back to my obsession

the very MINUTE we got home last weekend, my head immediately started obsessing over the housing situation we'll face in 18 months. the entire time we were gone i forgot to think about checking out different builders, i forgot to download floor plans and then rip them apart, i forgot to mock up decorating schemes for the different house options we're pondering.

you think i'm kidding about that last one? ho ho, you don't know me very well:

we got home saturday night, and before bed marc listened to all the messages on our answering machine. one of them was from the sales agent we've been working with at one of the builders. she said that the house we've gone through twice during construction is now finished and we could go through it one more time to see the final product. we've pretty much decided that if we go with this builder, we will go with this house plan, so we really wanted to see what the floor plan looks like in real life. so sunday afternoon we headed over.

this is the house:

(yes, harper came along.)

when you walk in the door, this is what you see:

the foyer is two-story, and while the open concept is lovely, i would rearrange it so that my laundry room is at the top of the stairs instead of this open space. i really feel the clothes should be washed on the same level where they are put away. so ... picture a washer and dryer topped by a counter for folding just under the windows, and a wall and door where the railing and open space are:

the dining room ...

would actually be closed off from the foyer with french doors, and this would become my in-home studio. that arched entry on the back wall leads to a small powder room ... perfect for clients to change a baby.

on the other side of the foyer is what is now a den/flex room:

however, we would open it up to the great room to which it is connected by the back wall, leave out the doors to the foyer, and use this as game/tv room so that that doesn't have to be in the great room.

(thinking about how we use our space, this makes the most sense. i, personally, do not want the space where we sit and talk with friends to compete with the space where people will play wii or watch a show. thinking holidays, here.)

speaking of the great room, the kitchen opens up onto it. our thought is that our dining room furniture would have to be replaced with a rectangular table seating 8-10 people that would fit in the eat-in area, so that the kitchen/dining/great room spaces would all open into each other. thinking, again, about holidays when all the family visits. we love to be together, and this would make the space so user-friendly.

(see the wall opposite the windows? that's what we'd open up into the tv room at the front of the house.)

going up the stairs, we find three bedrooms, a bathroom, and the master suite. yes, i said suite. our current "suite" is a 12x11 room with a small bathroom down the hall which is shared among everyone in the house.

bathroom the kids would share ...

how much do i love this window seat?? this room has my scrap space/extra guest room written all over it!!

and the master ...

personally, i would want a rectangular soaking tub instead of this corner thing, but we'll get to that later.

finally a shower space big enough for marc's arms!

one area we would change ... on the main floor behind the kitchen is the laundry room/mud room. i would actually use the laundry space for walk-in pantry/storage. you can never have too much storage, especially when coming from a house that has ZERO. and the butler's pantry by the dining room would be lost to the bathroom attached to the studio, even though i would adore that space as a breakfast center. but that can be added into the kitchen since the pantry will be expanded so much.

and below all this, a walk-out basement for marc's office, server room, entertainment space, and private guest room and bathroom. and more storage.

bliss.

this weekend we are off to builder number two to talk about their house plan that is also at the top of our list. theirs is actually slightly bigger, requires less moving around of things because the space is already pretty perfect, but we have no idea what their construction is like or their standards are. builder number one comes with raving reviews.

so who knows.

but the obsession shall continue in full force until it's all signed, sealed, and delivered.

 

Comments

[Allison W]

Ooooh how fun! I hope walking through it in real life solidified your ideas (sounds like it did). I would love to design my house from scratch!

[Zorina]

wow.. how beautiful!

[Sasha]

from scratch is the way to go aint it.. love it ..

[Kimber-Leigh]

love the plan. can't wait to see the other one too and see what you choose! i LOVE house hunting/building/planning/dreaming!

and please don't change your mind about the bathtub. i speak from experience. no corner tubs. they're really not that comfortable.

[Ann]

Wow, sounds like a great plan. I am super jealous! But, in order for me to get the house of my dreams, I'd have to move from the SF Bay Area to any other part of the country, and I seriously doubt that would ever happen. So, here I am in our little 1100 sq. ft house in Silicon Valley! :)

[catherine feegel-erhardt]

wowie wowie wow!
that is one Sexy house !
how many square feet ?
it looks HUGE !
LOVE the kitchen
Love your vision
and I agree on the corner triangluar tub... unless you take up a really good stretch class.
xoxo
catherine

[reyanna]

LOVED this post! I love stuff like this, and I didn't miss a word. :) We're looking for a house right now too... to buy though... not to build. I'd love to build a house. Hubby wants to buy one and then change it or add on... or tear it down completely and start over. LOL. We'll see how that goes... :-)

And the decorating... Yummy. Love all your ideas! Can't wait to see you guys through this journey!

[Ann-Marie]

I completely enjoyed this tour M..thank you for sharing! It all looks DIVINE! So excited for it to all come together for you..and to scrap and stay over in that window seat room...and have my kids pics taken in your studio?!LOL

[Sue Thomas]

Oh my goodness, you're making me want to build too, Michele!! I'm having kitchen and window envy right now - lol!!!!!

[Kellie]

What a beautiful house!! Amazing features and floor plan. I like all your ideas for changing too.

Except I must caution you about the second floor laundry room: I thought it made sense too, until we had our recent flood with the washer, WHILE WE WERE HOME, and still had to replace three rooms' worth of flooring for all the water damage. Then we learned of friends who had a similar flood, similar length of time, washer on second floor (ours is first) and the damage extended to first floor, causing significant damage there as well, including soaking of a load-bearing wall. $22K and three months later (they had to move out of house for repairs), it was fixed. Ours was two weeks and $4k in damage, and that was bad enough! It happened just a couple months ago.

So there's a reason to keep laundry near the ground :) Just sayin'

A home studio will be perfect for you, and that room is lovely....

Excited for you!