Not even a week after we got the pictures of the installed cabinetry, trim, and railing we got even more pictures showing things tidied up and with counter tops installed.  I think our salesperson, Courtenay read my mind, showing me exactly what I’d been wondering about.

Hello, sunny laundry room.  I am seriously counting down the days until you an I get very well acquainted.

Countertops installed!  We didn’t want to pay the significant cost of a stone countertop at this point in our lives, so I picked the best looking laminate I could find.  And I think my faux Cararra marble looks pretty decent in these pictures!

Pantry shelves installed!

A close-up of the hardware.

I am seriously loving that kitchen.

All of our interior doors, ready to go! (The back ones are a charcoal grey, and the front one matches the island and will go on the pantry.)

Stacks of flooring!  Can’t wait to see it!

(Pictures from Warman Homes)

We visited the house once the drywall was complete and I was itching to see what it would look like with cabinetry.  I’d been especially picky about the kitchen, and I was nervous, hoping it would be what I wanted it to be.  I didn’t have to wait long.  A few weeks later we got pictures of the carpentry progress:

Our railing was installed (perfect!) and the window and door trim was up and painted!

Our laundry room cabinets were in place!  Looking good!  I’m already imagining the open shelves we’ll put above…

The ensuite vanity looked perfect, and I was glad to see the scale of the hardware on the cabinets.

But the pictures that elicited squeals of delight:  That pretty ole’ kitchen:

Oh yes.

That is what I had pictured in my head.  I can’t wait to cook in there.  But also, I never want to get that place dirty.  Ha ha.  Dilemma.

(Pictures from Warman Homes)

After receiving the first set of progress pictures on our house we were thrilled with how quickly our house had been closed in.  A few weeks later we received more pictures of the speedy progress.  Here are a few:

(Siding is up!)

(Nice to see that overhang and imagine sitting on our veranda one day!)

(Future kitchen… can you imagine it?)

(Dining room in front of the french doors and the living room under the 11’ ceilings - all drywalled!)

Stay tuned for more updates…

(Pictures from Warman Homes)

We’ve known a few people who’ve built houses.  They usually post pictures on Facebook: “Hey!  The hole is dug!” and a long while later: “It’s framed!” and months later they post a status about waiting and waiting as they’re completion date is moved AGAIN.  Now, not everyone has this experience, but we’ve known a few.  But we’re building an RTM (which I wrote about yesterday, here.) Our experience was a little different:

 I remember Sean and I were driving somewhere and discussing our house.  ”I wonder if they were able to start our house yet?  Didn’t they say they were supposed to start it last week?”  Then in the middle of our conversation we got an email from our salesperson, Courtenay with pictures of the progress.  

As we waited for the pictures to download we imagined a stick frame.

Um.  Wait.  What?

Yup.  They started our house:

There it was -  our pretty farm house - framed, closed in, windows, doors, before we knew it.  Crazy.

(The back of the house)

(Our side mudroom entrance)

So freaking exciting!!

(Pictures from Warman Homes)

Our farmhouse dream is finally coming true this year.  (You can read about it here, here, and here, for a start.)  Pretty amazing.  As I talk about our building experience people can get a bit confused, though, so I’m gonna’ fill you in on what I know about building an RTM.

 Almost the whole way along we’ve planned on moving a house onto the farm, as opposed to building on site.  There are generally three types of new pre-built homes you can move (As I understand from our 7, or so, years of researching this.)  The home is constructed completely at a factory or yard site, then moved to its location:

• Manufactured or Mobile Home - this is the term generally used (we found) for what most people call a trailer.  This is your long, narrow, one-piece building.  But don’t immediately assume we’re talking white-trash trailer park.  We looked at some that could cost almost as much as our house.  You can get pretty much whatever you want within the 16, 18, or 20-foot wide options, and you can even get them with full drywall or put them on basements.  They are generally built so that they can be easily moved again, though.  We considered this in the early years as a temporary plan until we had more money.

  (A manufactured home from Grandeur Housing in Manitoba)

• RTM Home - stands for “Ready To Move”.  An RTM is essentially a one-piece pre-built home that can be moved by trucks and trailers.  There’s a lot more flexibility on the dimensions, and customization.  And an RTM is a house, not a trailer.  (And there are a lot of construction differences between a mobile home and RTM that I won’t even pretend to understand.)  We are building an RTM because it combines our two desires of a real house with the most efficient moving costs.

