Second Draft!

The second draft is in! We still have more changes to make but it is getting closer to what we want.

The main changes to this version are:

1. Center domes are now taller than wing domes 
2. We added a circular window and moved one to the main kitchen
3. Redesign master shower a bit
4. Master suite office is now clearly not a bedroom
5. Redesign main kitchen island to include a connected extendable table 
6. Redesign to add pocket doors (we still need to redesign to get rid of more swinging doors)
7. Increase basement height to 10' (this allows us to drive a tractor in)
8. Add people door next to garage door

We may be crazy to want to live in an unfinished house but our plan is to do only as much as the town requires to get a Certificate of Occupancy (CO). We will then do the rest of the interior work ourselves. We may find ourselves living in a VERY open floor plan at first! We are also not new to living in construction zones. This was a renovation project from our first house that was built in 1890. 

There is nothing more disgusting than removing old plaster and lath board walls. Sheetrock has nothing on this stuff! The worst part was removing the ceiling. I wish I had photos of what we looked like during the removal. Here is a very accurate photo of someone else's removal of a lath board ceiling. Ugg... the horrible memories of living through this... 

After that trip down renovation memory lane I am ready to end this post on a better note. The master suite wing on the left of the floor plan has lots of curves. The reason you don't see many curves in homes is simple. Cost! They are time consuming and therefore costly to put in. The cost is mostly labor related. That means the master suite will be finished after we move in when we can do it all slowly ourselves. 

I have had many people ask me about the master shower area. It is a curved almost conch shell in design. This is going to be a challenge but I think if we take our time and do it ourselves it will be super cool. Here are 2 examples of custom curved showers. There are many elements in the house that are going to be treated like art installations rather than just a necessary functional area of the house. The last several home renovations have taught me a lot about tiling. It isn't hard to do but you do need to understand its limitations and work around them. 

It looks like our next step is to get engineered plans. We have decided to go with Monolithic's designers, architects etc. We could use anyone but it makes sense to us to use the professionals that are already familiar with this type of construction.