House Update!!

Hi friends!! Happy Wednesday!!

Hope you're having a great week!! We have been having such a fun time on our spring break...we went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum yesterday and had such an amazing time! 

A lot of progress has been made on our house- so I thought I would share some house updates today!

So- on Monday, Aaron Face timed with our realtor and one of the contractors who is overseeing the building of our home, to do a walk through of where all the outlets will be put inside our house!! The roof has been put on and they are putting up dry wall this week!

Here are the latest pictures of the house. We opted to NOT have a porch built off the back of the house- and instead- just had an extra large concrete slab poured. Aaron will build an enclosed porch himself...we chose to do it this way because the porch that "comes with the house" is TINY. Our family of 7 wouldn't even fit on it. We actually got a credit for having them pour a larger concrete slab and Aaron will be able to build the exact porch we want for much cheaper than the builder! We have big plans for our backyard....it will take us a few years to get it just the way we want it- but it is so fun to be planning it all out and making plans for everything we want to do!

Ok- so up until now- I have had absolutely NO problems with making decisions about paint colors, cabinet style, what stain I want my wood floors to be, etc. Aaron and I are really decisive AND we have had MANY years to think about exactly what we want our new home to look like. 

Insert having to make lighting choices. 

UM. Yeah. I have no idea what I want!!!

We anticipated we wouldn't love any of the standard lighting choices our builder offers- and we were exactly right. So- now we are in the process of finding out how much we can be credited if we choose to not get any lighting installed and we buy all of our own fixtures. Or- do we just get the standard fixtures- and little by little replace each room's fixture with something we love?!?

Here is a screen shot of what our dining room looks like. It will not be this paint color- but I wanted you to see the detail on the ceiling. I honestly can't remember what color I chose for this room (HA!) - but I think it is a very subtle, light blue with aqua undertones. Anyway- here is one of the standard chandeliers we could choose. I am not in love with it. AT ALL. Also- we will have oil rubbed bronze fixtures throughout the house- so the brushed nickel on this chandelier won't match.

Here is one idea for the dining room....Thoughts??

And here is another idea.... They are very similar- but this one has more of a horizontal orientation. 

  I am looking for something different, yet classic. Something simple- but slightly unexpected. I also don't want to get something too rustic/farmhouse-ish because I feel like our dining room is very classic and just a little on the more formal side (which I love!).

Next up- lighting over our island. AAAAAHHH. There are so many options for pendant lighting that is meant to go over kitchen tables and islands- and while I LIKE a lot of them- I have barely found anything I LOVE for our home.

We are considering this fixture for over the island...we would get two of them and they would be centered over the island. I like that they are simple and they would match our oil rubbed bronze fixtures. I also like the slight roundness of the glass around the light bulbs. It has a slight industrial look to it...but I think because it is not bulky it still looks very classic. 

What are your thoughts???

(I would show you an example of what our island will look like- but I don't have a picture because we upgraded our island and it is being custom built- so I can't pull a standard building picture off the internet!)

I am pretty sure we are going to put a ceiling fan in the eating area of our kitchen where our big kitchen table will be. My husband and the kids are very hot natured and we are thinking a fan would be the best option to keep everyone comfortable while we eat our meals together.  With that being said...I really like the look of this fixture and think it would go really nicely with the pendant lighting I showed you above! Or what do you think about putting a fixture like this over our island??

This fixture is almost identical to the one above...it just has more lights. Not sure which one I like better?!?

 Okay- enough talk about lighting...it kind of stresses me out. HA!

We have decided to go with faux wood blinds throughout the house for the time being. Aaron will order them and install them himself. We plan to eventually have plantation blinds on all the windows on the first floor of the house...but that will have to wait a couple of years! Plantations blinds are PRICEY and I want to wait until my kiddos are just a little bit older and are totally past the destructor phase (HA!) before we invest in them!

Here are the blinds we are going to get- super simple- but I think the wider slats give them a really nice look! And much easier to wipe clean! ;)

 When we initially move into our new house, we are going to use an area rug we already have. I want to see exactly how big the living room is with all of our furniture in it and then decide on how big of an area rug I want. So while- I am not in the market RIGHT NOW to be buying a new rug- it hasn't kept me pursuing Wayfair's website and looking at all of the gorgeous area rugs they have!  I found this rug and am in LOVE with it!! They are saying it is "gray/beige" which I think would work perfectly with our living room furniture. 

 Here's an actual picture of it in someone's living room (this picture was attached to a review someone left about the rug) and I think it looks soooo good!!! The size we need is just under $200 (with free shipping) which I think is an incredible deal!! Now- I just need Wayfair to keep it at that price and in stock in the size I need until I am ready to buy it in a few months! ;)

We have set our official moving date for June 18- so we have just a little over 2 more months until we are in our new home!!!

We are SO darn excited!!! :)

Okay- you MUST help me with lighting choices. If you have any ideas that you think I might like- send them my way!!!

Hope you have the BEST day!