by Alison Moore Smith | Apr 2, 2009 | Design Your Own House, for Home
For the first many months of planning, we had determined that our new, custom home would have a real, wood-burning fireplace in the family room. We'd still use a gas fireplace for our master bedroom, but not in the main living area. Neither of us is terribly enamored...
by Alison Moore Smith | Mar 25, 2009 | Design Your Own House, for Home
Today I went to City Hall to find out how we go about submitting the plans for approval. When my ancestors came to American, they looked for some empty land, cut down some trees, and had at it. Today the process to build a home is incredibly complex. I understand...
by Alison Moore Smith | Mar 21, 2009 | Design Your Own House, for Home
Plumbing excites me. (Wait until I tell you about my toilets!) It ranks right up there with cabinets, counters, and flooring. It's a long-term, hard feature of your home. To me that means getting it perfect. When choosing kitchen and bathroom fixtures there are all...
by Alison Moore Smith | Mar 20, 2009 | Design Your Own House, for Home
I just picked up the final blueprints from the engineer. These incorporated the custom engineering done by the truss manufacturer. Finally, we are on our way. Next stop, Lindon City Hall.
by Alison Moore Smith | Dec 9, 2008 | Design Your Own House, for Home
The conventional wisdom about building a home seems to be to choose your house plans and then find a lot that fits. Even though I'm far from a building expert, I'm going to completely disagree. I say find your perfect piece of land for your custom home, then choose a...
by Alison Moore Smith | Nov 7, 2008 | Design Your Own House, for Home
When we began to build our first custom home in 2002, I was very excited. Finally the project was underway. But in many ways, we had no idea what we were getting into. Choosing paint colors was fun. Deciding on kitchen cabinets was great. But when it got down to...
