Final Countdown Is On!

We will be closing next week! I can't believe it's almost here. Although I've been MIA and I haven't posted in a while I've been taking pictures each week and will be going back and updating so you can see the progress as it happened.

We have our pre-settlement walk-through on Monday and then our closing is scheduled for Wednesday morning. There were still a number of items that needed to be fixed as of yesterday when we were at the house, so a little worried things will not be finished when we close. I know they say things can be fixed at your 30 day, but I don't want to move everything in and then have to move things around / out when they come back to fix. So we will see.

I'll be posting more after we close, but below are the latest photos from the house as of Friday. They were just working on putting the landscaping in and were getting ready to put the sod down.

I also posted a short video clip on my YouTube: Kitchen and Great room Video

Weeks 5 & 6 Update - Ryan Homes Springmanor

So I'm a little behind on updates as we have been super focused on getting the house ready to put on the market, which hopefully will be next week (fingers crossed).  Below are photos from the last two weeks!  Quite a bit has changed since my last update; it's starting to seem more real! We now have all the framing done, the roof is shingled and the windows are in.

Walls going up.

Easter Decor Ideas

Finally the first day of Spring! There is so much adorable Spring and Easter decor out there right now and I want it all, but we are in the midst of getting the house ready to sell. So for now, it's all about packing things up and making things neutral. Cue wha wha sound. So until we move I just have to stick to daydreaming!

However, I did have to make one little exception...the plaid napkins (number 15) below! Shh. Don't tell my husband. I'm supposed to be cleaning out and getting rid of things, but I have a slight obsession with cloth napkins and knew I had to have them the moment I saw them!  They don't take up much space though, right!?

Below are some of my favorites.  You can find even more decor and DIY ideas on my Easter Pinterest board (link in sidebar).

1. Table Runner  2. Stitched Signs  3. Bunny Dish Towels -Yellow/Pink  4. Egg Cups  5. Happy Easter Banner  6. Bunny Dish Towels  7. Everybunny Welcome Sign  8. Egg Tree  9. Bunny Cup  10. Egg Plates  11. Natural Dye Kit  12. Egg Tree Ornaments  13. Bunny Snacks Platter  14. Egg Tablecloth  15. Plaid Napkins  16. Custom Door Mat

This post contains affiliate links, which I may receive a commission from when you click or make a purchase.

Have you decorated for Easter / Spring?  Would love to see if you have!

Happy Spring!  Hope you have a great week!

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Weeks 3 & 4 Update

We've had crazy weather the past two weeks, mid 60s, snow and torrential rain, so there hasn't been a ton of progress on the house.  Below are some photos of the latest.

Week 3 they put the beams and supports in the basement and all of the pipes for plumbing (or so it appeared to my untrained eye). Our wood package also arrived.

Weeks 1 & 2 Update

Construction started the day following our pre-construction meeting.

Below are some photo updates. We're so lucky that one of Ryan's good friends is one of our neighbors. He stops by our lot several times a week and sends us updates. We haven't been able to get out there as much as we'd like to with our new house being about 35 minutes from our current house and us trying to get work finished on our current house.

Digging the foundation.

Pouring the footers.

Home Decor Inspired by Pantone's 2017 Color of the Year: Greenery

1. Ritz Terry Dish Towels  2. Kassatex Mayfair Stripe Bath Towel in Green  3. Pilar Laundry Hamper  4. Marimekko Ruutu Unikko pillow cover  5. What Wood You Say? Sign  6. Gourmet Lettuce Windowsill Growbox  7. Calypso Stitched Greek Key Design Napkin  8. Ceramic Jar Candle Green - Water Lily  9. Myrtle Wreath with French Ribbon   10. Safavieh Jenna Stacked Ball Table Lamp Set of 2  11. Dobby Terry Kitchen Towel  12. Cotton Weave Blanket  13. Kate Spade Posy Court Green Rectangular Tray  14. Cotton Green Herringbone Throw  15. Sonoma Indoor Outdoor Short Pouf  16. Escape Stripes Indoor/Outdoor Rug - Kaleen Rugs

I don't know about you, but I am loving Pantone's 2017 color of the year: Greenery.  It's perfect for spring, which feels right around the corner with the warm weather we've been having here in Cincinnati. Here are some of my favorite simple and affordable items inspired by greenery to add a pop of green to your home and get you ready for spring!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

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We Have a Start Date!

