Flashback

After spending months with the architect and builder, firming up plans, having the lot surveyed, and figuring out prices, we finally had a plan.

We moved the kitchen around to the south side by bringing out the foundation in the back and on the side. We also added an entry way on the south side which was in turn connected to the new two car garage. We decided to remove the wall that separated the dining room from the living room and move the stairway from the back of the house to the center. The first floor bathroom was moved from the center of the house to the north side and the old kitchen with the stairs removed was turned into a guest bedroom. We also added a laundry area to right outside of the bathroom. We also decided to remove the fireplace as it took up a significant amount of square footage on both the first and second floors. The new furnace was so energy efficient that we no longer needed the chimney and we planned on taking down the screen house and replacing the door with a gas fireplace.

On the second floor, we popped out both the front and back with full shed dormers.  This gave us added head room which in turn made the rooms larger and more livable. We added a Master bathroom and enlarged the other second floor bathroom.

In the back of the house, we turned the old garage into a family room with double, south facing French doors leading to a terrace outside.

It was a significant undertaking but we loved the plans we had developed. It had taken us months of discussions, redesigning, walking the lot, more planning, price check ins with the builder and a couple of disagreements but we now had a set of plans that we could use. We thought the rough part was now over and we could start building.

At the end of the day however, the rough part had just begun.