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mrspete

3 odd & specific house-building questions

mrspete
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago

We are feeling very good about our floorplan, but we have a couple very specific -- and certainly not common -- questions on which I'd appreciate some input:

First question:

My husband walked through while I was watching HGTV, and he saw a couple leaving /finding -- not sure which; I guess I wasn't really watching -- a time capsule in their house, and he jumped all over that. He says that he wants to place a time capsule in our house when we build, but the two of us were caught short when we started talking about logistics:

- Where does one place a time capsule? We think the answer is "inside a wall", but that's as far as we can go. We do not anticipate any "blind spots" in cabinets, and we agree that something placed in the attic would just be tossed as trash.

- In what type of container does one create a time capsule? I'm thinking metal is the right answer, but it must be thin enough to fit into a wall. Glass would be protective, of course, but someone in the future could smash it while breaking into a wall.

Second question:

This is a quick mock-up of the main living areas in our plan: Foyer with staircase, living room to the right of foyer, dining room to the back -- nothing unusual here ... the question is going to deal with the bay window at the front of the living room.

I love the idea of a bay window at the front of the living room. We'd have two smallish chairs and an occasional table at the front as a "conversation spot" and the sofa towards the back of the living room. The living room is 20' long, and I forget the width. The long wall will include a fireplace, a built-in for the TV, and a couple windows.

Something like this:


But the bay window ... I love the idea that it'd provide a lovely backdrop for the two chairs ... I love that the bay would provide a bit more visual elbow space for this conversation spot ... I love the idea that it would mirror the bay windows in the dining room (our table is round) and the smaller bay window above the kitchen sink ... but here's the rub: I am equally committed to the idea of a front porch. I know we see house plans with bay windows under the front porch, but is it weird? A bay window under a porch isn't going to get lovely light in the same way it would in another spot ... and it will "cut into" the porch space. We're thinking that the front porch won't be 'specially deep because it'll be mainly for show, not so much for seating ... but I love Christmas lights on a porch. Additionally, the front of the house will face North, so it's not ideal light anyway.

So, the question: Would you forego the bay window to the front? Could a set of double or triple windows look as nice as a bay?

I'll head off this thought: I can't imagine the bay moving to the side, and with this shape room I can only imagine the two chairs in the front of the room. That long wall will be "filled up" with the fireplace and TV built-ins and a window. A bay on the side would be cramped.

Third question:

A coat closet located BETWEEN the mudroom and the foyer ... a coat closet that opens to both sides. Genius ... or stupid idea?

The room to the left is the mudroom ... door to the left coming off the garage ... door to the top opening into the hall.

Yeah, I see that the into-the-hall door and the in-mudroom-closet-door conflict, but I think it'd be okay because realistically, the family will hang "right now" coats on wall hooks (on the wall shared with the garage /across from the coat closet) ... and when they build up to too many coats or are out of season, I'll transfer them over to the coat closet. In 26 years of marriage, my husband has never once washed an item of clothing or put anything INTO a closet. Seriously. He has many, many, many positive traits, but NONE of them have anything to do with housekeeping.

The idea is that the coat closet would have a door opening on two sides, so it could be used from either the mudroom OR the foyer. Would you do this?

Thanks for considering these couple odd questions.

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