• Home
  • Recipes
    • Search All Recipes
    • Recipe Round-Ups
  • Lifestyle
    • Outside the Kitchen
    • Kitchen Tips & Gifts
  • Weekly Meal Plans
  • More
    • About
    • Work With Me!
    • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Framed Cooks

My life. One recipe at a time.

Want every new recipe delivered right to your email inbox?

Sign Me Up!
carolina bound » Carolina Bound: Picking Everything Out!

Carolina Bound: Picking Everything Out!

By Kate Morgan Jackson

Our Carolina Bound adventure continues as we pick everything out for our dream house, from the tile to the paint to the lights to the bathtub, and so much more!

Kate's soaking tub

When last I posted about our North Carolina dream house project, we had just finished putting the last touches on our house plans (and by us I mean the architects).  However, the actual framing cannot start until you have picked out everything on the insides, from cabinets to bathtubs.

This is for a couple of reasons.  First up, things like cabinets and lighting fixtures can impact how the house is built.  If you haven’t picked things out by the time the lumber drops (this is a real term that I like saying.  Lumber drops!) then that lumber sits around until you make up your mind.

And along those same lines, if you have picked everything out ahead of time, your wonderful team can go ahead and order those things now so that the builders aren’t waiting around for them when the time comes.

All of which meant that a couple times over the past 6 weeks or so, the Southern husband and I have trundled down from New Jersey to North Carolina to start picking things out.

RDU

Together with Kendra, our wonderful house designer and Diane, our fearless realtor, we started with the outside of the house.  Stone, paint, roof, gutters, and I’m 100% sure I’m forgetting some other things.

We picked out a pretty grey/blue stone that is going around the bottom exterior of the house.

exterior selections

And we picked those dark colored shingles for the roof.  Oh, and we picked out warm colored wooden garage doors!

And the single most important decision of that day: the outside paint colors.  We needed two, since there are both shakes and siding.

exterior colors

We all knew we wanted a pretty grey/blue look for the outside of the house, and Kendra found us the perfect combo of colors.  Whew!

Once the outside of the house was settled, our selections fell into a few buckets.  Tile (a big one!), cabinets, lighting, interior paint and hardware (think cabinet handles).

kitchen colors

The kitchen was the easiest part, tile and cabinet and plumbing and granite-wise, because we had been through a kitchen renovation once already, and because we fell hard (again) for a piece of granite that was outside our budget.

Ivory cabinets, rough stone backsplash and White Delicata granite (all shown above) here we come!

And speaking of tile, I was super impressed by how that whole meeting ran.  The tile folks had our plans up on a giant screen so that we could look at the tile areas while we were picking out the tile for each room.

tile meeting

That’s Kendra, our fabulous designer, on the left.  She always comes with house plans and suitcases of granite samples and she was amazing as she guided us around the 4,384,592 tile choices we made that day.

Including the kitchens, wine bars, laundry room and all the bathrooms.  Here are the master bath selections…

master bath tile

…and I have to admit I was very bossy about My Thoughts, so much so that I gave the Southern husband free rein over the second bathroom in the little house.  And so we are getting this…

bathroom pebble tile

…those round rocks on the left are going to be the shower floor, and now I think he is a decorating genius.

Next up was lighting.  As in, every single lighting fixture in the house.  Inside and outside.  And all the ceiling fans, because North Carolina = ceiling fans.

I think out of everything we picked out, my favorite is this number that is going to be in the main house foyer…

foyer light

We are going for an Elegant Farmhouse Vibe, and I don’t know about you but this light just radiates Elegant Farmhouse to me.

AND THEN THERE WAS THE PAINT.  For some reason, paint terrifies me.  It feels like such a commitment to pick a paint color.  We settled on a bright white for the ceilings, a soft white for the trim, a soothing light grey, a gentle beige and a contrasting taupe for the walls, and then we needed one more accent color.

At this point my sweet son-in-law took the wheel and found this gorgeous blue grey color that was the perfect bridge between the outside and the inside colors.

paint swatches

I love him.

As you can tell, I did my due diligence in the plumbing showroom (THAT BATHTUB!), including asking them to turn on the various shower head options which they can do because there is a special room that has all the shower heads hooked up.

We also picked out all the hardware, the porch stones, the front door, all the cabinets and I’m sure I am missing something because right now it is a happy blur of memories.

It feels so right to be writing about this right before Thanksgiving because I’m so grateful that Kendra, Diane and our friends from Southern Studio (more on them in the next post) were there to guide us through this.  This house is going to be a dream house because of so many helping hands!

