newlyweds

Happy Memorial Weekend

Memorial Weekend is when I met Don 8 years ago!  It was literally love at first sight.  The minute I saw that good looking boy from Alabama in his aftcos and fishing visor come off the boat, it was over for me!  Don says he thought I was this sweet little country girl from Mississippi when he met me! Now he says boy was I wrong! Haha!  That day changed our lives forever, and I’m so thankful that we stuck it out through thick and thin. He’s my buddy and the love of my life, and I look forward to making this house a home with him! I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Memorial Weekend!

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

 

image

image

image

image

The interior doors, baseboards, and trim are in and they all look great!  The painters have started painting it all to match the cabinets this week.  The columns in the foyer are almost finished up and I’m completely obsessed! It totally dresses up the room!  That was a nice little surprise from our builder!  Still loving that pretty front door as well!


image

image

image

The mantel is up and it’s perfect!  We went back and forth between the classic white or rough cut wood!  We wanted to add a few rustic accents, so we love our choice! It will be stained to match the front door.


image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

All of the little details are starting to take place.  We kept it simple and did a little crown in our tray ceilings and some classic trim around the kitchen entrance.


image

image

image

The built-in cabinets turned out better than I could have imagined.  Those were one of my big wants!  We are mounting the TV above the fireplace, so I wanted to have a cabinet to store all of the wires and accessories!

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

The stacked stone fireplace was Don’s call and I have to say it turned out gorgeous!  I was pushing for brick, but I am really happy with the stone! So he got is stacked stone and TV over the fireplace, and I got my built-ins! Happy couple!


image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

This had to be one of the most exciting days since we’ve started.  I saw the truck pull in first thing on my way to work and had to stop to take a peak.  My sweet Mother-in-Law was sending me pictures all day as they installed the cabinets, because she knew I couldn’t wait to see them up!  I love, love, love them!  The shaker is so clean and classic!  It’s literally all you see on HGTV these days!  Joanna Gaines is like my idol and she uses them often!  What I would do to have her come help me finish up!  I can’t wait to see the knobs and pulls complete the look!


image

image

image

image

The big ugly dumpster is gone which makes me feel like it’s getting close, and the dirt was brought in to build up the ground.  Don has some projects he will be working on while I’m gone to Mississippi for my little sister’s graduation and to see my college roommates new baby, Sawyer! I hate I’ll miss putting in irrigation 🙂 Next week should be hopping!  Most of the light fixtures were delivered yesterday, so they will install some of those today.  The garage door and tile shower are scheduled for next week!  The AC and electric should be up and running soon, and the painters will continue to paint! We are looking forward to seeing what’s next!

 

March: Building a House 101

When you’re building a house, you are in constant worry about the choices you’re making.  Questioning will it turn out the way you thought it would.  When it’s something you have to live with for the rest of your life such as brick, that would be an everlasting mistake.  Luckily, I have been able to see the majority of our selections in person over small samples.  I didn’t realize how much a mortar color could completely change the look of the brick.  I have seen our brick (Cypress Point) with several different mortars, and the Savannah Ivory has by far been my favorite.  We picked our brick from the house in Daphne, but they didn’t have quite as much brick as we will.  Thanks to my best friend Lindsey & Joe with Acme brick, they were able to send me to a house to see the latest Cypress Point with our Savannah Ivory mortar.  I absolutely love it, and can’t wait to see the brick start going up this week!

IMG_0068 IMG_0070FullSizeRenderphoto 1 (4)

The Chimney went up last week!  It’s so much fun to be able to come by and see new things everyday.  You completely forget about a lot of things and this was one of them!

IMG_0074 IMG_0075

Last week the guys started on the exterior with the Soffits and Facias along the roof.