  (An RTM Home being moved onto a basement foundation by Nelson Homes from Alberta)

  (Fully-built RTM home being transported by Neufeld Building Movers for Warman Homes.)(Fully-built RTM home being transported by Neufeld Building Movers for Warman Homes.)                    
• Modular Home - Modular homes are also houses, but come in several pieces.  (Actually there are also some condo/apartment buildings that are being built in modular form now, too.)  One home we considered for a while came in a front and back piece (both of which come completely finished inside) that were attached on site then the roof was built on top.  This required a crane for assembling, however, and that put the moving costs out of budget for us.(Diagram of how a modular home is assembled from Grandeur Housing in Manitoba.)(A modular home being assembled by Grandeur Housing)

Here’s why we decided to go the RTM route:

• Though our farm is pretty close to the city, and a site build by a conventional builder may have been doable, in rural areas it can be a pain to find a reliable builder who’s willing to come out and build on site.
• An RTM is usually an incredibly efficient way to build a home.  The builder keeps all the trades on staff and they come every day to the same factory site to work on a number of houses at a time.  This obviously seriously improves the time frame and can also improve the quality when there is this consistency.  We’ve had people working on our house every single day since construction began.
• Supplies are ordered in bulk and kept in a controlled environment, making the construction more cost effective.  
• The houses (made by a good builder) are built well - they are made strong to handle the move, and they’re built quickly (so they aren’t sitting vulnerable to rain, wind or snow in an unfinished state).
• A good RTM builder can completely customize your home.
• The costs stay pretty controlled with an RTM builder, meaning that it will stay on budget.

Now there are obviously some shoddy RTM builders (we ran across a few) and also some non-RTM builders who can do a lot of these same things - but for us an RTM made the most sense.

We looked at a LOT of floor plans and a LOT of builders and our research essentially brought us down to two builders whom we felt were the most professional, efficient, and experienced:

• Warman Homes (North of Saskatoon), and
• Nelson Homes (out of High River and Lloydminster, Alberta).

(You’ll also see from the pictures above another builder, Grandeur Housing, who we seriously considered when we looked at a modular home several years ago.  Everything we saw from them was really good, but we never got far enough along to visit their facility or work with their staff, so I can’t say definitively that I would recommend them.  But if you’re looking into builders, I would definitely say they’re worth a close look.)

We worked closely with Nelson for a while, looking at building with them.  We drove out to High River to visit a show home version of a house Sean loved.  I would unequivocally recommend them - super professional and quality building.  I was actually pretty sad when we decided we weren’t building with them.

But Warman Homes made me feel not so sad.  They too, are experienced (they built Sean’s parents’ house nearly 20 years ago!), super professional, and great quality.  Our experience with them has been amazing.  In the end we found a house that exceeded what I thought we could have that fit comfortably within our budget.  Plus Sean’s family experience working with them, plus a long warranty plan, plus the nearness to the farm (only a couple hours to drive and visit our house!)… we decided this was the way to go.

People assume that you need to have a “package plan” with an RTM - a set floor plan and a set design scheme.  But we actually customized our floor plan based on someone else’s customization that we really liked.  Then we smushed together the floor plan from that house and the exterior from another house, and changed a few more things, and… Ta Da!  Our house!  Besides that, a good builder will have a decent range of finishes to choose from.  And in some areas (like lighting, hardware, etc.) I asked for the supplier names so I could look up even more options online.  My salesperson, Courtenay was awesome; getting excited about our plans and being OK with my super-specific vision for every single detail.

If you’re not super specific and don’t even know where to start they can help you with that too, and you can certainly select from pre-set plans.  But for me, the level of customization we were able to achieve is so exciting - I really feel like we’re getting our dream house.

As soon as they started building we began receiving updates and pictures from Courtenay every few weeks (which I’ll begin to show you tomorrow!)  Plus we’ve driven up to see the house in process.  We cannot believe how quickly and beautifully it’s taking shape.

