People who build their own home tend to be very courageous. These people are curious about life. They're thinking about what it means to live in a house, rather than just buying a commodity and making it work.
- Tom Kundig
Courageous? Not sure.
Curious? Yes.
Completely Crazy? Possible.
Alright people! I need comments and feedback!
We can still change things up. We can do so because...we STILL don't have a permit (thanks idiot civil guy) and we haven't demo'ed (is that a word?) yet so it isn't too late for revisions. Not in a 'move the bedrooms here', 'mirror the garage over to that side' and 'add a full court basketball court there' (although I'd like that) kind of revision. But in a small tweak this window size and add a barn door here instead kinda way.
INSPIRATION BOARD
First - peep my INSPIRATION BOARD on Google Slides. I heart Google Slides. When we first started this venture I needed to get my design ideas organized in a clear thoughtful direction as well as have a way to share them with my husband, architect and now contractor. It's also a great way to remind myself which direction to go in when looking at roofing details or exterior siding or floor tiles or bathroom faucets or light fixtures.
Inspiration boards are normally just that...a starting point to a design. But, my board, with any kind of luck - will turn into reality.
INTERIOR FLOOR PLANS
Things that were important to us and to the design:
- flow & openness (space to have fun partayyys)
- functionality
- energy efficiency
- cool factor
- places for Mimi the cat to sunbathe in
ENLARGED PLAN OF THE GREAT ROOM
So the idea of this house is that it has a modern mid century feel to it. When you walk through the front doors there is NO foyer (is that weird?) but you walk straight into the main living area. Picture as soon as you walk in: there is the tv area and sofa/sectional, a sweet vintage free standing Malm fireplace (black? red? orange?), a dining room and a large kitchen - all in one space. Add in lots of glass and clerestory light with exposed beams at the sloped ceiling that is in some areas - a whopping 12 feet tall.
Pssst. Did you see the huge pantry with the barn door? I can't wait to fill it with crap from Costco. Sad but true.
section cut through great room - looking at sun room and large garage
SECOND FLOOR PLAN
2nd floor plan
So the upper floor isn't anything crazy or special. It has my two loves bedrooms as well as a cool "playroom". Let's face it - my boys are 7 and 11. Let's call it what it is...an X-Box hangout room with a wet bar and a little balcony that overlooks the pool and backyard. One of the bedrooms has a private bath and the other one shares with visitors/my son's gamer friends.
I think there are only two really interesting parts to the 2nd floor. ONE - I'd like to eventually hang a beautiful jewel like but modern chandelier at the top of the stairs. TWO - there is a laundry chute in the hallway closet (see keynote #15 in floor plan) that is basically a hole in the floor so kids can throw clothes/food/Nerf guns down to an adorable laundry basket in the adorable laundry room. sigh.
inspiration image for the stair to 2nd floor
BASEMENT
In all honesty..if this was really my dream house...I wouldn't have a basement at all! When I think of basements - I think of spiders, creepy dark spaces with closets jammed full of junk and clowns like the ones from Poltergeist. By the way...that movie was wayyy too scary for a 10 year old...what were my parents thinking? Anyway, I really don't want a basement but everyone says it's a bad idea to build a house without one. I guess people really want one when they buy new homes? So we designed one that has a small bathroom, 9' ceilings (tall for a basement!), windows, well lit (think lots of recessed lights and cool floor lamps) and a door out to grade.
We initially designed the basement to be all the under the entire footprint of the house (minus the garage). But, our contractor told us that the basement was going to cost around $100,000 - just in concrete! it didn't even include the excavation of that huge hole. ummmmm hell no. So we compromised and did a half basement with a crawl space. The crawl space is needed so I don't have what I have in my house now...pipes buried under a concrete slab. See my previous blog post about that mess.
ELEVATIONS
front elevation from Permit Set
rendering of front facade
rendering of rear facade
The sketches above are done in a program called SketchUp. If you haven't used SketchUp - it's a fun free program that is an really simple and a quick way to create 3d drawings/renderings. Plus, your kids have probably used it already in school so you should get right on that! There are tons of SKP libraries to choose furniture or fixtures to drop into your model as well as a ton of training tutorials on YouTube. I use it all the time when trying to decide on designs for room and furniture layouts as well using it as one of the main tools for my consulting business (www.mfcdc.com).
The renderings done in SketchUp were an early draft version (yes...i know its not done or perfect) that I made to show my architect friend Eric so he could see what we were thinking for the exterior. For the most part we are using a modern/linear stone base, Hardie planks /panels and Tesla solar roof tiles. Using solar for this house is uber exciting. It's exciting for many reasons. We will be able to turn sunlight into electricity, it's more durable than regular asphalt shingles, it has an "infinite" warranty, and let's face it...i'm so shallow: they look AMAZING and modern. So we put $1000 down to hold our place "in line" with Tesla. They are is supposed to come out with these tiles in early 2018 in Maryland...just in time for our little project and we cannot wait.
In my opinion, Elon Musk is the Thomas Edison of our time and just a total badass. He is the most revolutionary inventor and influencer of our time - more than Steve Jobs. Sorry Apple people...
I know I havent showed you the Master bedroom or the 4 seasons sun room or my cool office. I'll save it for another post. I know you'll be waiting patiently by your laptop/phone.
Thoughts? Comment below! And please...be gentle.
