Kat - Gorgeous foyer and I love the lights!!! They are easy enough to shorten, so if you are having to get the electrician back out, have him shorten to your liking. Mine could not be shortened anymore than they are.

Our electrician had me on site for the entire day of hanging fixtures. Still, we did not get everything right. I had them adjust some just recently. The others, we either did ourselves (like crooked fixtures) or had my son-in-law do. He shortened a fixture in my kitchen and laundry just by taking off a chain link or two, and pushing the wire up into the cap/crown.

As for your door, the manufactured did not use the same color grade of wood (assume that's mahogany?) for each door. They will never look the same, but a good painter could try to darken the finish on one by using a slightly darker tint in the stain. Saying that, the different colors would drive me bonkers! Do you remember that we ended up painting the French doors to our porch because the wood was not taking the stain the same.

Unfortunately, quality of both products and workmanship has gone down hill during this pandemic. I find things every day in our home that need to be redone, or just plain done! The following 3 things I have noticed in the last few days.

Besides the dust, can anyone point out the problem here?

Look at this mess! Stain on the woodwork, and the painter just ignores. It's all the way across the lower bookcases. Since we are not allowing the painter back in the house, either my contractors handyman, or I will redo.

And then there are several places like this. Woodwork would come in broken, scraped up, split. Contractor would send some back and say most can be repaired. The painter never tried to repair anything, although in this case, looks like he put some putty on it, but never sanded. He just painted over everything!

Kat - This will not make you feel any better, but I really had to study your gate. I thought the problem was that the gate was not going to be able to be opened all the way. Either it was going to run into the brick steps opening one way, or into the gutter opening the other. LOL I did not notice the gap until you pointed it out. What I do find odd is that it appears one will walk right into some bushes once they grow a bit.

Speaking of bushes and Boxwood. Post a photo of what you mean with "line each of my garden areas and instead they just planted a row in the middle." I don't understand.

Finally, do y'all remember when I was upset about the manufactured etching on each glass pane in my front door sidelights? I still don't like them, but I do not notice them anymore. I think that once a house gets all of it's 'jeweler', we tend to notice less of the imperfections. Geesh, it took me 6 months to notice that the bottom trim on the stair landing was not completely painted (in case y'all did not figure that out.) I would not have noticed had I not peeked through the spindles to see if the light was out under the door in the room that my 9 year old grandson was staying in. That's another story, but he likes to stretch his bedtime!!! 😁

@Naomi that happened on a few things for us. They put the canned lights in kitchen and pantry in such a way that once the crown molding was on the cabinets it would be touching them. It is a wood ceiling so was a bigger deal to change, but there really was no choice.

Thanks to all for the nice words about my foyer. I measured today and the bottom is at 85" giving a 7'1" clearance, so even our 6'7" son will make it under.

It's overcast and the front doors difference didn't look very noticeable today, so I think the sunlight does impact how it looks. It still looks a bit different, but not enough to make a fuss at this point. I know they will darken over time anyways, at least that's what i'm told so who knows what will happen to them...haha

The back hall crooked light still bugged me and the electrician mixed up an exterior light so I need to stop by if he's there tomorrow and discuss a few things with him anyways. Hopefully he can look at it with me and see what he thinks. I don't know if this shows it very well.

This is the front porch lantern that's off. I just wish it was either all the way parralel to the doors or turned enough on an angle to not look like it was a mistake.

NHB - oh….all those little things would drive me bonkers. That’s the type of stuff I’d be pointing out and probably drive my PM nuts. As long as they leave the paint, I don’t mind correcting those things. But the chipped wood? Not cool.

Kat - it does look a bit less today, but the piece right under the window is more noticeable.

Is it the ceiling lantern? Because it is twisted a bit?

Kat - Those lights are all so easy to straighten. I turned almost all of my hanging lights. Grab a ladder and twist away!

My foyer lights are at 86". I'd still love for them to be 2" higher. :(

The doors do look better today. Looks like you have a lot going on around the doors. What are all the wall plaques for? Place a couple of urns with flowers or ferns on either side of the door, and the focus will be on the plants and not the door color. :)

@nhb22 it does look like the walkway is running into bushes, but it's not. The brick walkway runs along side the house and the breezeway meets it as does the driveway with no bushes obstructing it.

