No Rush

The great thing about having a tenant in the house is that we don't feel a huge rush to get going with construction. In fact, we recently decided to extend our tenant's lease another 6 months since things are working out so well with him. Technically speaking, the house doesn't need to be finished until it is time for the kids to go to kindergarten (so they can go to the good school there) so we have a little bit of time before we really need to start construction.

Things are still chugging along, though! Right now we are waiting on plans from the structural engineer and then I think the architectural phase will be pretty much complete! I guess we'll just sit on the plans for a little bit until it is time to pick a builder. This blog might be a little dead until that time, but check back in a few months when we start going down the road to choose a builder and start picking out everything for our dream house!

Last Minute Changes

What do you do when your architect tells you he is 98% done with the plans? Well, ask to change something, of course!

It recently occurred to me that the way the plans were drawn, our staircase would basically be just a hole in the wall between the dining room and kitchen. No fancy railing, no cool architectural details. The more I thought about it, the more it bugged me. The staircase already won't be very "cool"- since it is located in the middle of the house there won't be a whole lot of light because there won't be any windows in it. Thankfully there will be a window at the top of the stairs and a hanging light fixture on the landing, but I really wanted some pretty detail.

Luckily our architect is awesome! Despite being 98% done with the plans, and despite having to move the refrigerator over a foot and reduce the counter space by a foot, he was able to make it a little more open and add in a couple exposed stairs at the bottom. We'll also have some exposed railing "after the turn" and with the newly exposed steps, it should look fabulous! It will look similar to this photo of a house he did in the past:

*Incidentally we also really love the cabinets in this kitchen and the counters, lighting and drawer pulls! 

The next step is getting a structural engineer involved (they are meeting on Thursday!) and then we will send the plans out for bids! This feels a little bit more real each time we see a new plan or talk about specifics. Crazy to think we will most likely be all settled in by this time next year!

Moving Along

Things are moving along with the plans for the house. It's starting to feel so real! We got a bunch of drawings today. Wanna see our gorgeous island??

I seriously can't wait to bake with the kids at this thing, or gather with loved ones around it during the holidays... :) The design was definitely a collaborative effort.  I really wanted the island to feel like a beautiful piece of furniture in our kitchen! It is going to be such a functional space for our family. We're excited to have a large area underneath for our appliances. Right now they are all shoved into a random cabinet, but it will be so convenient to have them all so easily accessible. Now the question is- keep it white to match the cabinets, go with a contrasting darker color, or paint it a subtle grey?? So many options!

Speaking of options, we've been discussing revamping the columns on the front of the house. Here's how it looks now:

Cute, but a little bit weak. We couldn't decide if we wanted to just make them thicker, or make them a little fancier and go with something tapered to match the more "craftsman" style of the home. Here's what our architect came up with:

We like the look of the tapered! We think it gives it a little more pizzaz and character. You may notice we also changed the look of the siding a bit. All around the house will be Hardieplank siding, with hardieshingles in the gables (the triangle parts of the roof :) )  We haven't decided the color scheme yet, but that's just one of a hundred decision we will have to make!

Things Are Coming Together!

We've had a couple weeks of being on standby while our architect worked on the plans, and last night we got together with him to go over everything. Holy moly- we really are building a house! There were cabinet layouts, updated floor plans, lighting placement floor plans, foundation plans, exterior views etc. My eyes ended up glazing over after about 1.5 hours! The house is going to look awesome! Some of my favorite features include a built-in "Drop Zone" near the door for our jackets, keys, purses, backpacks etc. and our kitchen island! I can't wait to make Christmas cookies with the kids, and gather with family around this awesome island.

We have so many decisions to make in the next few months. Lighting fixtures, door styles, trim, carpet, handles, cabinets. Can't wait to see the finished product!

Option C it is!

Last week we met with our architect and a builder that he recommended to get some "super ballpark pricing" on our favorite plan- Option C. The numbers came back- and if we "mind our p's and q's" as the builder said, we will probably only go slightly over budget. Although going slightly over budget is never the goal, we had to look back at what that original budget bought us. In the beginning, the budget assumption was made on a 1900 sq.ft. final product (based on the early discussions we had with a builder before we bought the house). Option C is over 2600 sq.ft., so really- even over budget is still less per square foot that we originally intended on spending. In addition, we can't overlook the fact that Option C would give us the house of our dreams- and not a "make it work" house! Seems like a pretty easy decision to go over budget.

Now the question is- how over budget will we have to go to get what we want?! Our primary goal is to get the bones of the house right and to have a nice looking exterior. We have the next 15 years to figure out the rest!

Option D Exterior Views

Here are the exterior views for Option D. Not bad, but we like C better :) We are meeting with the architect and a builder today to get super ballpark pricing on both options C and D. I guess we'll know this week which one we are going to move forward with!

