Adding things to a new home can be expensive.... we know - we just finished upgrading our new home and construction is underway. So what was upgraded?
First, because the lots on Page are extra long, the garage was extended an additional 5 feet. That was an expensive and unavoidable "upgrade". No choice there.
Next, we did a bit of upgrading to the appliances to the kitchen, in particular GE's Advantium Microwave which is really an oven and a microwave all in one. If it lives up to it's hype, it will making cooking a lot easier.
Next we upgraded the cabinets throughout the house and did an upgrade to the granite in the kitchen - we went with absolute black granite and to highlight it, we added under cabinet LED lighting. For a splash of wow, we went with a single bowl, black Silgranit single bowl sink with a matte black single handle Moen faucet. The combination should be stunning. For convenience, we added some pull out shelving and pull out trash/ recycle bins. We also added a splash of glass tile accent to theslate backsplash. The cabinets in the kitchen are a Maple Shaker Natural finish - in the rest of the house (master bath, guest bath and study) we went with the same style but in Smoke Maple.
We decided to use tile throughout the entire 1st floor, except for the master bedroom - in the master bedroom (and the stairs and entire upstairs floor) we upgraded to a better carpet and a 8 pound pad. The tile throughout the rest of the house is a porcelain tile that resembles a lighter variation of slate.
In the breakfast area we are having a banquette area built in one corner to conserve space. The ceiling for the breakfast and kitchen area will be bead board - perhaps clear stained to compliment to light maple colored cabinets.
In the master bath we decided to blow up the tub and replace it with a large shower. In place of the regular shower we've added a bank of cabinets for linens and things. A simple border will circle the shower for accent.
The front door will be an interesting "speak-easy door" in a dark stain. The back door will be half glass with embedded window shades.
In the study we've added a 10' wall of built in cabinets with two desks and shelving above. The cabinets match those in the master bath. There are plenty of added outlets for computers and things plus an ample 4 port internet hub tied to a whole house router.
The house comes well equipped with internet and cable outlets and a router so nothing needed there (just add wireless later) - we did add ceiling speakers in the family room for surround sound TV should we choose.
Since it is Texas, we've added ceiling fans to the front and back porches to provide a breeze. Out back, we are adding just a bit more patio to accommodate a future grill and we've added a natural gas outlet in the patio to handle a future grill without the need for propane tanks or charcoal. That will be nice.
Ceiling fans are also standard in the family room, master and study and we've blocked and wired all other rooms so we can add fans later. I'll add those later.
Everything else is pretty much standard fare. The lighting fixtures are standard builder grade and we'll upgrade those as we go along. The house will be solar ready should be decide to add panels later. The house is built with 2x6" walls and high levels of insulation and other energy efficiency techniques and equipment (air exchanger, 16 SEER air-conditioner, etc...) such that we are guaranteed no more than $48/mo for heating and cooling for 3 years. Adding solar would be gravy and could result in a $0 or negative energy bill - we'll wait on that.
All in all, not a bad experience and we managed to keep the extras to less than 10% of the house price including the mandatory adder for the longer garage.
We'll post photos as the house moves along so you (and we) can see how it all looks.
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