What splurges in square footage do you love about your home?
T T
21 days ago
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Comments (19)
bpath
21 days agochispa
21 days agoRelated Discussions
Whats your non MB square footage?
Comments (19)we have 3 bedrooms aside from the master that measure 283, 254 and 215 sq. ft. the total sq. ft. is just over 3900. in my case, it is a vacation home (katrina replacement, nearly 18 months later and WE CANT WAIT!) that we are about to break ground on that needs to be able to sleep alot of people, personally i think if it is simply a normal living space without alot of guests in and out, the space is wasted above 200sq ft for 1 individuals non-master bedroom. IN actuality, my teens' bedrooms in our main home are only 150ish sq.ft. each and they have survived nicely. again, it is all personal preference, for us we like the communal space, but huge bedrooms can be very luxurious. GOOD FOR YOU, post pics when you get some. good luck to ya! building a house is such an exciting venture....See MoreTell Me about your garden. What do you love? What do you hate?
Comments (1)Um, this forum is about remodeling. Check out the Garden Forums for dozens of great garden topics. Click on "Forums" on the top off the page....See MoreHow would you increase square footage of this home...
Comments (39)I hear you, mrs pete. How would you change the garage entry/exit not to be through the kitchen. My front door is on the edge of my kitchen right now and I really don't mind. I like that my husband walks right into what we're doing at the end of the day, and we kiss him goodbye as he finishes breakfast. I'm not worried about tracking in mess or dirt from the outside very much. So is there something I'm missing? We might brush shoulders? No big to me. In all seriousness, I'd choose another plan with a better traffic pattern. The problem is that the kitchen is a busy area, and in an ideal situation you'd avoid running traffic through it. Someone walks in while someone else is opening the oven -- an accident occurs. The back door's left open, and it prevents the cook from using the cabinets on the end. The kids hear Dad coming in and run into the kitchen, getting in your way as you cook. It's easy to imagine any number of reasons why you don't want your main entrance funneled through the kitchen. Pictures always help -- first, this is your plan and the red line is the traffic flow -- note that a person coming in through the casual entrance must thread his way through the kitchen, cutting off the cook from the refrigerator and interrupting the cook's work, and even if we're talking momentarily, it's an aggravation that you can avoid: Now, in contrast, here are three kitchens from your plan's "first cousins" -- I'm not saying you should love these kitchens; just look at how much better the traffic pattern is. Note that each of these plans has a casual entrance through the porch, coming by the kitchen, allowing for the same family interactions that you described above -- but in each case, the person entering the house skirts the action /walks by without interrupting /is on the edge of things. No interruption for the cook. Personally, I like the last one best. You caught my attention with fire hazard. I have lived with my washer and dryer this way for a long time now, and I've also lived with a laundry room on the opposite end of the house. I prefer the close by, compact laundry areas. Is it really a fire hazard not to be on the outer wall, though? That's certainly something to consider. Think through it: In an ideal world, your dryer would vent directly to the outside. The connection would be about a foot long and straight. Lint would scoot straight outside. On the other hand, if you have an interior dryer, it must be connected through a longer tube, which means more space for lint to become "hung up"; this means every time you use your dryer, more and more lint is piling up -- and if you don't have it cleaned out every year, that lint can catch a spark as the dryer runs, and it can set your house on fire. The longer tube costs more to install, and you may or may not be able to clean it out yourself. I'm hearing lots of "this is what I've always had" -- I'll echo what CP says: Why go to the trouble of building and moving if you're looking to have what you have now? And beware of confirmation bias. I think you're enamored of this plan; look at it with objective eyes. Breakfast areas are such a joke to me. Why in the world would I want two tables. That's pure opinion. No positive or negative to it. My husband and I are choosing a dining room and a breakfast room because we're planning a retirement home. We want a large space for frequent family dinners, but we don't like the idea of sitting in that big room at a big table with 3/4 of the chairs empty. It would feel unsettling and empty to us. Worse than that, the reality is that I'm younger and in better health than my husband. At some point, I'll be alone in this house, and I really don't want to sit alone in a big dining room to eat my meals....See MoreWhat are you doing to make your house enrich your life?
Comments (38)I've been thinking about this a lot since it was first posted. I'm not sure I'll be very coherent, but my rambling will make sense (mostly) in my head. We bought this house/property 5.5 yrs ago, it was a neglected house, but the lot was to-die-for (middle of town, near a great park, LARGE (for in town), 7 minute commute to work, on a corner, with lots of mature trees). We stalked it for years prior while the old lady went off her rocker (sadly not exaggerating) as we lived just 2 blocks away. So that's part of our crazy plan- to not contribute to sprawl (it just makes me sad). I live in an area of the most fertile soil in the world- we should not be building houses here. So doing a demo/in-fill makes my heart feel a little joy. We want to create a legacy for our children. I know they may move away and not want this house when we die, but I hope it can be paid for and provided to them as an inheritance. Or maybe they'll want it b/c we're hoping it really creates a love of 'home' and family. We hope to do a lot of the work ourselves (being big DIYers and having done almost everything to the 2 homes we've lived in) and hope to involve the kids in some of that work so that they have some ownership. I really want to create a home with minimal maintenance as the last 2 homes have been non-stop with one thing or another. Like today when our kitchen sink was running slow and after snaking it it was fine- only to go to the basement and realize all water was now backing up from the floor drain. As if mowing, trimming bushes, and cleaning off the back porch from winter wasn't enough to keep us busy today. So new construction is a must. I get water in the basement every time it rains, the joists are termite eaten, there's adequate space (another 200 sq ft would be PERFECT), but it's not built for accessibility for overnight guests and my FIL is in a wheelchair (as is MIL, but she doesn't stay with us) and my mother has had 2 hip replacements and 2 spine surgeries. 1st floor guest room is also a must. When we bought this house we interviewed architects to see about an addition and major remodel- for 17K more the builder/designer could demo the existing house and build the same sq footage as a shell, BUT NEW (my eyes and ears and back like the sounds of that!). That sold us on living here and making do with 3 layers of wallpaper in the dining room, floor that are mushy, a 1 person kitchen, no tub, on and on and on. So we're living in the house until it's paid off so that we can get more of what we want. In the meantime we will continue to play around with plans and have done lots of reading and research. There are some things we'll be able to re-use- some light fixtures, the garage door opener, faucets, all the appliances, and I'm hoping to buy some things in advance and just store until needed. My husband and I agree on quality over quantity. We don't want a McMansion, we both want a rectangle (Colonial). Preferably one that's more energy efficient than our current home (not hard to do), and keeps us warm/cool/dry. A place to live in for as long as I can conceivably live alone (my grandma made it to 95 with her hardy Midwestern genes). The most current set of tinkering plans have very little in the way of compromise- I think if we can do that and actually build the thing we can call it a success and check something off our bucket list while drinking coffee sitting in our screened-in porch on a Sunday morning knowing all we have to do is mow and trim bushes (and maybe clean off said porch :))....See Morepalimpsest
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19 days agolast modified: 19 days agoMrs. S
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