Kitchen Sink

I mentioned when I explained the kitchen, that I was finally going to have a farmhouse sink.

I scanned this picture from a magazine YEARS ago (as you can tell). I hung that picture on my refrigerator to stare at every day. I loved the faucet, too. My mind has not changed these many years later. That sink will continue to be a love of mine (in the flesh).

When I really studied my floorplan, I noticed the sink did not line up with the range.

I knew this would bother me, so I decided to look into how to center it.

The sink was centered on the island, so maybe all it would take was to inch the island over a little so that the sink remained centered on the island and then the sink would also be centered with the range.

This felt much better to me.  This island itself would also be centered with the stove wall. The wall with the stove will be the only wall with a backsplash.

The wall with the fridge will have "Pantry" cabinets. It's so funny how I come up with ideas. I kind of know in general the direction I am going, but once I see a picture that helps relate my vision, I say, "That's it!" And that is what I said when I saw the picture below.

I might not necessarily copy the colors or everything about it, but as for the cabinets themselves and the wire on the door, that is it! I can already envision putting my cookbooks and wine glasses on the shelves; along with my mom's pottery, too. 

I hope you've had fun with me sharing all that goes on in my head. I'm so glad that I have kept a journal of thoughts. It's made the design process easier.

My Dream Job - Build A House

I went on a project hiatus back in February and filled my time working on a BIG project. I had discovered that I love the planning process just as much as I enjoy the project coming to fruition. To help me get through a necessary hiatus, I took on a project that involved a lot of planning, but it would be something I may never see. 

I designed my dream house, and it was so much fun. I lived and breathed this project for months. I created a package to show all the details and even made multiple floorplans. I didn’t have the right computer tool like an architect has, but I came up with a cool floorplan.

I used www.floorplanner.com. It’s free. It even creates a 3D view.

The 3D view helps you get a visual on hallway openings, door placement, window placement, etc. Some of those details are hard to see on a 2D drawing.

The only thing I wish is that it would create an outside rendition. All you have to do is tell it what type of house you want it to look like (Tudor, Craftsman, New American, Cottage, etc), and it would change the style of the exterior.

That was the main reason I used www.floorplanner.com because I thought it would. Oh, well.

Today I’ll share pictures of my dream house. This house has five bedrooms and six bathrooms. Enough space for three (or more) kids and my parents.

My current house is perfect in a lot of ways. It won’t be too big when my family is grown and left me, and the layout is what I fell in love with. Tudor is not my style of house, and the driveway could have been longer, but that’s all I’d change.

The dreamhouse’s garage is huge! Empty, it could fit five cars in there! I even added a small garage door to the back side so that a riding lawn mower could enter the backyard through the door instead of going the long way around.

And the driveway was long enough to hold six, possibly nine, more cars. With more kids and parents living under one roof, you need a place for the vehicles. (Looks excessive, but I was anticipating friends’ cars.) It looks junky when you have cars lined up outside your house 24/7, and it's a neighborhood covenant of ours not to have cars parked on the street overnight. I also added a semi-circle driveway in front of the house.

Originally, I had planned for the driveway to look like this:

I calculated the size lot I would need for this configuration and realized how hard it would be to find the perfect-sized lot to accommodate.

I had even gone so far to design the landscape already! That’s one of my favorite parts. I try to envision the views from inside that I want to create. I also took into consideration what views I wanted to take advantage of and what I wanted to obstruct. Of course, the landscaping is best done when the lot is chosen. I fictitiously picked a lot and designed according to it. Flipping the floorplan was the main change. You'll notice the flip in all the comparison pictures.

Since floorplanner did not come up with an outside sketch, I had to create my own.

That was the hard part. It was so hard to make it look like I envisioned.

Here was an actual picture that looked like the look I was trying to go for. Not the color, but the look/style.

Until I found this design, and knew this was the style. It was the only one Mr. JCrew and I could decide on. We liked everything about it.

Even the mix of stone with the brick. I like brick; Mr. JCrew likes stone, so this was our compromise.

Mr. JCrew and I came up with guidelines that a dreamhouse would have to fill:

• More bedrooms to accommodate more children
• An In-Law suite located on the first floor
• A larger shower than we currently have
• A space for all of Mr. JCrew’s books
• A wrap around porch
• A larger garage and a longer driveway
• Tornado Safe

I found an existing floorplan and made my tweaks. I used eplans to find a floorplan to modify. 

Finding a floorplan with an in-law suite is not impossible, but finding one with the suite on the first floor is!! Parents are older; they cannot be climbing stairs to get to their space! So, I looked for floorplans that had a guest bedroom on the first floor that I could convert: or space that allowed for an addition to be added easily.

