When we closed escrow on our new house, the sales agent said, “You’ve built a beautiful home!” It took some restraint to not laugh in her face. WE didn’t build anything. We were offered some design choices, but our new house in a new development looks nearly identical to the one behind us, and the one two doors down, and the one around the corner; you get the idea. The builders offered four models, a couple of outside color/decorative choices for each, and basic front yard landscaping. We bought a cookie cutter home, so ALL the houses around us are beautiful because they are brand spanking new.
I LOVE having a new house. It comes with a one year warranty. When we noticed that the HVAC system was super loud, we added that item to the owner portal and the local company came out, twice, to fix it. When the drip system stayed on 24/7, even when we turned in off, they sent a landscaper to fix it.
But after the design choices are made and the piles of boxes are dwindling, it becomes very clear that we purchased a beautiful new shell. Thankfully I have a handy husband who is relieved that he doesn’t have to remodel anything. Still, his honey-do list is quite long.
Some of the items we have purchased to fill this lovely new shell include:
Cabinet pulls
There are 36 cabinets and drawers in the kitchen, laundry room, bathrooms and linen closet. We did not want to purchase pulls from the builder for a couple of reasons. One is that they were pretty ugly not our style. The other is that they were expensive. We initially thought it wouldn’t be a big deal to use our fingertips and fingernails to pry open doors and drawers. But as the kids would say: I’m over that. We found some nice, reasonably priced ones on Wayfair.
Window coverings for all (18) windows
Our contract states that within 90 days of moving in, all windows that can be seen from the street must to be covered with an outward facing neutral color (no patterns, flowers, or bright colors). We initially bought paper accordion coverings on the cheap. My sister-in-law has had one on her kitchen window for a decade, and it looks great!
We didn’t take into account that she only has one window covered with paper. I could go into detail about the challenges of opening and closing accordion paper shades in the middle of a heat wave, but I won’t. It didn’t take long to realize that we needed top down, bottom up shades.
Coverings for the giant three panel sliding glass door (which is so cool and so huge)
Two of the three panels open and the entire thing is 12′ wide. The builder estimate for installing coverings ran thousands more than we though they should. A local vendor was only slightly less costly. The same online company where we found the standard window shades offered custom sized shades for the slider at a fraction of the cost.
Refrigerator
The builder options were 40% more than comparable models from Costco.
Washer and Dryer
Our new home is all electric, so we couldn’t use our old gas dryer. It made sense to purchase a new set.
Sliding glass door screen
As silly as it sounds, we had to find and purchase one. The builder recommended a local company, again the cost was far higher than seemed reasonable. The hubby found a company online that custom makes screens that we can walk through instead of having to slide open.
Closet shelving
Basic rods are up in the bedrooms, but not much else.
Garage shelving
There is a closet in the garage, but it didn’t come with any shelving or rod. We gave up about 60% of storage space when we moved, so the hubby built storage shelving up high for boxes we don’t get into often.
Over-the-range hood
The kitchen appliance upgrade we purchased wasn’t strong enough to pull steam up; the first time I cooked pasta, I could smell the cabinets getting damp. The new one sucks so hard that it holds a napkin above the stovetop on the lowest setting.
Landscaping Needs
We heard from a neighbor, whose backyard is half the size of ours, that he wanted a pergola, some sod and a couple of pavers. The first landscaping estimate he got was $40,000! I don’t want to belittle anyone’s expertise, but that is more than we can or want to pay. We paid for the yard to be leveled enough to enable us to install the gazebo we purchased from Costco two years ago. We put down tan bark to get us through the first winter as we slowly create a plan for the outside space.
We added cement steps from the front porch to the street. Before we did this, the options were to walk on the tan bark or try to squeeze past the car in the driveway.
Bookshelves
Yes, we got rid of several bookshelves before we moved, but the new space has different needs. I found some used, and some I purchased new.
Down the road
We hope to get a storage shed for gardening tools and the like. I’ll need a potting table. We will need to decide on and purchase foliage for the backyard. I’ve already made a few minor tweaks to the front yard landscaping with plants I brought from Ukiah. I have some concerns about the trees the landscaping company chose, so those may need to be replaced. The hubby wants to add a front porch rail.
Spoiler Alert: moving is expensive. Purchasing a newly built home comes with unanticipated costs. Still, we are VERY happy with our new house. It’s good to be home.
Visceral Musings 