Practicality

prac·ti·cal·i·ty /ˌpraktiˈkalətē/ 

Noun

1. The quality or state of being practical. 
2. The aspects of a situation that involve the actual doing or experience of something rather than theories or ideas.

In all reality, I should be looking for a houseplan like this one from Dream Home Source. In reality, you can find this plan on practically all of the house plan sites.  

 I'm not saying this house is awful.  It's quite charming in some respects.  But it just screams practical.  It has one level, and it is very square.  It would probably be the most cost effective plan I have pinned thus far.  But It doesn't have that WOW that I am hoping for.

There is adequate space for our family of 4.  3 bedrooms and a nice bonus room as well.  The layout isn't too bad with the master on a separate side from the kiddos rooms.  But it just screams practical at me and for now I am sticking to dreaming.

Plans-A-Plenty

The Potter's House from Southern Living

Front of House

 Rendering

2nd Floor

First Floor

I really like the Southern Living house plans.  This one has a great porch.  The main floor Master bedroom has awesome closet space and bathroom.  I think it would work nicely with my dreams of the perfect bathroom.  I love how the second floor has a space that we could turn into a secret hideout for the kiddos.  I'm thinking hidden doors in the toilet room and decorating Peter Pan style!  I would definitely use the dining room/study space for an office/craft room and add some doors to keep the craft mess hidden away.  The powder room just off the entry is wasting space with that toilet, I would move it over to the same room as the sink and add to the closet.  I would push the wall of the laundry room into the closet by the porch in the master bedroom to give more space for folding. I'm not 100% sold that this is the plan though.

You can check out my Pinterest Board for other plans I find acceptable!

What? A new housplan?

That's right, I've changed my mind again.  I do realize that at some point if I do build a house I'll have to actually pick one.  And yes, part of me is terrified that I'm going to pick the wrong one.  But, we'll deal with that when the time comes.

Main Floor

Of course it has an open floor plan.  I love that look.  I really like the Office for my own little craft room.  I also like that it is not too big and not too small.  Just right for our family of 4.  Of course I'd make some changes to the kitchen layout, can't find perfection in any plan, but not a lot.  I prefer an island to a bar so I will have to work some photoshop magic on this image to create what I want. I love the size of the pantry, but I'm not sure if it would work in the layout I'm dreaming up...  I really like the laundry/mud room area.  It is perfect for when the kids come in all muddy or wet, they can just throw their wet stuff in the hamper.  With the powder room right there it makes for a great clean up area for our plethora of outdoor activities.

Second Floor

I know Hubby would love to have our room on a separate floor from the kiddos, but when you're on a budget you have to let some things go.  I personally don't mind because it's less of a walk when I have to get up to help them with something in the night.  I love the open foyer with a nice shelf at the top to put up some nice decor items.  That will be awesome. I'm envisioning a larger shower in the master bath, but it looks like there is space for that. I'm thinking E will get the smaller room since I plan to utilize the upper part of the house for her loft to give her more space.  N would really like that window seat in the larger bedroom. I love the balcony off the master, but the door placements in the room leave a curious predicament for where to put the sweet king size bed that I miss so much these days.  I'm thinking move the double doors over to the right a bit and reduce it down to a single door.  That will give me the wall space I want while leaving the area over by the balcony open for a nice love seat and table for some relaxing. I love, love, love the bonus room.  A place for the kids to watch movies, play games, have parties, and maybe even E can teach dance up there when she get's older.  It would be a great space to have.  I might have to steal a chunk of it for a walk in closet for E's room though.  That girl has a lot of stuff!

There are a couple versions of this house built and I love them both.  I think I would go with the attached garage though because I love that big bonus room accessible from the upstairs. I love the colors of both the versions of the house and it's going to be hard deciding what to go with.  Most likely green since that's my favorite color.

That's where I am right now.  I'm sure I'll look at others in the next year or so, but this one is definitely a contender.  I hope we'll be able to find the perfect lot to fit our perfect house where we can grow old and never move again.

Dream Big

We have been living at my parents for 5+ months now and saving is proving to be more difficult than I thought.  Don't get me wrong, we have put away more than we ever had saved before, but at this rate we will be here for years in the plural to get where we were hoping to be in a year.  But you know me I like to dream big so I am just hope, hope, hoping that we will figure out a new way to save more money.  Or win the lottery, whichever, I'm flexible.

So to continue on my DREAM BIG plans I have found a new house plan.  (I know it's a big shocker.)  This one is more of one of those Dream Home plans that would most likely require a lottery win to allow it to come to fruition, but I'm dreaming big today.

This is a digital rendering of the front of the house.  It's pretty awesome what they can do these days with technology.  When I was studying drafting this would've been a sweet pencil sketch.  It looks so realistic, right down to the plants and grass.  AMAZING!  I am currently looking at blue for the house color, although I do love the cedar shingles on this house. It's just not to practical in the freezing winters of good old Utah, so Cement fiberboard siding is what we will be using.  You can't see in this pic, but this house has 4 porches, including one that is screened and a Pergola patio.  (Did I mention Dream Home?)  Now on to the main floor plan.

