Right now the budget is feeling a little bit daunting. But....we really don't know until we can get the plans drawn up and start getting bids on things.
Listening to an old classic song I love ("Nothings Gonna Stop Us" by Starship - I know I'm a dork), there's a line in it that needs to be my new motto :) "We can build this dream together, standing strong forever, nothings gonna stop us now" Corny I know, but this is going to be a crazy journey and as my super supportive sister-in-law, Ami, says "You have to keep a smile in your heart throughout this whole process."
The plan is figure out the cost of materials and things that Mike cannot do; then fill things in that we can contract out to make things go faster as the budget allows.
A few plan idea's have been drawn up, but not one that I felt comfortable with and wouldn't feel like I was settling for. The other night I sat down with the computer and told Mike we are figuring this out once and for all! I've had this vision in my head for some time now of what I want it to be, all the plans I've seen so far are not that and I am determined to get what I want :)
So we did come up with a plan I love!!
I really hope we can get it to work out! It has that open concept that I want and all the things on my wish list. The kids rooms will be downstairs and we are still figuring out the layout for that.
You don't!! We bought our house with intentions of adding on in a few years, not to live in it the way it is forever. The house has tons of potential and lots of options for adding an addition......maybe that's the problem. We've been dreaming about this for 2+ years and now comes the time to figure out exactly what we want and put it in writing. Wow, this is scary!
The original plan was always to put on a second story and have only living on the main level. Right now while the kids are young, yes that is the best possible option and what I want - all the bedrooms together so we are close to the kids. But then I start to think about the future....when the kids are in their teens will they really want to be next to mom and dad? When they move out what will I do with all those bedrooms upstairs? Do we really have a budget to add that much space to the house? And so the big debate begins!!
We met with Lori, who will be drawing up the plans, this past weekend. Since then we have been coming up with different idea's that will suit our needs a little better. At the present moment we have decided to push the back out 12 feet and have 3 bedrooms down in the basement for the kids and have our master bedroom on the main floor. Completely different than what I visioned all this time! But when we really think about it, the idea works! The kids would all be together downstairs, there would be a family room down there, I think this will be ideal when they are a little older and have friends over, it would be their space. We would also get our space away from them and the house would be perfect and ideal when the kids move out. Less steps and the empty bedrooms would be downstairs and we could always change them into something else. I'm not a huge basement person so Mike had to do a little convincing as he grew up with a bedroom downstairs and played downstairs. I think I am fine with it as long as we put in large windows which will obviously have a big egress spot outside. So....this idea has really thrown me off since this is not what I pictured all this time, but it makes sense.
Now Lori is currently coming up with a few different floor plan options we will need to pick from. Then we decided we are going to file a variance with the city to try and put on the front porch that I want, otherwise it will just be a regular sized overhang and a deck on the front to look like a front porch.
So things are coming together a little, it's just really scary to think of deciding on an actual floor plan and sticking to it!!
The day has FINALLY come to start planning for our addition!!! We had John and Lori over tonight to start our planning process. Lori will be drawing up our plans for the addition. We discussed all options that we have in mind and how they may possibly work with the budget we have. Our budget seems large to me, but addition-wise may not cut it for what we want.
3 options we've been kicking around:
1) Add on 12 feet on the back and then a second story addition over the entire thing, adding 4 bedrooms upstairs.
2) Just going back 12 week, having 3 bedrooms on main floor, and still one bedroom in the basement.
3) Not go back at all but add a second story with 4 bedrooms.
Each option has pros and cons. I go back and forth if I want all 4 bedrooms together upstairs. It is ideal right now while the kids are small, but time flies and I fear when the kids are in their teens they will be in the phase of I want to be left alone and would love to be in the basement away from mom and dad; and when we are older and the kids are moved out, what are we going to do with all those bedrooms? I love the idea of a big rambler, I love our closeness now.....ok we have a little too much closeness now because it is so small, but things are simple and all right there.
Lori came up with a 4th option tonight that I really like and never considered. Going back the 12 feet, adding a second story with 3 bedrooms (dormer style), and having a master bedroom on the main floor. I love this idea! The kids are all together and we have our own space! When they are a little older they will have each other and not mom and dad next door! So I can't wait to see what Lori comes up with!
Mike and I toured some renovated homes on the Parade of Homes tour this past weekend. I found one that I absolutely fell in love with the style and want my house to look exactly like it!
The builder is: http://davealanhomes.com/ The address is 4012 Kipling Ave, Edina. Of course the website does not have pictures of that exact house, but I will be stalking it to see if they add any :)
It had beautiful dark wood floors, with a dull finish. All white trim, open concept. The stairs going up and down were also the dark wood with a carpet runner down the middle. On the landing going upstairs there was a built in book shelf and window above it - I absolutely loved everything about the house!!! It had so much pretty detail! And of course it had a front porch which is what I want the most!
Our addition is finally in sight!!! We have a budget and are now figuring out how to make our wants and needs fit into it. So stay tuned to hopefully a lot of planning posts coming up!!
Today marks the day that we have finally finished business with our old house. 2 YEARS LATER!! What a ride it was, I'm so glad to close that chapter and move on! It's fitting to now be making plans for the addition, our original hope was to wait about 4 years before doing it, but things seem to be falling into place sooner, which is very welcomed! When this process started we had 2 kids, plans for a third but since we didn't have that 3rd in the making yet, out of sight out of mind was hard to picture in a tiny little house! So....I am very ready for this!!
