Ugh isn't the internet fight the worst!!?? We're a little that way ourselves. Had to change cellular providers b/c our house is a Verizon black hole. Only AT&T works there. We're stuck with very few options for internet, high speed has come down our road, but being 1600+ feet off the road has made that option extreeeeeemly expensive in my book!!

Thank you for your response!

Decorating/Organizing tips:

Although I moved in, in December, I spent most of the winter recuperating from knee surgery, and learning how to take stairs again. In late spring, I brought in chickens, perhaps prematurely, as I had to spend more time around here. So, much of my heavy furniture is still at the old home, and a lot of things are still in boxes here until I can get things like two dressers and a couple of large book cases up here. And a wall unit and a breakfront. And my own bed and the dining table. And a couple of desks for my office. I plan to get everything up here this October/November. (It means selling a mostly-empty house, but at this point, I don't care.)

My office is currently the storage room; I'm using the dining area (on a card table) as a temporary office.

But anyway, things I learned about decorating:

1:

Everyone says decide on paint last, when you get to the décor stage.

GC's will often say, we need paint colors first before we install stuff. (Especially true in kitchens and baths). Yes, I can see, hard to paint around cabinets without getting inadvertently sloppy at least somewhere...

I went and got the Sherwin Williams color scheme collections, and decided that "Global Spice" was for me. Others will find white tones everywhere to be for them, but these are personal choices. I used as my unifying warm white tone, gleaned from "Global Spice", their color named canvas tan. My ceilings are canvas tan. My hallway is canvas tan. My GC kept wanting to know if I really wanted "ceiling white". NO, not here.

All rooms, except the office, were painted colors based on "Global Spice" suggested colors from Sherwin Williams. (I note here that my house is a log home, so all exterior walls are log, and for me this encouraged the use of a warm palate.) I got a bit more brazen in the office, and decided that a river-blue color for the walls would go with the canvas tan ceiling, and it is a color that will work well for me mentally when I do set that room up as an actual office, instead of its current storage function.

I made life easy for myself by having tubs, shower flooring (roll in shower for when or if I need one), and toilets just plain ole basic white. Too many cans of worms otherwise!

2:

Tile (or countertop samples) simply does not look the same on a computer monitor as they do in person.

I didn't realize this at first, but I now have enough tile "trivets" to last for like, forever. The worst offender was what appeared to be a pretty brown and green woodland countertop material, that when I got it in my hands, looked exactly like someone had eaten green peas and sweet potatoes... and regurgitated.

This would also be true for paint swatches viewed online, which is why I very rarely ever comment when people ask for paint opinions here. (I didn't fall into that trap, because I had plenty of real life paint samples from local sources.)

3:

When you finally decide to look just at Home Depot or Lowes or some other local place for tile (because you don't have to wait for samples (that aren't free) to be shipped to you), and you decide on one you love... it will go out of production and all stocks will be immediately bought up by other folk, and you will have at hand maybe half of what you need. I ran to about four HDs for one accent tile I really wanted, and garnered up every last piece. In another case, a bathroom floor tile was unavailable, and so I switched to another... again to find out there was only a couple cases of that one left -- once my GC got around to deciding to do that floor and ordering it -- and so I had to find a third option.

I will note I am satisfied with the options I finally did get to use. In at least one case, my ultimate choice ended up far superior to the original, so maybe the process isn't entirely a bad thing, just annoying.

Lori, I need to find out if someone using AT&T gets reception here. So far, my guests have only been Verizon or T-Mobile customers. Both fail at reception. I suspect AT&T won't fare better. I'm nearly 1000 feet off the road, btw.

How's your home living?

Do you love it?

It's living very well and we love it. We built our new house on our farm ourselves and moved in in June. Our previous house was a 1950s bungalow, elsewhere on the property. I keep thinking this feels like a vacation home, especially with an ample front porch and ample back porch. And I love our en suite bathroom. We never have to share with anyone else ever again : ) . The new kitchen is a dream to cook/work in, alone or with the rest of the family .

