Wood On Top

When I drove by the site of our new home last week, I saw a few large stacks of lumber – which to me means progress! 

I guess our framer was a little sick and was delayed in getting our project started, but now it has begun.  The foundation was poured a few weeks ago, and now we have wood on top!  The knee wall was constructed and now the framing can begin later this week. 

We have also been given the task of making the first big decisions.  In the next week and a half, we have to decide:

• * the exterior color of the house (siding, trim, windows, gutters)
• * the color, material, and style of the front door
• * the color of the roof
• * the style of the fireplace and what kind of hearth we will have (brick, stone, tile, floor level, bench, etc.)
• * whether or not we want a double oven in the kitchen

…and there’s probably something I haven’t remembered.

While all this sounds like a lot of fun, picking a house color and front door is a pretty big decision!  We have about 75 colors to choose from for the siding and trim alone.  We have three for the windows (and we’ve already chosen white), and about 25 for the gutters and soffits.  Then we have to decide if we want the siding and trim to be the same color.  Or for the gutters and trim to be the same color.   No pressure there!  That’s the face of the house – what people will see first – what people will comment on.  We certainly don’t want to be boring and pick something so neutral it makes you sad to look at it, but we also don’t want people saying “Glad I don’t live next to that ugly eyesore of a house.  I can’t believe they picked that color!”  So, we’re going to make the best use of our next week and a half.  And if it comes down to it, we’ll just close our eyes and point.