultra huge shower with a double shower head. Completely unnecessary but why the heck not.

Our awesome Design Consultant took some pictures of our selections.  Oh, and just in case you are keeping tabs, we went with the Modern Nature inspiration for our exterior (note to self, look into xeriscaping).  Missing is the accent tile in the kitchen which we chose after discussing our selections at our celebratory dinner at Bob's Steak and Chop House (which by the way, if you are in the DFW area...a must).  We also changed the carpet (upstairs and in master) to slightly darker.  A home has to be livable after all despite how perfect I want it to look 100% of the time.  Working on that whole realistic expectations thing.

During the next 6 months we'll get updates from our market manager and my father-in-law of the entire process including photos.  We're trying to decide if we'll actually look at the photos or just wait until closing for the big reveal (can you tell we watched a ton of HGTV while we were stateside?).  In the meantime, on to the next project...decorating ideas!

Modern Nature vs Modern Texopean

Regardless of which part of the country you reside in, you usually have a preference for a particular style of home even if you would never see it in your town let alone your neighborhood.  A red brick colonial adorned with forest green shutters, a cozy cape cod retreat overlooking a quiet New England sea side, or minimalist Frank Lloyd Wright naturally tucked into its surroundings.  Reality sets in with home associations, materials available, architecture preference amongst other set backs.

I'm not "against" Texas architecture but I can tell you that the rustic stone and brick with messy mortar combo never made my top 10 list of dream homes.  However, while we get to pick our stone color and brick combination, we don't have too much control to alter the face of the home.  The homes aren't cookie cutter by any means and do have a variance of architecture with the three builders in the neighborhood but a stark modern with smooth concrete and large open windows wouldn't really flow even if we did have the luxury of building it.  Thus the challenge has been, how do we make our home unique, reflecting our style, but not stick out like a sore thumb?

Well, we came up with two completely different ideas that we will present to the architect and see what our options are.

Idea 1: Modern Nature
I shared with your before that I am convinced that the 2011 HGTV Green Home was made with me and my husband in mind.  Since I didn't win that home and am not moving to Stapleton, CO anytime soon, I'm using this an an influence for design ideas inside and out.

What I love about this home is how it is subtly modern.  Its warm and welcoming and is re-imagined from the Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie Style Home.  It uses natural materials that meld nicely into its environment.

This uses a black brick with dark grey mortar, Sherwin Williams "Warm Stone" siding, and a smooth cream stone.  Windows are outlined in the matching tan siding as well.  The design is simple and not too out there.

Of course, we can't change the shape of our home and not sure if an overhang will fit in with the home association codes.  While I love the black brick choice, it wouldn't be an energy efficient option in the Texas summers and it wouldn't be an eco friendly option as that color choice is not offered in the area.

So, we found this as another alternative to the Modern Nature Appeal

Again, warm color and a simple facade.  We still have the squared off roof line in this example but I thought this idea might be easier imagined than the HGTV one.  We would need to find a brick that matches the smooth concrete option and outline the windows and doors with a darker color.  Yes, it's a stretch but I can't break away from this look.

Idea 2: Modern Texopean


While walking the streets of Paris with Beau in October, I couldn't help but admire the beautiful architecture.  The wrought iron balconies, coining on the sides, outlined windows in thick scalloped cement, and bright colored doors welcoming it's visitors.  This is where we really set off on our brain storming.  We considered a Mediterranean style before but not this elegant Parisian look.  Is there away to incorporate a European essence into our Texas home but still have my modern appeal to it?  On our last day we were touring the Montmartre District and came across this building

A modernized version of European architecture at it's finest.  The coloring was perfect as well.  Still wouldn't fit into our neighborhood so we were trying to figure out a way to Texanize it.

Once we got home, I found this picture in a real estate guide utilizing the architecture idea with a Texas spin,  Instead of smooth concrete coining, it uses rough stone.  Of course this is too traditional for my taste (the pool would be nice,).

Using the site from another builder we were thinking of going with, Meritage Homes, I found this example using the window balcony and the white stone lining the bottom of the home and adding an accent pillar in the middle column.

Using these three examples, my husband coined the phrase Modern Texopean and rendered the house plan exterior to look like this.

 In black is the where the white stone would be.  The bright blue would be a smooth concrete surround, and the door in a cobalt blue because how awesome would it be to have a bright blue door.  We did have a rough stone coining along the sides in our first sketch but we both were drawn to the middle pillar adorned in stone instead.

We plan on using a white stone and a grey brick with a dark trim.  Using Acme Brick's website we found this idea that we'll share with the architect.  Bonus is the brick choice is made in the area so adding to our Greenish concept.

Both very different ideas that would be amazing come home to, but then again, even if we don't have much control over the exterior, the interior is where we can get fun.  More on that to come.  

Dream House Countdown

Have you ever been so excited about something that it was difficult to focus on anything else.  Since August, my husband and I have been trying to take years of brainstorming, idea sharing, and plain old day dreaming and narrow it down into a concise Power Point Presentation so that we can begin building our dream home.

The last time I wrote about this in Going Green...ish we were about to head to Texas and pick out a lot to build on.  Well, what we thought we be as simple as putting down a non refundable deposit to secure until we could start construction in February, it turned out to be a whirlwind, anxiety ridden, head ache of a situation.  Here is a simple synopsis of a not so simple situation. 

