Vinyl: initiator 66180 (Family entry, powder room, laundry room, master bathroom and kids bathroom)
Hardwood: Dundee 2 1/4 x 3/4" oak stained saddle (Kitchen, morning room, family room, foyer)
Carpet: Graystone Stone House w/ std. 3/8" midnight pad (Dining room, study, stairs, and all bedrooms)
Kitchen Cabinets: Rushmore Hazelnut Glaze
Kitchen countertops: Granite- New Caledonia
Bathroom Cabinets: (Timberlake Value) Fairfield Honey
Bathroom Countertops and Tile: White
This appointment was slightly disappointing. Despite our personal reasons for not having our hearts "in" the appointment, it was shockingly disappointing to realize how FEW options were offered to us at our base point, or even in our already "upgraded" package for the kitchen. We had 4 or 5 hardwood colors as options, and the only one dark enough for me to even consider is actually the one pictured above and the one we chose. I wish there had been an option slightly darker. There would be if we went up another level or two in the hardwood options but that seemed like a waste of money.
The really sad thing was realizing that to get solid wood cabinets and the lighter finishes we would have to upgrade on top of our "luxury kitchen package" which was included as an incentive the month we signed our contract. For the majority of the appointment we actually had decided to go with darker cabinet color that was included in our kitchen package, but I knew that if I left with those as my cabinets I would have agonized over it. The color was too close to the color of the hardwood floors and I really wanted there to be that contrast. So we had to upgrade to get the Rushmore Hazelnut Glaze cabinets. I love the cabinets, but I do not love the added cost.
The next thing was the carpet choices. This had me lose my cool. I mean seriously, it was so bad that it was funny and had I been in a "better place" in my mind that day I would have taken videos and photos of the level 0 carpets that were included in the base price of our home. I literally laughed in the poor sales woman's face, and side ranted to my husband about how there was NO WAY I was allowing that "carpet" in my home. It shouldn't even be able to be called carpet. It reminded me of what you'd use to make a cat play house sort of thing, or fake carpet in doll house but carpet in a REAL house for HUMANS... NO WAY!!!! I wish I had taken photos and videos to share with you all and I am considering going back or going to any carpet store and looking for something comparable.
Our poor SR, I emailed him and ranted a little bit about the sad excuse of standard carpet and seriously recommended they consider throwing that crap out and adding the cost for the level 1 carpet into the base price of the house. It would add a couple thousand dollars to the base price sure, but at least they wouldn't come off as a "slimey" home builder- nickle and diming, and using the cheapest materials possible.
I know I appreciate much more the honest truth up front, knowing exactly what I'm getting for my money. To have the "standard" flooring options be LESS than what SHOULD be standard left me with a bad taste in my mouth and made me reconsider whether or not this was a good choice to build with Ryan homes.
Needless to say, that normal looking.. standard looking carpet you see pictured above is... yes you guessed it... an UPGRADE!!! Can you even believe that? Well, it is! Level 1 upgrade... costing just over $1,000 just to have low quality but actual, real live carpet in our two rooms on the main floor and all the bedrooms upstairs. Holy moly! I think I will be disappointed in this for a very long time. It is what it is though, and I'm happy to have my normal carpet (at our expense) over there free, I can't believe its carpet "carpet". (AHHHHH!!)
Anyway... bathroom cabinets, flooring, tiles, and countertops... it was ridiculous to have to upgrade these things, so we did not. I hate the cabinets we are getting... we had two ugly options and we chose one... really it could have been either one... didn't matter, both seriously awful. Same with counterops and tile, and floor... yuck. But we were upgrading the extension of that hardwood floor into the living room and the foyer, so we didn't have any more money to upgrade with. We will paint the cabinets, and the sales lady told us on pinterest she saw how to make those countertops look like granite, so maybe we will look into that. Sad to upgrade the bathrooms to a double sink in the kids and the glassed in shower and soaking tub in the master at a big price tag, and to then go pick out our options and find that to have it look nice like we wanted we have to throw even more money at it.
Maybe my view point is altered because of what was (is) going on in my life at the time BUT I really did walk out of there feeling happy with the things we "upgraded" but disappointed that we had to "upgrade" certain things and disappointed with some of the "standards" we had to take. The lack of options that we included were seriously disappointing. How can there were 2 cabinet options in the bathroom, and three in the kitchen? The Timberlake website shows so many more options, so I don't know why Ryan Homes doesn't allow you to choose other finishes in even the same categories of cabinets. I was ill prepared for what was going to be available to me that's for sure.
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