Introducing the Milan...

I never thought I'd start a blog, but I definitely wanted to document the home building process and be able to share our progress with family and friends. I wanted to avoid posting constant home updates on Facebook, so I figured a blog would be the easiest way.

We signed the sales agreement a week ago and have already selected most of our options, met with Guardian for the technology wiring and selected flooring at Rusmur (thanks Cathy!). Here's where we're at so far...

After 2 months of trying to work with Maronda, we ended up starting to look at all of our options again. We met with Ryan and within one week, we chose a location...
And a home...
Initially we thought we wanted to be on the cul-de-sac, but after walking down the unpaved, dirt road and seeing the lots we chose the one with the most "usable" yard and what we thought would work best for us.

The house pictured above is the Milan, Elevation "C." This is a model home, so the 2 white doors on the right will actually be the 2-car garage door. We selected a stone accent (Kentucky) with Sandy Tan siding, Almond garage door and trim, and black shutters and front door.

Selecting the exterior colors seemed like a never ending process, but I think we're both happy with where we ended up.

Here's the floor plan (click to enlarge):

We decided to go with the 3 bedrooms and a loft instead of 4 bedrooms. We changed the formal living room to a home office with french doors and we're finishing the basement and adding a half bath.

The entire first floor will have hardwood floors, Gunstock stain except for the family room which will have frieze carpet in Branch. This same carpet will also be on the stairs and entire second floor and in the basement.

Here are some of the other options we chose for the kitchen:

• Butterscotch Glaze, Painted Maple, 42" Cabinets
• Upgraded Laminate Countertops in Red Montana
• Stainless Steel Appliances

Here's another shot of the cabinets, flooring and counter (it's the sample on the left).

Here's a picture from the manufacturer's website. The cabinets might be my favorite thing in the entire house!

The basement bath will have espresso cabinets, a dark black/gray granite vanity and a dark gray ceramic floor. Haven't finalized the second floor bathrooms yet, but they will be much more neutral.