I need Rehab!

Hi everyone,

Can you believe that we're at the end of the first month of the year?  For the last couple of weeks, I've made additional purchases for our home.  I think at this point, my husband is ready for me to go to TJ Maxx and HomeGoods rehab.  It is hard for me to stay away from these stores--the prices are great, the inventory is unique, and I feel like we need so many new things to make our house a home.  Well, Patrick isn't buying it, so it looks like my free shopping spree days are limited to items that are needed for the baby.

Speaking of the baby…we decided on a crib set and furniture for the room. Initially, I wanted to get a black crib, but I fell in love with this set from Babies R Us:

And the great thing about this is it will grow with her going from a crib, to a toddler bed, and then a full size bed. 

I also found the most adorable crib set:

And the most fun item is seeing our mural come to life. My very talented friend, Tene will draw the mural and here are the sketches for the wall (remember, we're doing a Parisian theme room):

So now I am just stuck with picking out the paint color and the crown molding for the room. I am not sure why I'm dragging my feet on this one; I guess I'm scared to make a permanent choice.  I know I want the walls to be a soft pink  and I want hot pink accents like this chair I found from Target:

With this bold color of pink, I guess I should go with softest of pinks on the wall. With the mural I should make the little girls dress, beret, and shoes a bold pink, like the chair. What do you guys think?

In addition to baby stuff, as I said earlier, I purchased some more items for the home. Here is a picture of artwork that I found at HomeGoods that is in our master bedroom and then I found these faux leather storage units at TJ Maxx to put in our office space to hold CD's and DVD's:

Well, thanks for reading and for giving your opinion on paint color too…Happy Building and stay away from HomeGoods, yeah, ok…who am I kidding?!?

Appliances and Furniture

Hi everyone,

So, as I stated in my previous blog, I'm sorry for being MIA and not keeping up with my posts.  Since we moved in, which can you believe was 8 weeks ago!  We've made a lot of purchases.  So, we went from $0 credit debt to a few revolving interest-free accounts.  But the good news is I think we really were able to get some great products and a few deals here and there.

First, let's talk about our appliances.  I had two bottom freezer refrigerators.  And although I like the space for french door refrigerators, I hate bottom freezers.  So we went with a counter-depth, Whirlpool side by side.  The refrigerator is quiet, doesn't take up much space and has some nice features, but it is small in the inside.  We also saw that this refrigerator will be temporary for our kitchen.  Remember, I want stainless steel appliances but didn't think the one Ryan offered were that great, so decided to hold-off on my dream kitchen appliances for a few years--especially when we're ready to update the kitchen by getting rid of our laminate counter tops, etc.  The kitchen project will be at least 3 years down the road, so I will live with a small fridge for now, and then transition the current refrigerator to the basement.  Either way h.h. gregg gave us a great deal on the fridge.  It was originally $2200 but we got it for $1714 with a year financing.

Here is a pic of the fridge:

Also, from h.h. gregg we bought our microwave (made by Samsung)  and washer and dryer.  We love our washer and dryer (made by Samsung) --it is efficient, fast and we can get a lot of clothes washed in one big swoop.  We also really like our microwave. It heats food up fast and evenly.  We financed this too for a year and paid about $225 for the microwave and $1800 for the washer and dryer.  We did go with the pedestals and got them for $150 a piece.  Here are pictures of our microwave and washer and dryer:

Like many of you, we decided to install our garage door opener ourselves. Boy, I'm glad we did not go with Ryans garage door opener.  It may have been inconvenient for the first two weeks of living in the house to manually lift up the garage and lock it when I pulled the car out, but we paid $239.00 for a super quiet belt opener and about $95 for Lowes to install it.   We chose Champion and if you're looking for a quality garage door opener, then this is the one for you!  Since our garage ceiling is high, we did need to buy the extenders for the belt and that was $50.00 more.  We did not finance this purchase and really like that it will operate if our power goes out, it is smart phone capable, came with two car remotes, and a pad for outside.  The indoor pad even gives us the temperature.  Here is a picture of the opener and other accessories.  

Now for some fun stuff…I thought that I would use my old dining room table in our dining space.  I wanted to save money, but one day during my lunch break I went "window" shopping at Macy's and guess what happened?  I left the store purchasing a new 8 piece dining room set?!? Trust me, Patrick was not happy to hear the news, and for once, he thought his buying habits, of waiting to purchase something had rubbed off on me…but, I can't resist a DEAL when I see one.  Here is how it all went down:  The set originally cost $3200 but it was on close-out (otherwise known as discontinued) for $1499.  I saw a few dents here and there and asked for an additional discount, and they obliged marking it down another $200, with free delivery AND one year financing.  So, I paid $1299 for a table, six chairs, and a credenza.  Which if you look on Macy's website the credenza alone is listed from $899 and the table with six chairs is $1299.   Is that a deal or what?    Even Patrick told me to get the set!  So, the set came on Monday, January 7th.  Here is a complete look of the set in our house. The table does extend, but we took the leaf out.

