One Way Being a Mom Influenced my Custom Home Build

Now here’s a shocker—kids make messes.

Well, truth be told, families in general are messy (on more than one level, but I won’t go there). What I started out to say was how having kids influenced my design decisions when we were building our custom home.

A prime example: one of my concerns was entry points into the home. Because we wanted a huge yard and connection with the outdoors, we chose to build on a wooded lot outside of town. Consequently, we have wonderful country views–and lots of tracked-in dirt. 

From a

Brick Pavers

That’s why I chose brick pavers in the entry. Brick floors are having a bit of a renaissance, have you noticed? They’re earthy and natural and have great texture and color. They offer slip resistance, too (think “coming in out of the rain in wet shoes”!) Some folks might pass on brick floors because they’re such a hard surface, but that’s part of why I picked brick–it will last FOR. EVER. With two boys (and also, um, my tendency to move furniture around a lot), I can’t emphasize durability enough. 

From a designer’s standpoint, the vintage-look pavers I chose from Cherokee Brick have a beautiful rustic aesthetic that fits with the informal vibe I was going for in our design. From a mom’s perspective, they will wear like iron, hide dirt, and stand up to many scrubbings. So while “long lasting” was high on my checklist, I wanted beauty, too. 

Main Hall

In the main hall, I had my neutral  tone pavers installed in a herringbone pattern edged with a linear border. Herringbone is a classic layout that adds just the right amount of visual interest. I love the way the light from the front door sidelights plays on the floor’s pattern. 

In the two branches off the main hall, we switched it up a little and went with a two-by-two layout (a block of two pavers turned alternately horizontal, then vertical) with a linear border. I think the change adds a little variety and helps delineate the public and private areas of our home.

Flooring

Have you considered brick flooring? I’m loving ours!  Keep in mind that pavers are not full bricks, as that would be too heavy for the foundations of most buildings and would raise the floor level too much.  Pavers are more like slices of brick, but they still work best on a concrete foundation. 

And like terra cotta tile (which, like brick, is clay based) you’ll need to seal brick pavers against stains. So take your own family’s needs into consideration when thinking about brick floors. For us and our new country lifestyle, brick in our high traffic hallways fills the bill. 

I hope you enjoyed One Way Being a Mom Influenced my Custom Home Build. Be sure to follow me on instagram for more design inspiration. Also check out my blog on how to update a 20 year old kitchen.