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That is a great point about the outlet. Obviously along the walls and there will have to be some in the floor. We have not seen great solutions for that, we will be doing hardwood. For lighting many have suggested battery powered leds.............
When the dead plug in the bathroom gets fixed, I want it moved up the wall to the mirror. It is barely off the floor, right next to the shower. The door on the shower has this magnetic closer and I've tried everything but it still leaks. And now the plug is very dead.
I know my bathroom was put together by someone with zero design skills, and we redid it replacing tiny bathtub with corner shower, but why would anyone put a plug next to all the plumming hook up so its bound to be next to either a bathtub or shower?????
I think one issue you bring up is the issue of your lot. What's on the sides - and what's in the back. We bought a relatively narrow but very deep lot. The houses next door are perhaps 20 feet away - but our rear yard goes on forever (like hundreds of feet). When we designed our house - with an architect - we wound up with almost zero windows on the sides - but tons in the rear. IOW - close to neighbors - but very private.
FWIW - our architect sited our house perfectly so we are honestly not aware of the houses next to us unless we're walking around the house outside. Architects are underused and under appreciated these days IMO. Robyn
Mine's been here since 1930, and its a shotgun style. The lots are more narrow and long and the one inbetween is houseless. I wish the county didn't have the cost of demolishing the house that was there (it was vacent and various mysterious people came at night, so it got taken down). Just the taxes in arears I could save up and buy it and have a wider yard.
The neighbor's kids play there and the adults like to sit in the shade on the side so if your window is uncovered you don't have any privacy. And I have one eye which didn't heal right after a catarac was removed and doesn't close to light, so I keep the light level inside comfortably dim. My greatest relief was when we finally got storm windows on the fully expose big picture windows on the nw side. I could just see some bit of tree break off and clunk, broken window.
Personally I can't wait to get the vines planted on the new chain link fence so my back yard will in time be private and green. But at least its a relief to have a fence.
Wow, I thought I was the only one who thought like this. When I mention my "aversion" to the open floor plans, I get looks that basically say "Are you crazy? Get with the times!". When we bought our current home in SC it was the same way. I avoided any floor plans with a totally open plan. If I could see the sink with some dishes soaking in it while sitting in the living area, that plan went out the door along with me. We finally settled on one that has a large opening between the kitchen and living room, which negates the excuse of people saying that they want to be able to talk to their guests, but I can't see the sink or the countertops. Plus I have the wall space on either side of the opening for cabinets. I also threw out galley style kitchens because if hubby is going to be retired he is going to help in the kitchen and I don't want to have to be constantly running into him while cooking.
And you are definitely right about losing cabinet space. We have been kicking around the idea of possibly moving closer to our daughter and went to the area to look at homes this week. The guy at one of the 55+ communities was so excited to tell us about the redesigned kitchen in the models which basically tore out a wall with 4 cabinets on it, tore out an "L" shaped peninsula with 2 cabinets under it, and only gave back 2 smaller cabinets and a narrow set of drawers, along with opening the sink to the living area and removing the only window because he had to move the stove there! He couldn't figure out why I wasn't thrilled. Hello?? Where is all the kitchen storage space? I don't like to cook and would love to eat out all the time so I could get rid of all my pans, etc., but that isn't reality. There was barely enough storage in the old version of the kitchen, much less the new one!
My kitchen is sort of like that. It has an arch on the one side. I'm planning some kind of sliding door I can still close. It has walls but no more cupboards yet. I'm probably going to do segmented shelves with real wood, not pressboard, and put doors on them. I took the little old bathroom vanity and made it a base for a small table sized island which sits in the middle. My counter is too high and I made sure this is just right for me.
My problem with doorless kitchens is I love cooking but I do NOT like to be interfered with. I am not going to carry on a conversation. I kick out the critters. I have all the stuff ready to go and cook. Mom was like this too. When she was cooking you did NOT disturb her. And in the winter when the air is cold and the kitchen gets too chilly, simmer some water on the stove and its warm.
No hubby anymore, but if there was I'd probably declare the kitchen out of bounds if I'm busy there.
Hi jack_pine - Is this a house you own currently - or one you're planning to buy/build? If the latter - I have a few comments/suggestions about the floor plan. If the former - hope it works for you. Robyn
Hi jack_pine - Is this a house you own currently - or one you're planning to buy/build? If the latter - I have a few comments/suggestions about the floor plan. If the former - hope it works for you. Robyn
Going to build....fire at will. The plan is from scratch and has gone through many revisions. Every time we show the plan folks have input. We usually incorporate some things.................I should also mention this has not gone under the architects knife yet. It will eventually.
Last edited by jack_pine; 05-29-2014 at 03:24 PM..
It's an interesting world and fascinating how many different tastes there are (and strongly held tastes at that).
We would not live in a house without skylights, ceiling fans and a pool.
Viva la difference.
It is interesting.
In two of our previous homes we had a jacuzzi in the basement, and we loved them.
So when we were drawing the plans for our retirement home, we brought another jacuzzi into it. Also my Dw insisted on a lap-pool so she could swim laps all winter. But this home is a lot better sealed and insulated than our previous homes, so we developed a problem with humidity and mold. We had to get rid of the jacuzzi, and scrub the plans for the lap-pool. We finally were able to gain control of the humidity But at the loss of the pool.
I like skylights, in the winters I want as much sunlight in here as possible.
I love high ceilings also. I spent many years living and working in environments where whenever my hair would start grazing the low ceilings and light fixtures we had, it was my indication to get a hair cut. Hair longer than about 1/2" would touch.
There are parts of New England where home heating can be expensive. This last year we burned through nearly 4 cords of wood. At $175/cord, that was almost $700 it cost us this past winter. You know that folks way up North had to go through a lot more too.
We hope to setup a Solar-Thermal array next year to hopefully cut our heating bill in half.
Going to build....fire at will. The plan is from scratch and has gone through many revisions. Every time we show the plan folks have input. We usually incorporate some things.................I should also mention this has not gone under the architects knife yet. It will eventually.
We have a bidet. If I were building today - instead of 20 years ago - I'd put in one of those Toto toilets that does everything except wash the floor when you're finished doing your business . Robyn
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. Robyn