We already had a home design picked out through Drees Homes called the Jacobson.  We found a lot that we loved that happened to be on a small lake (morning cup of coffee with a view anyone?).  Lake lot had a premium making the combination of the lot and home more than we budgeted for (still affordable but more than we wanted to spend).  We decided to put in an offer anyway and bid low.  During the negotiation process, our Market Manager discovered that the floor plan we wanted to build was no longer available unbeknownst to him.  We could still build on that lot but with a different floor plan (I was learning all of this while Beau was touring a clinic and unreachable, major stress factor).  Got a call 10 minutes later and learned that they will make an exception, build the Jacobson on that lot but it would be at a non negotiable price which was lower than the full price but still higher than we wanted to spend.  Because we were leaving the country the following day (that a normal situation, right), we needed to make the decision relatively soon, like in the next few hours.  Fast forward through a quick reevaluation of our options, looking at another builder, ruining my nieces cupcakes, and experiencing full fledged anxiety, we ended up negotiating on the non negotiable price because what did we have to lose.  They agreed on our price if we added a 90 day Contingency agreement that essentially said if anyone wanted to buy our lot (even with the sold sign on it) we would get our deposit back and be back to square one.  

Yes, that was the simplified version.  Because of the 90 day contingency agreement, I was superstitious to write about designing the house until we were certain what house it would be.  Then the holidays rolled around and my SimplyE3Design took a little vacation.  Regardless, I'm excited to get back to blogging and share with you the process.

In two weeks we will be heading back to good ol' Roanoke to meet at the design center to pick out the brick and stone, cabinetry, floors, tiles, as well as our few modifications.  I thought I would spend the time leading up sharing with you some of our ideas.   Thank you Pinterest for hours spent searching your site for the perfect examples.  I would also love feedback for a few of the rooms but we'll get to that later.  

For now, here is our "clean slate" home elevation and floor plan.  Can't you just see the potential?!

Jacobson By Drees Homes

Elevation A

1st Floor

2nd Floor

Going Green...ish

When you think of Texas, images that typically come to mind are of cowboys, gigantic gas guzzling vehicles, hormone induced giant plates of BBQ, and George Bush.  Hippies, endless bike paths and pedestrian trails, naturally grown local food, and Al Gore enthusiast are usually at the lower end of the spectrum.  While the state has one of the most recognizable slogans for keeping Mother Earth clean (Don’t Mess With Texas) it doesn’t get credit for being pro Green.

This time next year, we will be moving to Texas in hopes of being settled for more than a 3 year commitment.  My husband, a Texas boy who goes by the motto “I wasn’t born in Texas but I got there as quick as I could”, was offered an amazing opportunity near his home town.  We’ll be saying Auf Wiedersehen to Germany and the military and Howdy Ya’ll to Fort Worth Texas.  I’m looking forward to this new adventure not only because I adore Fort Worth (the art scene is amazing) and I’m blessed to have amazing In-laws that will be in the area, but also because we get to buy our first home.

Actually, we aren’t just buying, we’re building.

With building comes designing which is something I’m crazy passionate about.  My roommate in college once asked if the only reason I would want to own a home was to be able to decorate it (this was after the umpteenth time I rearranged our apartment).  She was absolutely right though.  No more restrictions of painting, adding appliances that makes life a bit more convenient,  and second guessing adding shelving that may or may not leave more than a nail hole size in the wall.   I get to play interior designer.

A trend that I’m very interested in now is Green Design.  Like many people, I’m always trying to be a good patron of the Earth… in moderation.  I am diligent about recycling, I buy local and fresh when possible, I used canvas market bags, I prefer the natural light to artificial, I use “green” cleaning products, wash all of my clothes in cold water, among other things.  Of course, I haven’t completely converted my lifestyle.  I didn't get on the cloth diaper band wagon for our first child and I just traded in my moderate size crossover for a larger SUV which was not very green…I do intend to do a lot of carpooling though.  Every little bit helps and I’m always looking for more ways to improve.  

When building a house, you get to start from scratch.   I can implement my passion for interior design and green living into one project.  Everything we do can not only help the environment but also save us money in the long run.   One of our inspirations is The 2011 HGTVGreen Home.  It could have very well been built with my husband and me in mind.  The clean cut German-esq modern lines, the rich colors of yellows and slate, the gourmet kitchen.  It was enough to make me want to pack my bags and move to Stapleton, CO right then and there.  

Of course, we are finding that we don’t need a full design team to make a Greener life.  We also found small steps can make a big improvement.  There are endless tips and ideas to make your space a little greener while also saving you money.  Here are a few links we’ll be using to assist us in the process.

http://www.hgtvpro.com/hpro/green_building/

http://www.dreeshomes.com/energystar

http://www.thedailygreen.com/going-green/

http://www.hgtv.com/green-home/index.html

On Saturday we’ll be heading to Texas to visit family and to also start looking at properties.  Over the course of the next year, I’ll share with you the process of building our home, Green improvements we decide on, and fun design ideas we come up with.   I would love any insight and tips you have for a Greener Life and I hope to share some new ideas along the way.