After shopping mania on Saturday, I could not process all the information we were thrown about blinds.  One of the great things about our house is the windows, and natural light that make it feel bright and open.  

Natural light = Windows

Windows = Texas Heat Pouring into my House

Heat in Texas = Constant Air Conditioning

Constant Air Conditioning in Texas = Big Money.

We know that blinds + curtains are a must in Texas, and we don't want to pay the electricity bill without as much coverage as possible.  I have already converted The Husband to a believer about the cost-savings of window treatments.  Our current apartment has faux wood blinds and we were still paying a fortune each month to ensure we weren't sleeping in a pool of sweat.  I purchased some heavy duty curtains for all of the windows and we immediately saw a significant difference in the hottest month(s) of the summer.  

The builder had offered to put in blinds for $1,000 added to our financing.  We tried to negotiate them into our price, but no luck.  The blinds they offered were exactly what we had in our apartment.  Not terrible, not great.  However, being budget minded... my whole goal was to find these blinds (or something better) for under $1,000.

I love a good spreadsheet, so while I was shopping I created this one.  HD and Lowes went back and forth on the best deal (depending on the size of the window), but overall - we got a higher quality blinds for the entire house for less at HD.

Here's my spreadsheet... with the grand total!

Yep... that's right $17.70 under budget.

(not sure that was worth the 3.5 hours of shopping... but, I'll take it).
They are better quality blinds than what the builder offered anyway.  I'm quite pleased. 

Also, we could subtract an additional $120 (bringing the savings up to $137.30... which is going towards 'mac daddy sectional' fund) if I can talk The Husband into installing them ourselves.  We are educated people... it can't be THAT hard, right?

Have you installed faux wood blinds? Pointers?  We're going with "DesignView" Brand.  If you have any first hand knowledge... please let me know!

The Tour, Part Two

Let's continue with our little tour and I can show you the kitchen and family room... along with all the exciting changes we've made. 

The photo above was taken while I was standing in the middle of the kitchen (with the breakfast area behind me).  This looks into the family room, towards the backdoor and master bedroom entrance.  I love the height of the ceiling and dramatic windows in this room.  

We will have to purchase blinds for each window before we move in and I expect a full blown tantrum-style fit from the husband at the checkout counter.  I've (semi) prepared him for the costs... but when he actually has to open his wallet, I'm sure he will swear that he had no idea the costs of blinds.  During his melt down at the store, I also am willing to place bets on the fact he will suggest taping newspaper up in the windows (or something equally as ghetto price conscious).  

I think we'll just cross that bridge when we get to it... hopefully not until late May.  

(The granite slab in these photos house looks kinda dinky because it's only 2cm.  We got the "standard" 3cm and it will hopefully look a little better)

Here is another view of the kitchen (photo taken in a 'stock home' of the same floor plan), while I'm standing in the breakfast area. 

Note:  We will have larger floor tiles. 

Note:  Our backsplash will be on a diagonal... and hopefully, then, I will like it.

Note:  We went back and forth 100 times on getting the brick fireplace above... or the wood/tile one in the first picture.  It came down to $1,000 and we decided to go with the first (cheaper) one.  Do you think we made the right choice?  Honesty is the best policy.

Note:  Dishwasher will be stainless.

Note:  Our oven will be something like this (Without the fancy backsplash):

View from the family room, into the kitchen.  Our tile will not follow those exact same borders... but you get the idea.  

Okay... so let's get real for a second... What do you think about the two fireplaces:

#1:  Cheaper.  Seems a bit more contemporary.  The tile will match the rest of the house (won't be the fugly tile they picked out for the model home).

#2:  Has a hearth.  Seems more "built in".  Has more drama.  

It's actually not too late to change my mind... so what do you think?  #1 or #2?