{Series Part 1} How to Build a House: Buying Land, Finding a Builder and Architect

This is part 1 of a series I'm calling How to Build a House. This post has been 7 years in the making. Years of planning. Years of saving. Years of meetings and payments and excitement (and my God... the Pinning!). 7 years ago my husband and I started the process of our forever home.  Of course, depending on where you live, the process may vary slightly. This is what we did. Just a regular couple in the burbs/country (we're kind of a mix of the two) in Florida building a house from scratch. No model home to look at, no planned community... we just bought some dirt and started. Ready to come along? This is How to Build a House.

We began our process with a realtor. Our realtor helped us find the land for our house. Honestly, I didn't think we needed a realtor. Anyone with an internet connection can search Realtor.com and find land, right? And we did that for a little while but weren't having luck. Everything was either out of our price range or not in the area we wanted. Our realtor found properties that we did not know were for sale. After looking at maybe 5 lots, we put an offer in on one. This goes just like the process of buying a house. We negotiated and got the price down a little bit.

 Our lot.

Just like when buying a house, you might have rules in your contract about the house having to pass an inspection before you really agree to buy it. Same goes for land. I live in Florida. It's very swampy and wet here and "wetlands" are protected. As are some local endangered species. So in other words, if the land was considered "wetlands" or had some special turtles on it... we may not have been able to build anything. We would have owned some dirt and trees that could only ever be dirt and trees. Not good.

To make sure our land was buildable, we went to our local county office and filled out some paperwork to have a "wetlands study" done. Basically a man from the county came out, walked around, and gave us a paper that said yep, you can knock these trees down and you won't be killing any turtles. Go to your local county office and see if your area has anything special going on that would prevent you from building on the land you purchase. Protect yourself.

After that, the bank that was giving us the loan for the land, sent out someone to do a survey of the property... we were buying 1 acre. They needed that for their records to know exactly what we wanted to buy. After all of that, it was time for the closing (we got a copy of the survey in the closing documents). Same process as buying a house. All of this happened while we still owned the house we lived in. The land payment was essentially an expensive car payment.... or at least that's how I looked at it. Everything was moving along.

Then baby #1 came along and the housing market crashed, in Florida especially. Guess what, we could not sell our house. We would have lost way too much money. We were stuck. This is why we had to wait 7 years! We waited out the market and continued to pay for our property every month until we could sell our house. We paid as much as we could towards it every month. A couple of things happened in that time. Baby #2 came along and we managed to pay off the land. Yay us!

Those 7 years were at times painful. We'd joke that we were going go visit our trees some days. That the house was just a pipe dream and all we were ever going to have were some trees and dirt. It seemed like forever.... kind of like this blog post. Go ahead, take a pee break, get a snack... I'll wait.

Better?  Okay, good. Let's keep going.

So finally, last summer, we were able to sell our house. We did and moved into a rental close to our land. This seemed most logical to us. Close to the build and free of a mortgage. All set... but yes, we'd have to move twice.

Last pic of our old house as we left. *sniffle, sniffle*

Now lucky us, my parents are good friends with a builder/general contractor. He built their house in the 90's. He will be building our house.  Ask around, network, use Angie's List. Get a recommendations and shop around to find a reputable builder you trust. We took him out to the property, explained what we were expecting, and paid him a small deposit for his services and to show we were serious. He basically said, yep, sounds like something I can help you with and found us a company to clear the lot of the brush and trees. We paid for that out of pocket since we did not have the building loan yet. (that's a whole other post!) Why didn't we wait? Because in Florida, it rains a lot in the summer which is the soonest we would have had the loan. Trying to clear the lot in mud would have taken longer and therefore, cost more. We cleared in winter to do it as cheaply as we could. Something we would not have known if our builder hadn't told us.

The kids exploring mid clearing.

This day was an uneasy feeling. Really, I wanted to puke when we pulled up this day. Like there was no going back... it looked pretty awful. I had to keep telling myself "it's going to get worse before it gets better".

Timber truck on site taking the cut trees to be used elsewhere.

The builder also found us an architect. Someone he worked with several times before. I had also worked for an architect right out of college so I emailed them too. Basically, I shopped around. Again, Angie's List if you don't have any contacts. We ended up going with the architect the builder recommended... he was cheaper and just as experienced.