When we signed with Ryan Homes, we were told they would start construction on our home around March 20th, but a week and a half ago we got a call saying they would be starting early on February 15th!  Crazy! I guess with the mild winter we've had they are ahead of schedule. So we are scheduled to have our pre-constuction meeting Monday.

With it being so warm today, we went to look at the lot expecting that they should have the house staked out by now. It's amazing the progress that's been made on our street; two weeks ago there was just one house that was up, but now an additional three are up and the foundations poured on two others.

We've been trying to decide if we want to have them clear additional trees or not, so having the house staked out finally gave us a sense of how big the backyard would be. With having the side-entry three car garage, our house sits pretty far back (all the houses have a 50 foot set back from the street to the front-most part of the house).  I initially was against having them remove any more trees as once it's gone there's no putting woods back.  Yes, you can plant trees as my husband said, but it's just not the same as mature trees.

Valentine's Decorating Ideas DIY

While my husband and I don't ever do anything grandiose for Valentine's Day, I do love to decorate for it! It's one of my favorite holidays to decorate for as I love red, pink and hearts!

I was inspired to make this cute heart wall art after I came across an adorable ombre heart calendar from Me and My DIY.  It is such a cool idea!  I love the 3D effect on the original, but my heart punch isn't symmetrical, so that wasn't an option.  It's super simple to do.  I punched out six hearts of six different colors then attached to a sheet of card stock using mini glue dots.  I started out measuring the spacing, but ended up just free handing it.

Master Bath Details - Ryan Homes Spring Manor

We opted to do the soaking tub with shower (layout below) for our master bath.  It was a bit expensive to do, but having a tub for me was nonnegotiable. Below are all the selection details.

Cabinets: Timberlake Sonoma in Maple Espresso
As far as the cabinets, we were originally planning to do level 2, but it was only $100 more to do level 3, so we decided on the Sonoma maple espresso. With the soaking tub option, it changes from a single vanity to two separate, so I am looking forward to having my own space!

Faucets / Fixtures: All from the Delta Linden bathroom collection
I'm not a huge fan of the faucets and it was $1000 to upgrade to nickel, so we decided to leave as is and are planning to change out at some point (I keep saying we'll do after we close, but that list is growing and this isn't a huge priority).

Shower Faucets: Delta Linden Shower Faucet
Bath Faucets:Delta Linden Roman Tub Faucet
Sink Faucets : Delta Linden Sink Faucet

Toilet Paper Holder:  Delta Leland Toilet Paper Holder
Towel Bar: Delta Linden Towel Bar 

Lights: Progress Lighting Bravo Collection Vanity Fixture
Again not a huge fan, so I've been looking for alternatives and we can change out at some point. I've been collecting ideas on my Bathroom Pinterest Board.

Kitchen Details - Ryan Homes Springmanor

Finally, it's all starting to come together! We finalized all our selections this week after two meetings with Rite Rug. Details and links below.

Cabinets: Timberlake Sonoma Painted Linen  These are level 2. Pretty much my dream cabinets!

Counter tops: Luna Pearl granite, which is level 1. Love this color, but not excited about the possibility of having a seam in the island.  All the models we saw and a recently finished Spring Haven (the previous version of the Springmanor) had a solid slab on the island. However, two friends of ours are also building with Ryan and they have seams in their islands. We pushed to get a seamless slab, but were told it was out of their hands and that the company that installs the granite is saying it's not a possibility. So depending on how it turns out we may be changing out the island counter top after we close.

Appliances: All GE. These were included as part of a promotion, so we decided to leave as is. I don't love the dishwasher as it has black on the front, but it will be in the island and not all that visible.  I love that the refrigerator has an MWF filter, which is supposed to filter out lead and other contaminants from water.

Range: JGB645SEKSS
Microwave: JVM7195SKSS
Refrigerator: GSE25GSHSS
Dishwasher: GDF510PSJSS

Flooring:  Bruce Red Oak Solid Hardwood 3 1/4 in. plank in Mocha, which is level B. I am super excited about the floors. My husband loved this color from the beginning, but I wasn't sure at first if it was too dark.  We compared to the floors in our current house and they are very similar.

