I just posted and here I am again with a second installment! I wanted to address the change in my blog name and even the color scheme. First, I've been fiddling around for years with the idea of doing home decorating. I know my husband would like for me to spend someones money over my own or better yet for me to get paid to go to HomeGoods to scout out fun home accessories.
For years friends, neighbors, and work colleagues have encouraged me and complimented me on my natural and innate eye for decorating and organization. I decided that I'm going to hunker down and make this passion of mine a business. So, Dee Wright Design was born! I also figured the best way to showcase my talents and skills is to share it with all of you, my very best blog friends, yup you didn't know that you're all my VBBF's?
Therefore, I gave my blog a little face lift and a new color scheme, my latest color combination obsession is pink and orange; isn't pretty? I even freshened up the title with "One Room At a Time" , cute, right? Honestly the phrase, one room at a time has been my mantra with moving into a new home that I needed to fill. As I go forth and decorate our home, "one room at a time", I'm going to take you my VBBF's with me!
My posts will start to focus on the rooms, the finds, and the organization of my ideas. I hope that these future posts will inspire you and help you with your own decorating conundrum. I vow to at least blog once a week...no more long weekly hiatus' for me. So, since I just did two entries in one day...I will do a post by next Friday. In my next post, I will share my final room reveal of my daughters room. Until then... happy decorating and enjoy the weekend too!
Friday, September 27, 2013
10 Month Inspection...
Once again, I've been missing in action. A ton of things have been going on in our lives. First, we lost my father-in-law a month ago. Although he was sick with a chronic disease that was managed by doctors and through medication, his death came sudden, it was unexpected, and was not caused by his disease but rather by an aggressive form of bacterial pnemonia. We're still grieving and missing him a lot. My Father-in-law was a self made man and a quiet leader. He taught us many things, but I think his greatest lesson was to love the Lord, work hard, and love your family more. We'll take those memories and lessons with us Pop-Pop...gone, but not forgotten!
In the midst of all of that, we had to complete our 10 month inspection and we're still going through the process. Although we initially did not find a ton of things that needed repair, we did have some BIG issues that needed to be addressed. Below, please find our list of concerns:
1. Weather Stripping on garage and front door need to be replaced
2. Nail pops (not too many but don't you know after the drywall repairman came out a ton appeared...karma is a beyotch!)
3. Grading of our backyard. This seems to be a common issue with Ryan Homes, all I can say is what's up with that?
4. Towel bars and toilet holders are crooked and need to be secured.
5. Creaky wood floor---This is our BIG concern and an outstanding issue (more to read below).
6. Master Bathroom vanity door needs to be secure/aligned.
7. Uneven/sunken floors beneath the carpet.
As I said the list is not that long but some of the issues on this list are HUGE! So, here is the deal about the creaky wood floor: when we first moved in we were told by our PM that creaks in hardwoods is normal. Our PM further told us that the hardwoods would swell in the summer--hence the creaks would fade and that during the winter the hardwoods would shrink and we'd here creaks between the space. Ok--I get that, and when I started hearing the creaks during the winter I thought nothing about it. Well, the creaks continued during the summer and they have become far worst to the point of creaking followed by a popping sound. When the RH inspector came to our house and walked the floors, I could see it written all of his face that this indeed was not good.
He took the issue back to his manger and then two weeks went by and we did not hear anything back. I spoke the the RH inspector and inquired about the floors. The RH inspector said that he HAS NEVER seen or had this situation before but in all likely purposes the floor will need to be replaced. I think the issue here is not Ryan Homes but the contracting company they hired out to do the work. We're scheduled to have the flooring company to inspect the floors on Monday...so stay tuned on this one. The other flooring issue is that the sub flooring is sinking in certain places under the carpet, so the same flooring company will take a look at this on Monday as well.
