@M R, if you don't have a ton of deep things, I wouldn't do the two tall drawers. IKEA has that as a configuration and I was just looking at them yesterday. The 15" drawers seem too tall and waste a lot of space unless you have hidden drawers inside them. In my upcoming kitchen, I will have some 15" drawers but I plan to put dividers inside them to store glass baking dishes and skillets turned on their sides. I only have one tall stockpot than I don't feel is worth giving an entire 15" cabinet to and I'll likely store it in my pantry. IMO, a 3 drawer cabinet with a shallow top drawer, medium middle drawer, and tall lower drawer would suffice. IKEA would call that a 5/10/15 but with a custom cabinetmaker, you could alter those dimensions as you deem necessary.

Now that we have them, I would 2nd what shead said. 3 will suffice, 2 will need some kind of divider to make the best use of the space inside.

If you can make the seating area behind the island 15" deep that will be a lot more comfortable unless you're all on the shorter side. That would mean it overhangs the edge by 3" from what you have.

Also is it possible at this late date to switch the cabinet on the right of the sink with the dishwasher so the dishwasher isn't in your prep zone?

Could you share your pantry door size you ended up with @the_real_dock

Sure - the pantry door is a 2'0 x 6'8 door.

I wish I would have gone with a smaller door and had more room for my range and hood! I guess 8 in isn't worth crying about though! Thank you for the share, your home is turning out beautiful!

Yesterday we had our well pump installed, washer and dryer delivered, and kitchen counters installed. Counters are MSI Calacatta Botanica.

I've been building closet shelves, a pantry, and mudroom built-ins for what feels like forever. We're pushing a pile of partially completed projects right now, but it is all coming along.

Still plugging along. Over the weekend I sprayed all our interior doors and the cabinet doors for our fireplace built-ins. Last week I got our thin brick fireplace grouted, the tv mount installed, all the wiring ran/hidden for the TV and in ceiling surround, and got the mantel mounted. This week I'll be building the fireplace built-ins while my wife continues painting the trim throughout the house. So. Much. Trim.

To save some time, we hired someone we've used in the past for the tile work on our master shower. They have to come back out to re-do a couple of things, but overall we're happy with the look.

Everything is looking so fabulous! I love the all white in the kitchen with the wood island. Where did you order your thin brick from? I'm hoping to do something similar on an accent wall to get some texture and color.

@K H the thin brick is "Town Square" from General Shale with "Antique White" grout.

Thank you!

It really looks lovely. I’m definitely worried about miles of trim, it’s amazing how much a house takes!

This is gorgeous. You have done a wonderful job. I hope we'll get a full tour when it's totally complete!

@dsnine in hindsight we really should have sprayed the trim early on. I've only ever done trim a room or two at a time in remodels. Despite being warned, I just didn't appreciate how long it takes to brush and roll a whole house of baseboards and casings.

We've taken on a lot of this on our own. Some of the jobs, like INSTALLING the trim and building the closets and pantry, have been worth the time and effort relative to the money saved; others, like painting the trim, not so much.

Just a few progress pics. Not much left inside - staining the stairs, installing door knobs, cabinet pulls, mirrors, etc. and LOTS of cleaning.

Fireplace + built-ins are almost done now. Just waiting on a gas line before I button it all up.

The pantry is difficult to photograph with my phone. Space for the coffee maker and blender to the right side on the counter top and shelves for the microwave and toaster oven on the right as you come in the door.

Stair winders are all trimmed out now. Just need stain on the treads and paint on the trim and skirt.

Back porch. The covered area section will be screened. I'll paint the wood once it dries out a little bit. Deck boards are Trex.

@the_real_dock Beautiful! Could you share what material you purchased to make the pantry shelves? We are building ours and you guys seem to have similar ideas as us!

You are building quite the dream home!

Looks nice. Have a very sturdy handrail for your stairs, perhaps one that blocks the window.

@K H sure! The shelves themselves are 3/4" MDF. They rest on 1/2 x 3/4" MDF strips glued+nailed to the walls. The bands on the front of the shelves and the upright supports are 1x2 finger jointed pine. The stained counter is 3/4" maple plywood with 1x2 maple front bands.

Thank you so much! I have a bunch of fj pine from when they ripped down our window sills!

Agree with Mark! Get a handrail that blocks the window so if/when someone trips on the winder stairs, they don’t go through the window :(

I know it’s probably too late but could one of the winder steps be eliminated by creating a landing and then coming one more step out into the room? I ask because I sustained a bad fall on those types of steps once.

OK Houzz hive mind - its move in week! Thanks to all who helped along the way. Wanted to share some pics as kind of a recap. Below is the final-ish version of the floorplan. We tweaked a few things on site - flipped fridge location, revised 1/2 bath, made a bedroom larger upstairs.

Still have final grading to do, front walk, front steps, landscaping

Living room, dining area, kitchen

Master bedroom, master bath, master closet

Upstairs hallways, bedroom, bonus room, kids bathroom

I know you must be so excited! I remember when you posted your plan so it's neat to see it come alive :) Wishing you many happy and healthy years in your new abode!

Looks amazing! I love everything you picked. It all turned out so fabulous!

It all came together very nicely! Feels open and fresh, and I hope it fits your lifestyle and needs as much as you dreamed. Welcome home!

Congratulations! Enjoy your new home!

Should be cool enough to sow grass next week!

Nearly done with landscaping. The work may never end, but we're settling in.

There's always the next morning's sunrise out the front door to look forward to.

And a sunset out the back door at the end of each day.