The backplates are something our builder does for all lights and fixtures etc so they sit flat on the siding. One is for the doorbell and the other is an electrical plug. I probably went a bit crazy with the outdoor plugs, but at Christmas I will use them all and didn't want any wires running across the front door. I will have an urn in front of the one on the left of the door. Dh thinks the light beside the door was set too low and I agree, but there's no changing that at this point. It's one of those things that until the light was there we didn't realize what it would look like.

I think once the trim around the door is painted it will look less busy, but right now that's pretty distracting.

So if you just turn the light without taking down the backplate and it stays? Will have to give it a try or should be an easy fix for the electrician then anyways.

I can see the mistake where they stained one side and painted the other, and all the other little odds and ends. I'm amazed that one went unnoticed.

The pendants are easy enough to straighten out and shorten.

Get one of these tools to open/close the chain links. It make the job quick and easy and you will look like a pro!

https://www.amazon.com/Westinghouse-7009900-Lighting-Fixture-Pliers/dp/B0087V0TDW/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3J48O12D7WRVK&keywords=chain+pliers+for+chandeliers&qid=1653241812&sprefix=chain+pliers%2Caps%2C100&sr=8-3

It's not even stained. Raw wood!

Yes, I just turned the light. You may think the light is going to break, but it doesn't. However, a nut may have to be loosened for some. My sister-in-law has lived with her dining room chandelier type lantern crooked for over a year. Every time I see it, I cringe. I have offered to turn it and she ignores me. LOL

@nhb22 I didn't take photos of the boxwood in the front, but our plan is to do something like this. They were supposed to do the borders and then we'd see how much room was left and decide if we wanted to add any additional shape through the middle. But instead they just planted a row of boxwood right down the middle of the garden space.

@Kat Your home is coming together nicely and is beautiful! As you know, I can completely empathize with you on many levels. So, I hope that I can offer some advice that will alleviate some of your stress with this part of your build:

- Door stain: I cannot remember which species you have used, but I believe that it was Sapele. If so, then since your doors have been sitting unfinished for a significant period of time, perhaps the UV has caused a bit of uneven darkening. This is normal for Sapele. Would it be possible to have them sand and re-stain the door slab that is darker? The sanding should help to reveal "fresh" wood.

- Foyer lights: These lights are VERY pretty in your entry. In regards to their height, I do not think that there is anything "wrong" with their current placement but, if you have the room, raising them a bit higher will make the ceiling feel taller. As presently positioned, they appear to be obstructing, visually, part of the door and casing, which influences one's perception of the relationship between the height of the ceiling and door. If you do have the space to raise the heights, the adjustment is simple. It is common practice for designers and decorators to specify that additional wire (approximately, 12 inches) be maintained in the ceiling for post-install adjustments. So, raising the pendants will only require the wire to be fitted in or above the electrical box.

Btw, we used backplates for all of our exterior electrical fixtures and receptacles. Once painted, they will be inconspicuous. And, as for your entry wall sconce (exterior), if located at 60 to 72 inches, they have been correctly positioned for adequate illumination (i.e., eye-height). All of my exterior sconces are at 72 inches.

@tendrac thank you and I think you hit the nail on the head. I don't mind the lights at the height they are, but they are taking away the impact of the 10' ceilings and 8' doors.

Good point abut the eye-height for illumination. I think once the trim around the door is painted things will look better all the way around.

The front door is Mahogany, but regardless I think you are right. The doors were supposed to have been stained 6 months ago, but instead were not and one has likely lightened. Even with stain I'm sure this will continue to happen. I know t it will not go over well with my contractor to ask him to sand down and restain, so think I will leave it for now and see what happens over the next few months and if necessary have somebody more specialized in staining (verses painting) come in and refinish.

@nhb22, That unpainted molding jumped right out at me! But that was with the photo zoomed in. We have had little things like that in all the houses we've built that we didn't notice, sometimes until months after moving in. There are just so many things to focus on.

The stain being slopped onto the painted woodwork is unforgiveable! That would make me steam! That should have all been masked off carefully. Sheesh.

