Hi, everybody. Welcome back to Tilson Home Tours. I'm Kelsie, And I'm here with Mark. And we are going to talk about his Whitney D home here in Waller County. So for starters, let's talk about the exterior. It doesn't look so much like our model Whitney home, but I noticed that I really love the colors of the outside, so tell me a little bit more about your design.
So we love the stone. So we went with the stone pattern on the outside. And colors, we actually-- of course, when you walk into the showroom of a Tilson and you say, hey, what colors do you have, it's just so many options.
Yeah there's a really big color chart that you can flip through.
Right. Absolutely. Absolutely. So we went to Sherwin Williams, where y'all get your paint from. And we went through colors and said, what's going to work for us? What do we like? What's going to brighten up the home? Where do we want it darker at?
And we just took samples and just matched them in different spots. And we really just put it down to the tee and said, look, these match the outside. These match the inside. We're going to go with these colors.
I like that. And then for the outside of the home, I noticed that you have both the front and the back porch. Did you change anything about those porches?
So we did. So on the front porch, the standard Whitney for our model, we took a foot in of the front porch since we spent the extra money on the back porch. Expanding it?
We did. And we expanded our back porch. We took our front porch. We took a foot in. And when we did that, it made our dining room bigger.
Yeah, and it also kept the square footage of your porch the same.
It did. So it really didn't cost anything extra.
No, it didn't. On the funds, the way you're spending your money, you took in a foot of the front porch that was already there. So it didn't cost as much as it was to add square footage.
Yeah. Well, let's talk about this kitchen, shall we?
Yes.
So the cabinets are beautiful.
Thank you.
Was that something that you knew what you wanted for the cabinet design?
It wasn't. It wasn't. We had picked out a lot of the design. And colors change, and companies change. So we just put two and two together and said, let's bring our colors in, let's match our cabinets, and let's see what we like.
Yeah, and I love that you went with the Santa Cecilia granite. Yes, we love it.
It's a very popular one. And it just looks great with pretty much any cabinet color.
Yep. So in this kitchen, what did you change about the standard plan to make it fit your needs?
So the standard kitchen in the design of the dining room, kitchen, and laundry room is totally different than what you see in the model, but there was some options. And we took those options, and we threw in a little bit extra, and this is what we got.
So we wanted a more wide-open kitchen with a wide-open space into our family room, dining room. And with us taking a foot in the front porch, it gave us a little bit bigger dining room.
Yeah, it gave you that extra space. It did. It gave us that extra space. And it opened everything up as well and to a point where you're not just kind of traveling from doorway to doorway. You're actually going into it. You're just wide-open space.
Yeah, it's very open. It's really cozy.
Yes. And I just love the feeling when you walk into this house because you've got the high ceilings. You've got that fireplace in the living room. And then your kitchen is just the perfect spot to kind of--
Yep, entertain.
--gather everybody around.
Right, absolutely. My wife wanted an island. That was something she had to have.
Yeah. She got her island.
She got her island. And she wanted cabinet space and places to put things in.
Yeah.
I think that's pretty much what we have here.
Yeah, and I love the size of this too. It's perfect.
Yep, and you can go on both sides of the island and put stuff in. It's just not just one- sided. So it gives us a lot more options. Same thing with the space here. She wanted a lot of counter space, stuff to put a mixer and her coffee pots and things like that.
Yeah. And then normally, is this a little bit curved and it's all squared off now?
Yes, it is. So as you come through the front door, you kind of go to a curved bar. And then you kind of walk around because the dining room in the model home is over here. So we flipped it. By putting the laundry room here, it kind of closed things off, and it gave us a open kitchen, but it also gave us a lot of counter space.
Yeah, it designated kitchen space. It did.
And then over here we have your dining room, so let's go check that out. Right.
I love the size of it in here.
We do. By adding that extra foot from the front porch, it gave us a little bit bigger dining room. And we can add more chairs. That's why we got a couple extra chairs. But you could comfortably fit eight people here at any holiday or event or to entertain. It's just always right there.
Yeah, it's a great entertaining space.
It is. It's wide open. And it takes you right into the kitchen. So it's kind of open. And something extra we did ourselves-- we decided not to go with curtains. And by adding the actual headers on top of our windows for our blinds, they perfectly match our mantel.
Yeah. So you didn't have to stain the mantel at all to match the outside post.
So that was on the bill to do them. And after the mantel got here, it was just so nice and natural, we said, leave it alone. It just definitely complimented the stone. And we said, let's just go with it.
Yeah, it's a beautiful mantel.
Thank you.
Let's go check out that fireplace. Awesome. OK. So tell me more about this fireplace. It's beautiful.
So the fireplace-- we definitely wanted to bring the stone in the house, so we said we're going to do a raised stone fireplace, the biggest fireplace we can get. So it's not a huge room, but it gives you a lot of space when you walk in the front door or the back door. Anywhere you look from any point of this living room, it gives you a big living room when you look at it.
Yeah, and with the changes that you made to the kitchen side of the house, it really opens up the living room and makes it a nice cozy, inviting space. It does. It does. We really like it. I mean, it gives us everything that you would think a living room would have. So if you're having people over, you've got plenty of room to walk around, talk, sit on the couch, and lots of seat space.
Yeah, so when you had the mantel brought in here and you saw that, you just said don't paint it.
Yes.
I like it the way it is. It looks great.
