@ skivista

Thanks everyone for all the kind comments.

It might be time to 'fess up that my husband and I designed the house and all the interiors ourselves.

Welcome to my world, skivista. With only the occasional word from DH, when I force him to look at the floor plan, (he would wait till it's too late if I let him) I also designed our house's interior. Of course, being as there are no internal load bearing walls I can change my mind right up to the time we start interior framing and rough-ins, except for window and exterior door locations.

I'm very happy with the bedroom/bath/laundry wing, the media room (aka 4th bedroom), the living room and kitchen location, even the weird little dining area near the front door. ( you do what you must when you wake up one morning and find that DH ordered a pole barn kit in a configuration you didn't actually say "YES!" to.)

I'm even happy with the kitchen except I can't decide which side of the fridge the wall oven/microwave goes on, and where the stove top goes along the back wall. I keep moving them back and forth. I fear for my life over on the kitchen board. Either you get reamed for not hiring a kitchen designer (try finding one with credentials around here, I DARE you) or your post gets totally ignored. I will figure it out eventually though.

Okay, time for me to head to the build site to start hanging steel on the front of the garage, despite winds higher than we would like.

Hope this is a good build day for everyone.

@buzz solo - Share your kitchen question here in the safe space! And a large group of us seem to be self-designers :)

Buzz... :) It's safe here, you could post your kitchen layout. There are several great minds here, and sometimes it's just a matter of new eyes!!

Totally understand about Kitchen forum fear - it's a diagnosed syndrome - KFF! In their defense I will say the brains there have saved many design disasters but it's much like the pros here - sometimes they can't hear the voice of the poster over their own ideas. And sometimes there are limitations of time, space, money or just limited energy to deal with yet-another-battle so it's easier to accept good enough and not go bat-sh*t crazy trying for perfection. There are good brains in this ongoing thread with all kinds of experience to help you get a kitchen that fits you.

Lori, love you garage doors they remind me of a carriage house! Where did you get them? Were they expensive? Also I decided on a cabinet maker. Electricity and plumbing rough in is in so.... probably going backwards but had rough ideas to start with lol. Self-design allows you to stretch your decision time a bit. Sometimes I think that is a double edge sword though :)

K H, that was my intention :) I love them. My original plan was to paint them red, along with the front door. However, once the white trim/windows were on the house with the doors installed I love the white!

Local garage door company. I'm trying to think of the mfg though, b/c I picked them out on a website. Let me dig through my email lol

Ik the ones on the new garage were ~$3600 for two 10' x 10' doors installed, extra for openers. We're in central Indiana, so depending on where you are would negate the price.

Here ya go: Doorlink Mfg Inc. #3630 with #388 Somerton glass :)

If you highlight the italicized part above, Google search will take you right to it.

Lori, you are awesome! We are in the midwest too so I'm going to assume they are similar except ours will be 10x8

I wanted to say WOW on all the progress this month! Everyone's houses look fantastic!!

I still lurk these threads because we are technically not done with everything but progress on anything is really few and far between. But I want to shout from the rooftops that I have finally ordered our kitchen backsplash after two years of living in this house! It's got an 8 week lead time and God knows when we'll actually get around to installing it, but at least it's been decided and ordered!

but at least it's been decided and ordered!

uh uh uh! not so fast gthigpen! If there are no pics of your choice it never really happened! Cone on, spill!

DLM - oh it happened! The only pics I have on my phone....

First pic in natural light and second pic with under cab lights on.

The purple looking ‘tiles‘ aren’t tile at all. They are printouts and my attempt to model the Flemish bond pattern I’m going with. The actual tile is the lower left one that is a distinctly different color. It’s a Waterworks handmade Architectonics Tile in Dove color.

Second pic didn’t post. Houzz is being dumb. :)

Finally signed off on the order for our kitchen cabinets today after more back and forth than I could have ever anticipated. Building long distance definitely increases communication lag time, but at least it makes for a great written record. Now that I’ve made it through the never ending email chain, it’s so exciting to imagine cooking in a kitchen designed by me, for our family! While I wait impatiently, I have this (mostly accurate) rendering to stare at :)

gthigpen that is a great tile pattern - going to look fab,

I have countertops!

And a pantry!

Okay Lori, Kirsten, DLM2000, you asked for it, you got it.

