DECORATING our home. We are slowly bringing in some new pieces here and there. Of course, we continue to be very mindful of which items are added -as not to overfill the space.
Angela had the opportunity to work with a company called Mapiful. They create art pieces based off of map coordinates. We were able to choose our towns’ coordinates and have them made into a map. Craig created a beautiful frame to display it in, and the entire piece currently resides on the fireplace mantle.
CLEANING up the yard. The main efforts of this summer involve landscaping. We are figuring out which areas we want to be seeded with grass, where we want flowers/plants, and even the best location for our very first garden. It has been a fun process, but also quite exhausting!
We ordered a truckload full of black dirt, which we have been moving around to spots around the yard that need a little fill. The boys have been big helpers in this endeavor.
The neighbor’s cat has been helping keep outdoor pests at bay, and is continually catching mice and even an occasional baby bunny – which we discourage.
SPENDING quality time for Father’s Day. Each year Craig takes on the task of trying to carry all of the kids at one time. As each child has been added to the family, and certainly as they have grown, this challenge has become more difficult.
He had success again this year, but we are thinking next year our oldest son might need to help lighten the load.
The boys had a lot of fun playing a friendly game of two hand touch football on Father’s Day as well. Maybe that will become a new tradition?
TRAVELING for the one trip we have planned this entire summer – Kicking Camp. {D} had the opportunity to attend a camp in Minneapolis, among about 25 other boys ages 13-18. The girls stayed at grandpa and grandma’s J’s house, while {L} and {I} came along to watch the camp.
Going into the eighth grade, {D} was one of the youngest at the camp. He absolutely rose to the occasion, learning some new techniques and tips, and ultimately earning an invitation to the National Showcase that will take place in Texas in December!
He was only one of three boys invited from the camp and is over the moon excited for the opportunity! We are so proud of his drive and determination and know it will bring him far in the future.
This is just a glimpse at what our family has been up to. If you’d like a closer look, be sure to check out our weekly ‘mini vlogs’ on our family YouTube channel ARROW HILL FAMILY. Be well everyone!
Today I am going to share with you the long awaited custom new house build tour. This post is a long time in the making, and I thank you all for being so patient with me over the past months as we finished our build! Eventually, I will take you on a tour of the exterior spaces; But for now, let’s step inside and look at the interior.
OUR CUSTOM NEW HOUSE BUILD
Time has literally flown over the past months. I think the last time I wrote an actual blog post (other than the quick Around Here variety) was in October! So sorry about that!
I was doing so well keeping you all updated at the beginning of our custom new house build. That is, until my husband and I started doing OUR portion of the work. At that point, we needed to focus all of our extra attention on getting the job done so that we could pass the inspections, and that the appraisal would go well.
We poured a lot of sweat equity into our new house, and I will definitely go back and share all those details with you. For now though, feel free to compare what you are about to see with the most recent building update I have provided: The Framed House Tour | Building Update No 6. It will help you appreciate how far we have come!
PHOTOS OF OUR CUSTOM NEW HOUSE BUILD
Let me take you on a tour via photos. Please keep in mind that we mostly just moved in furnishings and decor that we had from our previous space. We had a huge garage sale before we moved, and only brought into this house the things we love. That means many of the rooms are rather bare. It’s actually okay with us, since we prefer a more clean, minimalist vibe. But, they definitely aren’t polished and complete. That will come with time.
LIVING/DINING
You may remember the last minute design change I squeezed in WHILE the foundation was being poured. My goodness I gave my husband a scare with that one! Ultimately though, we are so pleased with the way the revision opens up the entire main floor in a beautiful way.
One of the top priorities on our new house wish list was natural light. This space does not disappoint in that regard. The four large east facing windows bring in plenty of morning and early afternoon light, which is filtered by trees in the summer. The three southern facing windows are protected from direct rays by the porch. They too let in a ton of glorious daylight.
Both the dining table and the fireplace mantle are made of white oak, harvested from our property. A local miller was able to transport about six large tree trunks to his property. There he cut them into boards and kiln dried them.
He even constructed a table top for us, which we weren’t expecting! We love being able to have that bit of history here with us every day.