So with that, Happy Thanksgiving to you too, and I’ll be back soon with my regular recipe posts!

 

 

 

94 shares
  • Facebook94
  • Twitter
  • Yummly
Kate Morgan Jackson

Hi there!  I’m Kate, and I’m a recipe writer, food photographer and devoted bacon lover.  I started Framed Cooks in 2009, and my mission is to create and share family-friendly recipes that make cooking both easy and fun…yes, I said FUN!  My kitchen is my happy place, and I want yours to be that place too.  And if you make this recipe, I would love you to tag @FramedCooks on Instagram so I can see the deliciousness!as seen in logos

Know someone who would love this recipe?
Click here to email them the link!

Published on November 26, 2019

Good for: Southern Husband's Favorites

Last Post:
Leftover Pie Milkshakes
Next Post:
Chai Spiced Brownies

I'D LOVE IT IF YOU WOULD RATE THIS RECIPE
(AND COMMENTS ARE WONDERFUL TOO!) Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comments

Want a photo beside your name? Go to Gravatar.com, sign up for a free account, and upload a photo. It's super easy!

  1. Martha in KS says

    November 26, 2019 at 12:18 pm

    Oh, that bathtub & chandelier- gorgeous! I like every one of your choices – especially the ivory cabinets (I don’t understand the stark white ones most people choose). I bet you’re having fun with this process. Can’t wait to see the finished home.

    Reply
    • Kate Morgan Jackson says

      November 27, 2019 at 8:56 am

      We are having a blast! As you can probably tell from my picture in the bathtub. :) Happy Thanksgiving, Martha!

      Reply
  2. Maura Cooper says

    November 27, 2019 at 9:15 am

    Gorgeous! As I like to say, simple but elegant. None of you will get tired if any of these soothing colors and contrasting textures. And you will be adding pops of color with art work and accessories. Can’t wait for the finished home and, if I’m*very* good and patient, perhaps an invitation to visit some day when you want a kindred foodie only a couple of hours away. I can dream, smile. Happy Thanksgiving to you and all your loved ones, Kate.

    Reply
    • Kate Morgan Jackson says

      November 27, 2019 at 9:19 am

      Maura! You will definitely have to come visit! :) In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, too! :)

      Reply
  3. Ellen Brooks says

    November 27, 2019 at 10:04 am

    Love your choices! Thanks for sharing with us. Your home is going to be stunning- and that tub!!! We are looking at houses in the town our daughter moved to with her northern husband. Looks like it will be Rockford IL or southern Wisconsin. None of the houses I’ve seen have such a great tub!! Happy Thanksgiving and best wishes with the house project!!

    Reply
    • Kate Morgan Jackson says

      November 27, 2019 at 11:04 am

      HI Ellen! Isn’t it so exciting to be moving close to our sweet daughters? Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, too! :)

      Reply
  4. Theresa M Murphy says

    December 2, 2019 at 6:58 pm

    Wow! You have been very busy! Love all your choices! The Southern Husband did smashingly with his selections! This is going to be one gorgeous abode! Wondering if the Southern Daughter is hiding something behind that stone wall? Like a “bump” of some kind, maybe? :)

    Reply
    • Kate Morgan Jackson says

      December 2, 2019 at 8:08 pm

      Ha! Not yet, but something to look forward to once we get down there! :)

      Reply

Hi, I’m Kate! I’m a recipe writer, food photographer and devoted bacon lover. I’m so glad you’re here!

If you want to know more….

STILL HUNGRY? CHECK OUT MY LATEST RECIPE VIDEOS!

These recipes are trending up! Come see what the excitement is about!

  • Pastina with Egg and Cheese, Otherwise Known As Comfort Food
  • Fresh Mint Tea
  • Julia Child's Filet Of Sole
  • Grandpa's Coca-Cola Ribs
  • Ricotta Scrambled Eggs

These recipes are trending up! Come see what the excitement is about!

  • Pastina with Egg and Cheese, Otherwise Known As Comfort Food
  • Fresh Mint Tea
  • Julia Child's Filet Of Sole
  • Grandpa's Coca-Cola Ribs
  • Ricotta Scrambled Eggs

Want every new recipe delivered right to your email inbox?

  • Home
  • Starters
  • Breakfast
  • Lunch
  • Dinner
  • Dessert
  • Contact
Terms of Use • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 Framed Cooks
All photographs © FramedCooks and may not be used for any purpose without written permission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.