After studying your entire ideas and enter, and speaking with Matt concerning the execs and cons of ready vs. not ready on the addition, we’ve determined to place the wheels in movement proper in the beginning of 2023.
Loads of you introduced up some actually good factors. First, contractors are by no means going to be accessible instantly after we determine we’re prepared to maneuver ahead. We could possibly be on a ready checklist for six months or longer. They might not even be capable to begin till June and even later within the yr.
And likewise, as so a lot of you identified, simply because the addition is constructed and prepared for me so as to add the ending touches, that doesn’t imply that I’m obligated to begin on it ASAP. If I’m not prepared, I can wait till I’m prepared.
However a pal of mine additionally introduced up an excellent level. As she was leaving our home the opposite day, she stated, “Kristi, why do you park the van in entrance of your studio when it’s a must to drive round to the again to place Matt within the van?” I defined that when it rains (and it had poured down rain that very morning), the aspect of the home will get actually muddy to the purpose that I’ve gotten my automotive caught within the mud over there on a couple of events. So if it rains actually exhausting, Matt is caught at dwelling as a result of I’ve no strategy to drive to the again since we have now no driveway but.
She stated, “Properly, that alone looks like a very good motive to get the addition, after which the driveway, completed ASAP.” She was proper. I hadn’t thought of that.
And one last level that so a lot of you introduced up that stood out to me is that it’s extremely unlikely that the price of constructing provides goes to go down. And actually, the chances are high that the costs will go up. So it makes little sense to attend.
With all of that stated, I’m very excited to get the ball rolling in the beginning of the yr. I do need to handle my expectations, as a result of now that I’m in “ASAP mode“, I would like it completed NOW! 😀 However greater than doubtless, this will probably be a really slow-rolling ball. We’ll make preparations, after which need to do an entire lot of ready — ready for our flip with the contractor, ready for plans to be drawn up and submitted to the town, ready for permits, ready for constructing provides, ready, ready, ready.
So even with our new plan of getting this ball rolling ASAP, I nonetheless don’t count on to have the contractor portion of the addition completed till the tip of 2023 and even the start of 2024. Then I can take over and do my half till every room is completed. So in my thoughts, we’re nonetheless not having the complete addition completed till mid- to late-2024.
Anyway, that’s the plan. So naturally, I’m excited, and I’ve been wanting over the ground plan that I got here up with to ensure that it’s precisely what I would like, and that I don’t need to make any important modifications earlier than passing them off to a contractor.
The one query that also stays in my thoughts is that this wall within the kitchen. I’ve introduced this up in a earlier weblog publish (in 2018, I imagine), however I’m nonetheless undecided about whether or not or not I need a cased opening into the brand new household room on this wall.
As issues stand on the ground plan I’ve drawn up, the one entrance into the household room could be by way of the music room doorways. The music room is true subsequent to the kitchen, as you’ll be able to see by way of the cased opening on the proper within the image under.
Right here’s what the ground plan seems like if I preserve the kitchen as is. The addition will embrace the main bedroom, walk-in closet, laundry room, and household room.
However I’m nonetheless questioning if I need to put that cased opening on that again wall of the kitchen. Right here’s how it might look on the ground plan.
I do know that the instant response might be going to be, “However you’ll lose a lot storage!”
I actually wouldn’t, although.
Should you had been round again after I did the kitchen rework, you would possibly keep in mind that I used inventory higher cupboards for the decrease cupboards. Again then, I had by no means constructed cupboards earlier than, and I wasn’t assured sufficient to attempt to construct the cupboards for the kitchen. So I used to be caught making an attempt to make it work with the inventory cupboards that had been accessible.
To make higher wall cupboards work as base cupboards, and never have them look skimpy and disproportionate in a kitchen, I not solely constructed a base to set them on, however I additionally set them away from the wall fairly a bit.
So whereas these completed cupboards might appear like a regular depth kitchen cupboard (or near it), the within of these cupboards is just 12 inches deep.
On prime of that, eight of the cupboards are solely 12 inches large. That was a design mistake I’ll by no means make once more, as a result of 12-inch-wide cupboards are too small to be helpful for many issues. Dinner plates received’t even slot in these cupboards. I’m not even joking or exaggerating.
So whereas I completely love the look of this wall, I don’t just like the perform of those cupboards in any respect. I’ve discovered to stay with them, and I’m so grateful that I’ve the massive pantry to retailer overflow kitchen gadgets in. However in hindsight, I want I had made some drastically completely different design choices for this wall.
Placing a cased opening on that wall would give me the chance to redo the storage and proper my errors from eight years in the past. I did a really fast (and never so nice) mock up of what I’m pondering. I’d have two tall storage cupboards flanking the cased opening into the household room. (And no, our household room would look nothing like that. 😀 )
Such a storage, which might be deeper and have pull-out cabinets, could be far more sensible than the eight 12″ x 12″ cupboards that I’ve now that may’t even maintain a dinner plate.
The drawbacks? Properly, these embrace (1) having my now-finished kitchen underneath development…once more, (2) dropping what I feel is the prettiest wall of my kitchen (and that I actually have discovered to stay with), (3) arranging furnishings within the household room with an extra doorway (the extra doorways right into a room, the more difficult furnishings association turns into) and (3) opening up the road of sight from the road straight by way of the lounge, by way of the kitchen, and into the household room.
That final one is the most important subject for me. I actually like the concept of the household room being tucked away behind the home and never seen from the road, particularly if we’re in there at night time. (Sure, I understand I may shut my entrance front room shades 😀 , however I by no means do, and I in all probability received’t begin now.) But additionally, now that we’re having individuals in our dwelling extra usually, the concept of opening up that wall appears extra sensible and crowd-friendly.
I’m nonetheless undecided and weighting the professionals and cons of every design. That is the final huge resolution I have to make earlier than passing off the design to a contractor.
Addicted 2 Adorning is the place I share my DIY and adorning journey as I rework and adorn the 1948 fixer higher that my husband, Matt, and I purchased in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do bodily work, so I do the vast majority of the work on the home on my own. You can learn more about me here.
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