Here is my "current" kitchen plan with attached living room. The dining table you can just see the edge of down in the lower left corner. As I mentioned before I keep sliding the stove top (looks like a range but it's the best the software had to offer) and I plan to embed the fridge in the media room wall, no idea what fridge I am getting so I can't figure out how deep it must go. That is why it cannot be on the wall net to the stove, that red post would prevent embedding it. Yes, the plan is for green cabinets.

And what the heck, here is the 3D rendering.I removed the sofa so you could see the island. This is seen from the left wall of the living room.

I know someone is going to ask so here is the whole house. Windows and exterior doors can be changed. And those red squares in the perimeter are the posts holding up the roof so they CANNOT be moved. Everything else is fair game except DH wants the master bedroom in that back corner.

This is a 2016 sq ft house. There are just the 2 of us and we only entertain my sister and her BF and dog at Christmas. We almost never use the dining table, but it's custom made so it's hard to part with, it's just there when we need it. And we almost never sit at any island we've ever had but islands demand seating, don't they? BTW is anyone comes up with a better plan that this I will be amazed as I have tried every iteration known to mankind.

Much of the furniture is just representational. Some we own, like the 7 foot long dining table and the master bedroom (except that little ochre colored thing) I just wanted to make sure stuff would fit. Oh and the whole thing sits on a crawl space which will be "conditioned" assuming we can get the local inspector on board, he is fixated on venting them, apparently. And, don't cringe, the front door faces northwest, the direction of the prevailing winter winds. I had nothing to do with this decision, DH made it for me without asking. At least the back living room windows are not facing into the west.

I think it's not too bad for a mechanical engineer with a very small minor in architecture.

Looking great localeater.What kind of counter is in your kitchen?

Love the green cabinets Buzz Solo! I think the placement of the micro/oven makes sense on the side of the fridge where you have it. Nice landing zone next to it and wouldn’t have that heat right next to the entry way. I might slide the range a bit closer to the sink wall so that it’s directly across from the solid island countertop rather than partially in front of the counter and partially in front of the sink (but that might have to do more with how I cook - I rarely go directly from stove to sink need for a counter).

We have got the outside of the house almost done. Just need to get the porch posts installed. Inside completed rough mechanicals, insulated, sheet rocked and they are finishing up taping. We start painting next week! Cabinets are coming in next week and outside they are starting septic then final grading.

Buzz Solo you should go to my page and look under idea books New Build Gabe. Hubby is also a Mechanical engineer & has done all of our finishing work with one helper. We are now in the house with about 95 percent done. We hired a contractor to take it to lock up, with hubby working along side of the crew everyday.

Cheryl, that is a beautiful kitchen and home! Love all that wood. I'm actually trying to sell our totally knotty pine home without much luck. I'm looking forward to having actual drywall to paint!

Buzz - My cabinets are green too! It is a pretty dark green, SW Forestwood.

I havent decided what color hardware to use. What do you think you will use. My granite is White Fantasy, this is not to be confused with Fantasy White which is a quartzite and out of my price range. It is very very calm. I really like. I will try to get some better pictures when I go during the day over the weekend, but last night DH and I ran over after work just to see them.

Buzz, your kitchen layout is just like mine except I have a wall of cabinets that my fridge sets in and a door on each side of your stove wall for pantry and an office for me. It’s a very good layout as I’ve been here 9 months and have no issues. It will be a beautiful house when done. We also designed ours ourself. AND my door faces North. The garage doors don’t so we don’t care. Lol. We live on MN/WI border.

Localeater awesome use of space! Love everything :) Buzz could you swap your microwave and fridge spot? IMO the fridge in the walkway/entrance is a real problem it also blocks where you could walk around the island. That is the set up I have now and anyone that wants to come in is blocked by whomever is searching for something in the fridge and when you are unloading groceries... not super ideal. If you don't want to move it I would maybe shrink my space to 3'6" at the window sink island because I would want 60" between it and and countertops.

Localeater - I'm doing green cabinets as well. My lower cabinets will be SW Foxhall Green. My island is going to be a rifted white oak. Can't wait to see pics of your green cabinets!

