Creating a section on the blog for our new home is something I’ve had on my mind for months now. And while building our dream home has been incredibly exciting, there have also been moments where I’ve felt exhausted and overwhelmed…so many decisions and details all while trying to learn the ins and outs of materials and design so I don’t feel like I “miss” anything. It’s been a lot! And because of that, it hasn’t always been easy to share the full behind-the-scenes in real time! I had to pull back a little on updates until I got all my ducks in a row hahaha. But this feels like the right place to change that. ◡̈  

My plan is to share everything I can… sources, materials, design decisions, what I’m loving, what I’d do differently, and the honest reality of what it actually takes to build a custom home. The stuff that took me hours to find on the internet, I want it to be right here for you.

So if you’re researching custom home builds, new build design tips, or just love following along with a home build from the very beginning… this is your place! Also, I will be sharing more videos and walkthroughs on my Instagram page, so make sure to follow along there too!

My goal is to share updates here on a bi-weekly basis, so I can keep you in the loop in a way that doesn’t expire after 24 hours. Shawn and I are looking at things multiple times a week. There is so much happening and so much to share!

The Vision

If I had to describe this home in one sentence it would be… a soft, cozy, French inspired home that somewhat *feels* like it’s always been there. I say somewhat because realistically…it is a new build. Think European cottage, neutral and warm, elevated but lived in. Every single decision I’ve made has been filtered through that lens and I keep a mood board that my graphic design team helped me put together that acts as my compass whenever I’m tempted to go off course lol. The overall style is European cottage meets French country… if that’s your aesthetic you are going to love what we have planned.

Some of the details I’m most excited about…our plumbing plans are my favorite. We have this beautiful French Gold finish from Kohler that we plan to use in a few areas as well as farmhouse sinks! And everything has so much thought and intention behind it, cannot wait to share that with you. Also so so excited about our exterior, we’ve spent a LOT of time on this and I truly believe it’s going to be stunning! There is a big mix of materials and I think it will add so much charm to our home. Another one would be what we have planned for cabinetry but that is still in the works..I think about the cabinets every week and cannot wait to get our drawings!! 

The Floor Plan

So much of how this house was designed came from how we live so it’s very special to us. We started with that question… how do we live, and how do we want to live… and the floor plan grew from there.

We host quite a bit, not like mega hosts but we do have people over often so we wanted a semi-open flow between the kitchen & dining. The rest is closed up. There are rooms!! This is different than our current house. When we renovated we opened everything up. And it is nice! But I am craving the closeness and cozy element of a closed up space. We work from home so we considered the flow of that as well as the size of our office is big enough for 2 people to comfortably work. We’re crammed in our office in our current home and there just isn’t enough space for Shawn & I to work in there at the same time. We also wanted a coffee bar (you know how much we love our coffee lol), and that eventually turned into what we’re calling the bistro…a space with 14 foot ceilings that connects into the pantry. Like a little coffee shop! It’s one of my favorite parts of the whole plan honestly. We also have arched openings, cased openings in certain spots, and we really thought through the details like trim profiles and custom door panel configurations because those are the things that give a new build real character.

We’re planning to homeschool our children, so we built around that as well. There’s a dedicated playroom that will also serve as a classroom. We were really intentional about the flow of the home and how it would function day-to-day for our family, not just for entertaining. I always ask Shawn to imagine himself walking through the space and tell me what it looks like and how it flows. I do it myself, too. Such a good exercise! 

One thing that feels really special to us… when we originally designed this house back in 2023, we had 3 dogs, Loki & Penny were still with us. Because Loki & Odin didn’t do well together, we literally laid out sections of the floor plan around them so they could each exist comfortably in the home and Penny could go throughout the house (she liked to play with Loki & Odin, Odin & Loki were enemies lol). I also believe that intentionality gave us the coziest floor plan. That thought is still in the bones of this house, which is just such a nice memory to have because obviously we are leaving that “piece” in this house especially with the memorial garden being here. But we’re also planning to some how incorporate a part of the garden at the Willow House. I really want to bring our arbor with us. It was such a fun project and it just feels right to carry it forward.

Where We Are Right Now

We wrapped up our work with our architect in 2025 and selected our builder in Dec 2025, now things are moving fast! We’ve had our cabinet meeting and have another exterior meeting coming up soon. We are supposed to be breaking ground in just a couple of weeks, which still feels surreal to say.

In the meantime, I am knee-deep in the details… quite literally swimming in tile, LOL. I’ve ordered so many tile samples and color swatches, & we’ve been finalizing layouts. Since the house is fully custom, I can do a lot on my end, which I genuinely love. I also want to mention… You don’t have to get to this level of involvement with a custom builder! They will work with as much or as little as you want. I just have a very clear vision and I want to source a lot ourselves. That’s just how I’m wired hahaha.

One thing worth knowing if you’re ever in a similar situation… if you bring your own product outside of a builder’s suppliers, it can void warranty in some cases. We are fully aware of that and comfortable with it, but just something to keep in mind!

The builder quoted us nine months start to finish. Whether it’s nine months or fifteen, I’ll be here documenting every step of it. ◡̈  

So excited to take you along in this project. It’s going to be a blast!! Head to the next post where I dive into a full custom home build Q&A answering your most frequently asked questions! 𖤐