Building Our Dream House

Building Our Dream House in Malvern, PA! I am beyond excited! I’m going to bring you guys with me every step of the way!

Friends, for those who don’t know, we are building a house in Malvern, PA. When we were house hunting in the area, we simply couldn’t find a house that we all liked. And because it was such a huge move from Wisconsin, I wanted a home that we all loved.

Building was not my first choice. I’ve never built a home before and I knew that it would be a very long process, expensive and overwhelming. But the thought of having my dream kitchen excited me so much! This process is definitely more than I thought it would be. For example, we are selecting the cabinets, the flooring, the back splash tile, the light fixtures, the hardware (handles), the appliances, the faucets, the sinks, every little detail even down to how everything should be finished (in every single room) and with what kind of detail and where the electrical outlets (in some rooms, in others, they just place them according to code) and lights should go. Now, don’t get me wrong, this is incredibly exciting for me to do in my kitchen ..  but then times that by 15 (or however many rooms/bathrooms in the house we will have). Our stairs will look like the photo above. Photo from the Toll Brothers’ website.

I don’t do well when I have too many choices. Like at a restaurant, I want one menu, one side, a great but limited selection. I don’t want to choose from a 15 page menu.

We are building with Toll Brothers and this isn’t even necessarily a custom home. They have floor plans that you choose from and then from there, you can add on, and change certain things. You can certainly upgrade things when selecting everything and then voila, you have your house.

Temporary Apartment Living

In Wisconsin I feel like homes were going up within 6 to 8 months. Here, because it’s a brand new neighborhood that they were building, it’s going to take one year to build the house. One year minimum. This is a brand new neighborhood, starting from dirt, so they are building the roads, sewers etc. They are currently putting the roads in; I think that’s slated to be finished in November or December. We are in Phase 1 and I believe there will be a Phase 2 to our little community. We are in a great area with very easy access to the highways and the train. If you’re in the PA area, we are along/in the main line area, so I am very thankful for that. We have a few Wawas close by, a Wegmans and Target and all the essentials close by. My kids are stoked that there’s a Chick-Fil-A right down the street.

Until the house is finished, we are living in an apartment. I haven’t lived in an apartment in years so it took a little getting used to. I am super thankful however, that we were able to find apartments that we could live in for the year in the same school district (and same schools) that the kids will attend when we move into the house. At one point, Madeline was going to have to start a new elementary school when we moved into the new house and I was not having that. But we looked at the district lines again and we are ok.

Building Our Dream House: My Kitchen

I’ll be honest. This is the room I am the most excited about. For us, the kitchen is the heart of our house. It’s where we congregate, cook and frankly, it’s where we all are most of the time.

We will have an open concept. I believe I will be able to see the great room from my kitchen. We will actually have a formal dining room which I’m excited about. One thing that I haven’t told many people but we are building a multi-generational suite for my parents on the main level. So, yes, they will come live with us. .  eventually.

I’m excited to have the formal dining room because I’m thinking a lot of the major holidays will be spent here with my brother’s and sister’s families.

I am driving myself, my entire family and our designer crazy with the kitchen. I keep changing my mind. I’ve always dreamed of having an all white kitchen and now that I actually have the opportunity to build one, I am torn.

Should I have some color on my island to break up the white? Should I stay with the all-white kitchen? Should I have a back splash that adds color? I am constantly looking at design websites and kitchen inspiration on Instagram.

Building Our Dream House: Kitchen Back Splash

I’ve decided to go with an all white kitchen and will have some earthy tones in the back splash. At least, this is my thought for today. We have our last design meeting on Monday, 11/25, and then after that, it will be very hard to make any changes. So, wish me luck and as soon as they actually start building the actual house, I will take you guys inside! I can’t wait for next summer or fall to move in!

We won’t have this much brick on the outside but this is kind of what the structure of the house will look like, but with the multi-generational suite attached on the main level.