Our Choice Relating to The Addition (Plus, One Closing Undecided Design Choice)

After studying your whole recommendations and enter, and speaking with Matt concerning the professionals and cons of ready vs. not ready on the addition, we’ve determined to place the wheels in movement proper initially of 2023.

Plenty 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 record for six months or longer. They could 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 start out 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 mentioned, “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 facet of the home will get actually muddy to the purpose that I’ve gotten my automobile caught within the mud over there on a couple of events. So if it rains actually onerous, Matt is caught at dwelling as a result of I’ve no method to drive to the again since now we have no driveway but.

She mentioned, “Effectively, that alone looks like a great motive to get the addition, after which the driveway, completed ASAP.” She was proper. I hadn’t thought-about that.

And one ultimate 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 the costs will go up. So it makes little sense to attend.

With all of that mentioned, I’m very excited to get the ball rolling initially of the yr. I do must handle my expectations, as a result of now that I’m in “ASAP mode“, I need it completed NOW! 😀 However greater than possible, this will probably be a really slow-rolling ball. We’ll make preparations, after which must do an entire lot of ready — ready for our flip with the contractor, ready for plans to be drawn up and submitted to 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 anticipate to have the contractor portion of the addition completed till the top 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 total 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 make sure that it’s precisely what I need, 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 submit (in 2018, I consider), however I’m nonetheless undecided about whether or not or not I desire 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 can be via the music room doorways. The music room is correct subsequent to the kitchen, as you may see via the cased opening on the best within the image under.

Right here’s what the ground plan seems to be like if I hold the kitchen as is. The addition will embrace the master suite, 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 could look on the ground plan.

I do know that the quick response might be going to be, “However you’ll lose a lot storage!”

I actually wouldn’t, although.

If you happen to have been round again once I did the kitchen rework, you would possibly do not forget 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 have 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 to be a normal depth kitchen cupboard (or near it), the within of these cupboards is barely 12 inches deep.

On high of that, eight of the cupboards are solely 12 inches extensive. 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 realized to dwell with them, and I’m so grateful that I’ve the massive pantry to retailer overflow kitchen objects in. However in hindsight, I want I had made some drastically completely different design selections 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. 😀 )

Any such storage, which might be deeper and have pull-out cabinets, can 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? Effectively, these embrace (1) having my now-finished kitchen underneath building…once more, (2) dropping what I believe is the prettiest wall of my kitchen (and that I actually have realized to dwell 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 via the lounge, via the kitchen, and into the household room.

That final one is the most important problem for me. I actually like the thought 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 might shut my entrance front room shades 😀 , however I by no means do, and I in all probability received’t begin now.) But in addition, now that we’re having folks in our dwelling extra typically, the thought 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 large determination 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 may be taught extra about me right here.

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