What would you change if anything.

A slightly larger laundry room. I might have more ideas after a full year here : ) .

Would you ever build again, or hell no?

Probably not. We originally planned to build in the spring of 2010, but then my parents died, one after the other, so we had to postpone for several years while I dealt with estate matters. And then the build took us four years, while we did other things (farming and construction projects for clients), during which time my husband also dealt with prostate cancer and a heart attack, and his father had a debilitating stroke and then died.

Were the heartaches and time worth it?

I think so. I do know it's always easier to live with fewer regrets : ) . Our kids want to farm, and I like to think of this new house as the farmhouse that should have been here all along. So it's worth it for us as well as for them down the road.

Upcoming projects?

Curtains, some more Roman shades. Finishing the stairs, the railing for the upstairs reading nook, and hanging pictures. Building the greenhouse, landscaping, gardening.

Decorating/organizing tips?

I put off updating a number of things for the old house because I knew I'd rather put the money toward the new house.

I said I would come back to talk about my build so I guess I'll start here:

How's your home living?

We moved in around March and we just got rid of the pod and are signing the selling papers for our old house tomorrow. Living here has been great, but we've been so busy with work and kids, that it doesn't feel like we've really be able to enjoy it yet. It's living how we planned it would and haven't really found anything too glaringly annoying.

Do you love it?

Unequivocally yes. We have more room for the kids and the features we have make living easier and more convenient. The layout is efficient and perfect for us. I have a longer commute and am strongly considering changing jobs to lessen it, but that's easy. There's still a ton of landscaping to complete, but we're in a forest, so it's not horrible; just time consuming and expensive.

What would you change if anything.

I haven't found anything that I would change. A lack of natural lighting was something that was often warned against when having a wrap around porch, but I find that the natural lighting is sufficient and offset by having a great outdoor living space.

Would you ever build again, or hell no?

I often say there are only two things that would make me leave this house. Death, or a change to retire on Maui. I would build again for the later.

Were the heartaches and time worth it?

Yes. Our build was particularly difficult, but that's how life is. We talk about it with a mixture of disdain and triumph, but in the end, not an ounce of regret.

Upcoming projects?

Copper gutters and landscaping.

Decorating/organizing tips?

Hire an interior designer. We joke that our interior designer charges as much as my wife earns ($140/hr) but ours was well worth it.

Pictures welcome of course! Links to blogs!

I'll update my personal completion post and blog when I can find the time.

Anything else you want to add!

For those of you completed, congratulations. Very few get to do what we've done. For those of you in the thick of it, keep your head up! You'll get there and it will be worth it.

Artemis_ma

Good luck on the internet/cell issue. I hope you’re pleasantly surprised with AT&T!?!! I couldn’t believe our black hole status with Verizon, it’s crazy!

beckysharp

What would you change if anything.

A slightly larger laundry room. I might have more ideas after a full year here : ) .

Isn’t it crazy!??? Though I love everything about our home, this is one thing that I don’t think you’d ever not say. I thought ours was big enough, b/c it’s bigger than my mom’s. She said the same thing when they built their 2nd home. She made it bigger than the one before. But here I am saying, it could still be bigger!! HAHA!!

Sorry to hear of your losses and dealings with health issues. Life just throws some serious curves sometimes!!

Glad to hear your kids are wanting to keep with the farming tradition. That’s fewer & farther between these days. My husband is 4th gen farmer and while our daughter loves to help, I don’t see her continuing the tradition. Maybe future son-in-law? Time will tell, she’s only 16 and looking into a career in dentistry, so maybe she’ll be well off enough to keep things going without as much head/heart ache.

Dazureus

Glad you found my thread to talk about your build!

A lack of natural lighting was something that was often warned against when having a wrap around porch, but I find that the natural lighting is sufficient and offset by having a great outdoor living space.

I find our house to have wonderful natural light even with the large front porch. I agree with this 100% I love our outdoor spaces!!

For those of you completed, congratulations. Very few get to do what we've done. For those of you in the thick of it, keep your head up! You'll get there and it will be worth it.