Here's a mirror I purchased from HomeGoods for our powder room. Please forgive my pink slipper soaks and the reflection of the commode in the mirror:

Here is a bench (purchased at Macy's), a chair (purchased at Overstock.com), and mirrors (purchased at HomeGoods)  I bought for our master bedroom:

That's all the pics I have for now…happy building!

Catching Up On A Few Things...

Hi everyone,

Happy New Year to you all!  I can't believe that I have been away from my blog for such a long period of time.  There is a lot going on over here, but I vow to keep you updated as we do things in our home.  I never fully shared the appliances we selected and still owe pictures of some decorating items in the house.  I will place those in the next entry…seems like this entry will be a long one.  Anyway,  I don't really want to post too many pics right now, only because I hate having white walls.  To me  no matter how much artwork I put up, the house does not look complete without paint and of course crown molding.  

We have decided to make a priority list of our projects, so here is our list below:

1. First room up for painting is the baby's room. We are in the home stretch now, about 100 days away before our daughter arrives.  Yes, I'm scared…but too late to turn back now, I willingly  signed up to be in pain!  Oh, sorry, I digress…. as I have shared in a previous post, we're doing a Parisian theme room and I met with the muralist a few weeks back.  I've decided on the art work for the wall, so I'm excited to move forward.  I will wait to share specific details as the work unfolds, but for now, know that our colors are black, white, and pink!  We also will add crown molding to the room too.  Does anyone know how difficult it will be to add a light fixture to the ceiling?  I could almost kick myself for not getting the ceiling fan hook-up in at least one of our extra rooms.  I guess, I will need to get a handyman out to tell us the damage.  We hope to have the room completed by March, so I will post updates.


2. Landscaping is something I want to do in the spring.  Our  lawn is amazing--barring a few bald spots thanks to our awful cable company, Comcast!  But my PM assured us that he'll get us some hydro-seed for those areas in the spring. And since most of our neighbors will need to be seeded in the spring, it should not be a problem.  Ideally, we'd like to create a flower bed and extend the landscaping to the side of the home.  I want to add trees to the front yard and would like to get some lighting around the house too.  We will need to focus later on the backyard.  I want a brick/stone patio but that will need to wait until next year or the year after that…who knows.

3. Painting!  Yeah, I'm sure many of you thought with my disdain for white walls, painting would be first on my list--well, we're going to wait until our first year drywall and then get to work.  We really want to add crown molding and other trim too. So, I will start researching  a few looks I like, and by October/November we should be ready to go.  In regard to paint colors, I think I'm using the palette that Ryan used in their model home from our community.  The only room, that I will probably look for my own color selection will be the kitchen/morning room area.  Here I think I want a pop of color…so we'll see. 

4.  We really need to finish our basement.  Patrick does all the laundry now because our laundry room is in the basement and it is really hard for me to carry laundry down the steps being close to 7 months preggers.  But truthfully, I hate going down to the dark and unfinished basement. So, we're going to make a budget to save so we can finish it.  Hopefully by the end of this year we'll have enough to start construction in 2014.  We want the space to be functional and fun.  Ideally, I want to  make the bathroom downstairs into a spa-like retreat. I also want to add a playroom for the baby.  This way all of her toys will be in one place opposed to all over the house... I know all my parent bloggers are laughing at me, but can't a first time mom have a dream?   Patrick of course wants an entertainment area and a work out room.  And if possible, I wanted to squeeze out a small guest room.  I know we probably don't have the space for all these wants--where is Hilly from HGTV, "Love it, or List it" when you need her? Either way, we think that this project will cost us between 20K-30K to finish and to furnish.  Do any of you know of a website that can help us create and draw up plans?  

So, that's our project list for now.  And who knows if all these things will get done because we'll have an added expense of childcare too.  But, we'll see what we can do. In the meantime, happy building and check out my next entry for pictures of appliances, window treatments and new furniture that we bought!

Great Expectations!

Hi everyone,

I hope you all are having a great time building and settling into your homes. We just completed our 30 day inspection and in typical Ryan Home fashion, we had a great experience.  Below is a list of our quick fixes:

1. Fireplace screen needs to be replaced, there is a small rip.
2. Ordered new parts for our range, a scratch and a few nicks on the grates.
3. Carpet needs to be stretched in transition areas--hallway bath, top of steps and in the family room.
4. Trim around the front door needs to be sanded and repainted.
5. Hot water in Master bedroom needs to be adjusted and a tile needs some grout.
6. A few nail pops on the stairwell and a nick on one of our balusters needs to be fixed.