When the house is delivered I will certainly be posting about it with plenty of pictures!  Our house will arrive by a truck and be placed onto a basement and foundation that we’ve had constructed by contractors here.  The movers will secure the house to the foundation, and then also come back to touch up paint and repair any nicks or scrapes from the move.  Warman has a pretty good follow-up plan, which is something to look for in an RTM builder.

So there’s my plug for RTM’s.  Let me know if you have questions!

OK… and one sneak peek of our house in the building process:

(Photo from Warman Homes of OUR HOUSE [!!!!] being built in their yard in February)

There’s nothing like building a house to make you think through the tiniest details and things you’ve never considered before in a home.  You suddenly find yourself obsessing over which ways doors swing, or where crown moulding starts or ends, or which direction the floorboards should run.  I’ve decided that one more huge advantage of the long wait to build our house is I have a few years worth of Pinterest boards - so now I can look back at my inspiration homes and study those little details.

While I’ve been studying and thinking about interior design for years now, one thing I’ve largely taken for granted is exterior design.  However, with the house plan we recently picked I LOVED the interior, but felt the exterior was kind of “meh”.

Suddenly I’ve found myself going back through my pins, scouring Houzz, or my favourite design magazines to try and figure out what it is that makes me love an exterior.

Photo by Dave Foster via Photo.net

I have a long list: a mixture of finishes (board and batten, horizontal siding, shingles, stone, etc.), high contrast colour schemes and a painted front door, symmetry, windows with mullions and transoms, details like light fixtures or width of trim, or shutters… but here are a few of the major things I’ve boiled it down to:

DORMERS

I’ve always been attracted to dormers. I once heard they’re like the eyebrows of a house, and anyone who’s ever drawn a face knows that it’s all in the eyebrows.  They add character, personality, charm.  But getting the scale and shape right can be tricky.

Photograph from Better Homes and Gardens

(I like this look of one long dormer above the entry.  If dormers are eyebrows, perhaps we will call this a “unibrow”. )

Dormers give that traditional, cottagey feel I love.  They denote coziness and add architectural interest to the roof line.

Photograph from Better Homes and Gardens

PORCH OR VERANDA

And of course you know I love a porch.  Preferably a long veranda, but really any usable space at the front of the house is delightful.  They provide a sense of welcome and entry as you transition into the house.  They’re like the smile on a house.  A house with a porch just instantly feels more welcoming.

by by Richard Taylor Architects via Houzz

Home of Joan K. Davidson, photograph by Christopher Baker for Martha Stewart Living

Photograph by Michael Luppino for Country Living

(This is one of my all-time favourites. It is quintessential farmhouse to me.)

ROOF PITCH

Another major detail to me is the roof pitch.  This is a hard one to explain how important it is - it’s a detail most people don’t notice, but it can have a big impact on how we feel about a house.   I can’t explain to you the math behind a roof pitch, but basically the higher the number, the higher the pitch (i.e. 3:12 is low, 12:12 is high).  A good roof pitch just speaks “home” to me.  It’s the way a child draws a house, with it’s triangular roof.  It’s the classic shape of a house.  Not too low that it feels uber modern, and not super steep so that it feels all Tudor/castle-y.  (How’s that for an adjective: “Tudor-castle-y”.)

Photograph by Tara Lowry via Between You & Me

Photograph by Joyce Lucas via Pinque Inc. Diaries

 Now, a higher pitch means upgrade $$ for us with the builder.  PLUS because the house will be moved to the farm via the highway and gravel roads it has to be low enough that they don’t have to move overhead power lines (that would cost us even MORE money).  So for me it’ll be all about how high we can go without breaking the bank.

It’s a scary thing planning the exterior of the house!  It’s something we don’t want to have to change or mess with in the future, so you kinda’ have to get it right the first time.  Wish me luck!

I’m sure you’ve seen these Ryan Gosling “Hey Girl” things around the ole’ interwebs:

(If you don’t know, it’s a trend of taking pictures of Ryan Gosling and he says things that no man would ever, in reality, say.  Like, ever.)

And in my brain, I have images of Sean (my husband) saying such things.  Like this:

He’ll totally hold our baby.  But encouraging online purchases of decor items?  Not so much.  Or maybe this one…

Ha.   

