Update to Design Meeting 2

Getting Closer!

Updated floor plans & elevations of concept 2D came in from the architect. 
(And these should look better on the screen, since they were sent to us as files, and aren't photos taken with my phone!)

First Floor addition





Second Floor addition

Rear Elevation



Side Elevation



Design Meeting 2

The second design meeting really threw us for a loop... 

There were too many good ideas to choose from!  By increasing the footprint just a few feet, there were so many more possibilities!

As expected, the second floor was the easy part, so we tackled that first.  The increase in square footage made a big difference to the size of the office.  It also allowed for some additional linen closets off the hallway (since our current linen closet is up on the third floor hallway). 

Here's where it now stands:

Now came the hard part...
We were presented with four new concepts for the first floor.  Each of them addressed the concerns we had with the first set of plans.   But there are other pluses & minuses to each, all quite minor, considering what we're currently working in! 

Here's a round-up:

Concept 2A

+1/2 bath is tucked away from the kitchen, & easy access from the outside (thinking BBQs, kids playing outside)

+Generous size powder room

-Kitchen "triangle" is too wide

-Walking from the family room, past the fridge seems weird

Concept 2B

+Provides nice view of back entry from family room
+Bathroom is tucked away from kitchen & easily accessible from outside & family room
-Kitchen area feels a little too compact

Concept 2C

+Kitchen area feels more open

+View of booth/eating area from family room
-1/2 bath will be viewable from kitchen, if bathroom door is left ajar (which my boys are bound to do)

Concept 2D

+Kitchen area is very open
+View of booth/eating area from family room
+More counter-space provided
+1/2 bath tucked away from kitchen, yet easy to access from outside & family room
+When entering the back door, you'll see through the kitchen to the Butler's Pantry display cabinet

We honestly could have been happy with ANY of the designs that were presented.  But we have to choose one!

I'm sure you can tell by the number of pluses, along with the pencil markings- we're going with Concept 2D.

This was actually a last minute brainstorm that the architect had the night before our meeting... so there weren't any exterior elevations drawn up yet, and we talked it through a bit more during our meeting.

There are few adjustments being made to Concept 2D before our third design meeting:

-Entryway to be covered porch, not just a stoop.

-Doorway from family room to be moved to the left, allowing for a larger pantry cabinet to be placed next to the fridge.

Now we turned our attention to the exterior.

Even though we didn't have exact drawings to match Concept 2D, we talked thru the other drawings since the window styles could be interchangable.

Didn't like



Liked, but wasn't sure about symetrical placement

of upstairs & downstairs windows



 



Balance of windows is better.
We sketched an entry options on this one.





This is the window design we're going with.  Lots of light!

  









So, another week and we should be finished with the design discussions.  Then the architect will work on the Construction Documents, so we'll be able to put the project out to bid!




Update!  Quick Links to our progress:
Design Meeting 2 Update
Design Meeting 3

Minds in the Gutter

Okay, more like "minds ON the gutter... AND the drains... and keeping the water OUT of the basement"!

Mike has been doing a lot of re-grading around the foundation, and it's helped tremendously with the dampness in the basement- Irene & Lee really put it to the test!  (And although we still got some water, it wasn't nearly as bad as it was the first week we moved in.)

The biggest part of the project involved creating a drainage system on the East side of the house.

Water kept flowing under the basement door, so Mike got a drain to go on the outside of the threshold.  (And looking at this photo, I need to get out there with a scrub brush, pronto!)

Anyways, that drain then combines it with the gutter drains from the roof, along with the sump pump drain that comes out from the basement under the front porch--->

<--- Check it out!  Three sources into one pipe that will drain on the opposite side of our driveway (so it won't create a sheet of ice across the top of the driveway in the winter- like it would have if we left it!). 

Of course, this meant digging a trench across the driveway... between hauling out that buried bathtub, pulling out shrubs, and digging this trench, that tractor is starting to pay for itself!

After testing the water flow, Mike buried the pipes, added gravel on the path, and we were finally ready to make it look pretty!

We re-cut some old slate that had been found in random places through the yard.  These were used to create a path to the basement door. 

We lined the path & the flowerbeds with big rocks that had been dug up from around the yard.  We'll work on planting the flowerbeds next spring.

On the "To Do" List:  I'd like to get some moss to fill in the cracks between the slates, as long as that won't interfere with drainage.

The part I'm most looking forward to will be paving the driveway.  The boys will have so much fun riding their bikes, using chalk, & playing basketball on it!  But we have to wait until the kitchen addition is complete- no sense in doing the driveway until the heavy equipment is out of here. 