@Kat, In your later photos, the doors look much better. I would see if you can straighten those lights on your own; that would bug me too. And the boxwood thing, well, they just misunderstood, I assume.

I think the bigger, the fancier the house, the more things they can mess up! I'm kind of relieved that our house is smaller and simpler Even though they did mess up a few things here and there, we had better quality workmanship on this house than on the previous two custom builds we've done. There are still a couple of things that make me cringe, but I am getting over it. Like @nhb22 says, once the house is dressed with furniture, lamps, things on the walls, etc., a lot of these things that jump out in an empty room will fade tremendously.

@Emily most definitely I'm sure many of the little things will not be noticable. I always remember what the door salesman said when we were making our selections, about how one day we'll just be walking through the doors and not even notice them.

I've pretty much decided I'll just let the door stain go and not mention it, but the lights I'd prefer they adjust where necessary and the boxwoods I'm hoping can be sorted out and replanted where necessary. They are the the base for our landscape plan and if they are wrong nothing will go right for us going forward, so it means dh and my son will have to move them.

Mistakes definitely happen, things will be missed etc., but I just don't think It should be aniexty inducing to ask for something we've paid for to be fixed if it's wrong or off, but sadly it is at the point that it is. I think it's normal to have expecations but that's why I check in here sometimes to see if my expectations are unrealistic.

Good grief ... reading about all these issues with the builds ... I just noticed the underside of the stool trim in the double windows behind my desk were not painted ... I hadn't noticed before because my monitor and printer block part of it 😁. The painters were very nice younger guys, but missed a lot of stuff like this. They also just painted over any imperfections in the drywall and trim without filling/sanding. You'd think they would have better vision than us "older" people who are building!

I did tell my builder that he needed to keep an eye on them, because although I was slightly picky, I am also a realist, so don't go crazy over things like this, but I told him another customer might not be so understanding.

I spent the first month of lockdowns cleaning my baseboards and grout with a toothbrush....if that tells you anything about me LOL I have done some painting in my house and I'm so slow because everything has to be perfect. If I was the contractor in my house, nothing would get finished!

@tendrac - Is that 72 to the top or bottom of your fixture. I want to measure mine and see where it fits. I like the height.

The stain being slopped onto the painted woodwork is unforgiveable! That would make me steam! That should have all been masked off carefully. Sheesh.

Emily - It was not the floor people. They were very careful in other places. They actually finished the floors before the bookcases were finished, so the floor guys did not need to tape off there. The painters failed to go back over the area with a 2nd coat of paint.

@nhb22, Ah, thanks for the clarification. Our floors were done after our interior painting, so I made a bad assumption.

@Naomi, n our first custom build (late '80s), we actually regrouted our kitchen floor tiles with gray grout after moving in, as we felt that the white grout got excessively stained/dingy during the construction process. We would not accept that today (older, wiser). That builder didn't protect the floors from dirty subcontractors' shoes! Our most recent build, they were so much more careful, thank the gods.

@Kat the light fixtures are perfect for your foyer! I also agree with tendrac about raising them a bit. From the photo's point of view they compete with the wall sconces and the door casing. It could just be all due to your photo's angle though. I also wouldn't shorten it so much that you have no chain left. The chain is what enhances the romantic aesthetic of these light fixtures!! They are gorgeous and I'm sure you got a smashing deal on them!!

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This fixture is still a hair too low but you can see it is high enough that it doesn't compete with the wall sconce.

I do think your exterior black lantern is hung at the perfect height. I wish that your electricians would have paid closer attention to how the fixtures hung. Like @nhb22 mentioned a little twist will straighten them.

Emily - I think they’re good here about having paper on the floors. But that’s another good thing to remember.

@nhb22 The 72-inches is to the center of the electrical box and the fixture's backplate. In the case of my exterior sconces, with a total height of 27 inches, the bottom is approximately 67 inches from the floor.

Here is an image of the ones on my side porch flanking a 9-foot French door:

@Kat If the height of the fixture next to your front door remains an issue into the future for you and your DH, a "simple" fix would be to replace it with an up-light or torch-style sconce.

If any of you all remember when I purchased that buffet for my craft area Im finally making progress!

And here is our front door. Our door is a tradition 6’8” We cut the transom because it wasnt in the budget but were able to enhance with some fancy trim, lanterns and hanging lantern.

