I think I scare my husband when he sees me making a spreadsheet or typing in my phone calculator because he knows I’m trying to reel us in or save some dollars. We have a huge goal to A. build our dream house and B. Pay it off asap so we can live without worry or stress about paying for our shelter. Once we have A. and B. done, it frees us up to do all of our little projects that we have planned to make our dream home one of a kind, achieve our goal of renovating a home here in Corning, or investing in our community now that we’re really planting down our roots. Remembering our goals makes it easier to decide where we can cut costs and stay in budget with our new build!
Exterior
We went with a pretty basic exterior. Our house is basically a big box and only has LP siding (although we did horizontal and vertical for some contrast). Ask Brandon, I would’ve loved to have an all brick house or some natural stone that made our new house look ancient. However, we don’t leave our house often and it’s not on the main drag. We decided to prioritize the inside of the house as much as possible. So while we’re using quality materials, we went with the standard options that were used by our builder. With this, we also went with a composite deck brand they recommend and their standard white vinyl railing even though someday I plan to have us replace it with a black rail and either glass or vertical cables.
We also aren’t including any extra landscaping besides potentially backfilling around our living room patio to avoid needing stairs/railing. Any grass, flowers, or trees will come from our own budget after construction is complete!
Bathroom basics
After much debate, we decided to go with standard toilets even though we were itching for a more expensive skirted model that’s easier to clean. At least for the cleaning aspect – we can have the kids clean the toilets if they want chore money! We also went with a basic shower tub surround in the hall bath and an Onyx shower system in the primary bath. Both will be durable, last for years, and more importantly, were cheaper than doing tile.
Lighting
You know, I think we’ll end up in budget for lighting which is very surprising for me! We decided to go with just standard flush mount lights in our office and bedrooms. I was originally planning on ceiling fans, but we’ve lived without them for a few years now, and having the air on or windows open is enough to feel cool. Also, I hate cleaning them, and they can’t be good for my dust allergy if they’re not being cleaned. And I know boob lights have been getting a lot of hate lately, but IMO not every light needs to be a “moment”, sometimes you just want them to blend into the background and let other things take the spotlight. Saving money on our main lighting allowed us to splurge on accent lighting. We’ll have nice sconces in our primary bath and entry, and also a nice vanity light in our hall bath. I plan on being happy with our lighting choices while we’re paying off the mortgage, BUT this is an area of the home that is super easy to upgrade later on. Plus, you could give your old lighting to a Habitat Restore or other donation center!
Window treatments
LOL! I don’t know why curtains are the area that I just can’t bring myself to spend money. I think it’s because if I can’t splurge and get super high quality curtains/drapes/shades that I see in these million dollar homes, then I want the cheapest option that doesn’t look like trash. We’ve actually lived without curtains for quite some time, but I know the kids’ bedrooms will need curtains for sleeping, and we’ll also want curtains in our office to reduce glare on our monitors. In our primary bathroom, we have large windows that will need cafe curtains so you don’t see anyone using the toilet.
Alright, back to how I plan to save money on this line item.. We recently tested out a pretty brass Amazon curtain rod that’s about $30. Then for curtains, hear me out, I tested out this curtain hack where you just use a flat sheet! All you have to do is cut the seam on each side of the top hem (or if like me, you don’t know how to do that, just cut a hole as close to the edge as possible) and slip it on your rail! You could also use curtain clips, but I wanted to test out this way first since it doesn’t involve spending extra money on clips. Our main windows are 5′ x 5′, so we need two twin flat sheets per window. I think total, we should be at about $50/main window for window treatments. Then for our cafe curtains, I plan to learn how to sew a hem and use either fabric by the yard or maybe thrifted fabric since less material is needed. Of course down the road, this will be a potential upgrade candidate, but for now, there are so many other things I want to spend money on than curtains!
Wall treatments
We paid a little extra for smooth walls, but otherwise we won’t have any fancy wall details. Any shiplap, molding, or wall texture will be done on a room by room basis when we have the time or money to do so. We’re also just using white paint everywhere, but that was more to save us mental energy than money since it’s only $50 per additional color.
The basement
Not finishing the basement right away is our #1 cost saver. Without this choice, we would not have been able to build our house this year. That said, finishing the basement is also our top priority once we get the house paid off. Waiting until we’re mortgage free again will allow us to splurge where we want and be really intentional about what we want down there.
I hope you enjoyed reading about what standard or cost saving options we chose for the new house! Everyone will have different things in life that they find valuable, and that’s what makes personal finance and building a home such an individual experience.
Thanks for reading!
Davien
fluted wood & marble 
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