It’s official! Chris and I are building a house!! Our new home will be here August 2017! I feel like I’ve been waiting forever to finally get to say those words!
We’re both so excited to finally have a place to plant some roots and call home. If you’ve been reading here for a while, you know we’ve been on quite the journey over the past several years- from living across the country in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Texas before finally making our way back home to Louisiana. We knew those moves would only be temporary, so we always rented. Now that we know we’re here to stay, we’re excited to finally get to buy our first home and have something we can call our own and add our personal touch to.
We started the house hunting process at the end of November, immediately after returning from our honeymoon, and have been set on our decision to build since December. Our initial plan was to hopefully have everything house related begin shortly after our wedding, but we ended up running into some delays. The permits to begin construction for the neighborhood ended up taking a few extra months than originally expected, and it took longer than expected to get the house plans finalized, so it’s been a waiting game around here. One thing I’ve learned along the way is patience is a must!
We’re building custom, so we still have a long road ahead, but that comes with the territory and is totally worth it to get what you want in my opinion. I’ve already learned so much about the custom home building process, so you can expect to see some helpful blog posts about our experience in the near future! I also plan to document the building progress along the way, and may even come to y’all for opinions on floors, wall color, light fixtures, etc., so I hope you don’t mind!
So, to kick things off, here’s a little recap of where we currently are in the process:
– We chose our lot! We happened to be our builder’s first clients, so we got the first pick! We chose the lot with the biggest yard that backs into a pond. We also get an extra little treat with our lot- a pet alligator! Nope I’m not kidding, we legit saw an alligator swimming in the pond last week. I always joked about the possibility of this, but now it’s true. I guess we can’t be that surprised considering we are in Louisiana!
– Our floor plans are finalized. I guess you could say the biggest decision we had to make is crossed off the list! Now we just have to spend the next few months choosing all of the cosmetics.
– It’s about to get really real. The lot has been cleared out and the red clay has been laid in preparation for the slab! Eeeek!!
– We’ve started to make our first round of selections. Yesterday we looked at doors, handlesets, and door knobs, and today we’re looking at kitchen and bathroom faucets. Decisions decisions!
If you want to help me decide on house stuff, I’d love to hear your opinions! Follow along on Instagram @thesouthernthing- I’m sure I’ll be posting lots of house updates and taking votes for interior stuff via Instagram stories. Also, if you’ve been through this process before, any advice and tips are appreciated!
Krystal // The Krystal Diaries says
That is so exciting! I think the whole process of having a house built is fun, stressful sometimes but still fun. Congratulations and good luck on the process.
Chelsea-Catherine says
SO EXCITING! We are about to start this process, too! For the past two years we’ve been working with our architect on house plans! It’s a ton of work, but really so exciting! Congratulations, pretty! 🙂
Kassandra says
We are building a custom home too! Gosh, I love house design but I’m so torn with all the decisions!! Wishing you the best of luck 🙂
Kass
Lee Anne says
Such an exciting process! Good for you, can’t wait to see photos of the progress.
XO
Lee Anne
http://www.lifebylee.com
Gentry Adams says
Congratulations!! What an exciting journey for your guys to be on!
Joanna @ Motherhood and Merlot says
That is so exciting! My husband and I are dying to build a house in the next few years.
Meredith says
Wow, congratulations! What an exciting adventure! It would be so fun to be able to choose whatever lot you wanted from a new neighborhood. I could do without the alligator, though!
val hansen says
Getting a new home is so very exciting, we are on our 5th house since marrying many years ago..enjoy and congrats!
Olya @ The Siberian American says
CONGRATS! That is so exciting. 🙂
Erin says
Congratulations! So happy for y’all 🙂 We just bought an old house (built in 1900) so we’re excited about refinishing it and making it our “own”, too. Isn’t it exciting?!
erin | sandsunandmessybuns.com
Kristen Kavan says
this is so fun! Congrats! I cannot wait to see more!
Kimberly says
Building a house is so exciting!!! Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly and you get to move in on time,
Jenny says
Yay so exciting! Can’t wait to hear more about it.
Kaitlynn says
I want to build my own house now! this is amazing! Congrats on finally finding somewhere to call home
Lauren says
This is SO exciting! I cant wait to follow along as you build!
Natalie says
Congrats! Buying or building a house is an incredible stressful experience–but it’s also really exciting! I hope the rest of construction goes smoothly for you!
Kimberly @ Berly's Kitchen says
Congratulations on the house! That’s huge. You’ll be moved into before you know it. 🙂
Cameron - Diary of a Southern Millennial says
I’ve finally come across another Louisiana blogger!! Hello!
And congrats of course and how exciting! My fiance and I are also settled on building a house, but we’re still saving up to buy our own land first!
mei says
Hi Dara. Congratulations! it must be really exciting. I am looking forward to see pictures of the finish product. 🙂