The upside for waiting- it'll give us a season to make sure the new drainage system is working like a charm!

Design Meeting 1

I'm falling behind already!
We're getting ready for our second design meeting, and I realized I didn't post the results of the first meeting.

For background, here's the floor plan of the existing first floor:

The sun room will be ripped down, and new construction will begin there.

Here are the design concepts that were presented in the 1st meeting.

Concept 1:                                                                                     

 Concept 2:

We feel Concept 2 is closer to what we're looking for.  My favorite part is the Butler's Pantry design!

There are a couple of items we've asked them to work on: 

 - Perhaps reduce the size of the mud room- it doesn't need to be an actual room, but just an area where the kids can take off their shoes and hang their jackets.

- We don't want the island to be the only eating area in the kitchen.  We like an island for food prep/serving, but prefer to have a breakfast nook, or built-in seating that we can sit together & eat as a family.

- We want the family room to connect thru to the kitchen, creating a circular & more open flow.

We know that's a lot to ask for in this modest space, but they are going to take that feedback & we'll see what they can do.

The upstairs plans are almost perfect!

The office & laundry room (at the bottom of this image) are the new items.

The only thing changing here is flipping the closet door from opening in the office to open in the laundry room). It's  necessary because our house's septic system is only for 4 BR & having a closet in the office makes it a fifth "bedroom". 

Once we expand the master bath into the room on top left of floor plan, we'll lose that "bedroom".  We could then switch the opening of the closet to the office side- IF we decided we needed a closet in there.

We feel really great about the exterior design:

Proposed Back of House



Proposed Profile of House



We did ask them to add a couple of windows to the profile.  But otherwise, we really liked how well it will look with the rest of the house.

So, now we're off to the second design meeting.  I can't wait! 

Update: Quick links to our progress!

Design Meeting 2

Design Meeting 2 continued! 

Design Meeting 3

A New Look in the Front

The front shrubs were growing like crazy. 

Since we live on a corner property, we need to keep the front shrubs trimmed to no larger than 2.5 feet high (so as not to obstruct a driver's view of the cross street).  We could see that they were going to be a lot of mainenance... plus we didn't really like the way they overshadowed & downplayed the pretty stone wall. 

So, Mike decided they had to go, and out came the tractor.  There had to be at least 40 of them!  Some will be replanted along the (soon-to-be) back fence.  Others, like the bunch with the big bee's nest in it, were not so lucky.  We left some of the ivy- because it looks really pretty with the stone wall, but had to thin it out to make room for some new plants.

Once the shrubs & excess ivy were cleared out of the way, Mike had to raise the dirt level to the top of the front wall, so that our new plants would be seen from the street, and not just from our  front porch.  More tractor work!

We spaced out the newly purchase plants:

Dwarf Holly Bushes- so there would always be green, and a touch of red from the berries

Sherwood Dwarf Abelia- an evergreen, with white summer flowers & leaves that turn purple-ish in winter.

Mums- for a splash of fall color

Tulip, Daffodil, and Crocus bulbs- for spring color

And finally, we added mulch.



Before

Along the side of the front yard, where the steps come up from the driveway, we did some more work.  



There were a bunch of little slates at the bottom of the steps that didn't really go.  We removed them & instead made a landing at the bottom of the steps out of a big slab of slate that we found under a bush in the back flowerbed.

The hostas on each side of the steps were getting huge & taking over the entryway.  So we defined a new flowerbed to the right &built a matching rock boarder.  We planted them here for now but will  move them into permanent spots next spring.

The deer are certainly enjoying them as evidenced in the "after" photo...

After

In place of the hostas, I planted daffodil bulbs (my fav) on each side of the bottom slate.  I think will provide a nice pop of color against the gray brick.

It's looking a bit bare,  but should start looking better once the grass seed starts growing where the tractor wore a path. 



And now that the hard-scape is done, it'll fill in & look really natural next season.

The best part about working in the front yard was all the people that stopped to chat as we were working.  In addition to meeting several of our neighbors, a couple of folks thanked Mike for pulling out the shrubs & another asked if we would consider boarding his horse in our barn (hmm... gotta think about that one!)

Odds & Ends

Judging by the recent posts, it seems like it's been rather quiet on the project front... actually, it's just that we have LOTS of projects started, but not yet complete!  (Think new backyard fence, frontyard plantings, and of course progress on the new kitchen plans) We'll post on those shortly... once they start coming together a bit.

For now, I'll summarize the side projects that we have completed lately.