I've read many posts from others and their inspection experiences. I agree, that my experience with buying a Ryan Home was for the most part enjoyable. However, I think if there was anything they could do to make their company even better is to have a two year inspection window. I know that will never happen and it would take more time and money probably away from them but I already know that more things will most likely pop up and you guessed it, it will be our headache to handle it.
I already noticed that my outside shutters, doors and trim will probably need to be repainted by next year. I'm not sure what paint products Ryan uses but the quality is not great. But I guess this is what home ownership is all about--maintenance and repair!
Happy building everyone!
In the midst of all of that, we had to complete our 10 month inspection and we're still going through the process. Although we initially did not find a ton of things that needed repair, we did have some BIG issues that needed to be addressed. Below, please find our list of concerns:
1. Weather Stripping on garage and front door need to be replaced
2. Nail pops (not too many but don't you know after the drywall repairman came out a ton appeared...karma is a beyotch!)
3. Grading of our backyard. This seems to be a common issue with Ryan Homes, all I can say is what's up with that?
4. Towel bars and toilet holders are crooked and need to be secured.
5. Creaky wood floor---This is our BIG concern and an outstanding issue (more to read below).
6. Master Bathroom vanity door needs to be secure/aligned.
7. Uneven/sunken floors beneath the carpet.
As I said the list is not that long but some of the issues on this list are HUGE! So, here is the deal about the creaky wood floor: when we first moved in we were told by our PM that creaks in hardwoods is normal. Our PM further told us that the hardwoods would swell in the summer--hence the creaks would fade and that during the winter the hardwoods would shrink and we'd here creaks between the space. Ok--I get that, and when I started hearing the creaks during the winter I thought nothing about it. Well, the creaks continued during the summer and they have become far worst to the point of creaking followed by a popping sound. When the RH inspector came to our house and walked the floors, I could see it written all of his face that this indeed was not good.
He took the issue back to his manger and then two weeks went by and we did not hear anything back. I spoke the the RH inspector and inquired about the floors. The RH inspector said that he HAS NEVER seen or had this situation before but in all likely purposes the floor will need to be replaced. I think the issue here is not Ryan Homes but the contracting company they hired out to do the work. We're scheduled to have the flooring company to inspect the floors on Monday...so stay tuned on this one. The other flooring issue is that the sub flooring is sinking in certain places under the carpet, so the same flooring company will take a look at this on Monday as well.
I've read many posts from others and their inspection experiences. I agree, that my experience with buying a Ryan Home was for the most part enjoyable. However, I think if there was anything they could do to make their company even better is to have a two year inspection window. I know that will never happen and it would take more time and money probably away from them but I already know that more things will most likely pop up and you guessed it, it will be our headache to handle it.
I already noticed that my outside shutters, doors and trim will probably need to be repainted by next year. I'm not sure what paint products Ryan uses but the quality is not great. But I guess this is what home ownership is all about--maintenance and repair!
Happy building everyone!
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Back to Work...
Well, I'm back to work. I can't believe that 4 months flew by since I left the office for maternity leave. Now real life begins as a working mother, and guess what? I'm TIRED!!! However, coming back to work will afford me a few luxuries that I've missed. Such as, I can stay current on the news, blog again and make sure that bills are paid on time (didn't know how much I depended on the bill pay feature of my bank).
Coming back to the office will also get me started on some big projects for the house. First, we will say goodbye to white walls!! I know that many did not wait until 10 months inspection, but we did. I'm glad we did so, as I would be really annoyed seeing my nice painted ceiling and wall ruined by a nail pop. Speaking of nail pops, did anyone request that they fix the nail pops with screws? I heard that just nailing it back is not a long term solution but screws very well could be the remedy.
Additionally, I'm super exicted to have Alexis Ellison, a gifted seamstress and designer to come by our home for a consultation tomorrow. Alexis is gifted and uber creative. She will create custom window treatments for my daughter's room, our room, the dining and family room. She will also reupholster my dining room chairs. So stay tuned for upcoming pics of her work.
