Snippets of the New House

Last week, I mentioned that my mom and step-dad were closing on their new house in the subdivision next to mine.  They moved out to the Raleigh area from Spokane, WA last summer and lived with us for a few months and then stayed in an apartment while their house was being built.  After much deliberation of house plans and communities in the area, they ultimately chose a beautiful community with the equestrian barn, miles of beautiful jogging trails, and many other amenities. It's a great community with lots of wide open spaces which was important to them after moving from their previous home on three acres.

They had their hearts set on farmhouse or southern traditional style of home, but the community where they built consists of mostly craftsman style architecture.  They were able to tweak the house plan and exterior to try and get more of a farmhouse feel mostly just by changing the window style, exterior house colors, and other minor architectural changes.  

My mom loves, loves red and went with a pop of the color on the front door and exterior lights to brighten up the gray exterior.  This makes me fall in love with red and I'm a neutral gal!

These lights are my favorite and add a ton of character!  

I titled this post "Snippets of the New House" for a reason though.  I was so hoping to get into the house right after closing and take pictures of all the rooms before all the boxes and furniture was moved in, but there was a time crunch and someone forgot their camera...oops!  My mom is still knee deep in boxes and I promised I wouldn't share too much of her unorganized house, but she's already done some painting and I spent yesterday afternoon going over paint decks and design plans with her.  Stay tuned though... their house is going to be beautiful when they're done with it!  In the meantime, here's a few peeks...

They were very fortunate that their builder gave them a lighting allowance and my mom and I were able to find several antique lights, including this one in her foyer, at the Liberty Antiques Show last fall.  My step-dad re-wired them and freshened parts of them up with paint.  

I love how vintage light fixtures can completely transform a space and turn a builder-grade house into something much more unique...not to mention these were significantly less expensive than the run-of-the-mill fixtures that come with the builder's plan.

This picture was actually taken before the house was completed, but choosing the traditional 5-panel farmhouse doors was another way to customize their home to get the look they desired.  They did infuse some modern touches here and there with solid black granite paired with black-glazed ivory cabinets in the kitchen and this beautiful glass and stone tile in the master bathroom...

One of my favorite rooms in the house is the dining room and I think it's because I love the color my mom chose for it (SW Silvermist).  Builders generally only allow you to pick 2-3 colors for the entire interior so she she chose a neutral color in almost all the rooms until she can get to re-painting them, but this one is staying...

You'll be seeing this color again soon! I just bought a can today for my powder room.  I can't wait to use it.

I know my mom is enjoying pulling out all her belongings that have been in storage since last July, but also a bit overwhelmed figuring where everything is going to go at first.

 I had the same problem last year when I moved and still find myself moving things around! 

Yes, my mom made the "Ice Cold Milk" sign and my step-dad made the bird house... Now that the house is finally done, it's fun to all go over and talk design with mom and let the kids ride bikes and pet the horses...

As I mentioned, I'll be sharing their house as they get settled and complete some rooms so stay tuned...

Kristen