While all of the planning, mortgaging, demo planning, building permit stuff etc., was going on, the finer details are being worked out.
We began working with Sue at Meridian in January to make decisions on things like toilet colors, faucet styles, outside sheathing and roof types/colors and so on. There were lots of things to decide on and Sue was the “Fine Tuner” of the building project. When you’re laying out your floor plan and outside styles, you don’t think a lot about the things that really make a home stand out like front door styles, shutter colors and everything else that is needed. Sue is an expert and guided us along with the many samples of items that she had on hand for us to look at. The nice part was if we were interested in buying our own sinks or whatever, we could get a credit. This flexibility made it easier on the decision side as we weren’t wed to just the products that they had as standard.
Also, knowing my role with respect to sinks and other decorative items (none), my vote was pretty much limited to an “uh huh” when asked if I liked something. I did get to pick out the siding (Using my finely honed negotiation skills, I think it went more like this – “I pick the siding and you can pick everything else.” Like I was going have any say anyways…) and I went with the Maibec white cedar shingles with the Light Gray Nantucket stain. I think with they will look great with the white trim.
Speaking of siding, we went with wood trim. The plastic trim
was available but I had read that they have had problems with it when it is
cut. Apparently it has a finish on it to prevent mold and discoloration and
cutting the board removes that finish. I don’t know if that’s true, but I didn’t
want to take any chances so wood it is.
At any rate, Sue was a huge help and has a great background
in these sort of things so we were able to pick out most of our items during
our first meeting. I think we just have the bathroom ceramic tile left to pick
out. And I won’t have any say in that anyways. Uh huh.
