Ever taken a trip to the Lowes tile department? Did you feel like the walls were closing in around you? I often wonder how many divorces take place because of fights that broke out on those aisles. It was time for us to make our flooring selections and since I'm keeping it 100% real with y'all, I was scared shitless!!! We had a conservative figure of $10K in mind. Did I say conservative???
We arrived at our flooring appointment a little early (only about 10 minutes because we're very punctual people). I feel like my time is precious and others' time is equally important so we avoid being late at all costs. Our flooring rep (FR) didn't seem very excited to see us. She greeted us with pleasantries that seemed a bit...er...umm...forced. I could see steam coming from hubby's ears so I continued to smile and remain as upbeat as possible. Apparently this office was just taken over by her company and the previous company still has all of it's samples in the showroom. It's quite confusing, and a bit off putting, to walk in and see a boatload of products that aren't available to you. But I didn't let that get to me.
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| Me at our flooring meeting. |
So we start by going over the options that we selected for the home. I will say the FR did a great job guiding the meeting. If we started to ask about something she quickly said we'd get to that later. Her delivery just wasn't the best. In all fairness, maybe we've been spoiled by the awesome demeanor of our dear SR. Back to the meeting...we started with the flooring for the main level. We have pets so we knew we wanted something strong and durable. Welcome to level 4 flooring! That's just a fancy term for the more expensive stuff. Of course we wanted the entire first floor to be hardwood...what were we thinking. We pulled out a super dark color, almost espresso like, because we want to get away from the normal browns. The FR immediately explained it will show every single stain, lint ball, pet hair, etc. While I understand she was doing her job her tone implied that I can't find my way to the closet for a dust mop. A little dust never killed nobody. Just saying. We found this awesome color called Misty Gray. Pictures don't do it justice. It's got the dark that we wanted, mixed in with some red and brown tones. BEAUTIFUL!!!!
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| Misty Gray engineered hardwood flooring |
On to the bathrooms. We didn't do too bad here. The only bathroom that got some extra love was the master. We kept all the others standard which saved us in the money department. The only hiccup was a non-standard request for a tile shower pan. At first the FR flat out said NO. Remember the steam coming from hubby's ears...yeah it's back now. We explained that we've already requested it from our SR, along with another non-standard request for that bathroom. She ended up calling our SR and we sat there listening to the most uncomfortable conversation about who should submit the request, communicate it before meetings, we don't do things that way, ya-de-da-de-do. Can we say AWKWARD!!! Fingers crossed they'll do it.
Lastly, we picked out the kitchen. DANGER, DANGER...back-splash overload!!! Oh yeah, and another awkward dispute about who's right about the tile in the model home. Pissing match, anyone? Dear hubby won this round. So, we went with a nice level two option. Hubby actually tried to convince me to go with a level 3 all glass back-splashed wall. While this girl lurves her some glass back-splash I was afraid it would be very busy. I'm not trying to have my eyes go crossed every time I walk in the kitchen.
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| Kitchen cabinet with granite and backsplash selection |
We survived!!! We did it without any major fights, just a few hurdles and a nice, but awkward, FR. So we did go over budget. WAY over budget...final figure was $23K. So much for that conservative $10K. We completely abandoned the idea of hardwood in the upstairs hallway and loft area. I'm not trying to sell any body parts to afford that. I'm kind of sad that we're done picking out stuff. Well, there is the electrical. I'm leaving that up to Jason. I can't wait to see it all come together!
Hi Tiffany, I am Nadase. Where did you go? I love your blog. We built a Rome back in January 2013 at ricknadase.blogspot.com that is currently still up but retired....There are some great tips there that I learned. We are currently building another home and would love for you to follow our new beginnings. I need Aliens to abduct our home too. lol We have so much work to do. Please feel free to join on site for our new build at ourlangleytwo.blogspot.com Congratulations on our NEW ROME! I love the Rome. I put in 13 customs and it turned out fabulous.
ReplyDeleteHi Nadase! I checked out your blog and love it. Congratulations on building your new home! Sadly, the aliens seem to have left our home. Lol. Once we got a contract my family got comfortable again. I keep reminding them that we still need to keep it clean, but apparently I speak a language that they selectively understand...Mom problems. Can't wait to see how your new home turns out!
DeleteHi! How are your misty grey floors holding up? I am buying a Ryan home and am a little worried about the durabliity. Would love an update :)
DeleteHi Sara! We've been in our house a little over a year now. Our misty grey floors are doing great!!! I've got 3 kids and 2 dogs...if that gives you an idea of the craziness that takes place here. I'm really pleased with them and happy we splurged a bit in that area.
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