Well said!!

How's your home living?

It's living very well. The house is larger than my previous home, but still small enough to feel cozy and secure. I live in a great little town in a beautiful area which adds a lot to our quality of life.

Do you love it?

I'm beginning to. My DH and I spent 9 months working on this house from sunup to sundown and I was very, very, tired when we moved in last April. There was also a punch list a mile long that we, as owner-builder, had to take care of. I actually disliked the house quite a bit when we first moved in. Everyday I had to look at so many details needing to be fixed due to incompetent subs that I was in a constant state of aggravation.

However, now that we taken care of most of the punch list and the house doesn't equate so much to "work" & "aggravation" I'm starting to love it more and feel like it's a home. Also, the more I have friends and family over, the more memories are being made which is helping me love my home.

What would you change if anything.

I would have put a window in my DH's closet for ventilation. I also would have configured my laundry room a little differently. It looked good on paper LOL! Lastly, I would have added more storage.

Would you ever build again, or hell no?

I'm not sure. I own another piece of property that I would like to do something with, but I don't know if I could survive another build. If I did build again, it would have to be a spec house because after moving 3 times in less than a year, I'm never moving again!

Were the heartaches and time worth it?

I think so. Because we did so much of the work ourselves, we were able to build a house for around $85.00 a square foot in an area where the average square foot cost is $150.00-$200.00 per square foot. My house is in a beautiful area with gorgeous views.
I have great neighbors and a very peaceful neighborhood. I do feel blessed because not many people have the opportunity to build a custom home and get exactly what they want.

Upcoming projects?

Backyard landscaping.

Decorating/organizing tips?

You can never have enough closets or storage! You can never have enough windows that open!
Also, if you can, shop around for appliances, fixtures, and finishes. There are great deals to be had if you put in the effort. If you see something you like, don't hesitate, buy it and don't look back or second-guess your choice.

How's your home living? Do you love it?

Overall we 100% love it. The circular pathways make walking through it a breeze, being two-rooms deep most rooms have light (except one hallway, which we knew would be dark, but works with the tudor-vibe it has going on), and the ADA design means it feels extra-spacious.

What would you change if anything.

We had to swap the laundry to an internal wall at the last minute due to using ICF and needing a plumbing wall that would have eliminated space for the washing machine against that same wall! We forgot to move the door, and couldnt change the swing...Hubby has the amazing grace to come barging through the garage door every time i start a load of laundry, and BANG! The two doors collide.

I regret the pocket door to the bathroom from the master bedroom, as its noisy and wakes me up if used at night. But we rarely use it....so it doesn't impact us hugely.

Would you ever build again, or hell no? Were the heartaches and time worth it?

We'd use a different builder. Ours put us through hell, and we aren't done with the warranty items yet....he appears to prefersavoidance, denial, wasting money, and incompetence to honesty, apologies, and making-it-right. *sigh*.

Upcoming projects?

I love woodworking, so I'm making a built-in bathroom cabinet for our guest bathroom. First time doing alot of things, and so far its going really well!

Decorating/organizing tips? We built with ALOT of storage in mind. Building a secondary pantry in our temporary giant closet (future elevator) will be next!

Pictures welcome of course! soon!

Links to blogs! none

Thanks for the kind thoughts, Lori : )

Isn’t it crazy!??? Though I love everything about our home, this is one thing that I don’t think you’d ever not say. I thought ours was big enough, b/c it’s bigger than my mom’s. She said the same thing when they built their 2nd home. She made it bigger than the one before. But here I am saying, it could still be bigger!! HAHA!!

In our case, this laundry room is actually smaller than the one in the old house, because the one in the old house had the furnace and water heater in the same room. We do have lots of cupboards for storage space, and I'm delighted that there's a dedicated room for the furnace and water heater, but I do wish for some more floor space!

I have to say, after growing up and living in NYC, I'm just thrilled to have a laundry room at all. My mother had to schlep laundry (and quarters!) down to the basement once a week.