And We Have Flooring! - Ryan Homes Build

Today was the exciting part of this whole "home building" process minus the obvious excitement of picking our options - FLOORING day! Although, I was extremely apprehensive based on the fact that we could not go above our budget.. but go figure, we did anyway. So, lets add some more money on top of what we are paying out of pocket. Oops..

Cabinets: Sonoma Painted Maple Linen
Granite: New Caledonia (level 1)
Hardwood Flooring: Misty Gray (level B)

So the kitchen really wasn't the most stressful part of the day. That part sort of just clicked. After seeing the flooring in the model home we saw two days prior, we knew that they grey/black flooring would be perfect for us. We selected the Misty Gray engineered wide-plank flooring. We had already selected to go with level B when we chose our options because we loved the wide-plank look and were well educated by numerous SR is other communities. We tend to err on the side of non-traditional anyway, so this was perfect for us. The cabinets were a no-brainer when I first saw them on day 1 of electing to build with Ryan Homes so we upgraded those as well on signing. Now, the granite? That's a different story. Do I love Santa Cecilia Light? YES. But I just could not find myself comfortable with the choice because we felt back-splashes would be limited due to the colors in the granite. Did I get Santa Cecilia Light elsewhere? You bet. It is beyond beautiful. Had I chosen the glazed cabinets, there would have been no question. Since our home comes with the gourmet kitchen incentive, we automatically got level 1 granite in our kitchen. Turns out the granite I fell in love with at the other model homes we toured the previous days.. was a level 2 and there was no way we could afford that upgrade. But, it turns out that the New Caledonia granite is a very similar color. Plus, we do need to incorporate some brown even though our furniture is predominately black. I'm also hoping this strays away from the kitchen looking too "sterile" like the model kitchen in my last post.

Master Bath Selections (level C)
Top: accent piece around shower, Left: tile in shower
Right: tile on bathroom floor
Santa Cecilia Light Granite
Sonoma Painted Maple Linen Cabinets

Bonus Bedroom Bath Selections (level C)
Top: accent piece around shower, Left: tile around tub
Right: tile on bathroom floor
Uba-Tuba Granite
Andover Square White Timberlake Cabinets

Bathroom time. Here is where I could have pulled my hair out. I was extremely frustrated by the lack of coordination and selection of these options. According to our design consultant, these are preselected by Ryan Homes prior to building the development. I was hoping that we could choose our own flooring, tile, and accents. We knew our budget so there was no option of upgrading to a level D or higher. It's not that they did not have what I wanted, it was just that it was not available in the grouping that I would have preferred so even upgrading proved to be non-beneficial anyway.

I had an idea of what I wanted the master bath tile work to look like, so I nailed it the best that I could. The accent piece? I'm definitely not in love with it, but I needed gray tile and that was my only option. Since we did not get a bath tub, I am thankful I am not going to be seeing much of this accent piece. This is where the Santa Cecilia Light granite comes into play and I think it ties in nicely. I'm praying that when all is said and done and we see this combination in person, it takes our breath away. Because we have to live with this for a long time, obviously! :) Our master bath cabinets are the same that are in the kitchen - white with those lovely crisp lines.

The bonus bedroom bathroom just clicked pretty well for us. We wanted something warm and inviting and of course had to coordinate it with the Uba-Tuba granite selection that we already had. I think the combination is lovely and something that I would not mind in the master bath had I not already had a vision. Although, I am thinking we are going to be spending so much time in this bonus room and using it for a home-gym, I may just start hopping in this shower just for the heck of it so that I can enjoy the tile work. :) Now, this is one area where we are going to be paying out of pocket.. We initially went with level B tile work (not under my preference, but my husband and our SR's urging based on "use"). I knew from the get-go that I just did not want a selection of either white or almond tiling. We chose a smaller home so that we could get options we liked, so as it turned out even when my husband saw the tile selection he agreed to the upgrade. And I am SO incredibly glad we did! :) It ended up being a $345 upgrade. Better now than later, I say!

Hall Bath Selections (level C)
Top: accent piece around shower, Left: tile around tub
Right: tile on bathroom floor
Uba-Tuba Granite
Andover Square White Timberlake Cabinets

The hall bath selections were more of my husbands choosing, but I look forward to the way that it will look. I think that it will be clean lines with simple colors that will coordinate well as Kyptan (and our future children) grow up. I have already found an AMAZING shower curtain that will go perfectly now for a little boy! I am so excited for this bathroom. We had already chosen a level C tile, so no extra upgrades here either.

The carpet was an awful selection. Basic carpet stinks, that's all I'm saying! :) But nonetheless, comes standard with the house and is something we can deal with until a couple years down the road. We attempted looking at upgrades, but we would have had to go up many levels to get the awesome "shag" look I wanted. Our entire second floor with be covered in carpet in Rockport. Choosing different shades of tan for carpeting was difficult, y'all! It is bound to get dirty, so we went darker rather than lighter. We also upgraded the padding, since we didn't upgrade the carpet. It did seem to make a difference, which I am glad. We selected basic vinyl in the laundry room as well because number one, it doesn't look too bad and number two, we plan on putting in tile or hardwood ourselves once we can figure out how we want the laundry room to truly look. So we chose the Initiator vinyl, because why not? Maybe it will initiate laundry itself.. we will see. :)

Carpet: Rockport
Bonus Room and Second Level
Vinyl in Laundry Room: Initiator 

My biggest concern is that the upgraded oak stairs will not transition to the basement. This is something we discussed with our SR who believes they will, though. Except looking on the confirmation paper from our flooring appointment, it seems as they have it listed as carpet for the basement. The greatest struggle with this process is that we are in limbo because the development is still in the incredibly early stages and more questions begin to pop up as we sit and wait. But we are still SO EXCITED. :)

On the Hunt - Ryan Homes Build

A nearby river flooded - the following day

Significant flooding on our road

Two days before our flooring appointment, we were planning on touring the different Ryan Home developments throughout our area, except we got hit with huge torrential amounts of rain and flooding that impeded that possibility.. so we went the next day and we are pretty grateful we did because we found what we were looking for. A white kitchen - go figure.. something that seems to be completely out of the ordinary realm for Ryan Homes at this point in time.

We were told by the SR, of one of the communities we were visiting, that the newest plan is for the future RH models to have white kitchens because those are on this rise. All is well though - because I am so excited for what we chose and cannot wait to see it all put together. It is different & that is why I love it!

The home that we looked at in this community was one that we actually did not know about, we just happened to be driving by and it caught our eye. After seeing this development compared to the style ours will have, I am definitely excited that we went the neotraditional route because of just how different it is.

The best thing about this communities model is that the cabinets were exactly what we selected and were hoping to find. Many of the surrounding developments boast the beautiful off-white glazed cabinets, so it was refreshing to see these in person. The granite shown is actually a level 2, whereas ours will be a level 1 rendition, but similar.

My impression of this kitchen, was that it was a bit too "sterile" looking. But, we are looking to incorporate either the blue or green subway tile as a backsplash and add some accent pieces throughout - colored canisters and utensils. Also, our kitchen is a completely different layout, but I still love the overall look of these clean, polished white cabinets!

Our development after the flooding

The one thing this home did show us was how incredible the wide-plank floors could look - especially in a different color! The one that was in this model were of a grey hue.. incredible.

It is starting to look like piping is being prepared to be laid and stakes are starting to pop up around the development as well. This is good news!!!! It is reassuring and so exciting to notice a difference each week. We love driving by the development and imagining how it will look when it's complete.