An Introduction to our Build

If you’re here, you’ve probably already figured out that there’s a LOT that goes into building a new home. Anytime I sit down to try and put it all into words, I can never decide on just where to start. This process has been a long, SLOW one for us, but so so worth it now that we are almost finished! I encourage anyone who is considering building a new home to go for it! It is not easy – especially if you are self-contracting – it is stressful and there are LOTS of decisions to be made; however, every little teeny tiny step forward brings so much joy and excitement! You’ll see in my posts just how excited I can get over things like a mailbox, a driveway, paint samples, or even a single light switch.

So let’s get started… Let me just say that I NEVER, EVER, EVER wanted to build a house. I knew it would be too much work. I am not a decisive person whatsoever, and I hated the lack of charm in new builds. I always wanted to buy a fixer-upper and add simple updates along and along. Well, here we are…

Justin and I got married in March of 2017 after being together for 5 years, At the time, Jonah was a little over 2 years old, and we had been living in our little mobile home (that we got an excellent deal on – I’ll share those details a little later). We live in a tiny town in rural Southeast Georgia. Justin grew up in this town and I moved here on a whim one summer and never looked back. As a wedding gift, Justin’s aunt & uncle (who I claim to be mine – they have been so wonderful to us) blessed us with nearly 6 acres of land on the same road where the rest of his family lives. It was the most generous gift that I had ever received and still to this day, I get emotional thinking about how that one deed has shaped our entire lives to this day.

Right away, we knew that our options were to build a house or purchase a new mobile home to put on the land. We were in no rush (I say that now, but I feel like I was probably in a big rush at the time), because our current home was paid off at that point. We slowly started clearing the land, which Justin and his uncle did mostly themselves. I knew that if I wanted something fast, a new mobile home was the way to go, but I couldn’t find anything I was in love with at a price I was willing to pay for a home that would depreciate in value over time.

I found a blog – Farmhouse From Scratch – about a wife & mom who self-contracted her own home and saved almost $200k in the process. I was hooked. I knew that with Justin’s handy-work and his uncle’s expertise in construction, we could easily (LOL) build our own home. I started drawing out floor plans immediately and here we are 3 years later, getting ready to move in!

There is a LOT that has gone on between then and now that I will get in to, and I hoped I have spiked your interest enough to continue reading our story!

Until then,

Allie