Goodbye House, Hello Home
I’ve been waiting to write this one — the final post of our custom home building process.
Partially because the last two months have been SUCH a literal whirlwind of moving and unpacking and shopping and assembling and styling and settling in…
And partially because this journey has been SO engrained in our daily lives for so many months, that it feels odd to close this chapter in a way.
But it also feels amazing? Emotions are weird.
When I last shared, we were still pretty early in the process; I distinctly recall walking around the house, feeling in awe of this new space that didn’t feel like OURS.
I stared at the framing for reach of the rooms, trying to imagine our family ever finding our groove in this new space that was wildly different from our current home at the time.
But then we saw our house come together — feeling both dreadfully slow and wicked fast at the same time — and move in day was here before we knew it.
And that day was surreal.
Seeing all of our things getting hauled out to a moving truck (that I thought was going to be too small, but alas, all of our things fit just fine!), then seeing those same boxes and furniture get carried into the new house that, to be honest, still didn’t feel fully like ours.
In those first few days, we unpacked box after box, made endless store runs and pickups, and had our dinners as a family at the “kids table” while we waited for our family dining table to arrive.
We quickly learned about tankless water heaters and new oven smells and how to care for our new countertops (tbh, still terrified about messing up our quartz countertops, so favorite tips are welcome!).
We waited for our sectional to arrive, started hanging artwork and photos, enlisted the help of my parents to install curtains, and watched as the girls settled in so seamlessly — which was probably my biggest point of anxiety with the new house and ended up being a completely non-issue.
Now, we’ve officially been in the new house *almost* two months as of writing this. And while I think it takes a full year to experience all of the seasons and feel truly like home, we’ve certainly come a long way in making it feel like ours.
A couple people along the way have asked about any regrets we’ve had in the process…
And truly, there are very little to none.
We would work with our same builders over and over again (John Elpers and Gen 3 were the BEST from start to finish).
We would build the same home with this unique layout — because it was designed to be functional for *our* family, now and for a long, long time.
We would choose the same flooring and finishes (and if you knew me going through some of these details at the time, I was HIGHLY anxious about our flooring choice, and now I’m obsessed with it daily).
After living in this space for two months, a few of my absolute favorite features are:
The arch passthrough at our coffee bar — it gives us visibility from the kitchen to the front door and is such a pretty, welcoming design feature the minute you walk in
The primary closet attached to the laundry room — the laundry process has been so much more seamless with this layout
The basement — we included a finished partial basement that eases my mind SO much when it comes to storm season in the midwest
My office — I’ve never had an office that’s separate from the rest of the house for the sake of privacy and focus, and this space has meant everything to me
As we continue to settle in with each passing week in this new home, we’ve started envisioning the things coming up for our family here…
The display of nature behind our house as the leaves start to change while we’re cuddled up in the screened-in porch
Our first season of holidays, finding new ways to decorate and bring some extra magic to this home for the girls
Hosting friends and family and preparing their preferred choice of caffeine at the coffee bar
I’ll always believe that your home is a sacred place for you and your family, and we’re forever grateful to the team that helped bring ours to life this year.
P.S. If you have any questions about building a home or what we chose, feel free to reach out on Instagram or via email! I’m NO expert after going through the process just once, but I’m more than happy to share about our experience and some of the intentional decisions we made along the way.
