I remember when Igloo found her chicken chandelier. ;D I've enjoyed visualizing everyone's favorite details. This got me curious--- what are the little details that you paid attention to (because of garden web or otherwise) that most TKO people wouldn't that you think made the most difference in your house/ kitchen? I didn't discover GW until we were well into our build and the kitchen was decided on (although DH and our GC were wondering if I would ever decide or if we would be moving into a house without a kitchen). I honestly don't think a thing would have changed from discovering GW sooner. When people arrive, they always say house beautiful the drive is (we're 3 miles in from the main gate) and how the house sits on the lot (4.5 acres with water on three sides). They comment on the use of stone out front, from the walls to the wide sidewalk and the front veranda. Once inside, they comment on the cedar beams, vaulted ceiling and the view through the French doors and large windows across the back of our home. Almost all visitor's the first time walk directly to the back veranda. It's surprised me the number of people who actually open the door and go outside! But then they see the kitchen, and everyone runs their fingertips along the island's antique pine counter. For me, it's not each individual thing (although I love every one of them) it's the way these (and more) work together to create a cohesive feeling throughout our home. **Crap, I just reread the question and noticed the word "little." :-/ In the kitchen, I would say it's the small details of chicken wire, copper tubing (plate rack) and copper backsplash (repeated in the laundry room and on the powder room ceiling). The iron seal over the range that was salvaged from the West Side Hwy bridge in NYC. Aside from the home itself, my accessories are far from the norm. The night before DD2's wedding, when her future in-laws came over for dinner, SIL's grandmother said when leaving, "I had such a wonderful time meeting DD2's family, and almost as much fun looking around the house at your collections. It's like a mini-scavenger hunt!"

Yet another crazy project but this will be definitely be our last major project and definitely unique and mouth watering. Ours is in it's final design stage; 100% designed and architected from scratch by me with ton's of input from my good wife and critique from my daughter. Absolutely unique and nothing like this out there however will be built to provide significant resale value after we are gone and proceeds split between my two kids. With close to 7500sf 124x62 footprint (per floor), we cut the design down from two storey (same footprint) with walkout basement to a single storey with walkout basement. Highlights will be floor to ceiling glass to the rear in the 20' ceiling 1179sf family room and 10' ceiling 755sf kitchen/casual dining providing breathtaking views of the harbor and snow clad mountains to the north and east. A 22' ceiling circular split level entry foyer flanked by curved stairs leading to the 12' ceiling basement, two full size bowling lanes in the basement, 6'-4" corridors on 1st floor, a 38x24 suspended 3 car garage on 1st floor above basement, another 1 car garage with car lift just below in the basement, a 124x16 deck on the rear with glass railings (to preserve amazing views to the rear). 20KVA ground based solar system, 4 zone heating/cooling with multi-zone radiant floor heating (yet to decide if geothermal or electric, waiting for survey) . A sub-basement wine cellar with an elevator leading to basement and 1st floor (in kitchen, in planning). The list is endless. Everything computer and remote controlled (I'm a computer guy). Perhaps not the way most would build it but I like to do things my way, code permitting. Build time 18-24 months and significant work will be done my me. Here is a link that might be useful: Link to my thread. This post was edited by Pinebaron on Fri, Jan 30, 15 at 8:41

herbflavor, We bought the place because it was all that we could afford at the time without a mortgage, and the housing crisis of 2008 was still fresh on my mind and I absolutely did not want a mortgage, and still don't. We could have qualified for one but we didn't want one. Our next house will also be paid for in cash but it's going to be our "forever" home and we are projecting that its going to cost 200k. DH owns a business, and now I also own a business. Both our businesses do well. We are not rich. We are middle class. But we will not get a mortgage; we are very debt-averse. -------------------------- homechef59: "I'm going to continue with the wall extension for the refrigerator. You said the refrigerator would be too big and stick out. So, frame the wall with an L-shape into the dining room just far enough to make the refrigerator sit flush with the line of cabinets. Just trying to keep a lid on costs and get you some improvements." That is still moving a load-bearing wall, which costs $3k+, right? -------------------------- scone911: "Given your sketch, and based on instinct and experience, I wouldn't put any more money into this house. It's not worth the hassle, and I don't think you will get it back if there are mass market developers in the area who can undercut you every few years with a new subdivision that has all the bells and whistles. This house is already nickel and diming you, and that's really bad for your finances-- when you are young, you have a golden opportunity to start saving for retirement, so you have the power of compounding working for you. Throwing cash into a money pit house on speculation that it might be worth something someday, if everything breaks just right, is asking for trouble, IMO. Don't take that risk if you don't have to." We own it outright; there is no mortgage or lien or backtax; nothing. Free and clear. "I'd divide the land, if possible, and put a stick built or modular in the new section. Keep the old place as a rental if you can. At least the old house gives you somewhere to live while you build, and a modular can go up fast." We prefer to save up our cash towards our "forever" house instead. Also, we think at this time that what the property really has going for it is the land. If we divided it up it would lose a huge amount of its charm. The house itself has no charm at all; the land has charm. It has trees and wildlife and feels like you're in a forest; it's quite pleasant. "If you can get the land divided and ready to go in the next couple of months, you might (just possibly) be able to move into a new place by Christmas-- and get on with your life." No, because that would require getting a mortgage. We believe debt is something you do when things are more certain, and given the state of the economy and world affairs we are very far away from the kind of comfort level that would draw us to a mortgage. I suppose that wraps up this particular thread. I'll post a new one with a much more accurate to-scale sketch of the kitchen, dining and laundry floorplan so it can be hashed out better. Thanks again everyone! This was very insightful and educational.

Yes take a comb through the materials and price them out. Have at least 4 builders price out your project with all the trades. Sometimes GCs that offer a level of self performance like carpentry can avoid double mark ups. Did you see any of the major quotes like excavation, framing, plumbing, etc? I'm doing a lower level finish. One bid was 60% over budget....another 44%....then with due dillengence we ended up 4% over budget but went with the contractor that was 10% over budget. Pricing wasn't the only varible at the end of the day. I'd hold the line and get more bids if you can - too much time and money vested - but if the bids come back similar time to cut the cord unless the redesign to meet budget is free.