There have been a lot of exciting things happening behind the scenes with our home build and I have several blog posts planned to share it all! This is my last post discussing the process and then I can’t wait to jump into our exterior plans, floor plans, and show you all of the inspiration pictures I have been saving! In my first home build post I talked about why we decided to rebuild on our same lot vs. move. Today I am going to give you a summary of everything that has happened over the last 6 months and where we are today.
To recap, we started our home build journey in November 2017 and it took us over a year of planning to finalize our design and floor plans with our builder, ADC, and interior designer, Erica Bryant. We have gone through several iterations of two homes and there have been many exciting moments and some disappointments. One thing they don’t tell you about the building process is that there will inevitably be some disappointments. I learned that you need to have patience, trust the process, and as much as I wish it was easy and straightforward there will be issues you have to work through. I am naturally impatient and type A, so this was difficult for me as I wanted to put all of our focus on our project and get it completed as soon as possible. However, it has been far worth the wait and we are both in love with the final home we designed together.
Another thing I learned is that it is very beneficial to have an interior designer throughout the entire process. When I thought about who I wanted to work with for our home build I wanted someone who had a similar style and vision. I’m so glad we pulled Erica in from the very beginning to help us with the exterior and interior. There are so many important details that I didn’t think of and she has definitely guided us in the right direction.
In September 2018 we waited 12 anxious weeks to get our bids back on the first home we designed and they came back way too high. It was a big bummer and we took a couple weeks to think about our next steps. Once you have your heart set on the design and look of a home and imagine yourselves living in it, it’s difficult to know that it is no longer a possibility. We also second guessed ourselves and thought maybe we started this process too soon and should wait a few more years. Neither Ben nor I really wanted to do that, though.
In October our builder mentioned a home they were building that had a similar floor plan to the one we originally hoped for and we decided to have an open mind and walk through it. It was in the drywall phase so that was really helpful to get a feel for the size of each space. We walked through it and realized it was basically everything we wanted, it just needed some tweaking to fit our style. In October and November we made the necessary changes to the plans and in December we got our design and floor plans finalized. That was such a good feeling!
Since December the last 2 months have gone by so quickly. We had a very busy start to 2019 to say the least! In January we packed up our entire home, had a moving sale, arranged for donations, and moved at the end of the month. February has been filled with all of the behind the scenes things that have to happen before our old home is demolished and construction on our new home can begin. I didn’t realize how extensive the list is! We have have had our gas disconnected and meter pulled, water disconnected and meter pulled, power meter pulled, asbestos tested, and asbestos removed. We are waiting on our sewer line to be capped, the pest test to be completed, and then finally they will have the permit for demolition. It has snowed a TON here in Omaha over the last week and that hasn’t helped, but we are hoping knock down will be the first week of March.
I am so excited to share the rest of our experience with you!