But seriously.  With all the house planning beginning (!!!) I’m starting to get so excited about the decorating layers.  And I need to reign it in a bit.  I mean, we need to decide things like where to put electrical outlets.  Or what kind of water heater to install.  Woo hoo.

But what I reeeally want to do is find those just-right pieces.  Here’s what I’m trying to not obsess over:

Lindsay did a lovely post about her new kitchen appliances.  They are fabulously beautiful.  However the only place we know of around here selling this line is way too pricey.  I think the range costs an arm and the fridge costs a leg, roughly estimating.  And this, of course annoys me to no end.  Why do counter-depth fridges cost more?!  And why do so few other people see this as important?  C’mon, people!!

And, if you hadn’t guessed by some of my recent posts, I’m also obsessing over rugs.  Turkish, Persian, Pakistani… whatever.  All of them.  Any of them.  In kitchens, in bedrooms, in living rooms, in entryways…

(Photograph by Per Kristiansen for House & Home.  I would like to post this picture from the home of Emma Reddington every week, if that’s OK with you?  It’s so perfect.)

This kazak beaut’s half price at esale rugs.  

I love the way the rugs bring so much warmth and depth to a room.  But buying a rug for a floor that doesn’t actually exist yet?  Maybe I need to slow down a bit…

And another key piece I’m itching to purchase?  The perfect chandelier.  (For my currently non-existent dining room, that is…)  Not too sparkly, not too pretty.  Curvy.  Good scale.  Old looking.  Warm.  Tall order right?  Well, I found it:

And I’m not even telling you where I found it, because I’m afraid you’ll buy it.  Don’t buy it.  Seriously.  I’m still crossing all fingers and toes that Sean will walk in the house one day and be all, “Hey, Girl, I think we really need a gorgeous chandelier above our dining table, don’t you?”  It could happen… right?!  Right??!

Ah well.  I’ll try to remember #6 on my “House Rules” list: All good things with time.

Sometimes when I step back and think about us building our house out on the farm I feel a bit like we’re living a dream.  (Of course, we’re not living that dream quite yet… oh man do I have a doozy of a realty story for you when we someday hopefully finally actually sell this condo…)  It is not lost on me how blessed I am.

But let’s live a different dream for a moment, shall we?  I’m a bit of a daydreamer, I admit.  And I’ve said before that if I wasn’t doing this whole prairie farmhouse thing I think it would be really cool to have an industrial warehouse loft in a city like Chicago.  I’d be a children’s book illustrator, or graphic designer or something.  And I’d be very cool.  (Have I mentioned this is a dream?)

 Well, I’ve discovered another (completely fictitious/nevergonnahappen/but fun to think about) dream.  I’d live in London.  I’d have to be filthy rich, most likely.  And probably a tad bit eccentric, or at least quite quirky (it just goes with the rich in London thing).  Not sure what I would do.  But that’s part of it.  Nobody would know what I would do, or how I got my money, or why I’m so eccentric.  And I would live here:

(Photo from jj Locations, via Not My Beautiful Home)

Wow.  Wow.  Wow.  Did your breath catch like mine did?  I will no doubt decorate and redecorate this London townhouse a half dozen times while I fall asleep tonight.  Everything - those windows (oh, those windows!), the worn wooden floors, the mouldings, the fireplaces…

Even the mint green is working for me (though my very rich eccentric self would probably repaint those walls with the change of every season…)

I’d no doubt spend many rainy English days looking wistfully out of those windows.

And spend many days writing and drawing on a bench on this pretty street:

It’s actually a townhouse featured by a company called jj Locations, which finds venues for filming and photo shoots.  And I almost find that sad - it should be a home.

The other rooms are a bit more furnished, and are quite lovely - which is fine, but leaves a little less for the imagination.

Isn’t it just so lovely? *Sigh*  If you’ll excuse me, now, I’m off to drink tea and mentally decorate my pretend British home. (sorry, what was that about being eccentric?)

(Photograph by Pernilla Hed for Skona Hem)

I love when Elissa’s pinning… And if you love the same things - lots of natural texture, navy blue, charcoal grey, persian rugs and kilims, brass sconces, and a laid back look - give her a follow!

