Flooring that we're not so sure about

We finished up our flooring appointment a few hours ago. I'm not completely happy with the experience. I thought this would be a pretty easy meeting. I was wrong.

We had discussed our budget for flooring well in advance. The way we look at it is this: whatever upgrades we do, will be rolled into our mortgage... do we want to be stuck paying for flooring for 30 years when we'll probably only get 10 or less out of it? I don't. I know Joe doesn't either. If we ever decide to sell our house, the flooring will probably need to be replaced anyways.. we have 4 kids at home!

Our plan of attack:

• Stick with standard flooring and upgrade to laminate wood if the price is right.

Important things to keep in mind:

• Maple Spice cabinets in the kitchen
• Standard ugly-ass Oak in the bathroom (I'm going to paint these suckers). I haven't mentioned how much I despise oak yet have I? Stick around....

Other important factors:

• I don't like carpet in the main areas. Bedrooms are ok.
• We have 4 kids at home!  

Our meeting started out kind of awkward. The sales rep had a sample of our cabinets on the table. It was the wrong cabinet sample. After grabbing the right cabinet sample, she told us to grab our countertop selection. We haven't had a meeting yet to select our countertops. She told us to go ahead and choose one. REALLY? Ummm.. we haven't even discussed what we want yet and you want us to select a countertop in the next 3 minutes?

We took about 3 minutes and selected our top 3 choices based on NOTHING. Remember, we haven't even discussed what type or color of countertops we want yet. Do we want dark? Do we want light? What about something in between? What are the benefits to light or dark colors?  

We moved on to talk about what type of flooring goes in each area of the main floor. It goes a little something like this:

• Living Room - Carpet
• Great Room - Carpet
• Powder Room - Vinyl or Laminate
• Foyer - Vinyl or Laminate
• Laundry - Vinyl or Laminate
• Kitchen - Vinyl or Laminate
• Possible Morning Room - Vinyl or Laminate
• Dining - Carpet.... WAIT.. Whhhaaat? Did she just say CARPET?

She did. I told her that I was under the impression the dining room had vinyl or laminate. It doesn't. That's an upgrade. A $350 upgrade. Are you kidding me? Nice. Ok, so there's an upgrade we have no option but to pay for. Can you imagine what carpet in a dining room would look like after 4 kids finish eating? 

I'm not happy but we moved on. There are two upgrade levels for the laminate wood flooring. We decided to go with the cheaper Level F laminate wood flooring.

Pricing for the Dining, Kitchen and Foyer:

• Kitchen - $350
• Dining - $595
• Foyer - $150

We also added in the following rooms:

• Main Floor Powder Room - $100
• Laundry Room - $150

If we're able to add on the Morning Room it will cost another $200 or so to carry the laminate wood flooring out there. Not bad.

After all of that was decided, the sales rep directed us to a rack of laminate wood floor samples. There were about 7 of them. There was one dark, one light and about five or so medium. At first glance, I didn't like any of them. We took a few over to the spiced maple cabinet and laid them on the floor. Nope.. not one of them really coordinated with it.

Joe started asking about warranties for the different levels to see if the higher priced would be worth it. The sales rep wasn't very knowledgeable about the warranties. She just read from the small paper highlighting the warranties that was hanging above the samples.

We ended up pulling all of the Level F samples over to the spiced maple cabinet. I didn't really like any of them. We kept looking to the sales rep for advice but the only thing she would say is, "I like that together". We finally narrowed it down to two and moved on to the vinyl. There wasn't much to choose from so I grabbed three samples that would work for us. The vinyl will only be in the upstairs bathrooms and the basement powder room.

Ok then.. on to the carpet. We held strong and didn't upgrade. The price just wasn't worth it for us. We've read a few other blogs that say to definitely upgrade the padding. I could swear the price sheet our Ryan Homes SR gave to us said the upgraded padding is only $395. Our flooring SR said it was $1895... NOPE.. sorry.. I can live with the standard padding for a few years. Although, I am going to double check my pricing sheet again and ask our Ryan Homes SR about this. I could have mis-read the price sheet.

We pulled all of our selections together and tried different options. Here's what we ended up with... 

