Monday, May 6, 2013
Rain, rain, go away...
Pat and I received an email over the weekend that our little house has passed it's first round of inspections and our foundation will get poured tomorrow assuming the weather holds up. Say a little prayer that it doesn't rain so we can move on to the next step.
Friday, May 3, 2013
Things I Won't Miss about the Apartment: the Bedroom
Our Current Bedroom and Closet:
A little boring, right?
Our bedroom is a decent size given the overall square footage of our apartment. Size isn't the problem here, but that doesn't mean it's problem free.
First, organization. When I originally designed my clothing-storage layout, I decided to have things for my lower half in a chest of drawers and things for my upper half in the closet. The problem is, who fully dresses half their body, before even starting to dress the other half? Not this gal.
A quick demonstration (and potential TMI): half my underthings are in the bedroom dresser and half are in the closet drawers. My camis are in the bedroom dresser, but my shirts are in the closet. My jeans are in the bedroom dresser, but my socks are in the closet. So on an average morning, I walk from the bedroom dresser to the closet no less than six times!
The design is my fault, but I have good reason for choosing to lay it out that way. Our bedroom is much wider than it is long, necessitating we align our lives linearly, not logically. Our closet is deep, but simply too narrow for two people to share the area simultaneously. As a benevolent wife, I tried to organize it so that I would spend half my time in our closet and half out, so that my husband doesn't have to climb around me every morning.
Over the two years we've lived here, my wardrobe has changed quite a lot: I lost 30 lbs., but then gained a little bit back. I've switched jobs and hobbies. And because we're out of that honeymoon phase, my workout wardrobe shrank but my sweatshirt/pant wardrobe tripled.
I (and my storage) have had to adapt. We added plastic drawers in the closet, but they are too small to hold many of my items and not delicate enough for my delicates. One day, I want to install custom closets in the new house, but in the A.P.T, it never crossed my mind; it just seemed like a waste of money to invest in a closet we couldn't take with us. So we lived with it.
Like I said, size isn't the problem in the bedroom, but since storage is so limited in other areas, a lot of stuff overflows into our bedroom and closet (luggage, spare linens, Christmas decorations, boxes for computers/TVs still under warranty, Leo's favorite hiding space).
Another glaring opportunity is the lack of light in our bedroom (or entire apartment, really). Like so many apartments and stock builder homes, we aren't blessed with overhead lighting. We are blessed with several beautiful lamps and the ambient light they provide. It's very romantic.
However, it's not so romantic when you burn your hand while steaming clothes because you couldn't see what you were doing, or when you want to read a book around dusk and it's too dim to read, or when you want to do anything other than Pinterest after dark. This girl would kill for some task lighting.
There is one time when light can be a nuisance in our apartment, and that's when one of us is sleeping. Due to our current floorplan, there is no way to enter the bedroom without shining a ton of light (from our closet or bathroom, ironically the only areas with task lighting) right into the face of a sleeping spouse.
Our Soon-to-be Bedroom and Closet:
In the near future we will gain a much more efficiently shaped Master Suite. The bedroom is wide enough for a king bed, side tables, and a nice little sitting area. It's also long enough so the TV can be opposite the foot of the bed, not at an angle (my craning neck rejoices).
Our closet is slightly deeper, but much wider, so we will both be able to fit in there. And it's off the bathroom, so I can go through my entire morning/night ritual with a door closed and no light shining in my hubby's tired/angry eyes.
Throughout our new house, I made sure that every room will have overhead lighting (most will get ceiling fans), so that never again will I have to choose between doing something in poor light or moving into another room. I now understand why builders cut that out, it wasn't cheap and most people take it for granted.
And one day, we will install a custom closet, and I will design my portion exactly for the way that I dress myself in the morning. And Pat can do the same with his 20%.
A little boring, right?
Our bedroom is a decent size given the overall square footage of our apartment. Size isn't the problem here, but that doesn't mean it's problem free.
First, organization. When I originally designed my clothing-storage layout, I decided to have things for my lower half in a chest of drawers and things for my upper half in the closet. The problem is, who fully dresses half their body, before even starting to dress the other half? Not this gal.
A quick demonstration (and potential TMI): half my underthings are in the bedroom dresser and half are in the closet drawers. My camis are in the bedroom dresser, but my shirts are in the closet. My jeans are in the bedroom dresser, but my socks are in the closet. So on an average morning, I walk from the bedroom dresser to the closet no less than six times!
The design is my fault, but I have good reason for choosing to lay it out that way. Our bedroom is much wider than it is long, necessitating we align our lives linearly, not logically. Our closet is deep, but simply too narrow for two people to share the area simultaneously. As a benevolent wife, I tried to organize it so that I would spend half my time in our closet and half out, so that my husband doesn't have to climb around me every morning.
