We have been thinking about building a house for a couple years, spending time strategizing about layout, talking about the speckled shag carpet we must have, and dreaming about having kitchen counter space and our own bathroom. But when it came down to specifics, I was kind of at a loss. In fact, just thinking about paint colors and kitchen cabinets made me more than a little panicky. Petrified is probably the better word.
We went through the selection process with our condo back in 2002, so we should be old pros. But it somehow seemed more weighty, more serious. What if we forgot something? What if we made horrible decisions? What if Ben and I didn’t agree on anything? t checked out piles of design books from the library, bought design magazines, visited tile and kitchen shops, and tried to meditate on places that made me happy and comfortable.
Our first “selections meeting” rolled around despite my worrying, and I walked in with butterflies in my stomach, a couple of pictures of the kids at Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes clutched in my hands, and a few paint sample ideas. They have a “Design Center” complete with bathroom and kitchen mock-ups, carpet and tile samples, walls of cabinet and faucet choices, an area with siding and roofing samples, and amazing designers. She immediately made us feel at ease, and we dove into our plans with gusto. Was it difficult? Certainly. But we survived admirably, without any marital strife, and walked away from the process feeling awesome about our house.
A couple surprises…
We walked into it thinking we wanted a contemporary casual design with a warm color palette, and walked away with a much more modern look with a cool color palette. And we ended up being thrilled with how it all came together.
We also went back and forth about having dark wood floors with dark kitchen cabinets, but in the end, we went with what we wanted. It was liberating.
Curious? Here’s a few pictures of our selections:
Can’t wait to see how it all turns out!