@K H I agree with what you've said about the lights competing. Great job with the buffet/craft space and that peg board is awesome. Your front porch is lovely (as our your cute kids)

@tendrac I think it's just the height of the door, (as we only have standard height doors here) that is making it seem a bit low and once we are used to it, it will be fine.

@chispa I try to be a realist too, but that's kind of like moderation and diets. Everybody's ideas of what realistic is, is different...and truthfully most of it depends on the contractor's idea of realistic.

I won't care too much about wall dings or paint missed issues, because dh is a great painter and he can touch up a lot of things, although I admit the fact that our walls and doors have all been sprayed, makes for a completley different finish and harder to touch up.

Beautiful children! The door looks great. I like the trim.

I love your hutch. ;) I remember it because I grew up with one in my house. My brother and SIL took it and have now painted it navy.

Your peg board looks great, as well! I have the peg hung in my craft closet, but have yet to paint or add a frame to it. It does have a primer of white and my carpenter put a border around it. I also want to put another in the area under our stairs, that is connected to our bathroom, and use for my jewelry.

Thanks tendrac! They look a little low for my taste, but I think it may be the height of the door throwing me off. The same visual may be happening at Kat's front door.. Mine are 82-83 in the center.

Are you any closer to moving in?

@nhb22 I had to go back to the house to measure something so snapped a couple of photos. This is what I mean by just planting a single row in the garden instead of bordering out the garden by the porch

@Kat That will be a chore to move those boxwoods. I would call the landscaping company back out. That is nothing like what you wanted!

@Kat I agree; I think that it is the height of the door that affects the appearance of the lights. Just as @K H entry shows and @nhb22 states, the perception of the lights is indeed impacted by the door's dimensions in addition to one's own experience or preference. Once the casing and the backplate is painted, I think that your eyes will no longer gravitate to that spot and, as you stated, you will become use to it.

@nhb22 Yes, we are closer. . .but, sadly, not as close as I would have hoped. A lot of progress was made last week, and I think that the next couple of weeks will see us at about 95% completion (if not more). Everything is on hold until our carpenter (who has literally set up shop at our property) completes the on-site build of our cabinets because SO does not want the hardwood floors finished (and damaged) before the cabinets are complete. And, the plumbing cannot be completed, due to some bathrooms having hardwood flooring. This has been a VERY trying time. . .but, our finish carpenter has exceeded our expectations. Despite the expense of it all, we are committed to patiently waiting. . .

Here are some images of work from last week:

Range placed now that the base cabinets are complete. The doors were removed for placement.

Doors have been completed for the wall pantry. This image does not show where it is at the moment but all doors are on but are waiting for the grilles and mesh for the recessed / pocket doors.

Mudroom locker cabinet built and will be painted this week.

@tendrac I really like the wall pantry. It's such a neat idea. The range of course is gorgeous. Hopefully it won't be too much longer.

@K H I just keep looking at the landscape plan and wondering how they came up with this as what they were supposed to do.

@Kat I'm wondering...were any of the boxwoods placed correctly, like by the curved sidewalk? They look like they are all too close together for their future "root space"...so maybe the diggers started out following plotted lines, but put too many in one spot, not leaving enough for the rest of your vision...? And then just did whatever they could with leftovers.

I see this happen often with "baby" plants- spacing for current size, not future size, and then in a few years they either have to be thinned or they choke themselves.... We had three full grown boxwoods that covered 10 feet. Yours look like 10 plants per 10 feet now. Some people don't mind planting too many in one spot, then thinning out later, preferring to not wait for bushes to mature before hedge wall exists...but if not, that might explain their end result...

Either way, I'd make them redo...

Kat - I love your inspirational photo of the Boxwood designs. I just don't see that in your space. At least not that small space between sidewalk and porch. You certainly do not want to plant the Boxwood any closer to the porch unless you are willing to trim every few months to keep it small.

tendrac - You have come a long way since last showing photos of your home. Love your ideas!