Once I get my colors together, I will be at my favorite store on the planet--HomeGoods to look for some over sized art pieces for our foyer. I am just salivating thinking about the fun I will have in looking for art, choosing fabrics, and selecting paint colors and molding. In the meantime, happy building and decorating!
Coming back to the office will also get me started on some big projects for the house. First, we will say goodbye to white walls!! I know that many did not wait until 10 months inspection, but we did. I'm glad we did so, as I would be really annoyed seeing my nice painted ceiling and wall ruined by a nail pop. Speaking of nail pops, did anyone request that they fix the nail pops with screws? I heard that just nailing it back is not a long term solution but screws very well could be the remedy.
Additionally, I'm super exicted to have Alexis Ellison, a gifted seamstress and designer to come by our home for a consultation tomorrow. Alexis is gifted and uber creative. She will create custom window treatments for my daughter's room, our room, the dining and family room. She will also reupholster my dining room chairs. So stay tuned for upcoming pics of her work.
Once I get my colors together, I will be at my favorite store on the planet--HomeGoods to look for some over sized art pieces for our foyer. I am just salivating thinking about the fun I will have in looking for art, choosing fabrics, and selecting paint colors and molding. In the meantime, happy building and decorating!
Monday, June 10, 2013
Trim De La Trim
A way to make a home look custom is to add trim and molding. When purchasing our home, we didn't think twice of adding the trim package from the builder. Then when I viewed other neighbors homes I had a case of trim envy! Later when speaking to my neighbor, I learned that the trim package was under $4,000 dollars--not a bad price. But in hindsight, I'm still happy that we elected not to go with the builder, as I found a trim company via my friend, Dena that does phenomenal work. Home Trim work, visit their web page: http://www.hometrimwork.com/.
Here are a few pictures of their work. I lifted these pictures from their website. This trim work appears to compliment our home.
Here are a few pictures of their work. I lifted these pictures from their website. This trim work appears to compliment our home.
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| I really like the wainscoting going up the steps and the trim on the walls on all these pictures. |
I also visited a model home for a custom built home. Man, talk about a beautiful home. The home starts at $1.4 million, so you can imagine what this house looks like. Funny thing, the woman selling the million dollar home used to work for Ryan Homes and lives in a Savoy--how funny is that!
I confessed right away that there is no way I could afford that house and my main purpose was to capture ideas for decorating. She was real cool about my honesty and told me to feel free to snap photos and look around. So, I took some pictures of items that I liked, more trim work and a coffered ceiling, which I'm not sure if I want to add it to our dining room or office space. Either way, a coffered ceiling is major bucks, but looks so beautiful. In addition to trim work, I really liked the wallpaper in the house. They had this cork looking one in the basement bathroom and some other textured wall paper. I'm thinking at this point of adding wall paper to our dining room, powder room, and maybe the master bedroom.
Here are pictures from the million dollar model home excursion:
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| Coffered Ceiling |
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| Crown molding |
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| Trim work in the dining room. |
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| This is the cork like wall in the bathroom--very cool and I like the texture. I may try something like this once we finish our basement bath. |
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| Took this picture because it reminded me of our two story foyer in our home, the Savoy. I also like the idea of framing twin art pieces in the hallway. |
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| I like the size of this tray ceiling…another idea minus the medallion for our dining room. |
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| Loved the tile in the bath and the very modern fixtures. |
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| Sleek fixture. |
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| I liked the lamp with the tray ceiling here…it is transitional. A look that I'm going for in our dining room. |
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| This is wall paper! The flash on my camera did not capture the color but again, I liked the texture of the paper. |
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| More textured wall paper! |
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| I liked these built-ins. This is actually a sitting area in the master bedroom. But I think this is something I would like to do in our office or basement space. |
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| Hard to see in the picture, but this vanity is all blinded out! Jeweled knobs…loved it! |
I'm so excited that we're approaching our year mark and can finally paint! I know many of you painted already, but we wanted to wait until nail pops and settlement happened in the house. And to date we see most of our nail pops in the bathroom and bedrooms. I also see a lot of settlement on the trim going up the steps.
