Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Our Options & Upgrades

The process of choosing upgrades for the house can be really stressful.  Do not feel bad about choosing stuff and then changing or reconfiguring.  It is what the SR is there for and this is a big investment so you want to get it right.  Since we had experience with this process I think we took the SR by surprise!

My big gripe about this process is that every single upgrade possibility isn't listed. There is a list but it doesn't include everything you could change.  I had to constantly ask the SR what can I add in this room, what about moulding, are there upgrades to the stairs, etc.  We felt this is information she should have been telling us instead of the otherway around.

Here are the upgrades & options we chose.

Olsen Model Elevation L.  It has stone, shake, & siding.  We couldn't get the colors we wanted for our home because Ryan Homes thought this part of Ohio was not "ready" for the new colors.  This was a real disapointment because we are READY for the new colors!  We ended up choosing Pebble Creek Siding, Sandy Tan Shake, White Trim, Bucks County Ledgestone Stone, Brown Shudders, Outerspace Door.  Cottage style front door & garage doors came standard.




We upgraded to whole house Oil Rubbed Bronze hardware & chose level 3 molding package which gives you larger baseboards, larger door casings, crown molding, chair rail, etc.  We upgraded the stair balisters to iron.

Basement 
  • Unfinished (just couldn't fit it in the budget)
  • 3 piece bathroom rough in
First Floor
  • Added the morning room
  • 4ft extension on study
  • recessed lighting in the Family room
  • Partial Stone Fireplace.  We originally had a full stone fireplace but it was feeling a bit too rustic for my taste.  Then I discovered they offer a partial stone...so pretty.


  • level 4 appliance package

  • Level 2 cabinets Rushmore with a Hazlenut Glaze


  • Level 2 Granite New Venetian Gold
  • Goose neck faucet

  • Gas cooktop (electric is standard)
  • Ceiling Fan in Family Room
  • Light in Living Room
  • Light in Study
  • Extra outlet in Study
  • Added an outlet in the Pantry
  • Under cabinet lighting
  • Cabinet Moulding
Second Floor
  • Added Bonus Room
  • Upgraded Master Bathroom
  • Ceiling Fans in all the bedrooms & bonus room
  • Changed the Master shower to a Roman Shower(his & hers shower heads)
  • Jetted Tub
  • Removed the wall between the 2 master closets making 1 large closet.  We have seperate closets now (which I love) so we will see if we like this set up. 
  • Laundry sink
Garage
  • Added an outlet
  • Added an extra Hose Bib
  • Service Door (gives you a light on the side of the house too)
  • Floor Drain

We did not get the Hutch in the morning room although I really wanted it I just couldn't justify the $5,000 price tag. Plus this is something I can add later on.

We did remove one window from the family room.  They have 3 windows across the back of the house in the family room kind of spaced out and I think it looks weird.  We removed the center window so now the couch will go in between the 2 windows.

We requested for them to not install the wire shelving closet system in the kids closets.  I HATE wire shelving!  If I could remove it from the entire house I would but I just can't afford to redo every closet nor do I have the time.  I will install custom closet systems in the kids closets and then do the master closet later.

We would have liked to Jack & Jill the bathroom upstairs but would have to give up the vaulted entry way.  Since the boys will be sharing those bedrooms & bathroom we figured they didn't need walk in closets.  This was a $6,000 upgrade.

With the added upgrades the sq footage of our home is now 3,800 sq ft. not including the basement.




Choosing a Model

We purchased our first Ryan Home 3 years ago.  We were house hunting in the winter and there was Nothing to buy.  I came across the builder and during my house hunt and really liked the size of home we could get for the price.  We built a Rome and have been very happy in the home.  Due to job changes we are moving and again could not find anything to buy.  We are again building with Ryan and I'm excited because I know what to expect now!

Ryan Homes has a new model out called the Landon.  It is a beautiful model with an amazing kitchen island!  We loved this one but felt it was a bit too small for us. We have 4 kids 3 of which are boys who need extra space to be well Boys!  The Landon is missing a living room.  We felt like we needed that extra space so you had somewhere to go for a private conversation, our piano, etc.

One model we liked and had our Sales Rep price out was the Courtland.  It had the laundry room upstairs (a must), and the extra space we were looking for.  There were a few things about the Courtland model that I just couldn't get past.  The optional island is just weird.  I don't like the shape and don't feel it's very functional.  After seeing the island in the Landon, this one just didn't stack up.  The study is in the front of the home and the work I do from home isn't pretty (I have an online Hair Bow boutique and ribbon is usally everywhere :)  I didn't want it to be the first thing you see when you walk into my home.  My final issue with this model is the powder room.  It is the tiniest thing I've ever seen.  I'm not sure a larger adult could shut the door...Just sayin!  It was like Ryan Homes said "Crap, we forgot the powder room...let's just stick it here!"  With all this I took to Ryan's website to look at other models that our neighborhood wasn't offering.  Our SR said we could pretty much build anything!  That is when I discovered the Olsen.

The Olsen model is only available in Ohio (not sure why?).  It is just like the Landon but with the extra space we were looking for.  It has a living room and larger study.  It is very similar to the Rome in layout and flow.  We love it!

The Olsen is a 4 bd 3 ba with 3250 sq ft. 3 car garage
This is Elevation A included with the base price.

We chose Elevation L