While my This or That Thursday posts have been lacking, we have been doing lots of "This or That" selections every single day as we start preparing for the finishes at the Belle Cote build. Building a spec means choosing design ideas that are both fresh and timeless, unique and appealing to a wide audience. An example of this is the selection we ended up making for the laundry room floor. Originally I fell in love with this tile and really saw it in the master bathroom under

Although we designed our Argyle, Texas home and selected all the finishes, we hired another contractor to build it since we were living a ways away and could not oversee the day to day construction ourselves. We came out once or twice a month to visit. We had to trust that the project was being managed well in the interim. When we finally arrived on scene, there was still a significant amount of work to be completed. Derek put on both his architect and project managers' hats

Foam insulation was installed this week at the Belle Cote project. Sheetrock will be started next week, along with exterior masonry. Which has us thinking about the finish on this family room fireplace. The exterior masonry will include brick and Oklahoma stone, like the stone on the retaining wall (below). We'll use the Oklahoma stone on this fireplace and the covered patio living space fireplace and back wall. But the question is how to apply the stone? Full wall? Floor to

Last week I shared the poll results from our first 9 weeks of This or That Thursday. Today I'd like to share some of the decisions we have made for our Belle Cote project in Argyle. You'll be happy to know that there is a lot of overlap between what you selected and what will ultimately be installed in this home. KITCHEN: First up, the kitchen. CABINETS: Demand is still high for the white shaker cabinets. This clean look is popular in remodels and high end builds. It's a nice

It's time to start thinking about cabinetry in our Argyle, TX spec home construction. Derek likes to design the layout before meeting with the cabinet makers. Having a game plan going in helps cut loads of time in revisions off the project. So the layout will be decided. Another question entirely is the cabinet colors. White shaker is still the top downloaded style on Houzz. But there are so many beautiful ideas out there. All white (perhaps with a colored island), all colore

Every home I have ever lived in has had carpet in the bedrooms. I always assumed that was the norm. However, as I explore the world of design I find it interesting how strongly some people feel about carpet. Carpet in a bedroom provides warmth and noise absorption (especially on a second story room). It can make a bedroom feel cozier than a solid surface floor. The downside is it also can harbor dust and dirt and synthetic fibers can emit chemicals. Carpet can range from very