Hey, y’all!    A few of you have asked for a post about our experiences building a home!   We closed on our house this past Fall, and maybe I can share a few things that might help you along the way!  🙂

our kids the day that we signed our contract and one year later outside our new house!

My top 6 tips when building your home:

1-Decide what type of home you are looking for

When we sold our previous home, I was sure that we would end up in an older home on a larger, sprawling lot!   After we viewed several older homes though, we realized that we just weren’t cut out for renovations and nothing we saw felt right for our family!  We ended up going with a builder that builds semi-custom homes, and we had such peace in the people and builder we chose to work with.  Working with the right people is so important, because building a home can be a stressful situation sometimes!

2-Determine your budget and stick to it

Y’all, this one is SO important!  Robert and I sat down and figured what our budget allowed for a home purchase and resolved to stick to it.   It was really tempting to push the budget at different points in time, but we stuck to it and now I am so thankful that we did!  No one wants to live in the house of their dreams and be so house poor that they’re eatin’ canned beans for supper every night?  Right?    ha! 😉

3-Design your floorplan based on your current and future needs 

Maybe you have babies and toddlers… and a ranch style, where you all are on one level, makes the most sense?  Or maybe you are like us and know that the teenage years cometh…and you need as much space in between the designated “Boys Bathroom” and your own bedroom  (because sometimes out of sight and out of mind is just plain smart! ;))

Also, we knew we wanted a one story living room to cut down on the noise, and I have a silly thing about wanting lots of hallways which is weird and quirky.  But since I’m the one making the payments…I guess that works out allright. 😉

4-Adding your style into the design of your home

In the beginning, I spent a lot of time deciding  what style I wanted to have run throughout the house. I browsed Pinterest, Houzz, and design blogs to figure out what best suited my tastes. 🙂   There are so many great resources out there!! Because our builder was only semi-custom, my design options weren’t unlimited. But, I carried that style out as far as the builder design options would allow me.  You would be surprised by how far this can take you if  you are consistent in maintaining your style when making all of those building choices.  Also, if you decide to save certain design projects for after closing… be honest with yourself about what projects you will want to take on after you move in.  I knew that simple things like changing out light fixtures and painting would be an easy and fun project for us, but we wouldn’t want to be doing any big changes like to the flooring, etc.

5-Be prepared for it take forever…and then be pleasantly surprised if it doesn’t

Delays happen…if it’s not a labor shortage, then something wasn’t ordered correctly…or maybe something didn’t pass inspection.  When we built, it was smack dab is the middle of the WETTEST winter, spring, and early summer OF ALL TIME in the Dallas area.  Who saw that coming, right? I mean, the most rainfall out of all the years EVER.

But, it did happen, and we were way delayed..  And, there really is just nothing you can do about delays.  You can cry, vent, and holler all you like, but these things happen.   In the end, it will be finished when they are done. And, most likely, this will be after the original estimated completion.  My advice is to relax and enjoy the steps along the way, because the long wait makes walking into your new home SO SWEET.  You will appreciate it even more.

6-Make the process your own

Our kids were at a great age, and they had a blast while we built our house!  So much so that they want to do it again! We included them along the way with lots of fun, special memories that made a big impact on the way they viewed the process.

We visited our lot several times a week. 🙂

On foundation day, we laid a Bible at the doorstep before they poured the cement. We all signed the front page and highlighted our family verse. 🙂

We kept the kids aware of all the big milestones!

One night, we went after dark and had a little fun with glow sticks. 🙂

Once the drywall was up, we covered the house in Bible verses. Y’all this was probably my favorite thing to do. 🙂 After we did this, the workers added verses of their own! So special!! 🙂

And, we also made sure to draw the kids initials in the sidewalk when they poured that. 🙂

And, once we moved in, we took every opportunity to make the space warm and cozy for our family!   This is the main area at Christmas time! 

We had so much fun, as a family, while we built our home!  Hope this helps during your home building process! Also, I will be doing a little home tour on 2/11, and I can’t wait to share that with you! Happy Wednesday, y’all!!  XOXO Narci