It's been a little over a month since I have posted. I apologize! We are in full swing at our RV Dealership and have been super busy, which is great! I haven't found the time to post anything.
We have also been busy at the house! It's really starting to feel more like home. There are still many bare walls and I know that in time, they will be filled. We were able to take our Spring family pictures in our neighborhood which was awesome. There are still many lots that aren't built on and the tall overgrown grass made for a great backdrop.
I have used the same amazing photographer for 6 years now and I trust her completely with our family pictures. I don't take a ton of pictures anymore so I really treasure these professional shots. Her name is Carrie Yarborough, if you are near the Upstate of SC, check her out!
Just a few lots down from us, gorgeous mountain views.
In front of our front door
A few lots down from ours...
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We've been busy inside the house, my office is almost complete!
The Ikat rug is from Rugs USA
I stalked it for months because it sells out so quickly, I snagged it at 60% (may have been 70% actually) and it was back ordered for about a month and then finally arrived. I <3 it!
The frames are from The Organic Bloom
These frames are the most amazing pieces of decoration ever. I am obsessed... that is all.
The light is from West Elm
Eclipse model in black
The chairs are from Target
Clearance last year for the colors I got.
Shelf is from World Market
Clearance last year, no link.
Curtains, I made. Click here for the post.
The desk. Ohhh the Steel Case desk. This was a rusted box I found for $50 on craigslist. I had it sandblasted and painted for $100.
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General house update:
Wow, did we miss a lot during our punch out list walk through. There are so many drywall issues that we just didn't notice so those will be on the 12 month list.
Our Punch out list is still not completely finished. I had to make an appearance at the builder's office to have the owner contact me. He did contact me and promised everything to be taken care of at the next appointment and that he would make sure we were happy. He showed up for maybe 40 minutes, he was very sarcastic when we tried to discuss the issues with him, he just didn't want to hear it. He kept saying "What's in the past is in the past, and I can't do anything about it but fix it now." well, it's still not fixed and we are so disappointed. When he decided to throw out the "We have built half a million dollar homes" line; I told myself that that conversation was over because he was extremely unprofessional.
Our Punch out list is still not completely finished. I had to make an appearance at the builder's office to have the owner contact me. He did contact me and promised everything to be taken care of at the next appointment and that he would make sure we were happy. He showed up for maybe 40 minutes, he was very sarcastic when we tried to discuss the issues with him, he just didn't want to hear it. He kept saying "What's in the past is in the past, and I can't do anything about it but fix it now." well, it's still not fixed and we are so disappointed. When he decided to throw out the "We have built half a million dollar homes" line; I told myself that that conversation was over because he was extremely unprofessional.
HVAC
We WERE reimbursed $325 from the HVAC company because of the high power bills. They discovered (after cutting a 3'x3' hole in my daughters closet) that whoever installed our ducting didn't use the brackets to finish. So whenever the air came on for the first time it all fell apart. This explains the extreme heat in my daughters room and bath room and the $400 power bills. They were very apologetic and I was happy to get that resolved.
Landscaping
Our landscaping is a joke. The front yard was sodded, and it's fine. The sides and back were seeded and the contractor laid hay. Since the normal landscaper wasn't available for us back in December, our builder hired someone else who didn't know what he was doing. He laid way too much hay and laid the wrong seed. They also didn't remove the surface rocks. We have purchased a riding mower and have tried to loosen the soil and are having to reseed (for the FOURTH time). It's such a mess. Because of this, I haven't finished our paver patio, its just solid mud in the back at this point. I do have a small garden going and started to edge out for flowerbeds. I will hopefully have that done soon so the backyard looks somewhat decent.
So after having a few months to cool down about the build experience with SK I have concluded that:
I would NOT recommend SK as a builder.
I wanted to wait and really step back and look at our experience, and I wanted to compare with all the other blogs and local friends I know who are building or who have built. I didn't want to make a fast decision out of anger. SK may be ok to build a "tract home" but they do know have the skill or professionalism to build a custom home. I can say that we had a terrible experience the entire time and are still battling with issues that they don't stand up to. I do love our home and it's beautiful, but it's not the way it should have been. I'm not going to go bash their Facebook page...but you better believe that if I get asked by someone, they will get a truthful answer.
I can't wait to catch up with everyone else now, thanks for reading!