Before and After: wrapping up our build

What an amazing year! I couldn't believe how quickly it all went. I'm enjoying taking the time to reflect and share my experience of building our first home! 

September 2013 we started with this:

December 2013 demolition: Happy New Year (House)!!!

Building began in January. Here are just a few fun snapshots of the progress! (For more on the design and building process read my previous posts!) 

Okay, ready for some "afters"?!?!?

Summer 2014 move in! We moved in June, so a 6 month process. We still had to finish the yard, which we were running out of time to do. Oh yeah, did I mention our neighbors were hosting their wedding in their backyard? We had a lot of work to get done as we had ran a bobcat through part of their yard all winter!

We got the yard done...how does the saying go? With a little help from my friends? Our Neighbors held a beautiful wedding. Here are some of our other neighbors all at the wedding. It was nice to relax and get to know everyone.

We hosted 4th of July on the lake, and I celebrated my birthday. It was a nice way to have friends over for a housewarming. We also went to another wedding up in Nisswa, and so the rest of the summer was spent with lots of friends and family! 

Having a few friends over, sharing our neighbors yard! Next summer we are building a deck. 

Taking a weekend off from the house. Grand View Lodge Summer 2014 for the Houser Wedding

Happy Birthday to me! Never too old for a mermaid birthday cake...

Here's just one picture of a Spa Day we had with my nieces! I spend a lot of time with the kids when they have summer vacation! They love Auntie's new house too. 

Another one of my Summer Projects! I spend a good portion of the summer planning a fundraiser for cancer research and patient support: Kel's Krew Annual Leukemia Society Benefit, in honor of one of my dearest friends. She lost her battle to cancer 3 years ago. Together with friends and family we host a party to raise money. We donate the money as a team at the Light the Night Walk held at Target Field. This year we donated over $5,000. Our team (and team Captian Angie) was also one of 3 finalist for the Life Blood Awards this year for our continued efforts to support the LLS mission. 

We end the summer by lighting the night at Target Field to support LLS (Leukemia Lymphoma Society)

You can HELP SUPPORT THE LLS MISSION:

I have the opportunity to network and work with many realtors being in the home industry. It is always inspiring to me when I meet people with the passion to start a business and who really take pride in building their own brand. The McPherson Sister's Real Estate Team has the unique mission to donate a portion of their commision to the Leukemia Society in honor of their sister. I want to share this mission that is also near and dear to my heart. If you'd like to meet regarding buying or selling a home contact:

Jen 763-202-6420 jmcpherson@exploretwincities.com

Meg 763-221-2221 mmcpherson@exploretwincities.com

Better Homes and Gardern Real Estate Area Leaders

If you have a real estate to do list for getting into our out of your home, please contact me for a free consultation on what services Frost Fine Finishing can offer. I can work directly with the McPherson sisters or any other realtor to get your home ready! 

Thanks again for taking the time to see my before and afters. It took a while to take you all through this journey with me, but my goal was to show you a time line of what I've been up to. This was the last of 3 'year in review" posts. I have a few other things I want to write about before the end of the year...if you follow me on Pintrest you've seen my sneak peek...

Part 2: Here goes everything...

We knocked down the house. It was knocked down and scooped into a dumpster in about 3 hours! The fun part was that we got there right in time to watch the first scoop. So cool and perfect timing.

When we first were looking to build we started out by searching online. Our checklist for a dream design looked like this: no garage needed (we still had the detached garage), fits onto our lot (fairly narrow about 36 feet), low construction cost (we were looking for a design in our budget)

photos above from eplans.com

After searching the internet for lake front designs we got some more ideas. We wanted to show off the view with windows along the lake, and we wanted vaulted ceilings. 

When we first started planning we wanted a balcony off the master suite. Original plans included a second level for the master bed and bath. 

Here is part of the first design draft we received:

This plan included a walk out, which we later took out along with the second level. You'll see that more changes happened as I take you through these photos. 

After many back and forths with the designer and builder we came up with a simple two level plan. It would have a master suite roughed into the lower level that we could later finish ourselves. We had a good plan to start with. Some things we changed were window placement and vaulting the ceiling, as the cost for those changes were minimal. We made a set of windows into a sliding glass door for a future deck. I added a window above the kitchen sink, so I could look out while doing dishes. One window was moved from the center of the room to the corner for a panoramic effect.

Shown here are some of the window choices we made that I listed above. The slider and the corner window. 

It was very fun to pick and work with the design team and builder to create our home plans. We knew that we would be able to do all our finishing work. We did meet with the builder's interior designer when we went to get our doors and windows. She knew the product line and was able to quickly help us get our door hardware. At that point she also asked us about our design. We told he modern but classic. Modern in that we wanted it to look like a new home, but classic in that we weren't going to add things that would be dated quickly. We told her our color scheme and the materials we planned on using. She  offered to pull some granite samples, but I think she was most helpful with just her knowledge of inventory. It made it easy for us to coordinate all our hardware. I was very thoughtful to match things. I didn't want it to look pieced together, so staying coordinated mattered a lot. We went with contemporary squared brushed nickel pieces. Nothing too ornate, nothing that didn't go with our classcally modern theme. 

It was winter and we had moved out of the home we had been renting for 6 years. Moving out of our first home, and into a transition home, was a big project! My goal was to get rid of a lot of things we weren't going to need. Lots of hand me downs, leftovers from former roommates and just stuff collected over the years had to go. I only packed what I wanted at the new house. We stayed with family for 6 months. It was a nice transition and a way to separate the old from the new. It also allowed us to save some money up for the big move in the spring! 

Staying with family is an experience all in itself! We took time to relax and do things that we would be too busy to do come spring and summer. I took a trip to Florida and had a few staycations in town for a little get away time. 

I fell in love with the modern look of shaded light fixtures that we were able to add to our home! Also warm pops of color (orange and red look great with dark floors and cool grey walls). To see more of my design inspiration look up #frostfinefinishing on Instagram or follow me 2_and_fro

I love the Radison Blu! I wanted to go back for Valentines day. We couldn't go. I was so bummed, and kind of let the change ruin my mood about the weekend. Then this happened:

We spent a lot of time at my friend's warehouse. It was a place we could go get away and for me to get some work done. Adam did painting in the shop and I could post out in the office, watch housewives and get some computer work done. I'm crabby from the whole "we did nothing for valentines" thing, and then my friend walks in with this huge window box. "Happy Valentine's Jaclyn!" He said. "Did Adam tell you I was crabby?" I asked. He said "No I just remember you saying you loved window boxes," I started bawling. 

Adam and I had a conversation about window boxes. I like them, and because he has to paint around them he hates them. I got my window box regardless. And the thoughtfulness of the gesture was touching. 

That night we went to see all the windows that had been installed in the house. Notice anything???

Now I felt silly, for making such a big deal about one day when I had a lifetime ahead. Now every year I can just look out my windows and remember all the love that I am blessed to have. Valentines is forever a part of my home with the date stamped Feb 14 in each window.