IMG_0085IMG_0086 IMG_0087IMG_0079

We got a visit from the Plumber! What’s great about being at this phase in construction is we have more than one sub working at a time.

imageFullSizeRenderimageIMG_0093imageIMG_0091

The 2 Guest Bath/Showers are in! The green is making a comeback! 🙂

IMG_0128IMG_0129IMG_0130   imageimageimage

I took an afternoon to look at granite to get some ideas. This is another one of those tricky decisions.  You absolutely have to see your slab in person.  Two slabs can have the same exact name, but look completely different.  These two are Santa Cecilia & Antico Bianco.  We’re looking for something creamy with some browns and earth tones.  I’d like to stay away from the golds if possible.  I can’t wait to see the final pick!

IMG_9846 IMG_9847 IMG_9848 IMG_9849

We have some exterior hardi board going up!  Love Love Love! Can’t wait to see some paint!

image image imageimage

image imageimage

Meet: CK… Construction Kitty.  He belongs to our neighbor, however he has not left our house since day 1 of construction.  He is one of our top supervisors on the job.  Maybe Judy will let us adopt him since he has made himself at home.

IMG_0092imageimage

Until next time!

Living Under The Same Roof

imageDSC02761imageimageimageDSC02762

image imageDSC02772imageimage image DSC02769DSC02771 DSC02782DSC02780DSC02777 DSC02785 DSC02791 DSC02792 DSC02793 DSC02794 DSC02796 DSC02795 DSC02799

DSC02809

DSC02808

image

DSC02807 DSC02806 DSC02804 DSC02803DSC02797 DSC02802DSC02805image imageimage

imageimage imageimage imageimage

Is this really our house? If I could grab a couple of sleeping bags & have a sleepover, I totally would.  I literally rush home after work every day to see what they have worked on.  We have the very best framers and appreciate their hard work and no fear of heights!  I can’t believe just how quick the roof has gone up, and I can’t wait to see it all come to life with our brick & shingles!

Hope you enjoy!

Building Blocks

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

The past week has been an absolute whirlwind! We have had so much progress from footings to blocks in just a few days. We are getting prepped and ready for the slab and it’s really starting to take shape!  We are so lucky to have a wonderful crew working hard through freezing weather, deer season and weekends!  That little square area would be our breakfast nook and I can’t wait to drink my coffee and look out into my beautiful backyard every morning! Until then, I’ll continue to cover each and every step in this exciting process!

Closing On My Nerves

photo (5)

If you have ever gone through the home loan process…you know!

THESE 5 ITEMS ARE NOT THE ONLY THINGS YOU WILL NEED!!!!

They should just go ahead and tell you that in the beginning, but they don’t so I am telling you now.  Get ready for calls even after everything is submitted and you think you’ve given your blood type, family history and the past 10 years of your life.  We will go a few days and think okay now we’re rolling and then the bank calls at 8 in the morning.  All kidding aside, this has to be the most stressful part of building a house. So if you are even thinking about getting a home loan, get organized and throw away nothing!  I will say having the option now to email all documents has made life for two working people extremely convenient. It should only get easier from here, because I will have no problem picking out fixtures and paint colors. So now we wait…fingers crossed with an estimated closing before Christmas! This would be the best Christmas present ever…hint hint Santa!

Family Roots

Here she is…20255 Hadley Road Foley, Alabama

Our future home

SAMSUNG

The family compound with my in-laws, aunts & uncles and cousins all only a few yards away.  Lots of babysitters & we will never be without a cup of sugar:)

10403713_10202917213313178_7873203213522571415_n

Yard work with the hubs! That’s right…this girl knows her way around a tractor.  There is nothing better than seeing how much you can conquer together!

Meet the Gatlins

image

My name is Stephanie Gatlin from Gulf Shores, Alabama. I just recently got married to my precious husband Don in June of this year. We met in the Summer of 2007 in Orange Beach where Don was living at the time. After two years of distance with me at Mississippi State and him down here, we managed to keep in touch. Two weeks after graduation day I found a job and a cute little one bedroom down in Gulf Shores. Close to six years later here we are.  Still living in that one bedroom getting ready to build the house of our dreams in Foley, Alabama. That’s our story in a nut shell. I want to share the process of a newlywed couple building a house together. Everyone says “if you can make it through building a house together, you can make it through anything.” We are looking forward to this next big adventure together, and I hope you enjoy our insights of building a home over the next six months!