Hey friends! How has your long weekend been? Hopefully full of people you love, delicious food, fun traditions, and an abundance of gratitude. Oh and deals. Loads of deals.
Speaking of deals, I am running some KILLER Cyber Monday deals over in the Vintage Revivals Shop!
Also the first 50 orders will get a free black straw wreath kit!!
Just Love you all, thanks so much for your support it means the world to me and my little fam! Make sure to come back tomorrow where I’m dishing Part 3 of the house buying saga!!!
Man I just love you guys. All of the comments and feedback on Part 1 of this series just made my heart leap with joy. YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!!!
Lets pick up where we left off, yes? If you’re new to the series, you’ll want to start here! (Just as a reference point, the timeframe was Dec- March) We decided that buying and updating wasn’t really the best option for us, not when I wanted to rip everything out so that I could customize it. It just seemed like a waste of money.
I also really really REALLY want to drive home that just because something isn’t right for me, doesn’t mean that its not right for anyone. We all know that I’m sort of a unique bird.
Ca-Caw!
Court and I (mostly I) started looking at building. There are loads of new construction neighborhoods in Southern Utah. The most popular are ones that have set plans and then you come in and choose different finishes. These houses tend to be more inexpensive per sq/ft because they build loads at a time and have some serious systems in place to sort of assembly line it. Court really loved the idea of the square footage and I really hated that there was very little room for customizing, and that there were only a handful of flooring options to choose from. These neighborhoods are so great, especially if you have kids, because they are FILLED with families. Such a great option for so many, just not right for us.
It didn’t take long to find our place though. The neighborhood that I jumped with both feet and my whole heart into is called Stucki Farms (pronounced STOOKEY) Its on the outskirts of Washington Fields. The developer is one of the most creative, kind men that I’ve ever met in my life. Stucki is special. The thing that I loved most about it is the community that they are creating. There are lakes dug, and trees going in EVERYWHERE. There is a community farmhouse and pool and gardens and I LOVED it. It is the closest thing to Kohler that Southern Utah has.
After talking with Karl (the developer) we decided that if we were going to build and take you guys along for the ride on the blog that maybe it would be a good idea to be able to take you along in real life too!! We decided to put the house in the home show. That way you could follow the build and then come and tour the house yourself! So fun right?!!
This gave us a hard deadline for completion of Mid January 2017 to have it ready for the Parade in mid Feb. We met with a builder and started the process of designing plans (this was Feb. 2016). The development that we chose to build in is called The Homesteads. The style of the houses is Craftsman, though they are a little more desert craftsman than full on colorful bungalow craftsman.
We reserved our lot and were ready to get started!!!
When you are designing a dream house where do you even start?!! I started with windows. All windows, all the time. Court jokes that I’d be thrilled to live in a box made of black divided light windows, and you know, that boy just might be right! There were a few non negotiables that we had.
windows
high ceilings (obviously)
not open concept (cause the last thing I want someone to see when they come into my house is the sink full of dishes.
theater (this was Court’s)
no carpet
When you are inside the house I want it to feel like a loft. We met with the builder (Gerry from Slate Ridge) and put together an inspiration board, which he then took it to an architect to work on a floor plan.
At the same time, my inlaws decided to build (not in the same neighborhood) so all conversations all the time revolved around the houses. It was SO EXCITING!!! Finally at the end of March we got back the first set of plans, I was 85% in love with them (which is way more than I had expected to be!)
Hey friends!! Ok so, our house hit the market last week and I’m ready to open up and chat about everything that has gotten us to this point. Its been a whirlwind to say the least. I guess the beginning is a pretty great place to start? Buckle in, cause this is going to be a long story.
I first need to start off by saying that its been really hard to not talk about and I’m kind of over keeping things shushed. Over the next few posts you are going to get a lot of backstory to catch you up to speed and then all of my secrets will be out and we can be best friends again. I hate having to stay mum about stuff, especially stuff that is interesting and can help other people on their journey. I also want to say, this is not a Surprise! We bought a secret house! situation, its still very unresolved, raw, and up in the air. Are you ready to join me and be my support team?
I’m about to spill my guts, hope you’ve got a catchers mitt.
Sarah here! You GUYS! It’s been FOREVER! Seriously — just look at those capital letters and all those exclamation points!!! It’s been a rough few months up here in Waldo — ok, you could live in Brooklyn and then it would be over in Waldo, but in general most Wisconsinites say they live up north. It’s a thing. So where have we been? I mean obviously, not reading about our home repair fails and mishaps has kept you up at night. Please accept my apology for our absence!
Hey friend! Whether you are a tree up before Thanksgiving kind of gal or not, thinking about (and planning for) the people on your shopping list is upon us.
Some of my most wonderful friends Bridget and Casey from The DIY Playbook spearheaded a brilliant gift guide from all of your favorite bloggers. We each took a topic that we are masters at and picked a slew of treasures out just for the special people in your life that might fit into that category! Everything from The Host, to The Pet Lover, to The DIYer is covered. Its also completely and utterly gorgeous to look at.
Just click the “Click to Read” button and it will open full screen, then just flip through it like a magazine! Each of the products or services are linked so you can dive in and get more info!
Hope this makes your life just a little bit easier! 🙂
If you’ve read Vintage Revivals for any period of time you know that I absolutely love Sherwin-Williams. There are definitely perks to this, the coolest one being I get top secret insider info. I have been chomping at the bit to share with you guys the most incredible Sherwin-Williams paint line on the market, and I’m not saying that lightly. It’s hard to top my heart and soul Emerald, but I think Paint Shield may have done it.
Hold on tight cause your mind is about to be blown.
We all know about antimicrobial agents that help inhibit the growth of microorganisms right? Well, Paint Shield® is like that…on steroids. It is microbicidal, which means that it actually has the power to KILL certain bacteria. Like as in living bacteria is going on its merry way and when those certain bacteria come in contact with the surfaces painted with Paint Shield, the bacteria are given a swift kick into the afterlife. Death. Dead. Buh-Bye. Zapped. Gone-zola. Belly Up. Stiff as a board, and all of the other adorable euphemisms you can think of.
WHAT?!? Paint can do that?!
Paint Shield microbicidal paint has been in development for many years (think Nickelback and Desperate Housewives).
It was originally developed for hospitals, retirement homes, daycares, and athletic facilities to kill greater than 99.9% of †Staph (Staphylococcus aureus), MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), E. coli (Escherichia coli), VRE (Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis) and Enterobacter aerogenes within two hours of exposure on painted surfaces.
Then they realized people don’t want those bacteria in their homes either and voila! here we are today!
Paint Shield is EPA-Registered and has the power to kill bacteria† on the painted surface for up to 4 years when the integrity of the surface is maintained. I cant even imagine having the same wall color for 4 years!
Crazy right? I mean, you instantly get 100 mom points just by using this paint to help protect your family.
And if that isn’t enough, it brushes and rolls on and is just as scrubbable as any other Sherwin-Williams paint. AND it’s available in 550 colors.
Paint Shield microbicidal paint is available at your local Sherwin-Williams store, so pop in and grace them with your beautiful face, pick their brains, and leave with the best quality paint on the market.
Also feel free to show up in your 4 day ponytail, I do all the time.
Our house is for sale!!!! QUICK someone pass me a paper bag!!
Not going to lie, it feels a lot like I’m launching myself off a cliff with no idea how far down the ground is, or where we’ll land…with my family in tow. But every fiber of my being is telling me to jump, and not just jump but JUUUUUUUUUMMMMMP! So jump it is.
