Dear homeowners
- Thread starter vraiblonde
- Start date
Great ideas - I like a kind of rustic feel to a house.Mikeinsmd said:
Wow, you are lucky to be able to plan your house! 
Best of luck with it.
I have a formal living room, and a big dining room. I never use them, since my family is small; only use the dining room when my parents and my brother and sister come with their spouses. I DO have a huge eat in kitchen, which adjoins the rec room, all open across the back of the house. THat is nice because when people come they end up either in the kitchen or the rec room and everyone can hear and see each other, no matter where they are.
My Two car garage is great. Walk in closets in master bedroom. Large master bath and 1.5 other baths. Whirlpool tub is nice for when I DO use it for myself (about 4 times a year) but I give my kid a bath in there every night so it does get used. Bedrooms that are at least 12x12. A partially finished attic gives me additional storage (no basement).
Things I'd have liked to have: A stairway at the back of the house, not jumping out at you the minute you walk in the door (unless you will have room to plan a grander staircase within a foyer). Basement is something I miss, so is a mudroom. Oh, and I prefer 10ft ceilings instead of 8ft. I always would have liked to have the rooms divided by pillars instead of solid walls, gives the house a more flowy feeling and lets in more light and air movement.
A front porch is indespensible to me, as is a sunny kitchen, IF the house is facing the right way. Will you have a choice as to how your house will sit on the lot? To me, that is important - feng shui and all that - I love a sunny kitchen and rec room. The front of my house faces north west and the back where the kitchen, rec room, office, kid bedroom and other guest bedroom are faces southeast - lots of sunshine in the kitchen and the front porch is shady when afternoon comes.
Best of luck with it.I have a formal living room, and a big dining room. I never use them, since my family is small; only use the dining room when my parents and my brother and sister come with their spouses. I DO have a huge eat in kitchen, which adjoins the rec room, all open across the back of the house. THat is nice because when people come they end up either in the kitchen or the rec room and everyone can hear and see each other, no matter where they are.
My Two car garage is great. Walk in closets in master bedroom. Large master bath and 1.5 other baths. Whirlpool tub is nice for when I DO use it for myself (about 4 times a year) but I give my kid a bath in there every night so it does get used. Bedrooms that are at least 12x12. A partially finished attic gives me additional storage (no basement).
Things I'd have liked to have: A stairway at the back of the house, not jumping out at you the minute you walk in the door (unless you will have room to plan a grander staircase within a foyer). Basement is something I miss, so is a mudroom. Oh, and I prefer 10ft ceilings instead of 8ft. I always would have liked to have the rooms divided by pillars instead of solid walls, gives the house a more flowy feeling and lets in more light and air movement.
A front porch is indespensible to me, as is a sunny kitchen, IF the house is facing the right way. Will you have a choice as to how your house will sit on the lot? To me, that is important - feng shui and all that - I love a sunny kitchen and rec room. The front of my house faces north west and the back where the kitchen, rec room, office, kid bedroom and other guest bedroom are faces southeast - lots of sunshine in the kitchen and the front porch is shady when afternoon comes.
I'm glad you said that - I'm always surprised how many houses you go into that don't have a coat closet. It's easy to forget about it, I guess.Dymphna said:
K
Kizzy
Guest
elaine said:
I had a seperate dining room and a small eat-in kitchen, and I have to a agree, a big giant kitchen, which we have now, is great. I have a mud/laundry room now and that is terrific, before the washer/dryer was in the bathroom so timing was a problem. Steps, ug, I hate them, more now than every before, and I do wish everything was on the same floor. I do like open, for entertaining.
There have been some great ideas already expressed.
That's what I'm thinking too. And I'd like a wood-burning fireplace in the kitchen. Probably won't get it, but I toured a house that had a brick wall in the kitchen and a fireplace built in. It was so cozy I wanted to make friends with those people and eat breakfast with them every single day.elaine said:
K
Kizzy
Guest
vraiblonde said:
Or they forget to put a light in it.
Our coat closet doesn't have a light. 
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dems4me
Guest
vraiblonde said:
Have you decided to move down this way to Southern Maryland ?
That's an excellent idea - I like open spaces.AMP said:
here's the basic plan we used for our housevraiblonde said:
We made a few modifications along the way (bumping the front of the house out so it's straight across, adding a half bath, putting our woodstove in the LR rather than the fireplace, etc.) but it's pretty much looks like that. I even have a little solarium/office area between the LR and MBR.
Like I said, we looked at HUNDREDS of plans and marked the ones we liked. We narrowed it down until we found "the one." It's not perfect, but for our budget and needs, it definitely works.
K
Kizzy
Guest
grandpa said:
You never have enough room for that and a big space for a big frig.
No - we've got some land up here that we're building on.dems4me said:Have you decided to move down this way to Southern Maryland ?
morganj614
New Member
vraiblonde said:
That was what was behind our woodstove, a hand built brick firewall. The woodstove came in handy to cook on during the big ice storm and the doors could also be opened as a fireplace. Hardwood floors are great especially since the Swiffer..lol
That's what we did. Instead of solid walls, there are half walls so you can see everything in the main LR/kitchen/dining areas. There's also a counter with stools between the kitchen and LR, so you can eat while catching the news in the morning.vraiblonde said:
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dems4me
Guest
vraiblonde said:
How exciting!!! Hope it turns out just the way you want it
I like that! It looks more homey than some of the more contemporary/moderny designs you see.jazz lady said:
A must! Check.grandpa said:
K
Kizzy
Guest
elaine said:
Yep - agree