The original floorplan had 15 exterior doors! That is WAY too many doors to be checking at night before going to bed! I eliminated 9 of those doors.

Mr. JCrew and I both want to be available to take care of our family and friends. The in-law suite would be for my parents, but we could take in anyone and everyone that needed it. I turned the extra bedroom on the first floor into a suite.

I almost added a kitchenette for the suite, but I wanted meal times to be a time of gathering. The kitchen and dining room would be able to accommodate everyone and no one would be eating alone. The openness of the kitchen to the family room is my favorite part of the house.

The side porch was my second favorite  part. They call it a Friendship Door. However, the original plan had three exterior doors on the side porch. You’d have to open the door from the garage, walk across the porch, and open another door to get into the house. Imagine yourself carrying groceries from the car; doesn't sound fun.

I took out the back hallway and added a door through the pantry for quick access to unload groceries. But I think I would add that hallway back in. I like it. Some may feel it’s wasted space, but I know I’d like the feel and look of it.

The Pool Bath, as I call it, had a shower. I wouldn’t ever plan on having a pool to maintain, so I eliminated the shower and exterior door in that bathroom. Showers would be in bathrooms near bedrooms.

The upstairs did not have many changes at all. There was only a shower in one bathroom, and I turned it into a tub/shower combo. I added more of a wall and door to the toilet portion of the other bathroom. Two boys would be sharing that bathroom, and if someone is using the shower or toilet, the other child can still go in and wash their hands/brush their teeth.

The front porch doesn’t look like there was much change.

1. Four sets for French doors were removed.
2. The front door was recessed. 
3. The opening to the dining room was widened.
4. The porch was extended to wrap around.

Now, I even revised my floorplan to be all on one level. I have gotten use to living on one level and I enjoy it. I like having the kids close by, especially when they are small. And if this were to be our forever home, I wouldn't be going upstairs in my old age. So, I toyed around with the idea of putting all the bedrooms downstairs. This meant we would lose the playroom (okay by me) and we'd lose the formal living room (also, okay with me). The office would then relocate to the area where the living room was and the new bedrooms would occupy the space where the study was. Doing this added about 12 feet to the width of the house. The only down-side to this floorplan in general is how wide it is! It's hard to find a lot in a neighborhood wide enough. But I still love the layout. I pretend to walk through the house all the time.

I really had so much fun planning this project. I took so much into consideration. Sometimes I wonder if I missed my calling. I get so excited seeing dirt trucks on a construction site. I even get excited seeing the road construction going on. Building a new road is equally as awesome as a new house. Especially, if you have to build it over a river!

I even took into consideration the building materials and making the house as green as possible. I would use ICF framing to ensure comfort control and strength during tornado storms. Instead of a a storm shelter, the whole house would be storm-safe! I would use brick instead of siding. It is more expensive, but less maintenance in the long-run. I would use the Icynene Spray Foam Insulation again in the attic. I would also use the automatic timers on outside lights and motion-sensor lights inside. 

Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF)

I would REALLY love to design and build a house for a builder. When I was planning my dream house, I imagined striking a deal with a builder and letting him show the house in the local Parade of Homes Tour in exchange for discounts possibly. It would be great advertising for the builder! All they have to do was execute the plan. I planned every little detail, so there would be no flip-flopping with decisions during the building process. I would LOVE the opportunity to work with a builder and use new materials and educate the community. That’s usually what showcase tours are about; thinking outside the box. I researched builders that use ICF and not many popped up in my area. However, SouthernConstruction is licensed and they are also a Southern Living builder. I like Jimmy Bryan Construction, but he's not worked with ICF. The quality of his work is fantastic and they have GREAT customer service!

I had put too much work into this, not to share. It may be a dream of mine, but maybe I can be a part of someone else’s dream, too!

I have come up with other floorplans that I may share later. This floorplan is the one I kept coming back to because I could envision how we would use the space efficiently.

The inside of the dreamhouse I envision looks the same as my house. This is home, so I wouldn't change a thing. Same colors, same furniture, same everything. The only thing I would possibly play around with was doing something different in the kitchen. I'm not a fancy person, so although my dream house is larger, it's not fancier. My home is comfortable and I don't want to take away that feeling. 

And when I say, "larger" I want to note that the dream house room sizes are the exact same as my house. The bedrooms are exactly the same size! I didn't want them to be bigger. They are big enough. The family room is bigger and we added the in-law suite and a playroom. Basically, it's the same rooms we currently have in a different layout  (combining my parents' house with mine.)

I really do get excited when any new house is being built. I don't necessarily have to live in it, just be a part of the process. A fly on the wall, even! That would be my dream job. Any local builders want to partner with me?

Knobs

Remember my grandmother’s comment I shared with you? “Buttons are just as important as the pattern.” I repeat this to myself all the time. Although my taste gravitates to the expensive side, I try to be frugal and make my own stuff that is similar. But sometimes, a splurge is worth it.

