I decided to start this page by putting our options at the top for a quick read. The options go into more detail later on.
- Morning Room
- Gourmet Kitchen w/Gourmet Island and Double Wall Oven
- All Stainless Steen Appliances (Except for Refridgerator - RH does not provide refrigerators as an option.
- Granite Counter Tops
- Level 2 Cabinets w/hardware
- Finished Basement
- 5 Foot Shower in Master Bath
- Level 3 carpet in the first floor with 8# padding
- Pre-wired TV in family room over fireplace
- Surround sound in the basement
- Gas Fireplace with slate
- Ceiling fans for the:
- Family Room
- Morning Room
- All 4 Bedrooms
Lot #78
Here is our lot, #78. It is the first house on our named street going into a culdesac. Being on the culdesac would have been great. But premium prices started at about $3400, up to $7000 to land in the culdesac. The spot will be great for our son to ride is bike around the culdesac and traffic will not be bad at all. Our given lot also has an applicable credit for elevation selection. The lot is nice, fairly even. It butts up to an older, established neighborhood. I'm going to look up parcels and see where the back property line ends. I'm not a big tree fan. But the big tree in the back will provide some shading and coverage in the spring, summer, and fall months. Plus, it's not in the front where I need to worry about roots.
First, if you're new to Ryan Homes, elevation means the exterior dressing or look of the house. It has nothing to do with the sitting height of the house. Must be builders terminology. Our lot gave us $2000 credit towards the Elevation selection. We had originally wanted the full bath in the basement, but after talking to a home-owner who added the bath and realized it wasn't used and talking this over with my wife, we decided to eliminate the bath. Eliminating the full bath in the basement while choosing Elevation K with credit was essentially a wash. So budget was safe!
Our color selection is very close to the model home you see below. The one difference is shutter color. We are going with a dark burgundy color to add some color splash to the outside.
The Kitchen & Morning Room
This is most important part of the house. The kitchen is where people and events come together. Part of the reason we are building is because of the kitchen and what we could get with Ryan Homes. And on top of that, this makes for a happy wife.
Ryan Homes takes some great photos of their model homes. This attracts potential buyers who want many of those same amenities. One such amenity is the morning room and that is exactly what we ordered.
Now the kitchen. My wife has always wanted a double wall oven. The picture below is how our kitchen will look except for colors (I'll go over that later). This is considered the gourmet kitchen with double oven. One drawback to keep in mind is that the pantry disappears with this option. However, you do get the attractive cabinetry around the fridge and oven. This is all about function. We like to entertain and will put this kitchen and morning room to very good use.
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| Gourmet Kitche with Double Wall Oven |
We are going with the dark mocha cabinets with a lighter colored entry level granite counter tops that have grays and caramel colors. This is to contrast the dark cabinets. The picture below gives an idea of what the color options will look like.
Flooring
I'm a huge fan of flooring, especially hardwood or elegant hand scraped engineered flooring. However, flooring is not cheap. Keep that in mind when thinking of your options, including the model home you decide to build. Even level one vinyl wood planking, which is very nice, is not cheap. We decided that function over form takes priority. This why we upgraded the kitchen, opted for the morning and are finishing the basement. Floors are to walk on. They look great, but they don't entertain. Floors don't clean themselves, cook Thanksgiving dinner, or host Christmas parties or family gatherings. For the kitchen and morning rooms, we opted for a nice linoleum that compliments the kitchen and wall color. We did upgrade the carpet to level 3. This comes with stain protection and I believe a 10 year wear guarantee. We also opted for the 8-pound padding that is level 2. There is a level-3 "memory foam" that comes with a stain protection from pet accidents, but it's the same rating of 8 pounds. It doesn't feel any better under the feet. This carpet is going all throughout the first floor. The second floor and basement we opted for level one carpet and padding to save costs and stay easy on the budget. The picture below gives an overall picture of our selected options.
Master Bath
The master bath provided in the Venice model I would not call luxurious in any way. The master bedroom and the walk-in closet are extremely roomy and provide versatility in function and appearance. My wife and I agree, shrinking the master bedroom a bit, to increase the square footage in the bathroom would make the Venice floorplan perfect for its entry price point. Perhaps this is on purpose, to possibly lure buyers into the Milan. My wife makes a very good point about the master bath, "how much time do we spend in there"? And it's true, we don't spend a lot of time. My concern about the master bath is that the throne is right next to the vanity. We have a decent master bath now, and the throne has its own throne room, which depending on how much havoc the Mexican food is creating in the nether region, a separate little room would be nice and could be easily done given the alloted square footage for the entire master suite.
Enough with the side rant on this. There are a few options available for the master bath. We went with the tiled five foot shower. From what I understand, this removes the tub, but gives you a very large shower with glass doors and tile.
Guardian
Guardian is who installs cable, phone, network cabling, pre-wired TV, surround, and security.
We opted for pre-wired TV in the family room. Surround in the basement and signed up for the security system.
In conclusion, we are very happy with our options and upgrades.
- Morning Room
- Gourmet Kitchen w/Gourmet Island and Double Wall Oven
- Granite Counter Tops
- Level 2 Cabinets w/hardware
- Finished Basement
- Level 3 carpet in the first floor with 8# padding
- Pre-wired TV in family room over fireplace
- Surround sound in the basement
- Gas Fireplace with slate