We have a well now. Yay water! :)

Good advice by K H & Kristen on the kitchen Buzz. Only thing about moving the fridge is then it will be directly across from the island, which we have a bit of in our kitchen. What I should have done, and could still do, is lop off the corner of the island top to an angle like our other corner is. (red circle)

DH likes to stand at the end, and DD sits at the first stool (where the 18 is). It's only a problem when we're all in the kitchen at the same time, which isn't really too bad. We do all kind of collect there in the mornings and then we're dancing around each other. LOL However, I usually take that opportunity to hug or kiss my teenage daughter who just LOVES that!!

One thing I did in ours was lowered my microwave/oven combo. Our cabinets are custom made, so I picked the height. It gave me a great upper cab that holds my many crock pots, and a drawer underneath. There's a story behind my madness, other than being short. Which involved a micro over the range, boiling hot rice/water and my chest. I swore I would NEVER reach into a microwave higher than eye level again.

It also puts the oven lower and it's easier to get things in & out of also.

Our cabinets are red! I love them so much. We have beautiful natural hickory cabinets in the bathrooms & laundry. With and open layout, pine trim & doors, barn wood type LVT floors I just wanted something different in the kitchen. I have not regretted that decision one time. They're gorgeous.

Do YOU, it's YOUR house!! :)

ETA: you've probably already thought of this, but be sure to put floor plugs in for your living room lamps! :)

Yay for water, doc!!

Cheryl your house is beautiful & very unique. I was completely expecting it to be log. My parents have a log home and it reminds me a lot of theirs. And that view! Gorgeous!!

Ditto what Lori said; in the end it is your home. No matter the layout there will always be something that doesn’t quite jive but I’m sure we have all lived with worse and your plan only has that one pinch point. Since you have your fridge set back Im sure you will be just fine. Don’t want to move it farther from the dining or the stove!

KH, that's a good point about the fridge. I knew it was in a walkway but figured it wouldn't be a big dea with just the 2 of us but I'm rethinking it and trying to find a better spot. Still working on it, not succeeding yet. I know I've tried a number of solutions before but I'm trying. I am moving the stove top away from the prep sink, too.

Lori, the mike/oven will not be too tall though we are both very tall. And indeed, there WILL be floor plugs.

Buzz if it’s just you two then I would leave it! Since we are sharing kitchens; here is mine. Although it’s not quite right. The pantry wall (doorway) comes out pushing the window wall to the right so the island would be more centered and the fridge won’t pinch the island. Not sure how the cabinet maker missed this since they did measure? And there is a mantle hood over the range! Also cut the right side glass cab down to one so the fridge isn’t too close to the dining area colors aren’t right either lol

Everyone’s homes are looking so good!

K H, love the size of your window! And are your counters really going to be blue?

Decided to look up dimensions on a frew fridges. OUCH for the regular ones and OUCH, OUCH for the price of counter depth! Under counter is even more ridiculous. And I can just about forget getting one without a water dispenser and ice maker! Buying one is going to drive me just as nuts as fitting one!

Buzz What kind of refrigerator are you thinking about? In my current house I have 36" counter depth french door which is 22ish cubic feet. I like french door and want same in new house, but I only wanted 30" or 33" I went back and forth a lot on that.

If I went 33" I would have gone counter depth, it would have been less space for more money. I happen to really like the less deep interior of counter depth, I feel you 'lose' less food, but ultimately I settled on 30" regular depth, recessed into the wall. It is 22ish cubic feet so I save 6" (I have smaller kitchen than the one you are planning) and I have plenty of fridge space. I have ice maker, but no water dispenser.

No blue counters, only the stained cherry is the actual color!

My last comment didn’t post for some reason

We are inching towards the finish line. Waiting on the blasted elevator installers; the elevator is currently sitting on my kitchen floor and the floors can’t be finished until it is in. So we wait...

Electricians are here doing their final installs. Plumber is finished; his inspection is scheduled. We can see the end in sight. Send good elevator vibes my way

California faucets pulldown in satin brass with an air switch for my glorious garbage disposal (haven’t had one since high school in 1999 at my parents house)
White oak railing and iron balusters
Tub fill test!
Light fixture installed in the playroom!

localeater, I just was poking through Home Depot's website and noticed that 24-25 cu ft regular fridges stuck out about 38 inches counting the handle and the required air space. It was a GE. I also want a French door style, or at the very least one with the freezer on the bottom . I've lived for 19 years with the 18 cu ft top freezer that came with the house and would so love something else. in the new house! Dang thing just won't DIE!!! I've made do with so much stuff in this house, including the fake, FAKE, can you believe it? FAKE wood Formica counters in a house that is WALL TO WALL tongue and groove, knotty Pine!

