Architect in the Making

Designing a custom home is a headache especially if you are me! LOL
Unfortunately for my family and the builder and the architect, I am a visionary and slightly opinionated!  I know what I want and can actually see it in my head before it's even on paper. It's a blessing and a curse. Because I've never done this before- I'm not sure if others go through the same process or if I am just way too picky (or we could be nice and just say that I'm precise.)
I compare it to Quilting. I can design a quilt in my head, draw it out in Microsoft Word (even in color if you'd prefer), buy the materials, cut it out, sew it and it turns out exactly like I had in my mind. What can I say- I'm gifted. LOL
Taking into consideration that I have never built a house before and it's a zillion times bigger than a quilt- the steps are a tad more complicated. ;) However, the extremely long, exhausting process is definitely deserving of documentation.
Here's how we got our House Plans 

FIRST step is what do we want?

I searched tons of places to find ideas of what would work for our family. What rooms do we want? How big do we want it? What look do we want outside? What can we afford?

Top things we were looking for:

1. 3 car attached garage

2. An large open entryway that does not have a front-row view of my kitchen sink

3. An open Dining/Kitchen/Living area

4. Vaulted ceilings in living area

5. a covered porch in front and back

6. a mudroom off the garage

7. a master bath and walk-in closet

8. At least 4 bedrooms including the master

9. A large craft room

10. An office close to the garage

11. Secret rooms in all the kids closets

12. A bonus room above the garage- we gave this up but it would have been really cool!

13. Stay between 1500-1750 sq ft on each floor

-See!! We aren't opinionated at all. LOL

NEXT was... Put all our favorite ideas together to fit them in one house. I drew a rough picture to give to the builder. Here's my first attempt.

THEN the builder tweaked a few things and brought back a couple sketches of his own:

WELL- It turns out that the square footage was more than we had planned. I felt I could fit my ideas into the square footage we had set so I made a few changes. Then drew them on graph paper so I could get more accurate sizes. Still... we had to decide which plan to go with before we could move ahead.

AFTER much debate discussion, Brett conceded his vote and we decided on House Plan 1 (Luv you, Honey!;). Except we decided to swap it to have the garage on the right. Chuck said the wind blows the hardest from the West so we are hoping that will give us a little more protection from the elements. I had to redo my drawing because it was annoying to look at it wrong.

LONG PROCESS- It took a couple of months tweaking it back and forth with Jerry (the architect). Here's a few of the versions we went through.

Mid- November 2013: 

1st official architect plans with a bonus room. Garage on the Left.

End of November 2013:

Gave up the Bonus room.:( Switched direction of stairs. Changed Garage to the right. 

Changed the kitchen bar shape. Coat closet closer to front door. 

Changed the Master bathroom layout. Added some linen closets.

Made one room in the basement a playroom.

Beginning of December 2013: 

First look at the back of the house. He took the Linen out of the Powder Room which I want back. 

We really want a cold storage under the porch but it's looking like it might be too small.

We asked him to extended walls in basement storage and craft room.

Mid- December 2013:

The Main floor is looking pretty close except I wrote where I'd like plugs. 

I'd like the den room doors to swing out but I think that can be done at the end.

We are still describing our secret room in each of the kid's rooms.- Leave closets big and to one side.

In the basement, looks like we'll give up cold storage but extend rooms to make more storage.

He added a linen closet at the end of the utility room for more storage.

On vacation at the end of December, after looking at the Rasmussens food storage room, I really need to make one happen. And I decided it needed to be a bigger area than what we had planned. I jotted down an idea on a piece of paper and sent it to Jerry.

Beginning of January:

He made the changes and a few others with Chuck.

Besides the swing of the Den doors, the upstairs is perfect.

He put in the secret rooms for the kids.

Downstairs- they had to adjust a couple outside walls. The craft room got a closet.

The Cold storage is huge and awesome!

The playroom now has a cool bay area or we will make it a large secret room for one of the bedrooms. 

January 17th:

Final Plans

They gave us a large set a medium set and a set for the computer.

Let's start digging!!!

Appliances- Check!

We found an awesome deal on appliances over Black Friday/ Cyber Monday weekend at Sears. They weren't what we originally were looking for but I LOVE them even more. I am so excited, I can hardly stand it!!!
They are from the new GE Slate Line. GORGEOUS!!!

"GE's new fashion and style revolution begins with Slate: a color that is as stylish and sophisticated as stainless steel but with a neutral look that embraces the rich texture of stone. 

GE's new slate appliance is all about the finish. The new finish is stunningly versatile, cleans easily and resists fingerprints. Slate has a deep warm and inviting look that complements modern color trends and a wide spectrum of material used in today's kitchen designs. 

The new slate appliances are finished with bold, brushed metal knobs and handles offering more contrast and interest."