Another thing to note is architects charge per square foot. That's total square footage including any garage space and porch space. Not just the inside living area. (Not sure about basements, we don't have those in Florida) So if your plan is to have a 2000 sq ft house + 500 sq ft of porch + 500 sq ft of garage... you'll be paying the architect for 3000 sq ft of space. This cost, most likely, will also come out of pocket since you will need the completed plan to submit to the bank to apply for your building loan.

So did you make it to the end?! It's quite the process and definitely requires the "marathoner" mindset. In the past year I've flipped between really excited, to really nervous, to really overwhelmed, to excited again. At the moment I'm excited to be on this journey. I hope this post (and series) helps someone out there unsure about the process. I'll be your guinea pig... it's cool. Next post will be all about the plans!

 This is our completely cleared lot. We left as many trees as we could in the back and on the sides.

And this is what it looks like as of this week.... much better.

How to get more life out of kids clothes {Tutorial}

I don't know about you, but every season it surprises me how much my kids have grown. The first cold snap of each year, my kids are the ones in the high-waters because "those jeans were huge last year... surely they still fit". Nope. Same goes for spring. Dresses that were perfect last year are flashing the princess undies at each twirl this year. So I decided to do something about it. I turned this too-short dress into a skirt that might even make it through next year (I said might). This is one way to get more life out of kids clothes... and it's super easy.

One more look at the before. Getting too short. Shorts are hanging out there.

Supplies:

• Old dress
• 1" elastic
• Sewing machine

Step 1
Hack off the top of your dress.

 

Step 2

Turn the dress you just hacked into a skirt inside out. Fold over the top a little wider than your elastic. I used 1" elastic and held it around my kid's waist to figure out how long.

Step 3

Start near the back or side (where ever there is already a seam... just not in the front) and sew around your skirt about 1/4" from the edge of the folded down part. Stop when you get about 3" from where you started.

Step 4

Stick a safety pin through one side of your elastic and shove it through the casing you just made.

Keep shoving until you get your safety pin back out through the other hole.

Step 5
Sew the two ends of elastic together. I like to sew 2 lines. This does not have to be neat. I don't even clip the threads.

Step 6
Stretch out your skirt so the elastic goes back inside the casing and sew up the 3" hole you left.

That's it! I had this baby done in less than 30 minutes. Head to the lake... don't forget the mermaids/barbies!

Anthropologie Plate Art Knockoff Tutorial

In March I competed in Creating with the Stars over at East Coast Creative. For week 2 of the contest my challenge was to come up with a "knockoff" and it turned out to be my most successful week while spending the least amount of money... oh yeah! If you want to know how I DIY'd this Anthroplogie Plate Art, read on.

I tried to recreate Lost Arcadia By Molly Hatch is sold by Anthropologie for $7,500! Since that's about $7,450 over my budget, it had to be done on the cheap. Here's what you do.

Supplies

• 30 plates - I got mine at Dollar Tree for a buck! (you might want to buy a couple extras just incase... trust me)
• Something to hang the plates with - I used 30 medium Command Strips. You could use actual plate hangers but they were too expensive for me (around $3 each). I've also seen some people hot glue some sort of loop on the back to hang plates. Any method will do!
• A Sharpie - I only used one
• A projector - My husband was lucky enough to borrow one from work that hooked up to the computer, but I think you can rent/borrow them from libraries too. Also, there are lots of tutorials around the net on how to make a projector if you don't have access to one.

Step 1

Buy some plates! I don't think I need to explain shopping but I have this picture I took at Dollar Tree while buying them so I thought I'd share :)

Step 2

Stick Command Strips to all of your plates just inside the rim on the back and label your plates. A1, A2, A3... B1, B2, B3... etc. This way, when they come down, you'll know how to put them back up.

Step 3

Make a level line on your wall to align the first row of plates. I taped a scrap board to my wall to act as a ledge. I stuck the center plate up first and then stuck the next ones right beside almost touching.

Step 4

Continue sticking your plates. I put the center plate up first for each row and then worked my way out from there. Push hard. I just eyeballed to get it in the center of the plate below. Keep going until all of your plates are up.

Step 5

Take the plates down! I repeat. Take the plates down! (this is why you need to label them). The Command Strips clearly say to stick your item, then rip it off the wall leaving only the Command Strip on the wall to cure before hanging your piece permanently. I failed to do this, (my bad) and had a plate crash down like a giant game of Plinko... taking the plates below with it. I might also add that this happened at 2am. My husband thought we were being invaded. It was not a fun evening... not at all. Let's have a moment of silence for the 2 plates lost in the chaos.

