A House We Built

Custom House Designed by Husband & Wife Team | Modern Farmhouse Inspired

A House We Built: Introduction and Product Sources

Welcome to the official website of A House We Built. We are a husband and wife team who have just finished designing and building our forever home on our 30 acre forested property.

Note: this page is constantly updated. Every time we do a new project around the house, we add sources here. On a daily basis, we are most active on our Instagram page (@ahousewebuilt) where you can follow the latest updates on our house building, styling, and decorating journey.

We started designing this house early 2016. In Summer 2016, we found a beautiful property we fell in love with and then purchased in Fall 2016. We put in a third of a mile long driveway to our house site in the middle of the woods. We broke ground Summer 2017, moved in Summer 2018, and are now in the process of making this house into a home. This website is a place for us to share sources for the products that so many of you have asked us for on Instagram. There’s also a House FAQ below.

Sources are listed below. Note: if I couldn’t find it at the place I bought it, I’ve listed it at a different location where it’s still available as of the time of posting, or listed similar options (always labeled as ‘similar’).

Kitchen Sources:

Spice Organizers:

Living Room Sources:

Office Sources:

Guest Bedroom Sources:

  • Nightstands: Overstock | All Modern
  • Lamps: Amazon | Walmart (I spray-painted the bases matte black) | Alternate lamps: Amazon | Wayfair | Wayfair
  • Bedding: Overstock
  • Headboard: we made ours out of standard lumber that we sanded down, bolted together, spray-painted black, and top-coated. But if you don’t want to go through all that trouble, this is good deal on a very similar headboard: Birch Lane

Master Bedroom Sources:

Gallery Wall Sources:

  • Gallery wall black frames: Amazon (linked to sizes we used, we’re very happy with the quality)
  • White cotton wreath: Amazon | (similar option: Wayfair)

Laundry Room Sources:

Foyer Sources:

Pantry Sources:

Dining Room Sources:

Mudroom Sources:

Kitchen Organizer Sources:

  • Cutlery organizer: Wayfair
  • Cutlery organizer (expandable alternative): Amazon
  • Cutlery organizer (expandable alternative): Amazon
  • Utensil expandable organizer: Amazon | Wayfair
  • 12×6, 12×3, 6×3 organizers (similar): Amazon
  • Knife dock: Amazon
  • Under-sink sponge tray: Amazon
  • Large rope coiled baskets: Amazon| Wayfair (similar style, same size)
  • Tupperware sets: Amazon | Amazon

Powder Bathroom Sources:

Second Bathroom Sources:

Master Bathroom Sources:

Master Closet Sources:

Exterior Lighting Sources:

Interior Lighting Recap:

Cleaning Supplies Sources:

Cat-Related Sources:

  • Scratching pads: Amazon (I have 2 on every floor)
  • Litter box: Amazon (I put one on every floor)
  • Water fountain: Amazon | Walmart
  • Leather conditioner: Amazon (this stuff is amazing for getting scratches off leather)

Appliances Sources (we bought everything except the range hood through Home Depot Appliances):

Hardware Recap (same sizes used in kitchen, mudroom, bathrooms, and closet):

  • Long matte black drawer pulls: Amazon
  • Short matte black drawer pulls: Amazon
  • Black and copper knobs: CB2
  • Gold knobs: CB2
  • Black knobs (similar): Amazon | Amazon | Amazon | Wayfair | Wayfair
  • Copper knobs (similar): Amazon
  • V-pulls (no longer available, but this is a similar option from the same source): CB2
  • Mudroom hooks: CB2

Mirror Recap:

  • 24″ round mirror (master + main floor bath): Amazon | Wayfair
  • 37″ round mirror (mantle + 2nd floor bath): Amazon | Wayfair
  • Oval mirror: Amazon | Wayfair (I haven’t used this yet but I want to)

Fixture Recap:

Sink Recap:

Wallpaper Recap:

Vases Recap:

Greenery Recap:

Couch/armchair sources: Structube. After months of searching for the perfect couches, these were the ONLY styles I liked for our space and I was very particular about what I wanted: 1) They had to be leather because hubby is allergic to our cats and we can’t do fabric, 2) I wanted a tan couch with a benchseat AND a grey 3-seater from the same place AND an available armchair option, 3) I had to order online because nothing in any stores near me worked. So, I actually found a tan couch first from another online store, but they didn’t have a grey couch in the style I wanted. Then I google-searched the tan couch and found a similar match at Structube, which I hadn’t even heard of, BUT they had a grey leather couch I liked too! So I ordered them sight unseen and crossed all my fingers and toes that they’d work out and they did!) — West Elm also has a very similar grey couch as well as a similar sectional available in a ton of different leather and fabrics options. Our armchair is out of stock last I checked but I’ve found similar leather options at Overstock and West Elm, and also similar fabric options at Wayfair and All Modern!