During the day, this is my absolute favorite space to be in! It is so cheerful and bright! In fact, we rarely need to turn the lights on in most of the rooms in this house until the evening hours. The red oak floors, which we installed, are beautiful and should hold up to our crazy crew’s wear and tear.
We absolutely love our dining room light fixture. Sources for this fixture, as well as the other light fixtures in our home can be found HERE.
KITCHEN
Just off of the open living/dining room is the kitchen. The opening is flanked by restored antique cabinets. We may eventually add the columns above, but we ran out of time and actually like the flow between the two spaces as it is right now.
You will remember from previous posts that we purchased all of our cabinetry through Cliq Studios. I owe you all an update on how the delivery and installation process went. But, until then, I can say that we are more than satisfied with the outcome.
We got our vintage Kohler sink installed, and it fits in perfectly! Choosing appliances was another adventure in and of itself. I fretted about whether or not I should make the switch to a gas range or not. I’m happy I took the chance, because I absolutely love using our KitchenAid appliances!
This room has a bit of unfinished business, in that we still need to install a tile backsplash. We also have plans for some big chunky open shelves on either side of the window. All in due time.
HALL/MUDROOM
One of the ways we were able to utilize every square inch of our floor plan was to make every single space useable. The small hall space that separates the more public areas of the main floor from the private spaces is a great example. First, we used a set of vintage french doors from the family farmhouse. It is another piece of history that we love having in our new home.
We were able to squeeze just a few square feet in the hall space for our upright piano. When someone is practicing, the french doors can be closed as a sound buffer.
To the left of the hall is the mudroom. This is a hardworking room, but I also wanted it to be beautiful. It features a luxury vinyl plank flooring from Coretec. This means I don’t need to get all worked up if the kids track in dirt from outside. The washer and dryer are conveniently located as well. And the large bank of cabinets and counter space functions perfectly as a drop zone and charging station.
The far door in this room leads out to our attached garage. I’m convinced that this is not a luxury in Minnesota, it’s a necessity. We have never had an attached garage before this though, and we feel pretty spoiled!
The other door leads into the powder room/half bath, which gets a lot of action from the kids. It features the restored 1930s cast iron sink, which is holding up beautifully.
MASTER BEDROOM
To the right of the hall is the master bedroom. It is really not a large space at all, but it fits all our needs. Funny enough, since these photos (and video) were taken we changed the orientation of the bed. We decided we liked the layout better with the head of the bed on the east wall, in front of the tall window.
Although it is almost standard in custom new house build to have a large walk in closet, we opted instead for two smaller closets.
The left closet, plus the dresser, holds all of the clothes my husband and I own. And the right closet is used to store the vacuum, broom, and other misc. items.
MASTER BATH
Our master bathroom is also not very large. It is, however, very functional. We put in quite a lot of effort in this room. My husband actually built the vanity, based on a design I had drawn up. It features one drawer, which holds all of our toiletries. The shelf below is large enough to hold two baskets, one for dirty clothes and the other for clothes that we plan to wear again.
My husband and I worked together to tile the shower space and floor. This was our first time doing any sort of tile work, and we are very happy with how it turned out!
UPSTAIRS LANDING
The upstairs of our house is very simple. There is a small landing area with a bathroom, and one bedroom on either side.
There is a small nook area in the landing, where we have a shelf that holds children’s books. I try to rotate them out often, for interest.
UPSTAIRS BATHROOM
This bathroom is mainly used by the kids in the morning and evening hours. We love the round mirror and the subway tile tub surround.
The sliding barn door is another fun feature of the bathroom!
GIRL’S BEDROOM
Our two daughters share this bedroom. There is still quite a bit of decorating that needs to happen in their room, but it will be a really fun space!
They currently sleep in their small toddler beds; However, my husband has been working on restoring two matching cast iron bed frames, which I hope to share with you all soon!
BOY’S BEDROOM
The boy’s bedroom is also a work in progress. Their room is unique in that each boy has their own private sleeping nook. Granted, right now their mattresses are on the floor, but we have plans for custom platform beds.
One unique feature in their space is the barnwood accent walls at each of their headboards. This wood is from the summer kitchen that was taken down from my in-laws house.
Each boy has a small reading light that they can use in the evening hours without disturbing the sleep of one another.
