Our selections are as follows (additional details about the appointments are below for anyone interested in our crazy stories):
Downstairs hard flooring selection (Morning Room, Kitchen, Foyer, Bathroom, Mudroom):
Initiatior 66181
Railing: Black Cherry (the carpet is what we had originally chosen for the upstairs, but we changed this because we thought it would clash with the downstairs carpet)
Our downstairs selections (the carpet is in the very bottom):
Carpet: Graystone 510 Cold Water (for upstairs and downstairs)
8lb Carpet Padding (for upstairs and downstairs)
Master Bathroom Selections:
Tile: Stratford Place Dorian Grey SD94
Accent Tile: Granite Radiance GR60 Kashmire White Mosaic
I'll start with the Guardian appointment, because that was an easier appointment. We received 2 Cable and 2 Data/Phone ports as part of the house. We put one of each in the study (where we are planning on putting the router) and on the staircase wall in the Great Room (where we are planning on putting our tv). I was not so informed about data/wireless, thinking that everything could just be wireless. But after getting a crash course in Wireless and how every additional device bogs down the speed, we decided to put Data ports in every bedroom. We use AppleTV in our bedroom now and my husband with his video games, will benefit from being hardwired. Additionally, with the way electronics are going, I think having a data port rather than Cable in each room will be more useful. Each additional port is $100. You can get 6 for a package deal for $500, but we couldn't think of another place to put a port, so we saved $100.
The RiteRug meeting also had good outcomes: We arrived about 15 minutes early, which I thought would be a good thing because then we'd have some additional time to get to the model home if things ran long. When we got there, they told us to pick out the cabinets and granite we had already selected. We did and then stood around for 15 minutes. They then showed us the flooring we could pick from. We know that we're going to put hardwood floors down in 5-10 years, so we just went with a base selection choice (vinyl tile).
For the carpet, we upgraded to B. Choice A only has a 5 year warranty, no stain protection, and you get to pick from basically 5 shades of tan. Choice B has a 10 year warranty, stain protection, and about 30 different colors to pick from. This was an increase of something like $1,200. We picked a Grey (Cold Water) for the downstairs, which matches the tile and granite really well. We debated for a long time about the upstairs (Zone 2) color. We have nice bedroom furniture and wanted to make sure it would match. After 20 minutes, one of the designers finally came in and helped by pointing out colors that were picked often by other customers. We picked a tan. We later realized that the Zone 2 color comes down on the stairs and will clash with the grey carpet downstairs and changed our selection so that we had the same carpet throughout the whole house.
The master bath tile that is included with the house is this institutional looking 6x6 white tile. To get rid of that tile you have to upgrade like 4 times. For something like $1,600, you get your pick of very stylish type (12x12 on the floor and 10x14 on the walls). You also get your pick on accent tile. I was hoping to find some type of aqua blue, but there wasn't anything like that available. We ended up choosing a light green/cream glass tile. We didn't change the cabinet or counter, which will be a wheat color with white counter. I think the combinations will make the bathroom feel light and airy and clean, with kind of a beach-y feel.
After all our selection were made, the designers started printing out the forms to sign. I asked them if we needed to also make a selection for our carpet padding, because we knew we wanted 8 lb. They said yes, we'll have to add that in (+$1,200). So after they added the carpet padding in, we started to clean up and put away the selections we had pulled out already (trying to be helpful). After we had put everything away, the designers said "Oh, we know you were trying to help, but we need those back out". (In my head, Ok, why didn't you say that 5 minutes ago?). So we pulled everything back out and compared the selection on paper to the item numbers on the samples. When we went to sign the paperwork, I had to tell them that my husband's name was spelled wrong. Finally, we signed the paper work and left.
We're very satisfied with all our selections. I think everything will look great together!