The wicker porch furniture came with the house.  I finally got around to giving them a new coat of paint. 

Before

After

There was an old fashioned bathtub buried in the corner of the front yard, which at one time functioned as a fountain...

But the fountain no longer worked & the tub was now a mosquito breeding ground!  Before we could begin doing the front yard landscaping, we had to remove it.



Stay tuned for photos of the new flower beds!

And in the backyard:  

The Loved Birdbath

I loved my little birdbath- It wasn't fancy (only cost $4 at a yardsale!), but had nice lines to it.  Alas, there was a lawn mowing incident, and the birdbath did not pull through!

Before

 So I was left with the one that was here when we moved in.  I'm not crazy about it... at all. And it's placement in the middle of the backyard really bugged me.  Here's a photo of it during last Easter's egg hunt ----->



Before



After

<--- Here's a close up so you can see how the cement is supposed to be a tree trunk with butterfly and squirrel on it.

When I found a can of spray paint that was "Oil Rubbed Bronze" in Mike's workshop, I figured I'd give it a shot (can't get any worse than it was!)



I also moved it from the middle of the backyard, over to next to the Well House.  The photo is dark, but it blends much better here & looks more "woods-y" than it did with the cement patina! 

                                   So, I'm still not in love with it, but it's growing on me!

And an inside project:

Remember that the office is acting as a closet for now...

Well in July, I had gotten these garment racks to store our clothes on, and while they aren't very pretty, they kept the clothes off the floor.

Until I heard a crash one night- what a mess! 

The bottom bracket broke right in half.  I should probably bring it back- I really didn't have it overloaded.  But I found a new system on sale ($25! though didn't include the top bar). 

Mike installed it, and it's MUCH more sturdy! 

So, until we get around to building a real walk-in closet, this will do!

Check out how the hardware on the door pops since it was painted black!

Meet the Kids!

Our family has grown... by two kids!

Introducing: Tink & Buck!

Okay, so the introduction is a bit overdue... they came with the house, so we're 4 months in! 

The back story: Once we went to contract on the house, the owner asked us if we'd want to keep their two goats.  One is a Nigerian Dwarf goat, the other's a Pygmy goat.  They had been 4H goats & were hand-raised by her daughters.  Mike & I discussed it and figured that with all of these barns, we should have some kind of animals- and these guys are really cute!

We've also welcomed two barn cats into the family- Jack & Jill.  They're kind of elusive... I was only able to get pictures of Jack.  Jill ran off as soon as I whipped out my camera.  (I will continue to try to get a photo & will update this post when I finally succeed!) 

They love us though- judging by the lovely half-eaten gifts they've left on the path to the barn!

Believe it or not, the cats like to spend their days lounging with the goats in their fenced in yard!

And the real reason for bringing all this up, is to start off the barn summary/To-Do list! 


This is the goat barn, which is in pretty good shape...

You can kind of see where we need to fix the door on the far left that goes from their stall to their yard.  It's gotten a bit wind-blown lately (thanks, Irene!)

And we would like to add a barn door to the big opening on the front right of the barn (used for storage)- I'm pretty sure Mike could build one, but we need to figure out if it's worth the effort of a DIY project.

The inside of Buck & Tink's humble abode:



Their yard



Mike is generally in charge of the barn stuff, however I really wasn't thrilled with his decorating choices.


  He originally put this deer skull on the wall inside the goat barn, but I made him move it outside.
(It was part of the deer carcass he found, briefly mentioned here)
It was really creeping me & the kids out- and I'm sure Buck & Tink didn't enjoy it hovering over their feed can.  GROSS! 

There's also a chicken coop in this barn, though it needs some serious cleaning before we fill that vacancy! 

A few questions about this...

Can you paint the inside of a chicken coop, or is that bad for the chicks?  Will they eat/peck at it? 

Anyone with advice, feel free to speak up! 

With all of the other projects we've got coming up, I'm thinking this will wait to spring anyway- so plenty of time for me to do a little research!

So, that's the extent of the work we're looking to complete on this outbuilding...

-Fix goat door
-Add big barn door
-Clean (paint?) chicken coop

Sharing the love


A day in the life of
Tink & Buck



Walking the goats








How about a little goat trivia?

K's idea of "Get your goat!"

Get Your Goat- to aggrevate someone.

The saying "Get Your Goat" supposedly originated from the early horse racing days, where goats were kept with nervous race horses to keep them calm before the race, and if you wanted to beat the competition you would get their goat causing their horse to become agitated & unable to race! from http://www.urbandictionary.com/