Over the two years we've lived here, my wardrobe has changed quite a lot: I lost 30 lbs., but then gained a little bit back. I've switched jobs and hobbies. And because we're out of that honeymoon phase, my workout wardrobe shrank but my sweatshirt/pant wardrobe tripled.
I (and my storage) have had to adapt. We added plastic drawers in the closet, but they are too small to hold many of my items and not delicate enough for my delicates. One day, I want to install custom closets in the new house, but in the A.P.T, it never crossed my mind; it just seemed like a waste of money to invest in a closet we couldn't take with us. So we lived with it.
Like I said, size isn't the problem in the bedroom, but since storage is so limited in other areas, a lot of stuff overflows into our bedroom and closet (luggage, spare linens, Christmas decorations, boxes for computers/TVs still under warranty, Leo's favorite hiding space).
Another glaring opportunity is the lack of light in our bedroom (or entire apartment, really). Like so many apartments and stock builder homes, we aren't blessed with overhead lighting. We are blessed with several beautiful lamps and the ambient light they provide. It's very romantic.
However, it's not so romantic when you burn your hand while steaming clothes because you couldn't see what you were doing, or when you want to read a book around dusk and it's too dim to read, or when you want to do anything other than Pinterest after dark. This girl would kill for some task lighting.
There is one time when light can be a nuisance in our apartment, and that's when one of us is sleeping. Due to our current floorplan, there is no way to enter the bedroom without shining a ton of light (from our closet or bathroom, ironically the only areas with task lighting) right into the face of a sleeping spouse.
Our Soon-to-be Bedroom and Closet:
Image property of Standard Pacific Homes
Ah, that's better. In the near future we will gain a much more efficiently shaped Master Suite. The bedroom is wide enough for a king bed, side tables, and a nice little sitting area. It's also long enough so the TV can be opposite the foot of the bed, not at an angle (my craning neck rejoices).
Our closet is slightly deeper, but much wider, so we will both be able to fit in there. And it's off the bathroom, so I can go through my entire morning/night ritual with a door closed and no light shining in my hubby's tired/angry eyes.
Throughout our new house, I made sure that every room will have overhead lighting (most will get ceiling fans), so that never again will I have to choose between doing something in poor light or moving into another room. I now understand why builders cut that out, it wasn't cheap and most people take it for granted.
And one day, we will install a custom closet, and I will design my portion exactly for the way that I dress myself in the morning. And Pat can do the same with his 20%.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
House Update: Neighbors!
When I drove by today, our little lot was just waiting, empty. It looked much the same as it did last weekend. Sadly, there's still no foundation. It's been very rainy this week and, if I had to guess, it's probably too wet to do any work where a major component is being able to stay dry. Makes sense.
The exciting news is we now have neighbors on both sides of our lot (it's never too wet to dig in the dirt). One of the best things about our home's site is that once our house is done, the only two construction sites left on our block are the one's on either side of us, scheduled to be completed 2-3 weeks after our house. That means that while our neighborhood is only around 25% complete, we won't have to hear construction everyday for the next two years. Just two weeks while they finish the neighbors' homes and we will be done!
There are now four, soon-to-be five, active construction sites on our road, which made taking pictures at 1pm on a Thursday very difficult.
Also, our neighborhood just took a huge price increase. Great news for us, not so great for anyone who wants to be like us.
Here's a thought: Pat and I almost backed out when the prices inflated right before we signed our contract. Don't. The home values are going to skyrocket in this area, so it'll be a good investment even if it cost a few more dollars upfront. If anyone is considering Brightwalk as a future home, I'd say do it now to get the biggest return on your investment.
The exciting news is we now have neighbors on both sides of our lot (it's never too wet to dig in the dirt). One of the best things about our home's site is that once our house is done, the only two construction sites left on our block are the one's on either side of us, scheduled to be completed 2-3 weeks after our house. That means that while our neighborhood is only around 25% complete, we won't have to hear construction everyday for the next two years. Just two weeks while they finish the neighbors' homes and we will be done!
There are now four, soon-to-be five, active construction sites on our road, which made taking pictures at 1pm on a Thursday very difficult.
Also, our neighborhood just took a huge price increase. Great news for us, not so great for anyone who wants to be like us.
Here's a thought: Pat and I almost backed out when the prices inflated right before we signed our contract. Don't. The home values are going to skyrocket in this area, so it'll be a good investment even if it cost a few more dollars upfront. If anyone is considering Brightwalk as a future home, I'd say do it now to get the biggest return on your investment.
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