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My husband and I are looking to build OUR home within the next 12 months so we have started seriously talking about the layout and features of our home and what we would like it to be.
Cripes, what a process it seems yet we want so little in comparision, so let me expand a wee bit.
We have decided on a Metal Building instead of traditional home materials.
He loves basements I do not so the compromise is to build a portion of our home in the side of a hill and I am good with that. The rooms will be "in" the hill with bigger windows above for natural lighting. Sort of a basement without being a basement if that makes any sense at all.
We both want a big enough building to house all of our vehicles, inside, all the time. Said vehicles are a Suburban, Pick Up Truck, Motor Home, Semi Tractor/Trailer, Cadillac (I inherited). In addition to the normal spaces for above mentioned vehicles we would like to have at least one bay with a gravel floor to change oil or work on vehicle without fear of leaking yuck onto the concrete floor of the garage.
We want two bedrooms separated in the home, one will be ours with a master bath and parlor (so to speak), the other bedroom will be for guests with the main bath easily accessible from the guest bedroom.
The "living area" is the main focus for us though, we want one big room for kitchen, dining table and living room/family room area. That way when we have guests we can be in the same room yet doing different things.
I dislike window coverings and appliances that stick out from the wall so all appliances will be built into the walls as well as cabinets, pantry and book shelves, dressers, drawers etc. all of that will be inside the closet and anything that can be built in will be built in, no wasted space when it comes to the walls. I want photos to be made so they are built in over all with a shelf unit behind them. So you would open the door with the photo on it much like you do your medicine chest. The windows I want have no window dressings at all but they do have a button that turns the panes opaque so you cannot see through them but I would also be happy with the windows that have the blinds inside them.
I want two laundry areas, one for us in our master bedroom area and one for guests to use or for work clothes that are more grimy/greasy than our normal daily wear.
In the middle of this entire area I want a screened in porch type area with a smallish built in pool. This area will serve as a breezeway type area to separate our master bedroom living area from the rest of the home. That gives us privacy when we have overnight guests and it gives them the same amount of privacy without cutting them off from laundry, kitchen or television if they choose to watch after we got to bed or using the pool if they choose to.
My apologies for the length of the post however, I am forgetting things and perhaps someone knows of a better way to build the interior or exterier than I am seeing.
You should look to the wonderful, creative and sustainable home designs of the very talented Texas architecture firm of Lake Flato for inspiration. They are amongst my very favorite firms in terms of creating very functional and inspiring places to live; utilizing different construction techniques, materials and designs that are especially in tune to their natural environment and climate.
They have built several structures re-utilizing the steel framing from obsolete industrial buildings to create compounds of huge, open screened areas with delightful, cozy structures inside or alongside for sleeping and services.
You won't be able to recreate what they design on a tight budget but you should garner more than a few ideas to consider.
We have decided on a Metal Building instead of traditional home materials.
Execellent choice. Steel studs? That is by far the best option today. Modern lumber is pretty much garbage. Look at a hurrican picture, the steel stud homes are usually unscathed.
He loves basements I do not so the compromise is to build a portion of our home in the side of a hill and I am good with that. The rooms will be "in" the hill with bigger windows above for natural lighting. Sort of a basement without being a basement if that makes any sense at all.
I love having a basement. It is always around the same temperature down there. It is easy to have a home theater if you have a part with no windows.
We both want a big enough building to house all of our vehicles, inside, all the time. Said vehicles are a Suburban, Pick Up Truck, Motor Home, Semi Tractor/Trailer, Cadillac (I inherited). In addition to the normal spaces for above mentioned vehicles we would like to have at least one bay with a gravel floor to change oil or work on vehicle without fear of leaking yuck onto the concrete floor of the garage.
Detached Pole barn. If you want it connected, build a breezeway. See the thread on attached garages for why detached is a better option. With a pole barn you can have a high enough roof to put in a lift. If ugly is a prblem, plant trees around it.
We want two bedrooms separated in the home, one will be ours with a master bath and parlor (so to speak), the other bedroom will be for guests with the main bath easily accessible from the guest bedroom.
Might want ot attach the main bath to the guest bedroom. Otherwise they have to walk around your house in their underwear if they wake up needing to go in the middle of the night.
I dislike window coverings and appliances that stick out from the wall so all appliances will be built into the walls as well as cabinets, pantry and book shelves, dressers, drawers etc. all of that will be inside the closet and anything that can be built in will be built in, no wasted space when it comes to the walls. I want photos to be made so they are built in over all with a shelf unit behind them. So you would open the door with the photo on it much like you do your medicine chest. The windows I want have no window dressings at all but they do have a button that turns the panes opaque so you cannot see through them but I would also be happy with the windows that have the blinds inside them.
Neat! It will be cool to build a house with no budget constratints. You can buy really neat secret doors from a place in Texas (use google to find it). They have doors that are bookcases, cabinets, spice rack, a bar, all kinds of things. They have catches that open by pulling a book, lighting a fire in a fireplace, or arranging chess pieces in a certain position. You can do lot of neat things.
In the middle of this entire area I want a screened in porch type area with a smallish built in pool. This area will serve as a breezeway type area to separate our master bedroom living area from the rest of the home. That gives us privacy when we have overnight guests and it gives them the same amount of privacy without cutting them off from laundry, kitchen or television if they choose to watch after we got to bed or using the pool if they choose to.
Probably should have an openable carbonite roof over the pool as well. It will keep it much cleaner and allow you to swim on cold days.
Some additional suggestions: Install two tankless gas water heaters, one upstairs, one down (or on either side of the house if not upstairs). Use thermostatically controlled shower valves. BUild a sun room. Freplaces should be custom designed to acutally make heat, rather than for decoration. Safety nannies have rendered modern fireplaces useless. Consider putting in an elevator for when you get old. Ther make an air powered one that runs in a clear tube (like one of those old message systems or the old drive up at banks). If you go two stories, but a balcony off your bedroom over the pool. Put glass all the way around the central courtyard like an Eichler home. Use quartersawn oak for moldings, mantles and doors. Consider sound dampening in bedroom walls, cieling and floors (much easier if you do it during construciton) and the theater or game room.
Coldjensens, excellent ideas and thank you for taking the time to reply. Ugly is not a concern overall on the building and I very much dislike anything planted where I have to mow, my husband teases me all the time about my being quite happy living on a golf course, football field or any open space without flowers, bushes, or trees. I like nice clean lines inside and out and anything that can be built in the walls will be for the extra storage as well as no wasted space. I also forgot to mention all doors will be pocket doors, I really really dislike any sort of door that opens into a room the traditional way.
We built our first home when we were young. The next one will be different. We didn't allow for aging. We learned that 3' wide halls were not adequate when the emergency people couldn't get the stretcher in and out easily. Before you build, please check to make sure you can 'age' in your home. We will be building again because we didn't consider this.
Thats a lot of garage. Do you imagine the vehicles parked into the hill and the living space above? Do you have a site yet?
Would there be any possibility of selling in the future, because if there were I would consider a room that you could call a third bedroom.
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