Wiring and Picking of the Colors

Now that all of the initial paperwork had been signed, we just needed to wait for a phone call to set up appointments for the flooring, wiring, and to pick our colors.  We figured that there would really be no rush with these calls because we had yet to speak to our mortgage person.  Why pick out all the frills if we may not get approved, right?  Well, again you are wrong.  Why do you keep assuming?  This is not working well for you.

I just called to say...we need to set up an appointment with you to pick your flooring and discuss wiring - Stevie Wonder, 1984.

The phone calls came very quickly.  Within a few days of our signing of the papers we were already setting up appointments for the wiring and the flooring.  It appeared that Ryan Homes wants everything in place so that they can get started the second the approval arrives.  So, we looked forward to both meetings with the intention of following the Price is Right rules [lowest price without going over].  

We established our game plan.  No sales person was going to pull one over on us.  We looked at the list of options for the flooring and the packet that the Guardian representative sent forward and we knew that what little items we were going to add was not going to add much to the grand total.  We went in with our heads held high and we were not going to break.  

January 30 - First, up: Guardian.  We arrive back at the Milan model to meet with the Guardian representative, Mike.  We were prepared for a high pressure sales pitch and ready to say no to everything that was offered.  We knew we were going to pick out the "free" mundane items like the placement of the cable jacks and some particular electrical outlets.  We also knew that we were not interested in the all house vacuum system or the central speakers throughout.  Much to our surprise, much of the talk was not high pressure.  He pointed out all of the options, but definitely took no for an answer.  We did pick out some extra options:

1. Electrical outlet and pre-wiring for flat panel above the fireplace
2. Surround sound speaker pre-wire for media room in basement
3. Security system

Fair warning to all potential buyers for when this meeting happens: when the Guardian sales person speaks about the speaker system or any of the fun gadgets it is directed at the husband.  The security system pitch is only at the wife.  Mike never made eye contact with Bryan while he talked about all of the wonderful things the security system brings to the house.  It was a piece of mind to hear the little ding as a door opens.  The system could be turned on and off via cellphone.  There were motion detectors, video camera options, and all the stuff that would make you feel like you were on an episode of Big Brother.  

State of the art security on all windows and doors.

After going over everything with Mike, it was time to pick out our colors.  We bid adieu to the wiring guru and Lauren joined us to go over all of our color options.  We had some grand ideas too.  As we were sticking with the veneer siding, we wanted to avoid some of the colors that we found out about online that looked pink.  There is an Almond one that looks tan in the house lighting and pink in natural light (you know, where it would be seen at all times anyway).  We also wanted to avoid gray.  Our previous home was gray with maroon shutters.  It was cute enough, but it was time to move onto something new.  

So, we went with the plan of choosing white siding and trim with chocolate shutters and front door.  We thought we were pretty, pretty smart cookies.  Then, Lauren informs us that it does not quite work that way. Somewhere, Ryan Homes has a group of people that get together and say "what looks good on a house?  I know, what about a white house with green shutters and a maroon door."  Wait, what?  So, we could not go with our original idea.  Lauren said that there were chocolate shutters and doors, but they could not go on a white house.  What were we, crazy?  So, we needed to rethink our strategy.  In the end, we chose white siding with black shutters and a black door.  We thought it looked classy.  It may be a ton of work and many hours with a power washer, but don't judge us.  

Not our Venice, but this is white with black shutters.  Now, imagine it on our house.  That is what we did.

Next, we picked out the floor and rail stain.  We saw a darker stain in one of the homes that Mark took us to, but it was not standard.  Not standard meant, we'll pass.  So, we stayed with a cherry stain.  It was classy and let us really feel good about what our potential floors would look like.

Finally, we looked at counter top colors.  Although granite would have been nice, we figured that we could have that installed at any time and not roll that into our mortgage.  So, we stuck with the Formica counter top.  The color we chose, which seems to be quite popular, was Butter Rum.  It has some elements that will make the cabinets and the floors pop.  

Exciting, wasn't it?  Well, if this seemed like a dry walk through of the picking of colors and wiring, imagine how it felt to our children.  Those two were real troopers on this one.  They watched some movies on a portable DVD player before venturing into the backyard of the model and playing in the grass.  All was well until our 4 year old thought that mulch may be a tasty addition to his water.  Time to go!

Well, before we traveled home we decided to drop by the old homestead to see our claim.  This time, we decided to take our pictures in front of our plot.  Feel free to cast your judgement now!

Bryan looks very happy next to a sign and a huge pile of dirt.  Work clothes were a good choice for mud.

Look at that smile on that new home owner!  Angela looks so happy despite the fact that it was chilly and muddy!