Going coastal!

Jimmy Nash Homes has some great new things going on in Patchen and in Still Meadows. We now have three different styles you can choose from when building a new home: traditional Southern, Artisan, and Coastal. Of course you can go with all of the same style, but you can also mix and match to your taste. These are custom homes, so you can choose what YOU want to put in your home. It's a great way to customize it to fit your taste in interior and exterior styles. Here are some of the selections for the Coastal style:




I think those crystal door knobs are just fantastic! This is a great way to get an "old house" look with all the amenities you want in a new home: energy efficiency, low or no maintenance, spot-on exterior and interior design. We have a new build coming out of the ground right now that will be the first Coastal style home in Still Meadows. It is the Megan, a great open plan with a first floor master. I will be posting the progress on that home as it comes along, because I think the Coastal look on that plan will be awesome.

As we head into this weekend, let us be thankful for those men and women who have served our country and have died for our freedom.I hope you have a great holiday!

Baskets, pineapples, acorns, and squares....what do all these have in common?

We had a two hour selection meeting today so we could solidify our choices so far, approve and reject some change orders,and pick the stair system and hardwood. Of course, I was excited, but Cliff, well, not so much. I heard him mention this was his last one. I take this to mean that he trusts me with my selections. That has to be it, right? He's just not into debating the different shapes of newel posts and balusters. (There's your answer!) And that's OK. I'll be glad to take on the interior choices. He will be making the selections for the deck and patio for sure, and I'm OK with that. We all have our areas of interest. So you can see our choice for the stairs below.
I really had a hard time deciding, because I love, love, love our package 1 stairs. They are what's in the Blueridge model home (if you haven't seen it yet, you need to). However, we have an open stair system and they are located very near the square columns in the dining room, so I thought they might be too bulky and "square looking." (And you wonder why Cliff didn't enjoy this discussion??)
We all ready knew what we wanted for the hardwood so that was the easy part. We decided to go with the 4' common hardwood with a provincial stain. I love the common grade because it retains all the grains and knots that give the wood a lot of character. You can actually mix the 3", 4", and 5" together for the same package level, but I wanted a cleaner look so we went with all the same size. I cannot WAIT to see what they look like on the floor. If the reclaimed barn wood appeals to you, but it's not in your budget, this is a good way to get the same "look" without the cost. I love it! Like a ninny, I forgot to take a picture of it, so I'll post it when I show you some of the new "coastal" selections tomorrow. They are PRETTY sweet...see you then!

Are you thinking about building a new home?

If you've been on the fence about building a new home, now's the time to take advantage of historically low interest rates and construction costs. Typically, if one is high, the other is low, but what we've been seeing as of late is pretty unusual in that BOTH have been low for some period of time. Combine those factors with the benefits and energy efficiency of a new home, and you've got a lot value there. As of June 1st, we will be seeing an increase in construction costs. (So if you have that contract in front of you...SIGN IT!) Of course, if you are considering building in the future and you can't get started before June 1st, you might see this as a negative. Not so! This is a good thing, folks! It means our economy is chugging back to life. It means our suppliers are feeling confident enough to pass their increases on to us. And of course, it means that Jimmy Nash Homes will continue to the best value in town. CNBC predicts that new home costs will increase 3-5% before the end of the year, with an 11% increase in 2011. Will 11% make a difference in the cost of a new home? Absolutely! So the time to build is now. And of course, give me a call if you have any questions. I'd love to help you get started on your new home!

Choosing cabinets, tile and appliances = no blog post

JP was right when he said things would start moving once they started framing the interior walls. I drove by yesterday and caught a glimpse of some 2nd floor framing as well. In the week that's gone by since my last post, we've picked cabinets for the rest of the house (I'll have to post a pic later, since I forgot to take them at the meeting), and I picked out the tile. Cliff left that up to me, so I sure hope he likes what I picked! We also had to pick out appliance size so they could order our cabinets. What a fiasco since I decided to change our original appliance choices...how do you EVER decide!! I've been up 'til all hours researching appliances. Have you ever heard of a Bluestar? They're supposed to be the mack-daddy cooking machine. I'm intrigued by them because it has a 22,000 BTU burner on which you can do true wok cooking. The Bluestar also has an 1850 degree infrared broiler. However, they do not come in a dual fuel, and since I do love to bake, albeit not that often, I'm pretty sure I want an electric oven. So, at this point I have not decided on which range to go with..or maybe I do a Bluestar cooktop and tuck an electric wall oven underneath...but then we don't get the broiler..maybe I'll just go with the Electrolux Icon...but then we don't get the Bluestar cooktop..did I mention you can get the Bluestar in 170 different colors? You can imagine the looks on the faces of Jean Ann, Emily, and Samantha when I told them I wanted a turquoise range...SEE WHAT I MEAN!!! This appliance stuff is HARD!!! I'll let you know later what we go with. For now, here's a peek at our tile...

"Movin' right along..." (Sing with me now!)