My kitchen cabinets came with these knobs.

There is nothing wrong with them. I could live with them. Just not for my entire life. Of course I found AWESOME knobs at a high price. But what do you know… I found a duplicate for much cheaper at Target!

Can’t really tell a difference!

They were an easy switch. I just unscrewed the old knob and screwed the new one on.

When it came to the drawers, I wanted an actual pull. I found these pull handles at Target as well.

This required two holes I had to drill. It wasn’t that bad. I just measured and drilled.

The finished product is just a little different. I think it goes with the house.

However, I’m not feeling the drawer pulls. They seem to weigh things down and are too chunky for my taste. They are just something else I will live with until I can change them.

Don’t worry, I’ve already found their replacement! Last year at the Parade of Homes, I walked into a house that had these dainty hanging pulls that were almost as wide as the drawer itself. I LOVED the look. But changing the pulls again would mean I need new face for my drawers (because of the three holes in the middle that can’t be concealed.

I’ll just wait a little while for this upgrade. It will probably happen when I get my new sink and countertops. Woohoo! Too bad that is years away.

In This Post:

Target: Liberty Hardware Round Bronze (8 pack); $20.99 each
Target: Rectangular Bin Pull (2 pack); $8.99 each 

My Dream Job

My mom and dad decided to move to Huntsville from Ocala, FL. My parents were raised in Jackson, Ms so the culture is not far off.  They chose to build a townhome with the same builder we used and made the big move in July of 2010. They stayed with us while their house was being built and they finally got to move in on March 25^th!

Although the process was long, I enjoyed designing her house and yard. Before she moved up here, she left me in charge to pick out all the details for the house. I loved it. We started with what she liked and disliked about my house, and went from there.

Living Room

Guest Bath

Guest Bedroom

Living Room/Kitchen

Glimpse of Dining Room

Master Bedroom (crib ready for Little JCrew!)

Everything turned out great. The colors and finishes inside were perfect. The outside was designed to make you look at it. The neighborhood was against having townhomes built. I admit, I was one of those that was not enthused about it. But as I learned about the floorplans and liked what I saw, I passed on the information to my parents and neighbors that the townhomes were not going to be bad.

To make sure that the townhomes didn’t get a bad rep, I pretended I was working in my dream job and started a plan for the curb appeal of my parents’ unit. My mom picked out an awesome floorplan that was an end unit. It has two porches and the front door is actually on the side of the building. Of course, the artist rendering of the floorplan shows landscaping will be done all along the base of the house, but we know that is not reality. The builder has a budget and does only what they want to do.

I came up with several drawings that got more and more involved with each revision. We used plants that I had experience with and plants I knew Mom liked. I was proud of our design, but knew it would be a lot of work for us.

Luckily, I knew the landscaper doing the job, and worked with them on the plan. We wanted to save them time and money with what they could do and what we needed. I didn’t want them laying sod in places we were planning to pull it up. And I didn’t want them wasting money on plants we were not interested in. I provided them a copy of our plan and they were able to lay sod only where we wanted it and bought plants they were allowed and were on our plan. It worked out so nicely!

Of course, the builder’s budget didn’t allow the landscaper to get all the plants we wanted. Mom and I bought the remaining plants to complete the yard. I can’t get over how well it looks.

Mom even found these sedum-type plants that have blue flowers. They weren’t on the original plan, but I love them! From a distance, they look like they are a blue bush.

I had left-over cobblestone from one of our projects that I did not need, so we used them to make a pathway to one of the porches. The porch is a beautiful place, but there was no way to get there.

How much do you love the lanterns added on the porch? I’m in love! I have them on my back porch, but they aren’t in symmetrical locations like this.

The fence was just added last week. The dogs now have a place to roam without leashes. We picked the iron fence because the space for the yard was so small, a wooden fence would look ridiculous. The yard should have been larger, but the builder decided to pour the sidewalk in the middle of the yard. Out of all yards in the neighborhood, the townhouses have the smallest yard, and they want to make them smaller with a sidewalk close to the house! Doesn’t make sense.

I’m so happy for my parents! It’s such a nice place and what such a great deal. Best part… they are only 0.5 mile away from us!

In This Post:

Lanterns: from Old Time Pottery

Plants: Fragrant Tea Olives, Indian Hawthorne, Limelight Hydrangea, Sunny Knockouts, Blue Rug Juniper, Holleri Holly, Loropetalum, Maiden Grass, Double Red Knockouts,

Trees: LaceLeaf Japanese Maple, Natchez Crepe Myrtle, Osage Crepe Myrtle

Stone: Tennessee Cobblestone from Across the Pond