Most recently, Stacey’s work was featured in Better Homes & Gardens magazine, allowing her to cross off a major bucket list item. Next up on that list is designing her dream home. Stacey and her husband Anthony are tackling the project of a lifetime. While she has a knack for decorating, Stacey admits that curating all the selections for a brand new home is a completely different ballgame. Luckily, we have a whole team of experts there to help guide the Collins family along the way.

We partnered with Stacey to document her Drees home building journey.

The construction process: A midway check-in

By Stacey Collins from Wilshire Collections

I’m so excited for this blog post because it’s time for a mid-construction check-in to show you all the things! The new construction process with Drees Homes has been so so fun, but also involves a lot of moving parts.

Now that we are a few months past the selection appointments, I am even MORE glad that Drees does this process the way they do it. It has been truly wonderful to have those big decisions behind us and be able to sit back and watch our dream come to life!

Read more about the Drees Homes Custom+ Construct approach to building here.

You know how I’ve said, “from dirt to a dream,” well that’s truly what is happening here! I’ll never forget the day we drove over and saw that they were grading our lot. Once the lot was ready to go and the foundation was done, it was time for framing. Seeing all that wood go up in the shape of a house was truly incredible. The first time I got to walk “into” our house … I cried. Surreal!

 

One thing we knew from the start was that when it got fully framed, we wanted to go over to the house as a family and “bless the walls.” We did this by grabbing some Sharpies and writing different quotes and scriptures as well as signing our names. This was probably one of the most special times we have had over there as a family so far, and I love having these memories and pictures.

Before we knew it, they were putting on the roof, installing windows, bricking and just rocking and rolling. Here’s a sneak peek picture of our beautiful brick called Alpine. We love it!

Next up came the drywall. It’s funny how with each little step, I get more and more excited. Seeing those walls just really helped me visualize all the things. It was crazy to us how much bigger everything looked once the drywall was hung too.

Here are a few spaces I want to show you from various phases that we are super excited about:

Our living room

This is where the TV will go above the fireplace, and of course, we will have couches, chairs, etc. To the left will be built-in bookshelves, and to the right, are three gorgeous windows with the best view that we are totally in love with!

The hearth room

During this process, many people have asked me what a hearth room is. Here in the south, it’s like an extra sitting area. For ours, this is where our kitchen table will be. That fireplace will be mine oh mine for decorating (can’t wait), and we will have a couch, a couple chairs, etc. It will be the perfect spot to sit and visit, drink coffee, etc.

The kitchen and working pantry

One thing Drees is known for in many of their floor plans is the working pantry. This is basically an extension of the kitchen where you can put appliances such as a coffee maker, toaster, crockpot, etc., and of course, lots of extra cabinet storage too. So between that and the rest of the kitchen, it’s safe to say I am THRILLED about these spaces!

The primary bedroom

This is our bedroom, which also faces the back of the house and those views. We will be doing a fun feature wall behind the bed that I’m very excited about also.

The family ready room

The family ready room is another signature space in a lot of Drees homes that made us fall in LOVE! These over-the-top laundry rooms are what dreams are made of. Ours will not only include the washer and dryer, but lots of cabinets for storage, a fridge, a closet, an island and a cute mud bench with hooks!

Every time I post on social media showing updates, I get comments about how quick and smooth things are going. And you are exactly right! We have been blown away at how efficient and seamless this process with Drees Homes has been so far. Jake, our Builder overseeing the project, has been amazing to work with and is staying on top of scheduling and checking on everything. We do a weekly call with him, where he updates us on what’s going on and what’s coming up. Let’s just say I get so excited for those calls!

One last thing I want to note is how accommodating and responsive they’ve been. As with ANY new construction home, there are going to be little things that come up along the way. We have only had a handful of those things, but when we have noticed little things that were off, we let them know and they were quick to fix it with no questions asked. I have truly been impressed by that!

I’ll leave you with a couple more sneak peeks of two things I’m VERY excited about:

1. Painted interior doors: This is a closet door (below), but all interior doors will be this medium gray color and I’m OBSESSED! I’ve wanted this look for years! (The paint color is Dover Gray by Porter Paints.)
2. Our entry way trim: This was something we saw in one of the models and knew right then and there it was something we wanted. Again, OBSESSED with what a statement this makes!

Pretty soon I’ll be filling this home with pillows, furniture and décor. I can’t wait to make this place our home and put our stamp on it. The next time I blog about this journey, we will be IN OUR HOUSE and I’ll be able to show you all the things. Woohoo!

I hope this gave you some good insight into the new construction process. We have really enjoyed each and every step so far, watching dirt turn to a dream. Thanks for being here for the ride and for all of your encouragement and kind words!

Stacey

Ready to start designing your dream home?

From Instagram inspiration and Pinterest pins to your final floor plan, Drees makes it easy to bring it all together. We know your home is more than a dwelling. It’s an expression of who you are and what you value. Designing a custom home is a very personal endeavor, and we want to be here to help you every step of the way.