Front Porch and Bay Window


Master Bedroom
Family Room
Stairs looking from the Family Room
Cliff's Office and the Front Door

It's amazing how fast the walls go up once they start framing. Being able to walk around in defined spaces and see how the rooms lay out is so exciting. My friend Sanya and I even had the paint decks out and "arranged" furniture in each room. Ha! I know those guys thought we were nuts. Yes, I know it will probably all change once we actually get a roof on, but a girl can have fun, can't she? The kids had fun too...here they are in the basement. They collected wooden "tokens" and Gilly pretended to be Mr. Crabs. I had to find a bag so she could bring her "money" home with her. I'm not sure about the weather, so I don't know what's going on at the lot for the rest of the week, but Cliff and I have a meeting at ADI on Friday to finalize our appliance choices. Someone's going to have to talk him down when we get around all that stainless steel! I'll let you know just how THAT meeting goes. Toodle loo!

Change is good...

Well, we had our first big change today, and I think it's a good one. On the original plan, you entered into a sort of hallway from the garage with the pantry on the right leading into the hallway in front of the dining room and the mudroom/laundry room on the left. It was brought to my attention that perhaps we might prefer to enter directly into the mudroom from the garage, which is the whole purpose of having a mudroom, right? I think you could more accurately describe this space as a "drop zone" since you can leave jackets, shoes, backpacks, etc. and not have to clutter up the house with those items. The new plan enters directly into the mudroom, which in turn enlarged that space. This change allowed us to add two "lockers" (which is nice since we are a family of four) and make the pantry bigger (which was a concern of mine.) It also increased the width of the back wall of the kitchen. I'm really excited about that change, because now my cook top can be centered with the island. I like symmetry and I think that would have driven me crazy! So check out the two plans...before and after.

Here is the original:


And here's the new plan:


I liked the original because you could see the open staircase and all the way out the back of the house, but I think the new version is going to be more functional for us as a busy family. Tell me what you think!

Teachers and Kitchens: I Love them Both!

Teacher Appreciation Week

First, a shout-out to Gilly's wonderful teacher Sarah Szwilski who was nominated for a "Coolest Teacher" award. She, like many, many other teachers, works tirelessly to teach our little ones. Way to go, Senora Szwilski!!

Now, kitchen picks! As you know, the kitchen is probably THE most important room in the house. You want to make sure you get the cabinets and tile right from the start, because that's a hard change to make once they are installed. We all know that colors and trends change very quickly in today's world, so pick the most trendy accessories, paint, and fabrics you want. Those things can easily be replaced. However, you can never go wrong with classic picks for cabinetry and tile. Of course, classic means different things to different people. Some folks go with a cottage look, others a clean-lined, sleek look, and still others choose the tried-and-true traditional look.

Cliff and I choose a traditional look with a twist. We knew we wanted dark espresso-stained base cabinets and light uppers around the perimeter with an island that would be either stained or painted. However, Cliff's pick was much warmer in color than mine. Here, take a look:

My pick was much cooler with a painted gray island. It's not shown, but I would have chosen to do black and white counter tops:


So with the help of Jean Ann, the interior decorator for Jimmy Nash Homes, and Samantha of Creative Kitchen and Baths, we came up with a combination that took elements from both. The dark base cabinets are almost black, but you can still see the grain. The uppers are light cream with just a touch of glaze, and the island is the stained piece and will have a furniture look with curvy table legs:


The granite you see is similar to what we will be using for both the perimeter counter tops and the island. It will be honed to add a contrasting texture to the shiny Carrera subway tiles. To add a little "extra," we will be using this style door under the kitchen sink:


And we're using these knobs and handles (the center one) to give it a little sparkle:



Since we were able to make our selections within our budget, we are going to splurge on a carrera top on the bar that separates the kitchen from the great room. It will also be on the espresso stained base. Well, at least that's the plan. We'll find out when we get the quote back! It will look similar to this photo:

This is the door style we choose. It's also that gray color that I wanted for the island. See, even I have a hard time resisting, because I think home colors are trending towards gray right now. Because I do love it, I think I'm going to use it for the paint color.



I love how Samantha and Jean Ann were able to listen to both of our ideas, and come up with an option that we both really love. The end result exceeded my expectations, and I can't wait to see how it's going to turn out...now I'm REALLY excited!!! Since this space is so open to the rest of the house, it will really set the tone for the entire house. For us, it has the perfect mix of casual and dressy, light and dark, shiny and matte, clean lines yet still traditional...waiting is going to be very difficult!! You'll be the first to see it when that time comes. Have a great night and please remember all the folks impacted by this past weekend's flooding. They need all the prayers they can get!

YouTube - JimmyNashHomes's Channel

YouTube - JimmyNashHomes's Channel

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!! So much has happened since my last post! But first, here is the Beyond the Blueprints segment we taped about 3 weeks ago. Speaking of "oh my goodness," that's my first-ever TV experience, but I bet you could have figured that one out yourself. I think Jimmy and Cliff (my husband) are right...I have a tough time with only three minutes to talk. The most exciting news is that we have selected our cabinets, backsplash tile, and countertops for our kitchen. I will be posting those pictures tomorrow afternoon, so don't miss it. I'll show you how Cliff and I took two totally different ideas and with Jean Ann and Samantha's help, combined them into a space that we're gonna LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. AND we have floor joists! Come back tomorrow to see all the new that's going. Enjoy this beautiful day!