Option D Floor Plan

Today we got Option D floor plans that keep the master in the same location. Honestly, we were kind of hoping we wouldn't like it so our decision would be easier- BUT, we like it. It incorporates a lot of what we wanted while keeping the price tag within range. We still prefer Option C, but we are going to go forward with the super ballpark pricing phase to see how much more money C would actually be.

Option C Exterior

Last week our architect provided us with exterior views for Option C. It's looking good!

Option C

Here is the Option C floor plans that incorporates a lot of what we want AND moves the master bedroom. We'll probably get a floor plan next week that shows what we could do without moving the master, but of course we love the idea of moving it if we can afford it!

Option C is great because I feel like it solves the problem of connecting the back yard to the front yard. That kitchen would be awesome! I could easily be cooking dinner while keeping an eye on the kids playing in the backyard. I also like the idea of a second floor washer/dryer. Could be very convenient as the kids get older!  Cross your fingers it isn't too far out of our ballpark!

Obsession: Entryways

After pondering the Option A floor plans while we were in Las Vegas, we were ready to regroup with our architect to discuss what we loved and what we'd change. We had an awesome meeting last night and discussed some really fun ideas. Paul (our architect) already had an Option B prepared which had some beautiful features (hello gorgeous kitchen island!) Both A and B has the entirely new master suite in the back of the house which we love, but will cost big $$. The tentative plan is to come up with an alternate A/B floor plan that incorporates what we discussed last night, and an Option C plan that keeps the master where it is now but adds in as much of our wish list as possible. Unfortunately the most logical design plan that will be the best for the long run is an option the moves the master, but we'll have to see if we want to spend that kind of money. After we have the two new floor plans I think we will get very very very preliminary estimates to see what the general cost difference would be between the two. If it is a marginal difference, then it will be a no-brainer for us! If it's a big cost difference, then I'm sure there will be lots of late night discussions in our future :)

That discussion aside, we're starting to discover that our main entrance to the house will probably be the front door. The house has a long driveway that opens up a bit in the back. Because of impervious cover rules (which I'll discuss in a future post!) it looks like we are going to take out a good chunk of concrete and replace it with grass. We'll essentially be giving up the ability to use the garage as a "garage" by grassing in the concrete in front of it, but as it stands now it isn't really a viable garage anyway. One day down the road we'll probably turn it into a studio or pool table room or something, but for now it's just a space for storage. (Side note- the current location of the garage is against code but it is grandfathered in. If we were to renovate it into a real, usable garage for cars we would have to move it to the proper location, thus giving up three feet of the yard. Anyway, another topic for another phase of renovations haha.)

Having decided that our main entrance to the house will in fact be the front of the house, having a "mudroom" or backpack storage area in the back of the house won't really be a good use of space. Instead I'm hoping we can utilize space by the front door for back packs, jackets, purses etc. I'm hoping we can create something beautiful, even if it will be a landing area for all of the kid's junk! Here are some ideas:

First Sketches!

Holy cow, first off- our architect rocks! It hasn't even been two weeks, and we are already looking at full blown sketches of what our house can become! We are still digesting all of the ideas, but so far we are pretty impressed. We are going away to Las Vegas this weekend and while we're there we are going to ponder all of the ideas and then meet with our architect next week to proceed. This first plan might be a bit out of our budget, but how cool is it to get to see what our house can become?!

Here is the current floor plan (open the image in a new window if you want to zoom in):

Option A Floor Plan (yippeee- our first "after" floor plan!) 

To help us visualize the new versus the old, our architect included a composite plan:

We never thought of totally reconfiguring the kitchen, or moving the master (while keeping the master bathroom, which we love) so we are thrilled with the "out of the box" thinking. Eric was also pretty worried about the size of the front living room in the "before" so I know he's excited about the idea of making it bigger. All in all, an excellent start.

And here's a super cool bonus that we weren't expecting- exterior renderings, given the Option A floor plans! Feast your eyes on what could be our new house (most likely in the same pale blue it is right now):

Obsession: Stairs!

When we toured the house for the first time our kid's only question was "where are the stairs?" We told them, "We're going to build them for you!" But the BIG question is where will they go? 

I had a short meeting with our architect this morning. We are going to have a short term renter moving in on Monday to bridge the gap between now and construction commencement, so I wanted a chance to talk at the house before we have to coordinate with a tenant! I told him our breakfast room idea, with the main theme being that we are open to any ideas he may have for the best use of the space. He measured the house today and will probably start initial sketches next week! As he has told us- this is the fun part!

While we wait anxiously to see what he comes up with as far as stair placement, here are some images that we love:

And here are some fun imagination-to-image photos I played around with :)

Until our architect comes back with the initial sketches, we'll keep obsessing about "where are the stairs?!" 