Looking at floor plans makes me miss my drafting classes.  I wish I would've kept them up, but life is what it is and I love mine so "Oh Well."  I love the master bedroom and bathroom in this plan.  The bathroom has a giant shower that would totally accommodate my double shower heads and wall sprays with a bench, the wish list goes on and on and on... But then you add a fireplace and a deep tub in the middle.  Oh My!  It seems a little excessive to have 3 sinks in one bathroom, but luxury is luxury.  I'm not in need of a formal dining room so I imagine I would use that space as a sitting area for those very few visits we get from people every year.  Plus I could have an awesome themed Christmas tree in there every year!  (Good thing my hubby doesn't read this blog.) The home office would be designated as my craft room/computer room.  I love the back porches and patio.  I love to entertain and this combination works for the many different seasons Utah has to offer.  I do think I'll move the fire place over to the corner on the left so it can be used on the patio and the screened porch.  I envision lots of fun parties outside at this house.  The mudroom and laundry room area are so big I just don't know what I would do with all that space.  Oh wait I would love it!
Now if only I can get hubby's Dad to build this for us at cost (hey I'm dreaming here...)

The second floor has two bedrooms for the kiddies with a shared bathroom.  I like how they each have their own toilet and only share the bath/shower room.  That will make it easier for them to get ready in the mornings.  Especially since at the rate we are going they'll be teenagers before they have this bathroom.  Now as for that awesome bonus room with balcony over the garage.  This has so many possibilities.  We could convert it into an apartment and make a little money to help with the mortgage.  I mean who wouldn't want to live in that sweet space?  Or we could look into making it into a fitness and play room.  What fun!

Hopefully I don't run away screaming from living in our current situation and we make it to our goal.  

On that note, here's to dreaming. What does your dream home look like?

This house plan can be found on Architectural Designs.

Moving

We are finally on the path to home ownership.  We have decided to move in with my parents so we can save up for my dream home.  I know I could probably settle and get something now, but I am determined to fulfill this dream of mine.  I have been looking at lots in Summit Park in Summit County.  It is so pretty up there and right now land prices are insanely low.  I have of course moved on to a new house plan.  I like the porch and the open layout.

This house is from the Southern Living House Plans website.  They have so many beautiful plans with big porches and open floorplans.  It is amazing.

The main floor has a great open floor plan with the Master as the only bedroom.  This is something J wants is a Master on a separate floor from the kiddo's rooms.  I also love the u shaped kitchen on the back of the house that looks out over the yard.  Great for watching the kids play while I cook.  The plan also has a screened porch, which I love.  The only thing missing is a fireplace attached to the porch for those cold winters.  But, I think that can be easily remedied.

On the second floor there are two bedrooms, both with their own bath.  E and N love that they would have their own bathrooms in this house.  I think it will be a pain to clean, but maybe I'll be able to teach them cleanliness and responsibility for their own bathroom...  I love the playroom on the second floor.  It has a perfect spot for a hidden room (storage) and they could watch movies up there and keep all their "things" upstairs.  What a wonderful plan!

I am excited to start a new journey in life.  Living in cramped living quarters (again, ah student years how I never wanted to revisit your small spaces...) will be hard, but I am so very determined to meet this life goal that I am ready for anything.  I hope we learn to appreciate how much my parents are helping us out and think of that when we want to scream.

Decisions to Make

I am constantly changing what I want to do with my business.  I am obsessed with house design and decorating, I love to plan events, I love to paper craft.  I need to sit down and seriously come up with a business plan so I can do this thing.  Wish me some luck!

New Favorite House Plan

I know, I know.  I change my favorite plan all the time.  What can I say, I love house plans.  The main reason I studied drafting and architecture was houses.  They speak to me.  I love the lines and the character that you can get in the design of a house.  So with that said, here is my plan of the day:

We have been looking at lots in a mountainous area with lots of pine trees and snow and I feel this plan would fit the area better than the coastal plan.  The lots are narrow and so the other Designs for Living plan is much too wide to fit.

There are a few modifications that I would make (of course), but for the most part I really like the open layout.  Instead of a garage in the back I would have a large covered porch for some outdoor living.  I would also like to add a fireplace to the master/porch area so there is one in the house somewhere.  Winters can get cold in the mountains and it would be nice to have one.

The second floor has the most changes since it is mostly unfinished in this plan.  

I would start by adding a wall to the unfinished bonus space and add a closet for E's room.  Then I would add 3 walls and make a bit of a funky shaped room for N (which he would love).  The remaining space will be their play/bonus room for toys and movie night and such.  The bathroom would need to have the change from a shower to a bath, I'm hoping plumbing drawings won't have to be updated, but I'd need to see the actual plan before that could be determined.  

I am still keeping the dream alive and in April we're going to take a giant leap closer to home ownership!