Am I about to be the millionth person in your life, to tell you they are planning to build?… Yes! Exciting new things are around the corner. Among being busy with everyday life, and holidays, we have some other things we’ve been working’ on.
Fun News
We bought land.
Actually, it’s been over a year now since we purchased a couple acre trac of land.
Ha.
Now what?
Planning to build? Yes.
I’m so excited about it. But honestly when it comes to this topic, I feel like such a baby at times. Not the whiny kind, just the uneducated kind. 🤣 there is so much to learn. And TON of decisions to make when it comes to planning a build. On that note, we have found a few really good resources that I’ll share in future articles.
Home is where the heart is
When we bought our land, every time we’d go visit the property it felt like where we are supposed to be. Though we have contemplated an buying a house already built for now, every time we are there, we know our land is where we want to be.
It feels a whole lot like home. It is a bit country, but still has a couple of towns nearby.
And we know people in the area so I think that helps out as well.
So far we have connected water to the trac of land and plan to do most of the clearing ourselves (ahem, I mean Jonathan intends to do the clearing 😉 )
We know about where the house will be built and also where the septic lines will go.
House plans
Let’s talk all about house plans ~
Whether it is for ourselves or somebody else, house designs are so fun to look at! 😄
We found a house plan that we are super interested in from Drummond House plans. You can find it at this link here drummondhouseplans.com
… and actually they have a sale going on through November 28th!
Note: keep in mind that, while we are definitely considering this house plan, nothing is in stone, and a handful of the design choices mentioned in this post are not all solid decisions.
Many of the features will probably be basic to mid grade.
The awesome thing is, down the road we can upgrade certain areas, or add fancier focal points.
House Plan Basics
The plans include 2 Bedrooms and 2 Bathrooms, a laundry room, mud room, open concept kitchen, dining and living room all within just over 1600 square feet on the main level.
As time goes on we will want a bit more space, but this will honestly feel like a mansion to us for a while. 🤣
Customizations to the Plans
Basement
We have a small sloping hill on our property that would be cozy with a walkout basement. Which is perfect because this house plan already includes a basement in its design, though we are looking to change it to have a half basement instead of the Full Basement. We would leave it unfinished for now.
Once we’ve been there for a bit the idea is to finish the basement out for another bedroom, another bathroom and a bonus multitasking room For homeschooling or maybe even hosting small gatherings.
I’ve read where it is a good idea to wait at least a year for a basement to settle before finishing it out. Time will tell whether there are any leaky spots in the basement, especially in the wet or rainy seasons.
A few customizations
For the most part we are satisfied with the layout of this house plan, we only want to tweak a few things.
The front of the house
Although I really like the look that the set back side entrance gives to the front of the house, we would bring the outside wall and front side porch even with the rest of the footage on the front of the house, all so we can add a nice big pantry in between the mud room and laundry room. 😍 don’t you love a good pantry?
Flipping plans
We would flip the house from left to right giving the windows in the main part of the house a good view of the majority of our property.
Master bath
Im still figuring whether I like the two sinks separate…and a cross from each other..
It includes a custom shower, which we are both happy with. I think the esthetic of a stand alone tub is pretty, but if someone wants a bath, there is the tub in the second bathroom. ☝🏻
A few of the features listed and some fixture ideas
Kitchen
I definitely want a stainless steels sink and a sleek modern black faucet 😍 preferably with white marble Countertops.
In this plan, The kitchen as well as the living and dining rooms, will have a vaulted ceiling, and wood beams (I’ve seen diy faux beams built that look very real, but don’t have the weight or the price tag of regular wood beams. I am definitely looking into that.)
Living room – modern minimal profile black fan.
Dining room – open concept.
Master bedroom
– large windows for natural light and Large modern minimal non lighted black fan, and Can Lights.
Master Bathroom
A favorite feature of ours is the custom shower.
Another thing that is pretty nice about the layout in the master bathroom is that the toilet is closed off to the main bath area.
2nd Bedroom
A Built in desk or shelf next to closet – I think this is such a fun idea, and great use of the space,
Bath
For the kids bath we’ll just do a Tub/shower combo
Mud Room/Landing Zone
the mud room has a window to bring in natural light, so I think that adding a landing zone (wall) with a mail hanger, coat rack and a hanging plant, would be so fun. Something like this. The calendar is from girlfridayhome. Not an affiliate link but I do love the look!
Porch’s
This plan has a front porch expanding the width of the house and a large covered corner deck in the back.
Front Porch
4 ft wide porch by the length of the house, there isn’t anything quite like a welcoming front porch, either!
Back porch
I love the idea of a big back porch on the corner. With almost 200 square feet of covered deck, I’ll be dreaming of cozy porch ideas all winter long 😍 Cozy furniture with a blanket or two In the fall. Live plant and a grill area, such a fun space.
Basement
Unfinished for now – future place for homeschooling, guests and family fun
Exterior
White and black with stained wood posts and beams for porch
Black Metal roof? Just a few simple ideas..
Pantry
There are quite a few pins of pantries on my Pinterest account, stained wood shelves with counter tops, small workspaces with outlets, and more.
I’d definitely love nice lighting in the pantry to see all the goods’. (See what I did there?)
In all honesty as long as there is a pantry, I’ll be content 😊
Planning the Little Things
Natural lighting
We’re doing our best to think ahead. There are so many little things, like what direction the windows and doors point.
I love lots of natural light. Even with big windows if they are not placed optimally to the south, you will either get quite a bit of shade or if pointed to the west, summer afternoons will heat up the house really quick.
When it comes to natural lighting, I’m a bit obsessed. There is just something so natural about it 😉
If I had to choose I’d rather be a bit warm or not as energy Efficient and have beautiful sunshine than to be in a dark house.
Can you relate? Let me know in the comments! 😆
Lay of the Land
The land has quite a lot of road frontage, and while we have a 100 ft set back requirement, it will be kind of nice to build a good distance away from the road. Especially with a family.
I love the idea of the house kind set back on the slope, peeping out like a cozy little hideaway.
We will be planning to Set the house on the right hand side of the land just where it starts to slope down.
So our house will be on a slight hill, having sort of a valley to the left and the land curves up to a hill again.
It’s actually quite elegant, the slight slopes and knolls, with a few tulip trees, and a couple red buds, among others.
We are hoping to keep most of the tulip trees, as they are so picturesque.
thankfully most of the trees we will have to take to clear for the house, are not ones we would want to keep anyway.
House Planning Series
ThIs is the start of our new House planning and building series
I am looking forward to sharing this adventure, as well as any of the tips or finds we learn on the way.
till next time,
Lori
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Tags: Building a house, building our home, home design, House planning, raw land, single family home