You’ve done a phenomenal job. And those view!!! All I can say is WOW!!

Congratulations. Well done. I have a few questions...

- What type of flooring did you use?

- Why did you decide to build a carport vs. enclosed garage?

@booty bums we used Supercore Oak Natural LVP for most of the house. Wet areas are Mannington Adura Max glue down LVT. Initially the carport was to save money, but now it is our preference. That big covered slab is good for family gatherings, kids' birthday parties, etc. The posts are spaced so that it would be easy to add walls and make it a garage if we ever change our mind.

I am extremely impressed with the look of your LVP. Very very nice.

I like the idea of the covered 'pavilion' for outdoor recreation. Where do you store your typical garage stuff (lawn equipment, tools, ect)?

@booty bums the frequently used stuff goes in the full basement. Other stuff goes in the barn.

Since only one neighbor sees our house and my wife worked hard on decorating it, here you go internet.

Looks so beautiful! I love your sconce lighting with the bench(church pew?) in between, The beams decorated with the lights and garland as well as all those pretty wreaths are stunning! How did you get electrical to the porch posts? An extension cord up above or on the porch floor? I have been trying to figure out how to do mine. :)

I can't believe the amount of grass you have growing. We have seeded several times and it just can't seem to rain at the right time.

I love the charm and quaintness of your two story but my husband really wanted a single story. Even my argument about cheaper to build up didn't win! You guys did such a great job on incorporating traditional and simple shapes in your build. I used that as inspiration for our build; simple roof lines and traditional shapes for the win! Thanks for sharing your home build.

@K H wow thank you. That our house was any kind of inspiration is great to hear. That IS a church pew, from our church no less!

The electrical is ghetto - just extension cords laying on the porch. It's turned cold here, so no real trip risk for our kids running around outside.

The grass was a struggle. Red clay mud all summer long. We are still cleaning handprints off walls and still need to clean all things upholstered in the house.

If we were to do it again, we'd do a 1 1/2 story with just bedrooms and a bath up stairs and put the bonus room in the basement shooting for more like 22-2400sqft. Appraisal measured the house at 2688sqft! There's just a lot we don't use now, but that may change as kids age. I do have an office upstairs, which has worked out nice. Definitely didn't see Covid coming when we designed the place.

I agree about the idea of doing some things differently, this was our first build so I learned a ton and would love for a stab at a do over but that won't happen for us. I am practicing contentment right now and counting my blessings as we also didn't see Covid coming. Ours ended up larger then expected too!

So beautiful!!! Enjoyed reading your entire journey in the middle of the night (currently in the beginnings of a build and the stress/anxiety of it all keeps me up at night!). What did you use on your outdoor posts? I love the color.

@the_real_dock I'm curious as to anything else you wish you would have done differently after you live in it for a while. Everyone seems to find something, LOL.

So, make sure to come back in 6mo or so and update everyone.

Looks great! Views are awesome too!! Congrats!

@New_to_this Thank you. The outdoor posts and the backporch railings got 2 coats of Behr semi transparent deck stain in Chocolate. Wood outside will fade. I like the idea of pressure washing and re-applying much more than sanding off hardened poly in 5 or 6 years. This stuff goes on really easy. Minwax Gel stain in Cherrywood on the fiberglass front door matches almost perfectly.

@doc5md We've been in since May, so plenty of time for second guessing ourselves! A few thoughts:

Regrets:

Should have insulated with rock wool between the 1st and 2nd floors and all the bedroom interior walls. Little boys are loud lol.

Should have put a window in the shower.

Upstairs could have been laid out better - space up there for 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and an office.

The "UNFINISHED" area upstairs was supposed be an unfinished storage/mechanical room. It ended up finished and is now my office. It works fine, but we could have made better use of the space.

Wish we'd put the upstairs air handler in the attic so the return could have a run of flex duct to cut down the noise. Its loud.

Wish we'd put the bonus/play room in the basement. We've still got about 700sq ft in the basement we can finish later. And we can put a closet in the bonus room to make it a bedroom. But I value efficiency more than excess, so it bothers me.

Not quite regrets, but might do different next time:

Might have been better to have the laundry where the main floor half bath is. The thought was that my muddy kids could come in the mudroom and throw their filthy clothes in the laundry sink and go on. That has worked, but they won't always be so sloppy. A bathroom by the mudroom and carport door (most used exit) would have been nice.

In the living room instead of 3 windows and a door we did a 12ft sliding patio door out to the screened porch. Its nice, especially in spring and fall, but it limited space for living room furniture having to maintain a clear path to walk.

Awesome! Thanks for the response!

Yes to the insulation! I wish we would have done the same, wood floors, drywall basement ceiling, three kids.... I hear you @the_real_dock I had no idea you could insulate between floors and it was never offered as an option. Too late now for us unless you can blow in insulation between the floor joists?

why you guys never think about guest/visitors
they should saw all the home

@the_real_dock We are finishing up our pantry by building upper shelving. I really like your pantry. Do you like the distance between shelves for the upper portion? Would you mind sharing the vertical shelf spacing?

17.25" from the counter to the bottom of the first shelf's front edge. Then on up it goes 8.5, 10.5, 8.5, 9.5 from shelf to the next bottom. It works ok for us. Probably the only change I would make would be to make that 1st distance 15.25 and the next distance 10.5.

I orginally thought 13” between upper shelves, but I think that is too much and would make the space less usable! Thank you so much! It will be lovely to get some of these items off of the counter!

FINALLY starting on the screened back porch. Got the door and most of the framing done this weekend. Actual screen coming soon.