First Design Appointment

We had our first design appointment this past Saturday on September 26th.  The whole week leading up to it I was so full of emotions-- anxious, nervous, overwhelmed, panicked, and then finally on Friday the day before I was really really excited.
If we would have had our design appointment right after we signed off on structurals (mid August), our home would have turned out so differently.  Having 6 weeks gave me way too much time to research all the brands and products and upgrades that we wanted.  I priced out all the upgrades again and again and again to try to stay within our budget.  Of course we got there and ended up changing things a little when we got to make the actual choices instead of just basing it on levels pricing.  
Our designer Heidi was lots of fun to work with.  Because I had done so much research before our appointment that I felt well prepared.  That is, until she asked us to pick out hardware for our cabinets.  I told her I didn't want to get hardware through them, we would do it ourselves.  Then she dropped a bomb.  She said that if we added our own hardware after, then it would void our warranty because it would be modifying the cabinets.  We decided to upgrade our cabinets quite a bit and they come with a limited lifetime warranty.  I would HATE to void that kind of warranty!  So I had a mini meltdown trying to pick out some hardware.  I didn't love any of their choices and had already made up my mind on some that we found at Home Depot that are MUCH cheaper (especially since they don't have extra costs tacked on for installation).
Because I was so well prepared, we cruised right along and had time to go over EVERYTHING.  We are waiting on pricing for a few items but should be able to sign off on everything at our next appointment next Friday the 9th!

I'd love to post pictures but I feel like they just don't do it justice, so except for this sneak peek at our exterior, pictures will have to wait until they're installed for reals. Unless my new iPhone gets here before our next design appointment, then maybe I can get some good pics to share for those siblings that live far away (or they can always ask for updates and crappy pics) ;)

I'm so excited to get everything finalized and I love how it's turning out!   
If you hate my choices, just pretend like you love them, because I do haha. 
According to our latest update from our sales agent, our plans are to the city for permit so hopefully they can start digging the end of October/beginning of November!