Monday, March 19, 2018

New West University Spec House- Purdue

Starting off the week with a new project plan. Some of you may read the blog over at Blue River Custom Builders, who I collaborate with on quite a few projects, and if you do, then you saw the update on the construction happening at our beautiful new spec home on Purdue in the West University neighborhood in Houston.



Today I’m sharing some of the first-floor design details. Since this is a spec home, I wanted to keep all of the selections fairly neutral, but I still wanted the home to have some character to separate it from all of the other homes for sale on the market. I wanted it to feel like a custom home with lots of special features.  

To keep the house feeling light and bright I went with a soft shade of white for the walls in a flat finish. I’m using the same color for the trim but in a gloss finish.There will plenty of contrast with gray interior doors + dark paint on the fireplace wall.  The flooring running throughout all of the main spaces is a lighter hardwood (the mudroom is getting a tile that looks very similar to concrete). The lighting in the entry, dining room, and stairwell are all modern versions of classic shapes. They have a matte black finish, which I’m really loving right now for a timeless but modern feel. It also works really well with other finishes so it’s a great way to be able to mix finishes throughout a space.  

I had originally selected this fantastic cube tile for the kitchen backsplash, but unfortunately by the time we went to order the tile it was backordered, so insert the elongated subway tile. Always a timeless choice and perhaps a little safer choice for a spec home, especially since we’re offsetting them with a gorgeous slab of marble for all the countertops!!! The cabinets are a great shade of greige (beige + gray) and the island the same darker shade of gray that I’m using for the interior doors. We’re doing two oversized pendants over the island and great matte black pulls for the cabinets + drawers. The matte black is being repeated with custom iron shelves (similar to those pictured below) on either side of the custom plaster range hood.


In the wet bar off of the kitchen, the cabinets will be painted the same color as the island. The upper cabinets will have a wire mesh detail instead of glass (similar to the example below). I couldn’t get through a design without adding a patterned tile, so a little punch for the backsplash in this space. I kept with the matte black for the light fixture + faucet but brought a touch of glam with a hammered polished nickel sink which will pop against the satin black granite counter. The polished nickel is repeated with the hardware selection.

Next time I’ll be back with the powder bathroom + master bathroom design plans and lastly the two secondary bathrooms + laundry room that are upstairs. The home is really coming together and is making progress by leaps and bounds every day. Can’t wait to see this one finished out!