I restrained myself quite well I think!!

On Thursday we went to the new home builders to pick out the finishes on the new home.  I should mention I know I haven't shown you plans, photo's etc of the new house; I am waiting until we have firmed up on it.

Our appointment was for three hours we were finished in under two hours.  We have been there and done that twice before so now know how this process all works.  As most of their standard items are really nice we had very few upgrades.  We also stuck to pretty neutral colours, as we can jazz things up with accessories; things that can be replaced at very little cost.

Below is the colour of the kitchen cabinets; we have chosen a slightly different door profile.  The granite is for the kitchen and directly underneath of it is the floor tiles for the kitchen, breakfast area, powder room and entrance hallway.  Plus the ensuite bathroom, with matching wall tiles for the shower and around the tub in the ensuite bathroom.  To the right is the sample of the hardwood floor which is going on the main floor and the stairs to the basement.  The two bedrooms will be carpeted in a beige colour.

 The light was terrible in the showroom, but this is the exact same kitchen and handles we have chosen.  Also those are the exact same appliances we are getting as well.

Here is a list of upgraded things we are having to pay for:

Pots and Pan drawers in kitchen: $400
Hinged corner cupboard door: $400
Matching panel for breakfast bar (matches kitchen, instead of drywall) $1085
Jetted Tub: $1100
Vac Pan for central vac in kitchen: $145
Upgraded linoleum in basement bathroom: $175
Extra socket in bedroom: $110
3 x electrical boxes behind all bathroom lights @ $50 each = $150

We are getting a quote on tiling the ceiling in the ensuite shower.  Quotes also for granite counter tops on the vanities in the powder room and ensuite bathroom.  Also we may pay $350 for a rough in for the water softener.

So I think overall the total may come closer to $7,000 rather than the $5,000 I had budgeted.  However I am very happy with my choices of upgrades and here is why.

Pots and Pans drawer in kitchen, if you already have one you know why you would never do without them, they are great.  A hinged corner door gives you more access to a corner cupboard.  Matching panel for the breakfast bar, just finishes it off and makes it more custom looking.  Jetted tub, well that's a personal preference and I love it.

We will get a central vac at some point and the vac pan in the kitchen is great, had one in the last new house and used it.   It's also a heck of a lot easier to install when they are putting in the kitchen rather than later on.  In the bathroom in the basement for the builder to put in a ceramic tile floor it would have cost us close to $1000 which is ridiculous.  I do not like linoleum flooring; and the builders standard was not to my liking, so we went up one level and found one I could live with and at $175 it was a heck of a lot cheaper than the tile.  Down the road we can upgrade that bathroom if we so desire.

Dh is an electrician so he has a hissy fit at what builders charge for electrical upgrades, so we only get what is absolutely necessary.  The extra socket in the bedroom is high up the wall so we can install the tv on a bracket, we are getting the tv cable outlet at the same height.  The three electrical boxes behind the vanity lights in the bathroom are an extra as they don't normally put the boxes in.  So if we change the lights down the road this is an easier way of doing them.  By the way the boxes cost less than $3 each and will take the electricians all of a couple of minutes to install them.

A tiled ceiling in the shower is an extra but it's worth while and easier to do with the rest of the tiling.  The vanities all come with laminate counter tops, but I would prefer to have the granite ones as I know if I don't do it now it will never get done.

We are up in the air about the water softener as when asked we were told the water is semi-hard whatever that means.  When we were looking at resale houses in the same subdivision, some people had water softeners some people didn't.  We are heading to the GTA Home Show at the International Centre tomorrow to look into them, as I don't know enough about them to make an educated decision.

We have a water softener and UV light here, but we are on well water and it is as hard as heck the water.  If anyone is an expert with water softener's please educate me.  So we are not sure if we should get the rough-in for the water softener or not at this point.  Obviously we will buy our own water softener and install it ourselves if we go down that path.

So there you are another job more or less finished!!