So, as you can see we have minor things to fix and we couldn't be happier with the craftsmanship and work done on our home.  Our PM, Matt and Chris are always timely and ready to fix or answer our needs. 

On another note, there is something else that we've been building besides our house.  We're having a baby!  We're over the moon and tickled pink--with the news that we're having a GIRL!  So, my Parisian themed guest room will be turned into a Parisian themed nursery.  Our daughter's room (gotta get used to saying that phrase) will be our first project and priority. I'm so elated to start the process.  Below, please find a picture of the lamp that inspired the room--gotta love HomeGoods!

Also, I found a great piece of furniture from Macy's.  Our furniture will look like the piece below, put the color is a mettalic grey.  Once it arrives, I will take a pic of the completed room.


Well, happy building everyone and enjoy the day too!

A few pictures

Just a few pictures of what we have done with the house so far. I will have more to come with other rooms soon.

Happy Building...

The Kitchen

Morning Room

Pantry solution...Thanks to The Container Store. 

Showing off our Roman Shades by Blinds to Go.

Side view of our Costco Headboard

Espresso Colored Wooden Blind by Blinds to Go.

Some New Building Tips

Hi everyone,

Since my husband and I are the first to move into our community, I wanted to give some tips on things to ask prior to moving in. Here's a list below:

1. Cable: Ensure that the cable wires are placed underground. Although our house was cable ready in the inside, it seems as if the builder and the cable company did not communicate to prior too and the wire were not placed underground.  Although we had a temporary wire above our lawn for a few days, it was difficult to see the cable company rip up our nice hyrdo-seed yard to place the wires underground.  So, make sure before you move, the wires are secured underground first.

2. Phone:  If you're going with a carrier like Verizon, you will also need to make sure the wires are placed underground.  Similar to the cable experience...not a fun time.

3.  Water Company:  We also had a problem getting an account with the water company.  Hopefully, it won't be a problem for our neighbors moving forward because we've already established residence, but just make sure you put the water company on high priority because it tooks us at least 5 days to get the account and service going.

4. Microwave Installation:  Check with your PM to make sure that no structure exist behind your hooded fan.  Apparently we had a 2X4 piece of wood behind our cabinet that we did not know existed. When the microwave installer came, he removed the wood because he said it was pointless and would prevent the microwave from being placed correctly. Well, what we have is a microwave that does not vent correctly.  So, thankfully our PM is going to fix this, but to save you a step, ask before you get the appliance installed.

5.  Trash Pick-Up and Recycling:  We still do not have trash or recycle service. I have called the township, the sanitation department, and the builder! So, i would say get on this fast. I am still waiting, but thankfully, our PM allowed us to put our trash and boxes in the dumpster. That's all I have for now...I hope this list is helpful with your transition.

Happy Building...

Weathering The Storm

Hi everyone!

Well, as smooth as our building process and our closing went, our move was quite the contrary.  We were scheduled to move on Tuesday, October 30 and then came Hurricane Sandy!  The planner that I am, I rescheduled our move for Wednesday, October 31 thinking that Hurricane Sandy would not be a big storm. Well, on Monday, October 29, our power went out at 6:30PM and my husband and I realized that our move would probably be an issue.  

The next day, I contacted our movers and our apartment complex to see if we could change our move to Thursday, November 1.  Both obliged and Patrick and I were set to do the last bit of packing during the daylight hours and luckily my sister-in-law still had power and we bunked there for 2 nights. After waiting in line for 2 hours and 45 minutes to get gas, Patrick and I were feigning to get into our new home, which thankfully had power and no damage from the storm.  

On Thursday, we patiently waited for our movers to show up and after waiting for 3 hours, I finally was able to reach the moving manager.  Of course their phone lines were out and cell phone service was impossible too.  The moving company wanted to change our move to Friday, November 2nd, but Patrick and I could not wait another second, yet alone another day.  We needed to move pronto! Another dilemma for us was our apartment that was still without  power. This meant our movers could not use the elevator! Thankfully, we lived on the first floor, but it was still no small feat to see these guys move all our furniture in the dark with the aid of flashlights.  So, after a 90 minute drive to our new home, the movers unloaded the truck and left to drive 90 minutes back at the midnight hour--yes, they did not finish until 12AM!

Although Patrick and I are exhausted from packing, to unpacking, to coordinating….we're so thankful to be in our new home and feel so blessed to have the luxuries like TV, power, and heat.  We still have friends and family who are without these things. We see the destruction of our state and realize that childhood memories of walking the boardwalk may be a thing of the past. It is sad.  So, we will continue to pray, give support and resources to the victims of the storm.  Meanwhile, we're taking our time unpacking--it is just too much to do!  I hope that all of you are enjoying your building process.  I will post pictures in the next few weeks. 

Happy Building...