• Carpeting: Shaw - Baseline HGG84 - 00751 Rockport 
• Vinyl: Armstrong - Initiator 66177
• Laminate: Bruce Laminate Floors - Heritage Heights Collection - Honey Oak L0008
• Railings: Scandia Teak
• Countertop: Formica - Travertine - Matte Finish - 3526-58

After we got back home I started having second thoughts about the laminate wood flooring. I googled Bruce Laminate Floors and looked up our selection. It's OAK! How did I miss this all so important detail when we were at the flooring place? If you recall, I despise oak. I even mentioned that more than once to the sales rep. It may work for other people, and that's great, but I just don't like it.

Now I'm thinking, why did I pick oak? Why wouldn't I look for a maple. Our cabinets are maple. Did they have a maple to choose from? ........ and OHMYGoodness I didn't ask about durability or any of that stuff. Shouldn't our sales rep have brought that up when I mentioned 4 kids at home? What's going to show dirt more.. what will show it less? 

I'm feeling even more confused now. Our sales rep didn't walk us through anything or advise us on what would work best for us. Isn't that what a sales rep is for? I don't pick out flooring everyday or work with it all the time. She does. Now, I'm actually really disappointed with the meeting and I'm not confident in any of our selections.

Wouldn't it be nice if they had a little flooring packet that they gave to you a few days before your meeting? It would have small samples of all your choices. You could look at it in your home and spend more time figuring out what you want.  

I have an email to the sales rep asking when I can come in again. I'll keep you updated....

The model we selected.....

My dad always dreamed of building a log cabin when I was a little girl. We'd spent hours sitting on the couch or at the kitchen table pouring over floor plans. As we'd read them over we'd do a visual walk through that would go something like this....

Dad: Ok, here's the front door. When you walk in, you'll be in the foyer. If you walk this way (tracing the path with his finger) you'll end up in the living room.
Me: ... and if you go this way, you can go upstairs... here's where my bedroom will be (pointing to the biggest bedroom)!
Dad:  Of course that will be your bedroom (as he laughs)!

I always enjoyed that time spent with my dad. I honestly believe it was one of the top contributing factors in my decision to go to Design School. I'm sure it's no surprise that my two favorite classes were Drafting and Space Planning. I learned how to draft blueprints along with all the space planning rules. I don't use that knowledge in my work, but it has proven to be helpful in the process of having our home built. I'm sure it will help even more as the process goes on!

Would you be surprised if I told you that I've spent countless hours reading over Ryan Homes floor plans? No? Gosh, I don't think I could count the hours if I wanted to! But, it's all good... we FINALLY made a decision, and it was tough! Ryan Homes has some really great floor plans and we could picture ourselves in two different models (that fit our price range).

We went back and forth for about 3 weeks over the Florence and the Venice. There were things that I liked about both.  Here's a quick break down:

Florence

Loved

• The wider space as you walk from the Foyer into the Great Room.
• The completely open space in the Basement.
• The corner pantry.

Didn't Love

• The downstairs Laundry Room.
• No real Mud Room.
• The fact that you walk through the Laundry Room to enter the house from the Garage.
• Smaller Bedrooms.
• The Gourmet Island.

Venice

Loved

• Upstairs Laundry Room.
• An actual Laundry Room with space.
• Bigger Bedrooms.
• The Owner's Bedroom Closet.
• The Gourmet Island.

Didn't Love

• The narrower space as you walk from the Foyer into the Great Room.
• The smaller formal Living/Dining Room.
• The separated space in the Basement.

Which one did we finally decide on? We decided on the Florence!

Our decision weighed heavily on the fact that we have 4 kids at home. We had to think about how each space was going to be used. The bottom line is: We enjoy spending time together as a family.  Smaller bedrooms with an open basement were more important to us than bigger bedrooms and a separated basement. The location of the laundry room became secondary to that. I can live with the laundry room location in the Florence. Plus, I really like the open feeling when you walk in the front door of the Florence.

Here are the structural upgrades that we've decided on so far:

1. Loft closed off into a 4th Bedroom.
2. Finished Basement.
3. Powder Room in the Basement.

We're on the fence about adding on a morning room. We really want one but it may push us over where we want the total cost of the house to be. This is something we need to decide on soon. We only have about 7 more days to make structural changes!

Did you add on a morning room? What are your thoughts?

-Bobbie