FAMILY ROOM
Because of how our site slopes, it made sense for our house to have a full sized, walk out basement. The largest room in the basement is the family room space. It is also the room where we currently spend the bulk of our time.
We love the large sectional couch we were able to purchase with proceeds from the garage sale we had before our move.
MAN LAND/ OFFICE
The other room in the basement that gets plenty of use is my husband’s office, aka ‘man land’. Because we were able to utilize the space under the stairs, this room ended up being larger than we expected.
He has his desk, bookshelf, and a couch in the room. It was great to have this dedicated office space during the quarantine, when he was working from home and the kids were schooling from home!
OTHER LOWER LEVEL SPACES
Between the family room and the office is another fun space, which we are calling the Rec Room. It is technically a fourth bedroom in the house, but it is unlikely we will use it as such. To make it qualify as bedroom status, it has a small closet as well as large sliding barn doors.
Since this photo was taken, we have added a nice ping pong table to the room. It is the variety that can be folded up easily and stored along a wall. This allows the space to be fully open and available for a variety of activities, such as lifting weights, home workouts, or even as a guest room.
The lower level of the house also features a small 3/4 bathroom. Both the mirror and the vanity were found for ridiculously low prices at our local Habitat ReStore.
As you can see, we opted for more bathrooms that were smaller in size rather than fewer large bathrooms. It is great to have one on each level of the house, that is, unless it is cleaning day!
The mechanical room is the final space of the house. Everything is efficiently laid out and easily accessed. There is even a little space where we can build shelves for extra supply storage if needed.
CUSTOM NEW HOUSE BUILD PLANS
If you would like a visual reference of how each of these rooms are laid out, please reference the Minimalist Cottage Virtual Tour. It has the most up to date floor plan of our home, although a few minor changes were made during construction.
CUSTOM NEW HOUSE BUILD VIDEO TOUR
Come with me on a walk-through tour of our brand new house!
CUSTOM NEW HOUSE BUILD
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If you enjoy new house builds, check out my friend’s homes that are under construction!
CONTINUING our time together. Though Coronavirus restrictions have lifted somewhat, there is still a lot in our state that is cancelled or closed. Mother’s Day was spent at home, but Craig and the kids made it really special.
Memorial Day was spent at home as well. We visited the cemetary as a family, and also started tackling the last big space that needed attention- the garage. Craig built some really sturdy storage shelves, and Angela got busy with cleaning and organizing.
FINISHING up home school. Two full months of distance learning have passed. It is definitely not the way we wanted to end the school year, but we survived.
The kids were able to go into the school on the last day to clean up their desks and say goodbye to their teachers.
We are excited to start up summer in full swing! We are anticipating a lot of family time around the fire!
BUYING a few fun items to get us through this different summer.
The boys have been riding around in super small hand me down bikes for quite some time. One of the promises we made to them a while ago was that we would buy them new bikes once we closed on our mortgage.
They are SO proud of their new bikes, and have been taking care of them so well. The extra independence they have gained from these new bikes has been fun to see. They are having a lot of fun riding around together and exploring new places.
Craig also got one of the big items from his wish list – a ping pong table. He has always wanted one, but we have never had the space. It is great to have a dedicated room where it can sit out, but it is also easy enough to fold it up and roll it off to the side. This table will be perfect for rainy days, and also in the winter months when we spend more time indoors.
LANDSCAPING at the house. Now that the building form is finished, we are turning our attention toward the property. We are cutting trails through the woods, grading the ground, throwing out grass seed and even planting flowers.
Angela is also testing out her skills as a vegetable gardener. This is actually the first time she has ever tried to plant vegetables, and truly anything could happen. Our property includes a lot of wildlife – deer, squirrels, rabbits, etc. We set up a fishing line fence for protection and hope it does the job of keeping the critters out!
The tomato cages were also a DIY project for Angela. The kids found some straight sticks from around the property and she put them together. They look really pretty and will also hopefully be functional!
This is just a glimpse at what our family has been up to. If you’d like a closer look, be sure to check out our weekly ‘mini vlogs’ on our family YouTube channel ARROW HILL FAMILY. Be well everyone!
The neighbor’s cat has been helping keep outdoor pests at bay, and is continually catching mice and even an occasional baby bunny – which we discourage.
