Building a house always seemed like a dream but not one that would ever come true.  I thought I would never be able to handle all the decisions and thought I was destined to remodel homes that would never quite be exactly what I wanted.

But one day I casually asked my husband if he thought we would ever be able to build and his reply was…YES!  Well that is all I needed to hear and I immediately hit the ground running and didn’t look back.  Or better yet, didn’t give him a chance to change his mind.

What started as a dream, turned into a reality with persistence because land in our same area of town with the right school (meaning we wanted the same elementary and middle but a different high school for our kids) was hard to come by.  I drove around day after day opening to find a lot for sale but it wasn’t long before I was discouraged.  Everywhere I called was a lot only available with a specific builder and a specific type of house.  Well, I didn’t want the typical house and I didn’t want to build something with restrictions.  So the search continued.

I called about one lot and was told that it was part of a soon-to-be-subdivision.  So I kept looking only to find dead end after dead end.  Then I noticed that the would be subdivision was still just a piece of land so I called again.  And to my surprise it was available!  Finally I found exactly what I was looking for.

I dreamed of a modern farmhouse and this lot of land was actually right beside a real farm!  Now I am no farmer.  I don’t have a green thumb and would never be able to take care of chickens, cows and more.  But living right beside a farm where someone else does all of that was perfect.  And this lot of land was still on our side of town, literally a mile from our old house.

Once the land was purchased the house plans began.  Pinterest is really a girls best friend and if I could I would literally kiss its creators.  I am extremely visual so being able to see something inspires me to create my own space.   So I started pinning everything that I liked.

I started out really loving this house in Austin, Texas that was a modern farmhouse but unfortunately the plans didn’t fit our family.  So I decided to create my own plan based on a house I had seen.  I thought about how we live, what we used and didn’t use in our first two homes and created a plan that was the perfect fit for our family.

Finding a builder who can translate my drawings (I am not architect) into actual house plans was key.  He took my ideas and sketches and created a plan to build our home.  We worked together on revisions and making sure we created the right square footage.  I originally wanted an office over the garage with a separate entrance for my clients so no one had to come into my home but that did not work out.  So compromising was definitely part of the plan.

Once the house plans were finalized, building began!  And watching the progress of something that I created being built was so much fun.  I am a do it yourself kind of gal and I am also a jack of all trades (master of none) so designing and decorating this house is a labor of love.

I wish I had documented this process with blog posts along the way but instead I am trying to back track to show the progress.  So be patient and excuse the iphone photos!  I am a photographer but never took a photo with my real camera throughout the building process!  Shame on me!  But I want to show the progress so iphone photos will have to do…at least until we get to the interior which I can take real photos of!!

Stay tuned for many blog posts to come on the different stages of our build.  I hope I can share a little advice, tips, etc along the way!!  And if you want to follow my instagram account that is all about the house, check out @scfarmhouse.

Tips for Finding the Perfect House Plans

1. Know what  you want!  I definitely think it helped that I had lived in two homes of my own (in addition to the home I grew up in which my mom was always redoing!) before trying to build a house.  Knowing what I liked and didn’t like from our old homes was very helpful in creating the perfect plan.
2. Don’t be afraid to do it yourself!  I would have loved to hire an architect but if I had that would have been less money to spend on the actual house.  I think architects are a must for anyone that doesn’t have the desire to figure it out on their own or anyone that needs help in the planning process.  They are very good at what they do.  But I had a great builder and a clear idea of what I wanted so for me I was able to do it myself.
3. Hire a great builder!  You will spend a ton (and even more!) time with this person so you must make sure you can talk to them, get your points and ideas across and work well together.  It won’t always be easy and there will definitely be stress but making sure you have someone you can work with through it all is the only way to build a house.
4. Be willing to compromise!  Unless you are a millionaire you will most likely have to make a few adjustments along the way.  Be prepared for that!  I hated giving up anything but I did have a few things I had to give up.
5. It’s Ok to make Mistakes!  As soon as we moved in there were some minor things I noticed that I did not think about before.  I may have done a few things differently but you can’t think of everything no matter how hard you try.  So do your best, plan as much as you can and let it go if there are a few mistakes along the way.

Here is our house plan and a picture of the build in progress…

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