(A bunch of the pictures below were found via her Pinterest boards.)

Ready to show you my living room today! 

(That is… my perfectly clean living room that never looks like this.  No - the pillows are on the floor for jumping on, the ottoman is gaping open, the desk is piled with papers and books, there is no carpet visible beneath toys and books and endless Cheerios.  You get the idea.  But you probably don’t want a picture of that…)

Obviously it’s a combination space, with a home office area included.  That’s the bonus in buying an older condo - they were built with bigger living spaces in the 70’s and 80’s!

I worked hard to make this home office as functional and as aesthetically simple and unobtrusive as possible.  Really editing the shelves, using storage in boxes and in the hutch in the dining room, using the clear acrylic Louis ghost-style chair, and choosing a vanity table instead of a full desk help keep it all streamlined.

Its crazy to think that I reupholstered ALL of the furniture in the living room - sofa, chairs, and ottoman (and the Louis chairs in the dining room too).  Like seriously crazy.  I am insane.  They’re all at different levels of “doneness”, and I’m happier with some than others.  But overall they give the look I want for the room, and what they lack in professional finish they make up for in affordability!

About 2 years ago, when I settled on the idea that we were going to be in the condo for a few years I decided to really embrace decorating it - and I saw it as a chance to experiment and self-teach.  It’s been fun to figure out layering patterns, materials, which colours I like to live with, etc.  I love the paint colour - Woodlawn Blue from Benjamin Moore - but in the greyish light of our one East-facing balcony window it feels a bit too dark/cool for me most days.  I think it’s a colour I’ll use in a smaller space in the future (like a powder room or entry or laundry room).  And even though I love all things fresh and be beachy (you know blue + white, and painted furniture), I’ve discovered that I really need some wood tones, and a healthy dose of warm colours. (The punches of orange in this room make me so happy.)

The corner fireplace is not something I’d normally recommend, but it works perfectly in our space, since there are just two short walls in that corner.  It keeps the flow through the apartment easy, and makes the most of an awkward space.

We do 95% of our living in this room.  The kids play here, we read here, we watch TV here - it is the centre of our home for sure.  We store toys in bins beneath the couch and in the storage ottoman, and the ottoman can be pushed back out of the way or used to play on.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with this room!

The preparation to list our condo continues!  Today I’ve got a peek into our dining room for you.  

Our dining room is the least finished room to me.  I’ve never been 100% happy with the layout.  We shouldn’t really have the hutch AND the sideboard - but we need the sideboard to hide all of the internet and phone cords and outlets.  And we need the hutch for book, movie, game storage, and Sean’s work stuff.  The room’s big enough to handle both pieces, but I feel like it creates an awkward corner.  I may take one piece out when we begin showing the place so that traffic flows more easily through there.  

There are half a dozen other changes I’d like to make, and I think our next dining room will probably be very different.  I’d love to use richer colours in my dining room, but this room is in the back windowless corner, and needs all the white to lighten things up.

But whatever.  Here you go!

A great bedroom full of DIY that doesn’t LOOK like it’s full of DIY. By Mandy Gubler

I’m writing about my “House Rules” this week - a few things I want to keep in mind when it comes to creating our future home.

Doing It Yourself has been a huge trend over the last decade, as TV makeover shows and home blogs have flooded our consciousness and provided ideas. No doubt the proliferation of Pinterest will expand this even more. For me, it’s one part creative outlet, one part cheapy-cheapness (both from my personality AND some necessity), and one part perfectionism (being able to create what I want so that it look like what I want.)

But let’s be real. Sometimes it can all look a little… like you did it yourself. So my goal is to continue on the current course of creating my home from scratch (and spray paint, and fabric, and sand paper…) but to create something that doesn’t look shoddy. I have a few thoughts on how this happens:

-When I have the money to splurge, go for something I could never make myself. For example, at Christmas I had money that I had to use to buy a gift. So I chose this acrylic Louis-style chair. Because there’s no way I could DIY that thing, or find it cheaply secondhand. Adding in some pieces like this that look high and non-DIY will balance things out.

-Improve my skills at DIY.

-Pay attention to good design so I know what I’m going for.

This isn’t for everyone, but that’s how I’ll create my home!