New Build Flows and Woes

Every new build comes with what I like to call “Flows and Woes.” In other words, highs and lows! Building your dream home is an emotional roller coaster: You are so excited for the finished product that every set back feels like a major let down. Luckily, as an interior designer, I know what to expect and how to keep FUN at the center of the process.

We are grateful for all the flows and the woes that come with building our dream barn home.

Read on to learn more:

Flow: Big Results In A Short Time

A lot of people who embark on a new build are suprised to learn that construction moves quickly. My husband and I were shocked to see that when we broke ground in the end of July that they were already finished with the drywall and painting by the beginning of October. 

Woe: Unpredictable Delays

Anyone who dreams of building a new home has to be ready for this woe. But don’t worry – with there are some fantastic professionals out there to help you bring your vision to life and navigate the delays throughout. (Cough cough… Repurposed Interiors… cough.)

In our barn home, we experienced several totally unpredictable delays that threatened to bring down our mood. Our kitchen cabinets were delayed by 3 months. The weather in upstate NY got sketchy. Materials and supply chain issues. Ugh… Of course, this was outside of our control. And damn COVID didn’t help matters.

All we could do was take a deep breath and pray that we would be able to move in before the water froze in the lake cottage where we were living.

Major thanks to Sue from @Barn_livin. She is a fantastic project manager and a total work horse. We were so glad to have her help throughout the process.

Flow: Perfect Timing!

We were able to move into our new barn house 2 days before Christmas. On that exact same day, the water froze at our cottage. Talk about timing, right?? Although the build wasn’t 100% complete, the home was fully functional for us to live in!

Woe: Makeshift Kitchen

The kitchen was our biggest challenge when we first moved into the new barn home. If you’ve lived through kitchen renovation… you know. We had no cabinets, no sink, no island, no stove.

But there are always silver linings! We have wonderful friends who loaned us a small island, and we used our 8’ plastic folding tables for counter space. We had our brand new fridge working. It actually turned out to be pretty functional. We used the air fryer a lot – and I forgot to turn it off almost every time. Oops!

We are still waiting for the kitchen island countertop to be completed. By spring we’ll have a fully functional and beautifully designed kitchen! 

Flow: DREAM Bathroom

My number one must have in our new barn home was my dream bathroom, including a steam shower!

I had so much fun selecting the materials and creating a minimalistic, spa-inspired space. I chose a simple tile with river rock accents. The mix of dark and light grout adds a little interest without being over the top. The bathroom tile, solid stone bench, and (awesome) rain shower head all came out exactly as I envisioned!

The piping of the steam generator and bathroom tile went off without a hitch. We were so happy with the pluming and electric by the team at Limar. You can’t even imagine how excited I was to get into my dream steam shower, breathe in my essential oils, and get some much-needed self care…

But of course, in any new build, you have to be ready for some woes.

Woe: Shower Curtains Don’t Cut It

Our contractors and electrician/plumbers had never installed a steam shower before our project. First time installations can always come with some woes. So, to try and avoid costly mistakes, we decided to reach out to an acquaintance in town who had installed our same system before. He was set to go it. Only 3 days before my dream shower would be installed!

Can you believe this? The poor guy fell off a ladder and broke his leg in 3 places. Ugh…

Even after that insane accident, he said he could still help us – but he’d be in a wheelchair and he would talk his son through it. We have the best people up here in Hector, NY. How generous! But, I wished him well and told him to rest up and heal (the nurse in me came out).

So we went back to our Barn Livin team, and they stepped up to the plate and decided to just go for it. Mr. Steam was still going to happen!!! 

As I said, the piping installation went smoothly. But we had to wait on our custom glass shower door. Turns out, you can’t use a steam shower without a perfectly sealed shower door. So for a month, we were using a shower curtain and couldn’t test out the steam shower I was so excited about.

After a month of using a shower curtain, the day finally came. The custom shower door arrived. Get this… When the door arrived, it wasn’t a perfect fit. It was still allowing steam to escape. This in turn causes moisture to build up in the bathroom, despite the best vent system there is. Sadly, still no steam showers for me.

I’ll admit, I did cheat just once. I had to try out my steam shower, so I opened the windows to allow for air flow and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I didn’t tell my husband or contractor that I did this until a few days later ha ha ha… 

Ultimately, I have my steam shower and I am super stoked that I will soon get to use it to its full potential. Perfect timing too, it being 7 degrees, grey skies and dry air here in New York, steam is the perfect remedy for winter blues. 

So that’s our barn home update for now! Stay tuned for more stories, pictures, tips, highs and lows, flows and woes of our forever barn home!

And call Repurposed Interiors when you’re ready to create your own dream interior design.