The Selections: Outside & Inside

Our first major decision was THE EXTERIOR:

We are building the Florence (Elevation K), so there are a lot of different surfaces to work with.  The horizontal siding, wrapping the sides and rear of the home, will be Stone Mountain Clay (see the lighter color sample.)  This same Stone Mountain Clay color will also be on the vertical board and batten.  For the decorative "shake" we selected Canyon (the darker color sample pictured over the Stone Mountain Clay.)  The brick accents on the front of the home will be Boral Brick's Falls Canyon.  That leaves Weathered Wood shingles on the roof, white trim, white garage and a Black Bean front door.  

Then there was THE INTERIOR:

Our easiest decision was the cabinets.  We selected the Timberlake Scottsdale Square Maple Espresso Cabinets.   We read the pros and cons for having such a dark cabinet, but in the end we felt the good outweighed the bad.

                The above center cabinet is the espresso
                                                      

A close-up of

our cabinets

Next came the battle of granite vs Formica.  Hubby was flexible and said he would be happy with either one, so I must of talked it over with my sister 100 times. After a LOT of back and forth we chose the upgraded 180fx Formica, specifically the Dolce Vita. 

(which you can see in both of the pictures below)

After selecting the cabinets and counters, we moved on to flooring....not as much fun as I expected.  We had trouble getting an appointment, then after driving 2 hours to the showroom we were surprised by their new price increases, and finally we were pushed to make choices faster than we were comfortable with.  We ended up leaving very unhappy, extremely frustrated and simply tired!

However, our RH Sales Rep came through, resolving the pricing issue with the flooring company.  We finished the process by making a second trip (which was annoying) to the flooring showroom, where we took time looking through all of the samples by ourselves...and making the selections that WE wanted for OUR dream home!

        

The result was Armstrong's Laminate flooring in the kitchen, morning room, dinette, powder room, dining room and foyer.  Laminate had the best ratings for being child and pet friendly.  Ultimately we opted for Armstrong's Illusions in Sedona Cherry (8mm.)  The cherry brought out the warmer tones in our counters, while the cabinets brought out some of the darker tones/veining in the floors.  Overall a nice blend of the warmer and cooler tones...I hope!

The Teak handrail stain went really well with the cherry floors, so that was a quickie.  The carpet took a little longer.  Our basement, stairs, family room and upstairs will all be carpeted.  The majority of the padding is the 8 pound, but we chose the Stainmaster 9-10 pound padding for our basement.  The Stainmaster is water resistant and will help keep any moisture in the basement floor from seeping into the carpet.  Also, it will help to soften and insulate the concrete basement floor.  Our carpeting will be Shaw's Simple Touch in SandSwept, a lighter tone with flecks of color.

Last, but not least, is the flooring for our laundry room and the upstairs full baths.  A simple vinyl seemed to be the easiest and most cost effective; it needed to coordinate with our carpet, bathroom espresso cabinets, and white marble vanities.  Our vinyl is the baseline Armstrong Initiator #66177 (Chamois).

 

Our plumbing fixtures are all Moen...

and the lighting is from Progress Lighting...