Obsession: Breakfast Room?

We are so thrilled with the progress already on the house. Our architect is going to try to do the measurements on the house next week, and then we might have initial sketches within a few weeks! This sure beats our original assumption from talking to other architects that it would take 2+ months before someone could even start working on our plans!

It's a good thing, too, because I feel like every time we go over to the house I see something else that I want to change or that needs work. Now that the previous seller's furniture is gone you can really see the house for what it is, and some places don't look so good without the furniture-hued lipstick! Hopefully with some thoughtful planning and budget awareness we can get everything we want! With the timeline the architect has set out, we'll know pretty soon based on the preliminary pricing we'll get after his first round of drawings. Exciting stuff!

In the meantime, our latest obsession is the current laundry room area. We feel like this area and the question of where the stairs will go are the two big questions in this remodel.

When we initially went under contract on the house we assumed we would make this area bigger and turn it into a big mudroom/utility room. We brought my sister over to get her opinion of the house, and although she loved it she pointed out that there was no real connection to the backyard from the house, and no way to see the backyard from inside the house. The back of the house consists of this room and the master bedroom. 

She made a really good point, and it got us thinking about what else we could do to make the indoor/outdoor space flow a little bit better. We anticipate spending a lot of time outdoors (especially with two active kiddos) and we don't like the idea of having to walk through the laundry room or taking guests through our bedroom to get back there. 

So, the wheels started turning. After obsessing about it for a while, I think I had a brilliant idea, if I do say so myself. What if we expanded the current "laundry room" and turned it into a breakfast nook with a door to the outside?! That way we could borrow some of that space for the kitchen, put in some cabinets with doors for purses and backbacks etc. and a pantry, and then have windows and a door to the backyard. If we do something along these lines, I could be cooking in the kitchen and easily be able to peek out at the kids playing in the yard. I'm guessing this room, with a door to the backyard/porch and possibly a door to the driveway, would probably be my main entrance to the house with the kids. 

Here are some inspiration photos. We probably wouldn't do a built-in bench, but you get the idea. Small breakfast room, small round table, built in cabinets, lots of light:

Built-in inspiration. I'm guessing we would put the pantry in there for food, some kind of storage for jackets and backpacks etc. and hopefully general storage for crafts and other miscellaneous items. 

Architect Day!

It was a long, tiring, emotional, exciting day- and in the end we found an architect that we're really excited about!

It was very interesting to listen to them all and compare the similarities and differences. Some had an 8 month timeline, some were shorter. Some do full plans from the get-go, some do preliminary plans for estimated pricing. Some encourage competitive bidding, some don't. Some seemed more excited about our project than the others.

At the end of the day we were looking for someone who was excited about our project, felt confident about working within our budget and someone who is efficient and will get the plans done in a reasonable amount of time- we're carrying two mortgages here, people! We think we found that in the architect we chose. In addition- he builds furniture, loves solving design problems, and has a fun personality. We've also heard great things about him and have already spoken with some former clients who rave about his work.

So, yippee! We're on our way. Our architect can't start for another two weeks at least so we're in a holding pattern of dreaming and obsessing until then :).

Architect Day Eve

Tomorrow is a big day in this process. We are meeting with four architects- and hopefully we will fall in love with one of them. We're really excited to hear their ideas. We have already met with one of them so we have a general vision of what can be done within our budget, but it's exciting to think about all of the possibilities. Will they all come back with the same general plan (that is, build back and up?) or will one of them suggest just building up (as in building a second floor above the entire existing first floor)?

Today the house officially became "ours." The sellers leased back for a few days so we haven't been able to go over there and dream until today. I took the kids this morning for about an hour and walked around and tried to picture what it will look like in the end. It is a darling house, but definitely different from our relatively new construction current home. I'm hoping we have money in the budget for some general "sprucing up" but who knows what we'll find when we start the process. Our first surprise came today- a damaged part of the floor that was previously hidden by some furniture. It's ok, though, because we were already planning on refinishing the floors- but I hope there aren't any other surprises in store! I'm sure with a 65 year old home there are bound to be some secrets. It will be part of the fun  trying to unlock some of them!

Wish us luck tomorrow and cross your fingers that we find out we can get everything we want. Specifically:

Must Haves:

2 Additional bedrooms (up)

1 Additional full bathroom (up)

1 Additional Game Room (up)

Kitchen Remodel

Open up wall between family and kitchen

Real Utility Room/ Laundry

Lead Paint Remediation

Issues from Inspection Report

Covered/screened Porch in back

Wants:

Refinish floors

2nd Bathroom Remodel

Raise Ceiling

Crown molding

Pergola over driveway

Built-ins in new Game Room

New Doors, paint, trim throughout