Pendant Lights:  Progress Lighting - Bravo Collection Brushed Nickel These are the standard pendant lights, but this was an added option.  Not sure I love these, but we'll have to see.

Faucet: Delta Leland This is the standard faucet; while it's a really nice faucet I want something a little more modern looking, so we are planning to change out after we close.

Cabinet Hardware:  TBD.  You can only choose one type, pulls or knobs; they don't do a combination. I want knobs on the doors and pulls on the drawers, so we're planning to do after we close. There are quite a few, so we'll have our work cut out, but it will be worth it!

If you have any suggestions on faucets or cabinet hardware, please let me know!

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Our Selections - Ryan Homes Springmanor

Just about two weeks ago we signed with Ryan Homes to build our dream home!  We still have to finalize all selections / colors, but below are the current options we have selected.

Exterior
Springmanor model (3 bedroom, 2 bathroom ranch)
Elevation A with brick front
3-car side entry
Floodlight on back of house

Main Living Areas
Bruce 3 1/4 plank hardwood

Kitchen
Level 2 cabinets
Level 1 granite
Pendant Lights
Stainless steel appliances + gas range hook up

Flooring / Tile Selections

After signing with Ryan Homes, you have 14 days to meet with Rite Rug to make tile / flooring selections. It was so hard to choose. I will say they had a lot more selections than I anticipated. However, I was a bit disappointed as they have predetermined sets of wall and floor tile and there is NO mixing and matching.

Flooring in Living Areas

We decided on wood flooring in all of the living areas (excluding bedrooms and bathrooms).  We initially selected level B hardwood, but were hoping we would find a level A wood that we loved so that we could say some $ for other options (potentially a bathroom in the basement).  But no such luck.  With level A hardwood, there are only 5 colors (see below at the top of the right photo).  It's still really nice wood, but the options were all light and it was only another $1000 to do level B.

In level B, they have engineered hand-scraped (left) and solid wood pre-finished (right). There were many colors to choose from for both.

I initially wanted hand-scraped engineered floors, but they just look a little too engineered and can't be refinished whereas the other one can be.  The bottom two are the ones we're trying to decide between; I've leaning towards the mocha (bottom right), but haven't quite decided.

Master Bath / Shower Tile and Floors We originally selected level 3 tile, which is an upgrade of $1875.  From the level 3 options, I really only found one that I liked (below)... I like the color and size of both tiles below, but they only install the 12x9 vertically, which I'm not a huge fan of.  So we're looking into the possibility of having it installed in a brick pattern.

New Year's Resolution

Stop Procrastinating!

Motto for 2017: Just Do It Now

As I thought about what my New Year's resolution for 2017 would be, all of things that I wanted to do (or stop doing) all had one thing in common: procrastination.  Whether it's doing dishes, laundry, cleaning, working out, planning meals, or eating healthier, I put them all off.  And when I procrastinate it's constantly on my mind, continuous mental dread, watching the clock to see how much time is left in the day to get it done, which all prevent me from enjoying the things I'm doing while procrastinating.  So it's all around bad.

If you have any tips that have helped you stop procrastinating I would love to hear!

What is your New Year's resolution?

We did it! Building with Ryan Homes

Friday, at the eleventh hour, we decided to build a new home with Ryan Homes!  We are beyond excited (and slightly terrified)!  We are building in Windsor Estates in Liberty Township, Ohio.

After much debate, we chose the Springmanor model, which is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch.  We had been set on buying a ranch until we walked through the model, a Bateman, which has the most gorgeous kitchen / living room.  In the end, we went back to the ranch as I just think the Bateman is too much house for us (and more house means more cleaning, which I loathe).  We went with elevation A with brick and side-entry garage.

The only thing I don't love is that we haven't actually seen it in person.  We've been in similar floor plans from other builders, but this is a new floor plan and there haven't been any built in our area yet.

I'll be posting our current selections in the next few days.  Next up is meeting with the flooring company and making color selections!  Super excited for that.

We have 7 days to make structural changes and 14 days to make other changes, so would love to hear your thoughts on must haves, things you regret not doing, etc.!