We’re Building Our Forever Home — And I’m Questioning Everything

It’s been five years of dreaming, two properties, two years of holding onto this property, and many, many revisions of our house plans… but we’re finally building our forever home on five acres!

I have been SO excited, but also so busy researching every single decision to make sure that everything we choose for our forever home is, first, within budget; second, functional; and third, timeless.

If you know me, you know I have serious analysis paralysis. 😂 I can literally spend days researching something before I officially make a decision. I need to know what it’s made of (healthy home goals for the win), whether there’s a better option, if we’re overpaying, if we’re going to hate it a few years from now, and approximately 99 other things before I can make a final decision.

So, this is where I’m documenting it all: the things I splurged on, the places I managed to reel myself in and find something more budget-friendly (but still beautiful and timeless), the healthy-home rabbit holes, the things I thought I was 100% sure about only to realize later that they weren’t going to work, and so much more.

After five years of dreaming about this house, I’m so excited to finally watch it come to life — and to share everything I learn along the way.

First floor block is up — second floor coming next!

THE HOUSE

We’re building on 5 acres in the Sunshine State, as they say, and when I say these house plans have been through it… 😂 We have changed, tweaked and reworked them more times than I could possibly count. Enough to drive even the most patient person crazy.

From the beginning, I knew I wanted something that felt timeless and had character — not a house that you could immediately look at and know exactly what year it was built. The end result is a little European, a little farmhouse, and has just enough Victorian influence without feeling too Victorian.

In the end — and ahem… two architects later (a post for a different time 😂) — we finally arrived at everything we imagined and more.

The vision — after approximately 9,000 revisions. 😂 Don’t take every detail too literally, but you get the idea!

THE DETAILS

Once we finally had the house itself figured out, the real rabbit holes began. Every single finish has somehow turned into its own research project — roofing, windows, flooring, plumbing fixtures, appliances, countertops… apparently I am incapable of simply picking something and moving on. 😂

My goal with everything has been pretty simple: healthy where it matters, timeless enough that I won’t hate it in five years, functional for our family, and worth the money. Sometimes that means splurging, and sometimes it means realizing the expensive option absolutely is not worth it.

I’ll be sharing all of those decisions here as we build — what we chose, what we passed on, what I changed my mind about, and what was actually worth spending more on.

So here we go — five acres, one house, and probably a few hundred more decisions to obsess over.