After 13 years in the suburbs of Winston-Salem (if you define Clemmons as a suburb), I moved into “town” in 2018. The change was a big move for many reasons and an interesting one for a “new construction gal.”
When I designed and built my home in Salem Glen in 2005, every detail was carefully planned. Homes today are designed and built around furniture and televisions. Specific, detailed dimensions are drawn, redrawn, and agonized over. Floor outlets are installed in slabs, and generators are hard-wired. Although home buyers and builders always say there is something they would have or should have done differently, they spend countless hours designing spaces before construction begins. I was lucky to have guidance from local builder Ken Capron to help me design and build my new home. Pops Harvey and Grannie offered great advice as well. I remember accepting most suggestions!
The greater Winston-Salem area has been a hotbed of new construction for about the last 20 years, with prices ranging in the low $100,000’s to over $1,000,000. Construction has ranged from Kernersville to Mocksville and everywhere in between, wherever builders can find land. Hopefully, that trend will continue for the near future, to help ease the ever-tightening inventory shortage in the Triad! We are also lucky to have lots of reputable, quality builders who are upstanding members of the community, give back to charity, build great homes at reasonable prices, and are overall good people!
So, should you buy an older home or a new home?
What if you don’t start from scratch and design every detail? Clearly, the decision to buy an existing home, which was someone else’s vision, versus your vision, is an important one. What are 3 must-haves when buying an older home? Patience, vision, and the wisdom to know when to ask for help from a professional! Patience isn’t my strength! (Insert collective head nod here.) I have learned to ask for help though! Major thanks to Emily Craycroft @ 804 Designs, LLC who helped me with design and structural changes!
The last two and a half years have been interesting, as I think I am constantly redefining spaces. Office space? (Another) tv room? Home gym? Craft room? Kids’ casual space? All would get used, and the possibilities are limitless. These spaces were not designed to fit my furniture, so I am trying to find furniture to fit the house! In my world of golf references, “reshuffle” used to only refer to the change in golfers’ priority rankings. Now it refers to the constant change of room designs in my 1938 gem!
Here we go with the first project of 2021, cheers to the end of plaster ceilings, and the addition of overhead lights!
Cheers to new construction and new visions for old spaces!
Tori