Either way, we'll be picking out paint colors, wall paper and trim work in the next few months. So stay tuned for pictures as we go. In the meantime, happy building!
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Love Thy Neighbor
Hi everyone,
The last lot in our community has been sold! Our community is definitely in full flux of being a neighborhood. With over 20 kids on our cul-de-sac, summer nights should be fun. Having great neighbors is truly a blessing. In today's world we're so busy that it appears we have lost the essence of connecting with our neighbors. One of the things that sold me on our community was the layout of our neighborhood. With less than 20 homes in the community, I liked that we were new construction in the midst of a well established town that offered a little of everything; small town main street, easy access to the city, and the delights of suburbia--two malls, Costco, and Target!
In getting to know our neighbors, we have discovered that we live amongst some very generous folks. We were overwhelmed by the generosity and love of our neighbors--bringing gift cards and a basket filled with baby items was beyond nice--it was downright neighborly! We look forward to seeing our children grow in friendship and to hosting annual block parties too. But beyond the fellowship of neighbors, I have heard from so many of them how my blog helped them with selecting and even negotiating for their home. That made me feel good! I'm glad that my little blog could be of service. I guess it is one of those pass it along type of gestures--after all, it was this Ryan Homes community blog that taught me so much when Patrick and I were settling on our home.
It's hard to believe that it was a year ago when we first embarked on this building journey, and we have learned so much. I'm often asked, what would I have done differently in our house, and I think the big two would be to extend the hardwoods through out the house and the 2 foot addition to the family room. So, if you think no one is reading your blog, you are mistaken--many are learning from you and taking on home projects all because of you!
Oh, and one more thing--get to know your neighbors you never know what you can learn from them or how they can enhance your life too! So thanks Green Briar Estates Community…I look forward to great times coming soon!
Happy Building,
D
The last lot in our community has been sold! Our community is definitely in full flux of being a neighborhood. With over 20 kids on our cul-de-sac, summer nights should be fun. Having great neighbors is truly a blessing. In today's world we're so busy that it appears we have lost the essence of connecting with our neighbors. One of the things that sold me on our community was the layout of our neighborhood. With less than 20 homes in the community, I liked that we were new construction in the midst of a well established town that offered a little of everything; small town main street, easy access to the city, and the delights of suburbia--two malls, Costco, and Target!
In getting to know our neighbors, we have discovered that we live amongst some very generous folks. We were overwhelmed by the generosity and love of our neighbors--bringing gift cards and a basket filled with baby items was beyond nice--it was downright neighborly! We look forward to seeing our children grow in friendship and to hosting annual block parties too. But beyond the fellowship of neighbors, I have heard from so many of them how my blog helped them with selecting and even negotiating for their home. That made me feel good! I'm glad that my little blog could be of service. I guess it is one of those pass it along type of gestures--after all, it was this Ryan Homes community blog that taught me so much when Patrick and I were settling on our home.
It's hard to believe that it was a year ago when we first embarked on this building journey, and we have learned so much. I'm often asked, what would I have done differently in our house, and I think the big two would be to extend the hardwoods through out the house and the 2 foot addition to the family room. So, if you think no one is reading your blog, you are mistaken--many are learning from you and taking on home projects all because of you!
Oh, and one more thing--get to know your neighbors you never know what you can learn from them or how they can enhance your life too! So thanks Green Briar Estates Community…I look forward to great times coming soon!
Happy Building,
D
Sunday, May 12, 2013
This Woman's Work...
Hi everyone!
I've missed all of you! Just got a chance to look through your posts and saw all the great and inspiring work you've been up to as you customize and make your house a home. As for me, I've been busy every 2-3 hours feeding my daughter. My precious little one debuted on April 4. I know every parents says this, but she is indeed the love of my life. And despite my fear of labor and delivery, her birthday was the BEST day of my life. There is something to be said about the miracle of creating, carrying and bringing in a life. I felt so honored to be a part of this cycle of life. What a gracious gift from the God to us women! Below is a picture of my angel. The picture was take by Allison of Lucid Foto.
