Drywall and our first furniture purchase!

We stopped by with my parents Sunday to see the drywall. It is all done, including our garage. This was a $2000 upgrade that we didn't select... Winning!!! It's really starting to look like a house.

Free drywall in garage and first Lagunitas in the house ☺️

Tray ceiling in Master

We also did some window shopping at Lowes the other day for appliances, blinds, a garage door opener, and lighting. We originally found these pendants on Wayfair.com for $225/each. We opted for 2 recessed cans instead of a chandelier because we didn't know exactly where our table would go. We will need an electrician to install them but I think it will be worth it.

We did find similar ones at Lowes for half the price so...

We also made our first major furniture purchase for the house on Saturday. We went to 3 furniture stores but ended up back at the first, Furniture and More. However, the sectional was about $150 over my max budget. I know it's not a lot of money compared to the cost of the sectional, but I stick to my budgets! I ended up walking away but coming back. The salesman brought the cost to within my budget which I was hoping he would... Score! We ended up with a Klaussner sectional. We added a "cuddler" on the end and a wedge instead of a corner. Can't wait until it's delivered to our NEW house in 6-8 weeks! This is the floor model:

We ended going with the same fabric as the one in the store. I just couldn't picture what any of the other 100s of fabric would look like on it.

Hopefully we will be getting a more specific closing date soon... Not "the week of May 11th." Can't wait!

Furniture Browsing

I have been thinking about new furniture for months now. Unfortunately, our couch and love seat are only 2 years old. Fortunately, I still plan on buying a sectional before or shortly after we move in. I found the perfect one online at Furniture and More. They're having a great sale starting Wednesday and I plan on stopping in to see the lead time on the sectional. We will hopefully be getting our settlement date tomorrow and I do not plan on buying anything until we do. We have saved a decent amount of money for closing costs but should have enough to pay for the refrigerator, washer/dryer, and one major furniture purchase outright.


Here's the sectional. The only difference is I plan on getting a chaise instead of a cuddler on the end.

Area rug from Overstock:

I really want a new ottoman as well. Here are a couple I'm thinking about:

And finally, curtains. I've found these at Overstock but plan on most likely purchasing locally. 

One of my favorite furniture websites is Wayfair.com. They have a clearance section that changes daily. Most items are returns. I originally paid about $250 for two counter stools for our kitchen table. A few weeks later, I found 2 of the same stools in the clearance section for less than $100! I loveeeeee a good deal!

Here's the link:

http://www.wayfair.com/All-Clearance-C542065.html

Pre-drywall Meeting on Tuesday!

Our PM has informed us our framing and insulation has passed inspection and we scheduled our pre-drywall meeting on Tuesday. We stopped by the house today. Every time I leave I am more excited than the last! This house is going to be the perfect size for us!

A couple questions to my fellow bloggers:

❓Did you use a home inspector? When did you use them? Pre-drywall? Settlement? Or both?

❓Any questions I should ask?

❓How long before settlement should we purchase our refrigerator and washer/dryer?

Thanks! Here's some pictures of the interior. We also snuck in some other homes that are closer to completion. One had the same cabinets with the oil-rubbed bronze. 

Love the lawn ornament!

Duct work

Front Door

Kitchen Window

Kitchen

Shower in master with bench

Exterior

Roof... Do these shingles look right to you? They look so randomly placed😐

Brad walking up the stairs

Added third bedroom. I love the size and the ceiling!

Closet in third bedroom 

View from third bedroom window👍

Second bedroom... Not sure why there's two different types of insulation?

Closet in second bedroom

Random opening in second floor bedroom. Seems like a lot of wasted space in the ceiling. 

Upstairs bath

White cabinets with oil-rubbed bronze fixtures. It's not breaking in if the door is open... right?😏

🏡🏡🏡🏡🏡

We are going to be stopping by quite often to see the progress on the house. We stopped by last Thursday and again on Sunday with my parents. Roof should be going on this week. Moving along nicely!

Thursday:

Sunday:

Update from Our Project Manager

We received our first update from our PM today:

 The footers and walls are in, the undergrounds for the plumbing are in and inspected by the county today, and the conduit for the electric is being installed today. The slab should be able to be poured on Tuesday and start framing on Wednesday. I attached a picture of what it looks as of this afternoon.

Short, sweet, and to the point! I plan on driving by in a few days to see for myself.

Footers in!

They broke ground on Friday! We have footers! It's supposed to rain for the next 2 days and snow on Thursday so we're not expecting much progress but it's exciting none the less. We drove over yesterday to check it out. It was extremely muddy but it was so worth seeing where our house will eventually be.

This will eventually be our front door.

Brad standing on the back footer. This mound of dirt will eventually be our garage... looks tiny but I guess it will fit two cars.

That really is a big mound of dirt.

No broken ground

SO building was supposed to start January 14th, but they still have not broken ground. The weather has been horrible for the past few weeks. We only had school Thursday and kids didn't have to go Friday because of the 3 degree temperature and -15 degree wind chill. We are currently in the process of moving into my parents' summer home to save money before the move. Hopefully they will start soon! We need to be out by Memorial Day (not really need but want to).

In loan news, we are still working with Integrated Financial on our USDA loan. Everything was looking good until we were told we make too much money to qualify. However, we definitely do NOT make more than the salary cap in our county. There was a problem with figuring out my income due to the fact I have two jobs: one in our local school district and one at the restaurant I have worked for the past three years. We were told it should be worked out this week so we're patiently waiting.

Hopefully I will have some pictures to post soon!