Best Part Of A New House? PINTEREST!!!

One of the reasons we moved cross country was because for the love of Pete we need SPACE.  SpaceSpaceSpaceSpaceSpaceSpace.  So, we bought a house.  It isn't built yet.  It should be done in April.  People usually say, "Oh, you're building a house.  That must be SO fun to get to pick everything out."  Alright, first of all, we are not building a house.  We did not meet with an architect and design the perfect layout for us and blah blah blah.  We bought a house that just hasn't been built.  Second, the experience of picking out all the accoutrements is not that thrilling.  We got an appointment at a design center and went through pages and pages and pages (and pages and pages and pages) of choices. First we had to spend money putting things in that aren't fun and some of which don't make sense to not be included (like tile in the bathroom- it comes carpeted...why??).  Soft water loops, radiant barrier on the roof, extra outlets, wiring for ceiling fans (not even actual ceiling fans), wiring for various different kinds of lighting and other seriously random crap.  When we were done with that and found out that we had already spent like $7,000 and hadn't made any real 'design' decisions, it hurt.  Lordy did it hurt.  Then comes the part that could be fun...if you are rollin' in dough (like the homies).  You would think that choosing things like carpet and cabinets and tile would be fun.  Well, it would be...if you budgeted an extra $10,000 for EACH of those choices.  What really happens when you pick cabinets and countertops, flooring and hardware?  Oh, you get to decide between the free choice (one type in one color) or you can spend ANOTHER $1,000 on each item to upgrade to the next "level" which contains something that you maybe, sorta like better but would still never choose.  Those cabinets you really want?  Yeah, those are like $6,000 so forget it.  It feels more like paying bills.  

When we left I was zombified and a little confused.  I was equal parts thrilled that the house was underway and scared that I had just spent $10,000 in like two hours.  Ivanka Trump's got nothin' on me.  Of course, above all I'm happy we even got a house.  The market is so weird right now we could have ended up with nothing.  Also, I'm pretty glad NYC is outlaaaandishly expensive and we couldn't buy anything there because we didn't end up completely killed by the collapse like many of our friends.  

Let me be clear I am beyond thrilled about getting a brand new house just maybe not about the proces...

PS- Best part of a new house?  PINTEREST!!!!!!!!!  

Well, wanna see the progress?  Here it is...