No turning back...

I finalized my design centre choices today and handed over a large sum of money. My choices are now set in stone, I'm still ok with them so I think that's an awesome sign! Now I have to play the waiting game until I actually move in. I've been crunching numbers and every once in a while, I get this mini-panic attack of 'OMG!! Can I actually DO this?!' and then I do my trusty math again and I feel better. lol... I expect the cycle to continue until I get into the house. I just hate the unexpected, especially when there's a lot on the line like this. I need a lot of concrete numbers so I can plan accordingly. It's the unknown factor that's driving me nuts. Alas, I have about 7 months to wait until this whole process is over, which in house years, is not a lot of time. SO CLOSE YET SO FAR!! lol...

On a good note, I found out that my next door neighbour is also a single girl and there's another older single lady down the row as well (ALL MA SINGLE LADIES!! PUT YO' HANDS UP!!) so that brings the count up to 4 in my row alone. Also, it still seems that Mattamy is about 6 weeks ahead so it's an even better chance that I'll actually move into the house on time. YIPPEE!!

My Matrix Lamp!!

Rona was having a sale on Light fixtures this weekend! I originally went to look at a long crystal box type of chandalier but then I found this one instead. It's really cool and the inside has flexible arms that remind me of the matrix sentinel (hence the title). :) I'm quite excited and I think that it'll look perfect in my dining room. Happiness and Joy!

Small Changes..

Well the only small changes I ended up making were to delete the mirrors in all the bathrooms and change the style of my berber carpet. Not too much, but it serves to make my house that much more perfect!

Design Centre Choices

Hello All,

Here we are...this is the moment that we have all been waiting for!

*Drum roll please*

MY DESIGN CHOICES!!!

Granted there may be some changes right now but not any major ones so these are my general colours...

Now the whole house is going to be painted the 'Sandringham' colour. I didn't take a picture of it because you can't get the true colour of it from a picture and a small sample, but it's like a tan/beige colour. Almost like the tone of this blog backgroun actually. Very neutral, with just a hint of colour. As for the vinyl floors, I seem to have forgotten the names of all of them, I only have codes..lol. However, I used the same vinyl, a grey and browny combination, for everywhere but the kitchen which has a deeper grey tone to it.

And by the way, sorry about some of the spaces..I can't seem to get my pictures to behave.

Well let's get the plain stuff out of the way...

This is the standard showerhead for the bathrooms.

















This is the standard faucet for the master bathroom and the powder room.

This is the standard faucet for the main bathroom.

Now onto more of the FUN STUFF....!! These were some of my easy choices...


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Railings
These are the railings that I upgraded to. I didn't want the rounded colonial style (?) railings that were standard. I find that this one is just sleek and contemporary. I love them! They will be stained to match my hardwood floors.

Flooring
This is the flooring that I chose for the main sections of the house.

- Hardwood: I chose maple 'Vienna' floors in 2 1/4 width, in the living room, dining room and 2nd floor hallway, all placed on a diagonal lay.

- Carpet: I chose the 'Sweet Talk' colour of berber carpet for both the staircases and entire 3rd floor with upgraded underpad. I liked the colour, and then the name just kinda sealed the deal. LOL!



















Handles
The first picture is the inside front door handles and the second picture is the ouside front door handle. Kind of antiquey but I can handle it.

(I guess this wasn't really a choice but still.. =) )



















Kitchen

(Sorry, I couldn't get the picture to turn for some reason.)

I had an inspiration kitchen of dark cabinets with gray counters, glass backsplash and tile floors. So far I have half of that, so I chose:

- Cabinets: Salem Birch in Cocoa Control

- Counters: Suede Ash Fiesta

- and the Floors...a vinyl that I currently can't remember the actual name of, are a bit of a gray tone to pick up on the gray in the counter. I'll prob be changing them to tile soon enough but in the meantime, I'm happy. =)

Guest Bath Choices:

I had wanted a warm brown colour for this bathroom. I chose:

- 'Rocky Road' laminate for the counter,

- 'Chocolate Pear' for the cabinets,

- the bathtub tile is 'Olympia Imperial Noce Brown' with the listello border (I didn't take the tile with the insert; it'll just be a solid tile),

and the floor is a brown and gray vinyl that I forgot the name of. :)

Master Bath Choices:

I was looking for a gray, cool, spa like feeling for my ensuite so I chose:

-Olympia Keliker Bronze tile with Listello Border for my bathtub wall tile,

- 'Chocolate pear' Cabinets

- Tatami Matte Countertop

and again, I forgot the name of the vinyl in the bathroom..lol.

Well that's everything so far. I can't believe I made it out of the design centre in one piece! I actually came in UNDER budget by a couple thousand dollars! Of course, I think I over prepared for the worst case scenario, just in case I had to upgrade everything, but the fact that I didn't upgrade so much actually made me really happy!

Anyways, I'll be looking for furniture and such next so I'll keep everyone posted when I find something I actually like. =)

Design Centre Awaits....

Well I went to the Design Centre on Sunday, with my sister in tow, after spending most of the previous week going through design magazines and making a 'design inspiration' binder.

We spent about 3 hours going through the samples and I feel pretty confident about my choices. My appointment is on Thursday, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited and nervous all at the same time! I keep looking at the pictures we took, and with each pass, the anxiety seems to get better. YAY ME!!