K Brown in the front in my opinion they didn't get any of them right. There's a circle walkway out of view that is supposed to be formed by them and it's all been done wrong. I wanted them planted just a few inches in from the edge of the garden or walkways because we don't plan to let them grow tall so just want them to fill in a little bit in width so they'll touch and form the border. I had thought we'd use dwarf boxwoods but the landscape designer said this type can be trimmed to whatever we want and will fill in much more quckly. I understood why she chose these, because I do have dwarf in pots here and they grow very slowly, but they seem to have planted them as if they were going to grow to their full height so left a lot of room for growth.

@nhb22 The photo up above is more for the long right side elevation of our home, but we wanted to do smaller bordered individual gardens on the front. We had a professional plan made and she had that section bordered in the front with gardenias behind it. I removed the gardenias because I felt like she had too many and wanted to see the space. Even if we can't border the back of the gardens along the porch, I at least want them pulled forward to be able to plant higher plants behind, and there's plenty of room to pull them forward.

I definitly don't want a single row of boxwoods and the plan from the designer shows that, so it's frustrating. The garden with the white pipe is fairly deep and could easily be bordered. There is then a walkway and more gardens that are to be bordered. I was just showing how they set the boxwoods in a row.

See how the plants below sit tight to the sidewalk. Yes, we have to leave a little room for growth width wise so I understand planting them in a little bit, but since they will not be allowed to grow big they planted them way too far in making it impossible to plant anything behind them.

I agree that the row of straight Boxwood look very odd in those areas. I understand what you want to do, now.

Hey guys, quick question (especially for those who have already moved in). When did you install your mailbox?

Our first draw is officially complete! The bank sorted out things with the builder and it seems the only thing over budget on this first draw was the dirt work. We must have just beat the concrete price increases.

The next draw should be framing....that one will be ugly LOL

@revamp we did when we registered to get mail here. Or whenever you want before that. :)

@revamp, our hoa has a specific mailbox design and color, so I ordered it way ahead of time. I had the contractor install it before we moved in.

@Naomi. The first draw was an "omg this is real" moment for me. The 2nd one was a bit of a gut punch lol.

@KT B When I saw the request it was a bit of "YAY movement" and "OMG how over budget are we?" I guess we are now 15% of the way done and only $1700 over budget on that part.

Got a message today that they are ordering front doors. We are doing double doors and got asked which side to put lock on. My inclination was left since I'm a lefty. Hubby is right handed. I ended up going with right....I've spent my life adapting and am ambidextrous now. Figure it would be better for resale as most of the world is right handed.

@Naomi exciting to have the first draw and glad it wasn't too painful.

Just updating on my boxwood situation. Met with the contractor and landscaper and no issues getting everything sorted out, so feel very relieved.

Also saw the electrician and he said we'd go through at some point and he'd adjust heights etc. and I can blue tape where I want dimmers.

The not so great thing was contractor's now saying the 10th for C/O instead of the 3rd. Our movers come the 6th, so fingers crossed we can somehow get it done quicker, but there's so many little things that have to happen. I don't want to have to pay for storage.

Plumbers were doing their trim out, and Gas fitters were there working on fireplaces, outdoor grill etc.

The tile guys were working on the backsplash.

Painter working on touch ups. I can't complain about lack of workers. They are all showing up.

Just had a great update today that our foundation will be starting an entire week early!
My husband and I may have danced in our kitchen to celebrate!!! LOL.
#YAYforMAY

revamp - We had ours put up before moving in. It's on the house...side porch.

I could use some feedback/reassurance/brutal honesty here. During our design phase, I was never fully happy with the size our family room worked out to be. After going into two homes with similar sizes, it seemed ok and I agreed to move forward as it was holding up progress, creating some complications with the design and with pricing of everything just steadily increasing as the time was passing. It's now been nine months since we signed off on those plans and signed our contract to build this custom home and they're finally getting to work on the foundation. I've found myself looking at the plans again as we start to figure out furniture and placement and am now panicking that I made a bad decision and should've pushed for it to be a few feet longer.

For reference, the overall house is close to 3300sf. It's two story with all living quarters up-stairs. The kitchen, dining and family room are all one big area with the kitchen and family lined up. Overall, the kitchen is 13x20.5 and the family is 17.5x19.75. I really wish I would've pushed to make the family room 19-20' long instead of 17.5. It feels like we're building this big home that has great entertaining areas and now the family room is too small. The home will also have a 14x18 game room, a 12x20 loft area, a 16.75x10 balcony and 32x10 covered lanai and about 680sf of paver area around a pool.

