We met with an architect, James Meyer of Leanarch, today to talk about our home addition. He seems like exactly the kind of guy we're looking for. As Erin puts it, he's a proponent of the holistic, big picture approach. Someone who'll help us turn our small house into a slightly bigger, much more functional one. Oh, and with a dash of style and a pinch of modernity. Here's an example of their work that I like:
Our house is a 1939 three-bedroom, one-bath ~12oo sq.ft. bungalow. We've owned it for five years and in that time we've remodeled the kitchen and bathroom, added central air, new roof, new pipes, rewired it and a few other things. None of that changes the fact that it's a bit too small for our growing family.
Here's our current wishlist:
- add an entry way with coat closet
- new fence and gate for the front yard (Erin wants to have a place for our son to play during the lengthy construction process. Stay-at-home moms are clever like that.)
- blow away the wall / fireplace to make the living room bigger, better, faster & stronger; maybe adding built-ins for TV and related parasitic electronics
- add a project room for computers, filing, making stuff, romping, etc.
- add a small bedroom for some as-yet-unconceived (I think) child
- staircase going up to the...
- ... master bedroom/bathroom/reading nook/walk in closet/ninja training facility/deck
2 comments:
Wow! How exciting. I love the anticipation, excitement and energy surrounding additions and renovations of homes.
I thought I'd pass along a surprising, yet thought-provoking first question our architect asked us when we talked to him about adding on to our house: "How's your relationship with each other? I ask because additions are one of the biggest reasons for divorce." Hmmmm....this made us think twice about inviting the chaos of active construction into our house. While this didn't stop us from renovating our kitchen, it did remind us that patience with each other would be important during that ever-so-trying time of construction within our home. So, I pass on a thought to you guys: be extra patient with each other during the difficulties and issues of the addition.
Have fun with the planning, and good luck with the construction phase! I'm sure it'll all turn out wonderfully.
This is great advice, methinks. We're already planning for Erin and our son to go stay with the grandparents for a month or two during the "worst" of the construction. Is there such a thing?
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