Friday, March 30, 2012

Color Selections

Selecting the colors for our Ryan Home in Cobblestone (Pittsburgh Suburb).  Selecting our elevation (L) was the easiest part for us because we love the cottage look.  The difficult part was selecting the colors!  Ryan has not built our elevation before and doesn't even have a rendering of it so that is a bit stressful...
We have to select colors for:

  • The stone
    • This was very difficult.  We selected based upon the stone samples we saw at our communities model as well as another communities model.  We then searched online and drove around various Ryan communities and discovered that the stone that was being delivered was very different than the model.  After seeing the stone choice, our number 1 choice was ruled out because our neighbor has it but we found a very close second only to find out it's no longer offered.  Our Ryan Sales Rep Wes worked his butt off and got us our stone though!  It will cost an extra $350 but it's worth it to us.
  • The siding
    • The siding we were set on is Graphite Gray - guess what our neighbors has...  Yes Graphite Gray so that ruled it out.  We selected Georgian Gray which we like as well, but that causes another problem as you'll read under board & batten.
  • The board & batten - TBD
    • Since our neighbor has Graphite Gray, we cannot have that color siding so we have to select Georgian Gray.  The board & batten is supposed to be a contrasting element but unfortunately the only choice offered with Georgian Gray siding is Georgian Gray board & batten.  I know this sounds strange but it's true.  I found the supplier (Plygem - Variform product line) and their marketing material shows Graphite Gray board & batten so our Sales Rep Wes is on another mission for us - to get us the Graphite Gray board & batten.  Hopefully the Ryan team see's it isn't fair to only offer us 1 color selection for the siding and board & batten and that 1 neighbors siding selection shouldn't eliminate multiple color options for us.  If we can't get Graphite Gray through Ryan, we're considering asking to have no board & batten installed and we will then purchase it ourselves after closing and install it or tear off what Ryan installs and replace it with Graphite Gray.  So far the Ryan team has been fantastic and has been very flexible and helpful so our fingers are crossed  I still wonder if we could pay our neighbor to change his siding selection from Graphite Gray...  Maybe he'd like a shiny new iPad 3 lol
  • The trim
    • The trim we selected is white which was very easy - we want contrasting colors and the white looks great on other homes.
  • The shutters - TBD
    • This depends on the board & batten situation but we're leaning toward Gray or Black 
  • The front door - TBD
    • This depends on the board & batten situation but we're leaning toward Black or Dark Brown
  • The interior
    • That was easy - Our options are: any color we want as long as it's white (Just like how Ford gave Model-T buyers their color option - Black).  Technically you can have the walls changed from White to another color but that color is used throughout the whole house and the cost is nearly $3,000.  Obviously tinting your paint and spraying the whole house wouldn't cost anywhere near $3,000 so the message we get from this is Ryan really would like you to have white walls ;)    

6 comments:

  1. Wow you havent even seen what the house you picked looks like in a drawing? That would scare me but I'm sure it will look pretty! I'm glad you got your stone and I hope you get the bored and batten you want too. it doesn't make sense that you only have 1 choice of color just because your neighbor picked one of the colors you like. i like your ipad idea for the neighbor ! good luck and my hubby and i will keep an eye on your blog! we're thinking of building in the north hills and have actually driven through cobblestone!

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  2. Have haven't been able to see a picture or rendering of our elevation but we've seen the blueprints and some similar elevations on other houses. I like the fact that houses across from you and beside you can't have the same color scheme because I think that makes everyone's house unique and stand out. Like you mentioned, having the neighbor select a color that forces us into only 1 option doesn't sit well with us the more we think about it. We only have 1 neighbor at this point and imagine how hard it would be if we had 1 on each side and across from us to deal with color selections.

    If you want to chat about Cobblestone or want our sales reps (Wes & Mike) information let me know! Keep an eye out to see what happens with our board & batten and other choices ;)

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  3. Can you post a picture of Elevation L from the blueprint? I'm totally curious! The only Victoria Falls elevations available in my neighborhood were A-E - and we built a Victoria Falls Elevation C - we've been in it 2 months and its great. We went through the same thing with color choices - the neighbor next to us picked the siding we wanted.

    Enjoy building! The Victoria Falls in an awesome floorplan.

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  4. Thanks! I just posted Elevation L for you to see. One of the problems is that it's a new elevation and we were told none have been built yet anywhere. We think it will look fantastic but it was a big decision to make from just looking at the blueprints. I've read your blog before and it was really helpful thank you :) Your home turned out beautifully & I'm really glad you're happy with it :)

    Is there anything you would change or anything we should think about?

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    1. I love that elevation - so cool! Can't wait to see your pics as the house goes up.

      Did you post an option list? I'll have to go back and look. The upgrades that we did that I'm happiest with: side windows in morning room, ceiling fan rough-ins in all bedrooms and morning room, upgraded maple cognac cabinets so you get the pull-out drawers inside, recessed lighting, master bedroom tray ceiling, 4 ft extension (we saw another vic falls go up in our neighborhood without a 4 ft extension, and it was pretty narrow without it)

      There are only a few upgrades I wish we'd done - adding the 3rd family room window (in the middle of the other two), tray ceiling in the dining room (because the tray ceiling just adds so much character)

      Also - two issues that we had that I've gotten over, but if you haven't broke ground, they could proactively maybe fix? First, if you are finishing the basement (or even if you aren't but are planning to later) - the way the framing is done, the ceiling in the basement bathroom is the height of the bulkheads, not the rest of the ceiling. My basement ceiling is 8 ft, but the bathroom is 7 ft. It looks a little ridiculous, but they told us that was the way the house was framed. I probably would have them big the basement deeper so my ceilings were 9ft, but 8ft in the bathroom. But ultimately, its still totally useable and you'd probably not notice unless you were 7 feet fall or I told you about it :)

      Issue #2 - in the model Victoria Falls in my neighborhood, they have the water heater at the back of the storage area (so essentially directly below the entry door), and the furnace is on the side when you enter the basement storage. SO those two 'units' aren't near each other. (I wish mine was like that). Instead, the way they have my foundation plumbed, my water heater is across from the furnace and 'blocks' you from easy access to the storage under the laundry room. You can still get through between those two 'units' into the other part of the storage room, but you have to walk carefully and turn sideways.

      Both my complaints sound petty when I type them out, but they are little things that could have been fixed if I'd known about them early on (before construction started). But ultimately, not that big of a deal. Have fun!

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  5. Interesting article about colors. I also choose white color for walls, inside and outside, its easier then and not cost a lot) But when we talking about inside I like to combine dark flooring and light walls, in this case I don't need to change walls color, only make color of floor dark and have very interesting result.

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