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4305. thoughtful - 7/25/2008 1:54:09 PM

From the back side, the full two stories are revealed.



Going across the upper floor is bedroom, dining room, kitchen, breakfast nook and family room. Deck will be off to the right behind the garage....where that concrete wall is.

Lower level is craft room, sliders to the exercise room (outside will be a patio) then guest room. Outside on the right under the deck will be the outdoor shower. YUM!

4306. wonkers2 - 7/25/2008 2:02:42 PM

Looks like a wonderful house on a beautiful site!

4307. thoughtful - 7/25/2008 2:37:42 PM

Thanks wonks.

I get so excited about this. It's amazing to have walked through the house so often in my head and now start to see it in reality. Everyone kept insisting that as the framing goes up and i see the actual rooms I'm going to be changing my mind and wanting to move things around, but so far it's been exactly what i expected. No changes needed.

Now we have to buckle down to go through all the rooms again to get a handle on the electrical and plumbing details. Lighting is especially critical to making rooms look right.

Any of you who are fans of Divine Design with Candice Olson...she redid a room in a basement that was only 12x14 and yet I counted 21 light fixtures in total! No wonder her rooms just sparkle!

4308. arkymalarky - 7/25/2008 5:35:49 PM

WOW!

When you know what you want and you've spent a lot of time planning it, walking through the frameup just reinforces it. To me, that's the most exciting stage of building a house.

Lighting and plumbing are so crucial. And H/AC vents, too. Our electrician is a good friend, and he walked us through every ceiling fan and every switch and light placement, how to divide up breakers, every detail. There are a few things I would change, but they are my fault, because he made the alternatives clear. Nothing that wouldn't be easily changeable, however.

Our H/AC guy asked if we wanted a vent in our closet. It would never have occurred to me, and I didn't, but I could see why he asked. Our carpenters did our plumbing. The best construction workers, beginning with the architect who draws up the plans plans, are those who bring up options you might not have thought of and then defer to what you want unless there's a real structural or functional problem with it.

I didn't want a garage. I told the carpenters to slap me something off the side of the house to park the cars under. They talked to Bob and then they all convinced me that the money a full two-car garage would cost would be well worth it in a lot of ways a carport wouldn't. If they hadn't broached the subject and had kept their opinions to themselves I'd have been disappointed in the result. A friend of ours suggested we add a foot to the planned width of the wraparound porch. That made a huge difference, and it never would have occurred to me to adjust the plans to widen the porch. Our porch isn't a show porch. We use it all the time. We'd feel cramped if we hadn't widened it.

4309. thoughtful - 7/26/2008 2:13:25 PM

Absolutely! That's why I always encourage as many people and as many eyes on the project as possible. You never know what idea someone might suggest that will make a huge impact on how the house works. I do find the whole process to be most exciting.

4310. thoughtful - 7/26/2008 2:15:27 PM

Of course, here in new england, a garage is a necessity and an attached garage totally desirable. Tho I'm amazed at my neighbors many of whom have their garages so packed with stuff that the cars are outside all the time anyway.

4311. wonkers2 - 7/26/2008 2:16:17 PM

Garages aren't needed for cars, as Frank Lloyd pointed out years ago, but they do come in handy for storing lawn mowers, yard tools, etc.

4312. arkymalarky - 7/26/2008 4:40:02 PM

I guess because of all the dust in west Texas everyone had garages, and carports looked really weird to me here in AR when we first moved here, but lots of people had them. We talked about converting our garage to a gameroom--until Bob got a new car. When I got a new car, a gameroom was fine. But it's good by me. We don't need a pool table, and we finally broke down after eleven years and put a tv in the living room. All the time we've lived here we each had our own room with our own tv, but we never watched tv together. Now it seems like that's all we do, but I'm enjoying it.

We've got that big barn and Bob mows with a tractor, so the cars actually stay in the garage. We could actually park them in the barn, but I'm glad not to have to walk out there to the car.

4313. iiibbb - 7/26/2008 5:54:29 PM

Done... well until I get the glass shelf installed.



4314. arkymalarky - 7/26/2008 6:20:49 PM

I love the finish!

4315. judithathome - 7/26/2008 7:41:02 PM

That table is gorgeous...you could always become a furniture designer and maker, 3i3b!! I absolutely LOVE your table!

4316. judithathome - 7/26/2008 7:43:10 PM

Our porch isn't a show porch. We use it all the time. We'd feel cramped if we hadn't widened it.

I'm counting down the hours until I'm sitting on that porch, Arky!

We are SO looking forward to coming there and doing absolutly nothing...just getting away from here and all the hustle and bustle is going to be a godsend this year.


4317. arkymalarky - 7/26/2008 9:34:04 PM

I'm so glad, because we've been looking forward to it, too! Especially since we didn't get to go to CO this year. We talk about it every day.

4318. judithathome - 7/27/2008 9:17:17 PM

Keoni has decided not to bring his clubs so Bob will have to put up with him all day on the day he usually golfs...ha!
Getting so sick from the heat last year and missing half the party gave him pause, that's for sure.

I heard it was supposed to get to 107 today...feels like it already HAS.

4319. arkymalarky - 7/28/2008 12:15:17 AM

The heat is very scary. Bob will be glad to have him around. And you asked if y'all could bring anything? RAIN! We are really getting desperate here.

4320. judithathome - 7/28/2008 4:41:59 AM

Believe me, if WE had any we'd be more than thrilled to share it!

I'm just packing those dresses like I brought last year...they're the coolest pieces of clothing I own and I want to stay as cool as I can. I know they look like sacks but what the hell...all my other clothes are too big now, anyhow...as I was told today by at least three people.

That's nice to hear but distressing to actually have to deal with...ha!

4321. arkymalarky - 7/28/2008 9:06:40 PM

Well, we may have to go shopping in Hot Springs!

4322. iiibbb - 7/30/2008 4:41:12 PM

The lion was in the news Wiz.

4323. iiibbb - 7/30/2008 4:42:09 PM

Well the link didn't work... but it was on the Today show... an interview with those guys today.

4324. arkymalarky - 7/31/2008 1:22:54 AM

That was the coolest!

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