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So, my house improvements have been put on hiatus for a minute. However, I can tell that my little girl can't wait to make her HomeGoods run with me because she is awe of the artwork on the walls in my room (courtesy of her mama's home shopping obsession). I tell her everyday, soon enough we will be shopping and enjoying decorating our home together.
So, Happy Mother's Day to everyone and know that I have not abandoned my blog, just getting use to a new routine:-)
Enjoy a little music by Maxwell…I think this sums it up on what mother's do everyday!
I've missed all of you! Just got a chance to look through your posts and saw all the great and inspiring work you've been up to as you customize and make your house a home. As for me, I've been busy every 2-3 hours feeding my daughter. My precious little one debuted on April 4. I know every parents says this, but she is indeed the love of my life. And despite my fear of labor and delivery, her birthday was the BEST day of my life. There is something to be said about the miracle of creating, carrying and bringing in a life. I felt so honored to be a part of this cycle of life. What a gracious gift from the God to us women! Below is a picture of my angel. The picture was take by Allison of Lucid Foto.
.jpg)
So, my house improvements have been put on hiatus for a minute. However, I can tell that my little girl can't wait to make her HomeGoods run with me because she is awe of the artwork on the walls in my room (courtesy of her mama's home shopping obsession). I tell her everyday, soon enough we will be shopping and enjoying decorating our home together.
So, Happy Mother's Day to everyone and know that I have not abandoned my blog, just getting use to a new routine:-)
Enjoy a little music by Maxwell…I think this sums it up on what mother's do everyday!
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Party planning Passion!
Hi everyone,
I haven't updated my blog in sometime. We've been busy preparing for baby and part of those plans included hosting my baby shower. I know…I hear you all saying, "Umm, why were you planning your OWN shower?" Well, I planned my shower because I love party planning.
So, there you have it…I saw this as an opportunity to expand my creative talents and I enjoyed every minute of the plans. First, I started with a theme--which for me was "Breakfast at Tiffany's"…one of my favorite movies of all time. I like to say that Holly Golightly was the first Sex in the City Girl…Carrie Bradshaw has nothing over Holly!
Here are some pics of the shower. It's amazing how helpful the internet is with finding cute things. I love Etsy.com! I even found petits fours from an amazing bakery in California. OMG…these petit fours were delish! I am already planning to get them for the next party I will host, probably for the baby's baptism. Thanks for taking a peek, and let me know if you have an upcoming party…I would love to provide ideas!
Happy building and partying too!
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| Here is a sample of the invitation…found on Etsy.com |
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| My sister created an activity called the blessing bowl. Here guest wrote a note to the baby. Each year, on her birthday, we'll read the blessing. |
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| Instructions on the blessing bowl. |
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| Completed blessings... |
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| Every party needs a signature drink. This one is called Gabriella's Pink Elephant. It was good and alcohol free for me, of course! |
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| Dragonfly Bakery delicious petits fours! Extra cute that they're in the shape of the Tiffany box. |
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| Etsy.com again! Really cute cookies with the Tiffany's theme. |
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| Sam's club can be your friend…I added the bling in the middle of the cupcake to make it Tiffany's fabulous. |
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| Our candy buffet…a thank you to my guest! The candy included lollipops, chocolate bars, gum drops, and old fashion taffys. |
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| Again, an Etsy.com find…a candy bar wrapper that was complete with nutritional facts. I downloaded the wrapper and found tape at Michael's that was the same print/pattern. Of course I added the rhinestone to make it extra festive. |
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| Jewels and flowers as the center piece. I threw in the pink to show off our anticipation of a girl. |
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| And the guest of honor…my little Ella bella in my belly! |
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