*sigh*

lol

Things are looking great NYCish!

Buzz I hear you loud and clear but I’m at year eight! Five member family in a 930 sq ft home. Things I can’t bear with any longer: two 2’x2’ linen closets(only universal storage in the house), 3 kids-two rooms, and the worst thing are the plastic bathroom sinks. The kitchen sink isn’t even good. It‘s the most shallow stainless sink ever made! No disposal, I can’t even wash my hands without splashing water everywhere! Ugh I can’t even deal with the clutter!

NYCish, love that stair, it is so sleek!

On another note, just ordered exterior trim. I hope I picked the right configuration. Builder wanted to miter/picture frame. I wanted a more traditional look with a drip cap and sill. Couldn’t find an AZEK dealer and my builder has not worked with AZEK so hopefully our LP smartside rendition will look good and hold up to the elements. Oh the compromises and limitations of building out in the country! I am glad he is a very good carpenter but he is younger. I just wish the traditional elements werent so in the past around here. It seemed like I was asking for a lot when I wanted actual cornice returns, frieze boards and exterior window trim! People around here build the outside without much detail.

NYCish looking great! You are so close! Hope the elevators are done quickly. When is moving date?

We are in the home stretch-4 weeks! So much going on but still a lot to get done.
Electricians, tiler, plumber, HVAC all lined up to finish. Finish guy building my side cabinets and shlef. He made my my mantle and top of sheliving wood tops. i feel like the mantle is too high but maybe once the stone is done it will look better? Thoughts?

wysmama and anyone in the path of dorian, I am praying for you all. We are waiting to see if it comes up to the North East. Right now they think it will possibly miss Florida and hit the Carolinas. Be safe everyone.

NewEnglandgal, the mantel does look a bit high to me if that's all it's going to be. What kind of tile or stone is going on there/ If a TV is going above it, that is very, very high. Hope you have recliners to watch it! I'm not a designer though so.. what do I know?

I am going to have my husband talk to the finish guy. Hopefully they can move it down. Ugh.

Appatently we cant. :( . Yes Buzz the TV is supposed to go above it. I am not happy.

NEGal - Ugh I’m sorry you’re not happy with it; such an awful feeling I now know all too well. What reason did they give for not being able to move it? How high off the ground is it?

My husband said moving it would require new blue board and more work to redo it.
The mantle itself is beautiful. My finish guy made it.
On top of this he based the cabinet placement and shelving on each side of the fireplace based on the mantle placement.
It is about 5' Id say off the floor. I am out of state so cant go measure at the moment!
I supposewe can always get something to make the TV adjustable.

NewEnglandgal I think it’s fine. Here are some ideas on what you could do to build it down a bit if you still think it’s too high. You could put some pretty brackets underneath. Or another board flat to look like an apron under the shelf! I think these designs look great and they have the stone too. Don’t want to catch your Christmas stockings on fire! Maybe that’s what they were thinking. Also the further back your furniture is I think it is actually better tv viewing. You will have room for a nice coffee table too.

For what it’s worth, I think it looks great AND you will have peace of mind for the TV and anything else you put on the mantle that it won’t be too hot. I’ve always put our TVs on a tilt down mount anyway! If you want it to look like it starts further down, could the finisher add some sort of fascia to the front and sides to make it look thicker?

NewEnglandgal, I didn't mean to stress you out about your mantel height! The top photo of the fireplace K H showed looks very nice. I am sure yours will be just fine!

NewEnglandgal .... if it helps any, our mantel feels high ... but had to be due to code needing a minimum distance from our wood burning insert. I just decided to like it ... and now, I love it. We did have our stone mason install corbels under the mantel to add some weight/interest. I will have photos next month. Your home is looking awesome!

NewEnglandGal- thanks for the well wishes. Yes, looks like we will be spared from this hurricane. Kids already have an extra day off for it. They closed schools for Tuesday so we are enjoying an extra long weekend.
Ordering our family and dining room furniture today. So glad to have that figured out!
Can’t wait to see everyone’s homes completed. So many of you are close!

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