Design Studio, Take Three

Emilie by the sign announcing our appointment at the Design Studio

Today we went to the Beazer Design studio in Indianapolis to officially select the “design options,” things like siding, carpet, countertops, light fixtures. We met with our Design Counselor, Erin, who did a great job walking us through the process. We had actually made most of these decisions before, but today we told Beazer what we wanted. After tomorrow morning it will cost us $200 each for any changes. Yes, that is a scary thought. We did let ourselves get talked into a wired-in security system, which will monitor for break-ins, fires, and carbon monoxide. We also signed up for the monitoring service, which the alarm will call for help. I don’t know if we really need these things, and we will certainly add our own battery operated smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. I do think it might be a good idea to have a carbon monoxide detector connected to a system that will automatically call for help, since carbon monoxide can quickly make you UNABLE to get help. (Our house will have a wood-burning fireplace and an attached garage, both possible sources of carbon monoxide.) I hope our alarm system works better than the one at my parents’ house. That one doesn’t like me! Even when I put in the right numbers the stupid alarm still went off! I suppose, if we have a lot of false alarms, we don’t have to turn on the system. We also thought if all the neighbors have alarm systems we don’t want our house to be the most inviting one to burglars. We managed to resist the pitch to get a home theater with surround-sound.

One thing we learned wasn’t included is a garage door opener and remote control. Does anyone actually hop out of the car to manually lift the garage door anymore? Well, we decided that a garage door opener was not optional. We were able to order lever style doorknobs for the inside of the house, but not for the front door. Oh, well, people don’t use their own front doors very much. We will probably go in and out of the house through the garage most of the time.

We plan to get two ceiling fans with lights, one for the living room and one for the master bedroom. Otherwise the bedroom won’t have any overhead lights. I hope the fans will help to keep our heating and cooling costs down. Actually, I think the apartment we live in now is pretty bad in that regard. Our current electric bill rivals that of some people with entire HOUSES to heat and cool. At least with our own house we will be allowed to caulk some of the most obvious problem areas. (Have I lost my mind? Am I actually looking forward to CAULKING?)

The next step is waiting for the building permits from Monroe County. Then we can have our pre-construction appointment. I’m not sure what that includes, other than a chance to meet the head contractor for our house. I think they will review what we ordered and make sure that we agree to pay for all of it and that nothing was left out. Maybe they will explain the building process so we can understand why it takes so darn long to build. And then, hopefully, they will start building our house! They have extended the road out past our lot, so now it is easier for us to drive by and see if any progress has occurred. If anything actually happens, we will post a picture.

We keep trying to control our excitement. I know our new house won’t be perfect and I don’t want to get too excited just to be disappointed later. If we get too upset about anything, you can feel free to remind us of the following:

1. The house will be much nicer than the place we live now.
2. The house will be twice as big as our current apartment.
3. We will be able to fix things later.
4. A house is a much better investment than continuing to rent (even if we spend more than we meant to.)

You can also smack us if we carry on too much about the new house. (Of course, if you are sick of hearing about it, then why are you here reading our blog?)

Our final choices...

(top row: siding and door)
(middle row: vinyl flooring, tile, carpet, cabinets, etc.)
(bottom row: utility room cabinets, fireplace mantel, wall paint)