Making changes to your design / floor plan

Current Elevation

Original Elevation

As we speak, our designer is putting together the final plans for the house. Even though we had a very good idea of what we wanted when we first met with him, we still made numerous changes and after every change we thought we had the plans done. Good thing plans need to be submitted to the local authorities to get the proper permits now, or otherwise we'd probably be making more changes still.

Don't get us wrong. We didn't make our designer go back to square one with each change. More like tweaks. It sure is nice to be working with a custom builder that helps you create the house that fits your family's unique needs, and then gives the flexibility to make those changes. FOr example, last night, Jen and Sue (Charis' interior designer) were talking up a storm as Sue was helping Jen visualize how she would use her kitchen and pantry to make sure the layout makes the best sense.

The changes we made were mainly minor tweaks on the inside of the house, but we did change the front stone facade to a more contemporary craftsman facade, and are now changing the smaller screened porch with composite wood to a larger covered stamped concrete patio that stretches from the dining area to the end of the house and giving the in-law suite direct access to the patio as well.

Because our dream house is in a very lively neighborhood with lots of kids and very social neighbors, we wanted to incorporate a nice 'outdoor living space'. With the change of the front facade we already have a nice front porch and this last change will give us a large outdoor space in the back of the house as well for lounging, grilling, outdoor dining and outdoor socializing (while the kids are playing in the big, open back yard).

Later today or early tomorrow we'll add the full set of (final) plans to the blog. Getting closer to putting the first stakes in the ground. Maybe as early as 2 weeks from now...