It was, I mean, that big, beautiful cedar mantel, it just went with everything. And we said, look, here we go. Let's not stain it. So I was telling my wife, back and forth, do we stain it? Do we not stain it? So we said, you know what? Let's just leave it like it is because once you stain it, it's stained.
Yeah, and it looks beautiful with the stone. I mean, it really brings out kind of the warm tones of it.
Yeah, it does. It kind of compliments the paint as well as the stone, and it just kind of balances everything out.
Yeah. And then tell me about this floor. It looks like hardwood.
It looks like hardwood, but it's not. It's tile. So it's a hardwood-looking tile floor. Easy to keep clean.
Easy to keep clean. If you spill something, you wipe it up. And it's easy to take care of. And it gives you that wood look that everybody wants.
Yeah, I love it. Well, let's go check out those secondary bedrooms.
OK.
All right. So for starters, I noticed that you had a little bit bigger than just your standard closet right here.
Right. So this was a hall closet, and we turned it into a computer niche, something different. Took a little bit of the master closet out, but at the end of the day, we get a awesome little computer niche.
Yeah. It's perfect for homework and studies and all that. And then we've got your standard bathroom right here with the little linen closet and laundry hamper option, which I just love. I think it's a great little option.
Yep. Just a standard second bath with a big window. Gives you lots of light.
Yeah, I love the light that comes in there. There's tons of natural light in this house. And then we've got one of your three bedrooms.
Right.
So this one's more of just a guest space.
Yep, it is. So guest space, we turn it into the guest room. It could have been my son's room, but he decided on the bigger room, so we gave it to him.
Yep, makes sense.
Yep.
And then you've got the plugs behind the TVs--
We did.
--in all of the bedrooms. In all of the bedrooms except the master, we did plugs behind the TVs so that way the wires are not seen. And it gives you more space to walk around your bed. You don't have something to hold your TV down.
I like that. And then your son's room is over here.
Yep. So my son's bedroom, we--
Oh, it's definitely bigger.
Definitely bigger. He wanted the smaller one, but we talked him into the bigger one, and he's glad he did. Yeah, you're like, trust me. You're going to want the bigger room.
Yep, at 10 years old-- in five years he's going to want that space.
Yeah, well, and not only is it bigger just in the square footage, but it also has higher ceilings. It does. So it gives you the higher ceiling in a room. And it's standard. It just came with this model. So we didn't have to pay any extra for that either. It was just something that gives you that depth, that space that makes it look a lot bigger than it really is.
Yeah, it's a great plan.
Right. It's an awesome plan. It gives you a lot of square footage. And you just kind of fall into it when you walk through it.
Well, let's go check out your master.
OK.
Oh, this is an awesome room.
Yep, this is our master. So pretty standard, other than we lifted our ceiling to give us that more optimal look.
And I like that you didn't just raise it to be higher, but it's got this nice little slope going on.
We like it. It gives it just enough room and slope where it kind of just blends all in.
Yeah, that's really pretty. And then I have to point out your lawn because it's immaculate. Thank you.
But out of every window in your house, you get to look at your beautiful property.
I appreciate it. Thank you very much.
Right here, you can just look out. You see all the trees that you planted. You see your son running around and doing hooligan things, whatever he's doing with the dog. And then, I mean, even the neighbors riding their horses. It's so peaceful.
It is. And when you choose Tilson, this is kind of what you're looking for. You find a little piece of property that's just unique and something that you like. And we enjoy it. We love it. And yes, we definitely like our yard.
Yes, it's beautiful. And then we've got your suite in here.
It is.
Ooh, I like this space.
Yes. So master suite. Closet-- we did lose a little bit of space being that we pulled this wall in. Right. To allow for space for that computer niche.
Right. We did. But we still got plenty of shelving, lots of places to put clothes and--
Yeah, it's still a really spacious--
Still spacious, and it gave us what we wanted. And to take a little bit from here, gave us that little computer niche. We like it. Yeah. It works out great. And then you kept everything consistent with the cabinets and countertops, which looks really beautiful.
We did.
And then you don't have a bathtub. Right. So we chose not to do a tub, and we just did a big walk-in shower. The little square window gave us some natural light.
Yeah, that's really nice. You don't have to worry about neighbors peeking in or anything.
Right. Absolutely. And then I like the shower floor tile that you got here and how you brought it up and did the little deco band.
We did. We just kind of brought everything together.
Yeah, it looks beautiful.
Yep.
All right. Well, let's head on back to the kitchen.
OK.
Well, thank you again for having me out here--
Absolutely. You're welcome.
--showing me all around your house. It's just beautiful. Thank you so much.
What do you think has been your favorite part about the build process? I think our favorite part was the design. Yeah?
Working with Wendy and sales at the time, she gave us the options. And the questions she answered gave us everything we wanted, so it was never a no or we can't do it. It was always, we can make it work, and-- We'll figure it out.
Right. And the biggest thing is save money. Most people are thinking, hey, look, I'm building a house right now. It's tough. But there's ways to save money in that square footage, just like we did. We added a lot of little square footage by just moving things around and not changing the overall square footage of the house.
Yeah. I mean, you guys were so creative with how you just kind of added here, took away here, but it all ended up being the same as how you started. It's just a beautiful home, beautiful plan.
Thank you. Appreciate it.
Love how you've decorated. Thank you very much.
And we want to thank all of you for joining us as well for another episode of Tilson Home Tours. And we hope to someday soon make you part of the Tilson family.
