We're Building Our Dream Home (and It Starts This Week)

This walkthrough follows the order the room was actually finished. After years of dreaming, planning, and what has felt like endless decision-making, we are officially breaking ground on our forever home this week!

I'm experiencing all the feelings at once… It is worth laying out and inspired, while also a little overwhelmed (there are SO MANY decisions still to be made) and feeling the pressure to get everything just right (100% self-imposed). But more than anything, I'm feeling incredibly grateful to have made it to this moment that Jeff and I have dreamed about for years. It is worth taking the time to bring you along on our build journey, sharing everything I learn and getting your input along the way!

Today, I'd love to introduce you to our future home, the designer behind it, and a few of the spaces I'm most looking forward to. Grab your kept drink and settle in… there's so much to share! (post includes commissionable links; for more information, see my full disclosure statement {here})

A First Look: Our New Home

Designed in a modern Tudor style, our future home reflects everything A strong choice is about timeless design but with a fresh perspective. It will have the character and craftsmanship of the traditional Tudor style, but with updated proportions, better flow, and spaces that feel livable and light-filled rather than dark and heavy.

We got realistic renderings of the house throughout the design process, which was incredibly helpful. Here's the final rendering of the front of the house (note that landscaping, lighting, and driveway details don't reflect our actual plans):

and one of the rear:

That small structure peeking out on the left side of the rendering is our future combination guest and pool house. We host a lot of out-to-town visitors (having moved frequently over the years, the household has made friendships across the country), so creating a comfortable space for guests was a priority for our forever home.

We initially thought of creating a nice guest suite upstairs, but after deciding to build a small pool house, the idea to combine the pool house and guest suite into one was born. Instead of the four bedroom home we originally planned, we ended up having three bedrooms in our main house and the fourth bedroom in the pool/guest house. It's designed in the same style as the house, so everything feels cohesive:

Frazier Home Design: Our Home Designer

Now on to a few details behind designing the house! We chose Tony Frazier of Frazier Home Design for our custom build, and there's actually a fun story behind how we connected with him. I had gone through the portfolios of several local architects who were recommended to us, but none quite captured the style of home that we had in mind. When I asked our contractor for more suggestions, he recommended I look at Frazier Home Designs, based two hours north of us in Raleigh. The name sounded familiar so I went into Instagram to look them up, soon realizing that I was already following them and they were following me. Seemed like it was meant to be!

The first thing that drew me to Tony was the beauty of his homes. They blend a timeless, traditional sophistication with a modern twist. The sweeping rooflines, banks of windows, statement staircases, and other finished features come together to create homes that feel elevated yet function beautifully for everyday living. These are just a couple of the preferred homes he's designed (photography by Michael Blevins):

I was also in awe with Tony's design process, which is different from every other home designer I looked at. He sketches live during design meetings (check it out {here}!), working through a variety of layout options until a rough concept starts to take shape. It's part design session, part conversation, and completely collaborative and different from the usual process of handing over your wish list and hoping for the best.

Once you've jointly decided on the best layout, his team translates those sketches into computer drawings and Tony sketches the front elevation he has in mind for your home. I think my jaw literally dropped the first time I saw ours – he nailed what we had in mind:

From there the design moves into full 3D development where you can not only see the exterior of your home in 3D but also do a virtual walkthrough of it. The 3D program will even show you how the sunlight will come into your home at any given time of day. Pretty nuts!

You can look at more of Tony's work and follow him on Instagram at @frazierhomedesign. While we're lucky to have him based so close to us, Tony actually designs homes throughout the country via Zoom calls.

The Spaces I'm Most Excited About

While The next step is to see every part of this home come to life, there are a few spaces that I am especially excited about (and they might not be the ones that you'd expect):

The Laundry Room

The household has always wanted a laundry room that's actually a room and not just a cramped pass-through. Our laundry room not only has ample square footage with a ton of storage space (which you know I'll love organizing the heck out of), but also a sink (which I haven't had in our last two homes) and large windows that will fill the space with natural light.

I'm still playing around with options for flooring, wallpaper, and cabinet hardware options, but this is the look that I have in mind:

Sources:Checkerboard tile flooring | Blue toile wallpaper | Farrow & Ball paint color | Farmhouse sink | Slim shaker cabinet door design (as seen on {this vanity} | Luxe gold faucet | Ball knobs | Cabinet pull | Scalloped beaded flush mount light

The Master Closet

We have a two-time history of buying homes with tiny master closets, doing an addition that included adding a generously sized closet (including the IKEA PAX closet in our last home), and then… moving again. This time I'll finally be designing a large closet in a house where we're going to stay!

It will not only have ample space for clothes and shoes, but also a window seat and a sit-down vanity similar to (but on a smaller scale than) this one in the closet of the showcase home in the Triangle Parade of Homes last year (excuse the poor quality iPhone pic):

The Garden

We added a small, simple raised bed to our current backyard two years ago (check it out in my post on raised garden beds) and I was immediately bitten by the gardening bug. The garden in our new home has an English feel with stone pebble paths, raised planting beds, olive trees, and a podocarpus hedge surrounding it.

All of our landscaping, hardscaping, and backyard design (including the design of our garden) was done by Drew Holgren (who I HIGHLY recommend if you're local!). After I told him what I was looking for, he emailed me this inspo collage for our backyard which totally nailed it:

What's Next

This is just the beginning, and The next step is to bring you along through every phase of our build (we are working with Lackey Builders for those of you who are local and want to know). From framing to finish selections and tile choices to trim details, I'll be sharing it all here and on Instagram Stories as our house goes up.

Pic from a little ground-breaking party we had on the lot with a few family & friends last week!

If there's anything you're curious about or want to see more of as we go, let me know. I'd love to make this as helpful and informative for you as I can. And if you've built a home before and have advice, lessons learned, or things you wish you had done differently, please drop them in a note. I am soaking up every bit of wisdom I can along the way!