I decided to go with hardwood and berber through the builder and do the ceramic on my own. It would be the least intrusive before I moved in. I was actually able to stay within a lot of the standards, which is a miracle in itself, because I am one picky girl!! lol..

Well..it is T-2 days now..I'll be sure to post pictures of my choices once everything is done on Thursday. WISH ME LUCK!

In the beginning...

Hello All!

I guess I should have started this blog a while ago, so it could be a true account, but I only decided to do it today. So here's the scoop so far....

I bought my house on October 4, 2008 in the Fairwinds community in Kanata, Ontario, Canada. My house model is called the 'Berryhurst' Village Home.

It's the perfect size for a single girl- 3 level townhouse with about 1300 sq. ft with 2 bedrooms and I upgraded to the optional third floor with 2.5 bathrooms. I chose the house because it was seemed to have all the convienience of being a condo (good size, not a huge amount of upkeep but some outdoor space), but the added bonus of being a freehold!

So far, the experience has been..interesting. Don't get me wrong..I've been plenty excited about the whole process! It's just that it's been draining to go through, even though I know that at the end, I will have my own pretty house to show for it. So for now, I'll try to break this down into a timeline for everyone...

September 2007--

I started seriously looking for a house on my own. I considered the Tartan Java condos, Minto Terrace homes and Urbandale Jazz condos, but then discovered the Mattamy Village homes in Kanata. I liked the idea that it was a freehold since I'm really not comfortable with the uncertainty and cost of condo fees, and the Fairwinds area seemed really nice. I have already lived out there before, so I was used to the distance between Kanata and downtown Ottawa. I looked through all the models from Mattamy and the Berryhurst was the one that suited me the most....open concept, nice flow, full laundry room, good sized kitchen, option for an ensuite, room for a small office without giving up or sharing the second bedroom..the list goes on! So now my mind is made up and I've found a house and had the pre-approval done (IMPORTANT STEP BTW! HELPED ME IMMENSELY!). Only now with all my book reading, number crunching and decision making, I have missed out on the latest release that Mattamy had and have to wait for the next one...phooey!

October 1, 2008--

After a year of scrounging for information like Pavlov's dog, I finally start getting word that the Mattamy release for village homes is confirmed for Saturday, October 4. Colour Me EXCITED! The price at this point is about 187k and I've been told that the increases are usually about 5k per release. Now I just have to wait until the evening of October 3 to get the confirmed details and see exactly what homes are going to be released and where. So I'm flying pretty high at this point and just waiting for my piece of village home pie!

October 3, 2008--

I have plans to go to the sales centre to find out information about the house, but a little birdie tells me to call ahead of time. That's when the bombshells begin...

1- They are only releasing 2- count 'em TWO!!- Berryhursts out of about 20 homes that they have available. Neither of them are the elevation I had wanted (CRAP!)

2- Of those two homes, one couple has already staked a claim and are prepared to spend the night at the sales centre to secure their place in the first-come-first-serve line. (DOUBLE CRAP!!)

3- The price didn't go up 5 k..it didn't even go up 10 k...the price of the home went up SEVENTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS in the one release...WAAAY over my nicely projected numbers!!! (Awww &^%&!)

So...Now I have a choice.

Do I:

A- wait until I can get the elevation that I had originally wanted even though I don't know when that will be and run the risk of the price increasing yet again, possibly completely out of my range?

OR

B- Buy the house anyways, since it is still my model that I wanted and the only difference is the size of the deck and the placement of a few windows PLUS any increase in the future is now an increased VALUE instead of an increased COST??

You guessed it!!

I decided to buy the house!!!

(OK OK. That was pretty obvious, but I had to do it for the dramatic flair! =D)

SO...Now my plan goes to action. Lucky, a diva is always prepared, because I had already packed up what I needed to sleep over, in case it came to that. So I bundled up and get ready with my sleeping bag, sweaters, blankets, hats..ready to sleep outside. By the time the sales office closed down for the night, I had 4 of my new neighbours bundled up next to me to stave off the fall cold. We joked that it's ironic that before we could be homeowners, we had to sleep outside..but it was all worth it, the next morning when my funky, morning-breathed, tore-down lookin' self woke up, signed on the dotted line, and became a HOMEOWNER!! Though signing those 3 deposit cheques for 5k each hurt my feelings a little and -not gonna lie- brought a few tears to my eyes...lol! Closing date is set for March 11, 2010- a full 18 months away!!

October 2008- May 2009--

Most of this time was spent going to Mattamy showhomes and pestering the staff with questions! lol..We became goooooooooooooood friends after a while! Visited the Design Centre on multiple occasions to wrap my head around the options that were available. Now I'm just waiting to DO something with the house instead of knowing that it's going to be ready in the next year or so.

June 17, 2009--

I finally get my design centre appointment catalogues and book my appt for July 16.
HA ZAAAAAAA!! I am incredibly excited and start jotting down all the things I want...and then start looking at the prices..and then slowly but surely, those things that I HAD to have don't seem so essential anymore. lol... I start doing more number crunching and then map out my come-hell-or-high-water-I'm-sticking-to-it budget...although I do reserve the right to change my mind. =D

SO! That pretty much catches you up to date on the saga that is my homebuying experience. I am currently trying to make decisions for my appointment next Thursday.

WISH ME LUCK!! or better yet, SEND MONEY! =D

...........................................

No. Really. Cash...money orders..travellers cheques..regular cheques...Credit Cards...first borns.. S'all good!!! LOL..

Tune in next time!