  • Leather conditioner: Amazon (this stuff is amazing!!!!)

FAQs — Frequently Asked Questions & Answers:

  • Our floor plan is fully custom. We designed our house from scratch together so our plan is near and dear to our hearts, and is the result of over a year and a half of hard work and planning. We have not released or posted it anywhere yet, but may choose to in the future.
  • Our house has 6500 square feet of living space over 4 floors. The main 3 floors are ‘finished’, and we will be finishing the basement ourselves. Since we work from home, it includes 2 office rooms.
  • Our ceilings are 10-ft on the main floor, 9-ft on the second floor, 8-ft kneewalls and 15-ish foot vaulted ceilings on the third floor, 20-ft living room, and 10-ft in the basement.
  • Our windows & exterior doors are custom triple pane fiberglass in Tricorn Black or Simply White.
  • Our exterior materials are a mix of engineered stone and James Hardie siding (color: Arctic White).
  • Our cabinetry is all custom made (except this vanity), paint color BM Simply White.
  • Our kitchen island is 11.5 x 3.5 feet.
  • Our countertops are Italian Quartz in pure white.
  • Our barstools are from West Elm (mine are sold out so here are similar options or other ones I just like: #1 West Elm | #2 CB2 | #3 All Modern | #4 World Market | #5 Lulu and Georgia | #6 Wayfair)
  • Our shower glass is custom made.
  • Our shiplap is an MDF interlocking system.
  • Our flooring is brushed white oak laminate Lionel by Evoke for everywhere that isn’t tile except our stairs which are white oak hardwood stained in a custom color.
  • Our recessed lighting is LED (sourced through our electrician).
  • Our mantle is a weathered hand-hewn barn beam (no link available).
  • Our fireplace is by Dimplex (Amazon | Walmart).
  • Our interior door hardware was supplied by our trim team (very similar one). I don’t know the brand of our exterior door hardware as we selected them through our custom door maker.
  • Our location is something we’ve chosen to keep private to balance how much we share publicly, but we’re pretty open about everything else. For this reason, we do not list local sources.
  • Our patterned floor tiles are cement. Tile sealer: Home Depot | Amazon
  • Our tiles were mostly sourced through local suppliers. Local suppliers are the only ones I don’t list for the above mentioned reason. We appreciate your understanding on this matter.
  • Our build cost is one of the few things we don’t discuss because building costs varies wildly depending on building location so even if we were to post that information it wouldn’t be all that helpful given how much costs differ everywhere.

Interior Paint Colors:

  • BM Simply White throughout the house – only white used inside
  • BM Classic Gray on living room ceiling and accent wall
  • BM Soot for all black interior shiplap and cabinets and mirror
  • SW Dorian Gray on office window seat & desk wall

Stains for dining table & tree stand & master bedroom beam:

  • Pre-stain conditioner: Amazon
  • gray stain (one coat): Amazon
  • Matte top coat: Amazon (also used on pantry shelving)
  • Stair stain is a custom color

AV Sources:

  • We have an Apple TV in the fireplace column nook, wired in with Ethernet
  • 1x Polk Audio 255c-RT center channel speaker: Amazon
  • 2x Polk Audio RC85i: Amazon
  • 2x Polk Audio RC80i: Amazon
  • We picked these because they’re white, simple, and met my standards for “best quality at reasonable price”
  • We don’t have a surround-sound receiver yet, mostly because we’ve chosen to not have a TV in our living room so we just have a small stereo receiver (Amazon) so we can listen to music

Additional Resources:

If there’s something else you want sources on, you can ask me questions at this link and I’ll add it in.

Full disclosure: Some of these are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission from purchases you make through those links (but it doesn’t affect the price you pay at all).

And please be sure to follow us on Instagram where we post daily updates on our house progress!