Step 6

After your strips cure and you stick the plates back up (this time it worked... they've been up over a week... no casualties), you're ready to trace. I chose to do a botanical print I found via this blog, Thrifty Decor Chick. It's from the NYC Digital Gallery and you can read Sarah's post about it here. Set up the projector so the image is fairly centered and go to town. The tracing part only took maybe an hour.

After I had it all traced, I went back over some parts to make them darker. 

That's it, you're done! I think these would look really nice in color too but for the knockoff week, I wanted to stay as close to the inspiration as possible.

(PS... that dresser is from Goodwill! Who gives stuff like that away!?)

And did you notice how my wall is beige in some pics and blue in others? Yep, midway through I decided white plates on beige walls wasn't looking that great. So I hit up Home Depot and got a gallon of "oops paint" for $5! And then proceeded to  paint a square around the Command Strips that were already on the wall.  Yeahhh... landlord, if you're seeing this... don't worry! It will be beige again in no time! : |

The Container Store

Have you ever been to The Container Store? I hadn't until this past Thursday when they invited me, and several other Central Florida bloggers, to the brand new Orlando location (their 60th store). We got to eat lunch, poke around, and take pictures of everything before the store opened. Seriously, if you need some color inspiration, head over. As of this weekend, they are open for business here in Central Florida.

I think what I liked even more than their stuff, was their philosophy on running a business. Take care of your employees first and your employees will take care of their customers. YES! 100% true! Maybe that's why they're continuously on Fortune Magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work For. I hope all of my past employers are listening. 

Elfa is their popular closet system. I can see why, it's the stuff a closet of your dreams is made of. They not only had sample closets set up for you to see, but home office spaces, craft spaces, garage spaces, gift wrapping spaces, etc... I really love how they list the amount of space what your looking at takes up. So smart!

Too bad they weren't open for business yet, I would have snagged these garbage cans for the kiddos immediately. I guess I know where I'm going on my lunch break this week. :)

And I love these tiny file drawer systems. My husband needs this now. If I could only show you the stacks of papers I'm currently typing around. Well, I could, but I won't. It's slightly embarrassing. I'd love to just shove everything in those drawers.

And that's it! There's me looking very uncomfortable posing for a picture in The Container Store (wearing shoes my family lovingly refers to as "The Big Bird" shoes). If you've got a storage problem, I'm telling you they have a solution. Go check them out.

Disclaimer: I was not compensated to write this post. I attended a media event at The Container Store and received a few free products. Just my opinions!

Royal Design Studio Stencil Giveaway!

Big news people. BIG. NEWS. I'm giving away free stuff! Did you see my stenciled curtains from Monday? I craft-tastic-ed them (it's a word, trust me) with a stencil from Royal Design Studio. And now, they are letting me give one away! Wanna see the goods? Check out some of my favorites.

Gone are the days of country bumpkin apples stenciled around your kitchen, remember those? I love the texture the Large Nova Trellis stencil gives this bedroom. Very modern, elegant, and calming in that color pallet and way cheaper than fancy pants wallpaper.

Oh man, I want this. This is the Lisboa Tile Wall stencil. How cool would it be to accent a piece of furniture by just stenciling a section of wall behind it? Think about this one in bright colors too. I need to pin this sucker so I don't forget for the new house. Something like this would be fabulous in our soon-to-be office.

Speaking of color, what about the Cherry Blossom stencil on sunny yellow to make a laundry room a little more fun to be in. I could also see the cherry blossoms in a little girl's room or nursery... so sweet.

Okay, last one. If you're not ready to take on a whole wall yet, try a boarder stencil. This is the Granada Boarder stencil and it would be fabulous on a chalkboard wall or back splash. Love the light on dark. And, this would be a super quick project.

Did you like what you see?! Go check out Royal Design Studio and look around. They have so many more options and lots of photos and instructions to help you out. Then, once you find what you like come back and let me know which one, and what your idea is. I'd love to hear them. Enter with the Rafflecopter widget below by following the steps (you can earn several entries). One winner will be randomly selected on Monday and receive one stencil of their choosing from Royal Design Studio valued up to $50 (free shipping too). Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway