Jump to content
IGNORED

Home design and floor plans


Seven Severn

Recommended Posts

Having professionals paint the cabinets is a great choice. As for the basement bedroom, I'd say try out the options and see how it goes. If you take the basement bedroom, just insist on the young guests going upstairs to use the bathroom. They are young and strong and can run up and down the stairs!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds kind of like my aunt and uncle's first house in Wisconsin.  From the main entrance you could either go up or down 1/2 level.  There were three bedrooms upstairs plus a small room downstairs that my uncle first used for an office before having my cousin move down there after the stork got all nuts and delivered another three kids all at once then another one after that.  There were two full baths - one on each level so that worked out well for my cousin to have the one downstairs.

It was a really nice house, and when I occasionally go past it on the highway it looks like the new owners expanded it a bit more.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My aunt and uncle had a raised ranch too, I like that style.  I don't see anything wrong with a master in the basement.  As for the teens, you could close the bedroom door and tell them to tell their friends the room is off limits, and the bathroom is upstairs.  They probably won't care at all.  I would have the cabinets professionally done because I would be afraid of ruining them, but that's me, your mileage may vary.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Take the big room downstairs and have the kids go up to use the bathroom instead of coming into your bedroom. I would not paint cabinets myself, don't like the look, but professional is the way to go for durability and a smooth finish. I do love my mid century split level, circa 1959, they just don't build them like this anymore. Good luck to you OP!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks everyone, and great points I will remember when the real house happens (looks like things are much easier for Jill Rod than the Clouds in this respect). The house looked nice enough from the outside, living/dining room and kitchen looked nice, but the basement was freezing cold on a balmy, unseasonably warm day. Whoever finished it did a shoddy DIY and haven't finished anything properly. The master bath that looked so inviting in the photo looked like it was badly put together from whatever was on clearance at Home Depot, the siding needed replacing, the deck and yard looked like they haven't received love in a long time. None of these is a deal-breaker in and of itself, but the house looked mostly neglected with a few areas that received a bit of attention, probably in an attempt to sell. I also got the impression it was rented out for many years and the last time the house received any personal touches was in the 80's. It's already at the top of our budget so we can't afford a fixer-upper for that price. Another weird issue was no back door. You came in from the garage down a walkway, up the stairs onto the deck, then through the French doors into the dining room. The floor by the entry was stained and damaged and I can just see how well it could work for four people traipsing in with snowy boots, coats, backpacks and grocery bags. 

I was amazed at how much bigger and better the house looked in the photos, and how under-whelming it was all in person. I hope to have some good house news to share in the next few month even if I use a non-Jesus realtor. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@AuntCloud, I am so sorry that the house was not as nice as you'd hoped.  Sometimes the real estate agent does put pictures up the show the house in a too-good light.  Better to find out some bad aspects of the house now than after you've bought it though.

Keeping my fingers crossed that you find the right house.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry the pictures were not accurate. It is a good and spacious floor plan. Hopefully something better will show up soon. Keep us posted!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

<deep breath> it's a process, but I'm so thankful to have a roof over my head and no pressing reasons to move so I can afford to be picky until the right house, for the right price, comes along. I love, love floor-plans and can discuss open vs. closed kitchens, the best kitchen layout, and laundry at the basement/main/second floor till the cows come home. 

hookedonhouses.com helps a bit, though...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@AuntCloud, thanks for telling me about Hooked On Houses.  It's rather addictive, isn't it?  Right now, I'm reading an article about how "open concept" kitchens are so overrated!  I could not agree more!  Read articles about the houses in The Parent Trap, Pollyanna, North by Northwest, Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House and looked at shots of Bette Davis's beloved Butternut and Katherine Hepburn's home on the shore in Connecticut.  I knew that she'd had to rebuild after the Hurricane of "38.  Howard Hughes, whom she was dating at the time, sent her a supply of water.  They broke up shortly afterward.  IIRC, Kate and her brother found the family silver in the sand along with her Oscar.  I wonder if it was that Oscar that Steven Spielberg bought at auction to give back to the Academy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Ha! I love knowing that others out there share my obsession. I started getting interested in floorplans when we renovated our house. Nowadays I love drawing up floorplans for building our dream house (one day) and tiny house plans for an eventual vacation cottage when the kids are grown. My particular obsession is historic kit houses, and I love the site http://www.antiquehome.org/House-Plans  I definitely feel like "open concept" houses are starting to fall out of favor, and if we ever have enough saved to build, I plan to use an historic plan as the starting point for ours.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.



×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.