Is my panicking legitimate? Am I overthinking this and overreacting? I obviously realize there's basically nothing I can do about this now but would at least like to know if given all those details if most everyone thinks it will be fine or thinks that I'm definitely going to regret this.

@C without looking at your floorplan it's hard to tell, as the space you have really depends on what's next to it. Our usable living room area is 14 x 16.5 and it feels big to me. But we're not trying to fit a grand piano in there either. We have a sofa, 3 chairs, 2 poufs, a coffee table and 2 side tables, and it still feels spacious to me.

I also feel like square rooms are harder to furnish than rectangular.

What YOU need all depends on what you're trying to fit in there, but it seems like a fairly large space to me.

ETA: Our house is 4400 SF as we have a basement entertainment space as well...so our house is larger than yours but our living room is smaller. At our daughter's birthday party last month it didn't feel crowded at all - and no one even sat in the living room anyway. Everyone was around the island or in the basement.

I've walked a lot of homes recently....and a lot had open kitchen/living where the living room was 18x20 and I thought it was huge. Similar to @anj_p my living room is about 14x17 and it works well for an enormous sectional, wall-length entertainment center, coffee table, and lots of room for dog beds. My home is 2235 on a single level.

That said, I wish I had the $$ to bump mine about 2-3 feet longer to get more space between the island and the couch, but I think we'll eventually remedy this with seating that isn't so big (sectionals are a space suck).

PM just called...WHOA! Things are getting real. He said they have the rafters framed (they had just started on Monday) and expects all framing to be done this week. Windows are due to arrive early next week.

He wants to meet in 2 weeks for the cabinet walk through and will also deal with electrical stuff then too. They're doing cabinets a bit earlier as they are slower right now.

My cabinets will apparently include 2 stacks of drawers in the kitchen (6 drawers), 1 stack in the main bathroom, and 2 stacks in the master. I need to get organized with inspo pics and tentative layouts! I am SUPER excited, because this means getting a better idea of what the pantry layout will be.

@anj_p @Naomi thank you both. Curious, how many feet do you currently have between the back of your couch and the island counter edge? Is it a main walkway?

Ours is kind of a main walkway as it goes to the deck. We have 5'-5" and it feels like a lot of space.

C - i think I will only get 3’ and it won’t be a walkway. But this is mostly due to the wasted footage of the sectional.

Naomi, wow your build is moving fast! Kitchen pics and layouts are fun to do. Would love to see where you land. We just placed our cabinet order last week and I’m really happy with where we ended up. I spend so much time dreaming and planning that it helps me to have a deadline when all the changes just have to stop.
DH says he never gets to attached to any of my ideas since he knows they’ll probably change. Our contractor lives in fear that I’ll want to keep making changes even after things are installed (for the record, that hasn’t happened). He’s jumped on the bandwagon though and we’re doing some designing as we go. It takes my breath away sometimes, but so far it’s working as the house continues to evolve.

Sofia - I’m a bit surprised at how quick it is too. I know cabinets are running slower, so that may be why it’s getting bumped up. But I’ll take it! It was a slow start.

I agree re deadlines. I would love to stop doom scrolling Pinterest.

@C We’re at about 7’ between the bar stools and sofa table, it is a walkway going from the front door to the deck. The family room is 20’x20’. Kitchen/dining is a little bigger. The house is just over 2500 sq ft, 3BR, 2Bath. We will finish the basement with another bed/bath and family room for a total of 4000 sq ft. We have 5 adult kids and 7 grandkids (so far😉) so I purposely planned for the larger spaces in the main living area.

@C our family room is open to our kitchen. The family room is 19x20 but honestly there is a walkway from the foyer through to the back of house that it will basically be part of, so I feel like it will really be more like 15x20. We laid out furniture with painters tape before we ordered and it’s a good size space and will be fine. We have 9 kids (3 still at home) and our 4th grandchild is due in October and so we’ll have lots of big gatherings and between it the kitchen/dining and the screened porch I’m excited for it to be a nice large open space for us to gather.