Let's Talk Floorplan

Below is the floorplan for the main level of the house and pictures of each room. You'll have to use your imagination a little since we have a way to go until the sheetrock goes up so the walls are still just framing. Ever since we decided to build (more than a year ago now!) I've been bookmarking inspiration pictures for all the rooms in the house so I shared a few of those with you as well. Thank goodness for Pinterest!

Here's the floorplan for the main level of the house:

Let's start with the front entrance and foyer of the house. As soon as you walk through the door, you'll see the view. The foyer and stairs going down are open. These are just temporary stairs.

To the right of the foyer is the large, open dining room. We intend this to be a "casual eating" area, not a stuffy formal dining room. It has big open walkways to the foyer and the living room/kitchen.

Top: dining room looking into kitchen; Bottom: kitchen looking into dining; Below: Inspiration

The foyer, kitchen and dining room open to the living room with its vaulted ceilings and a wall of windows. Includes a double sided gas fireplace (other side is in master bedroom) and door to covered porch. It's also open to kitchen.

The kitchen is connected to the living room and dining room. There are also french doors to the left of the window that go out to the back deck. We are planning a white kitchen with a big farmhouse sink, industrial lighting and a wood island countertop. Pretty similar to the inspiration pictures below.

Off the kitchen will be a door attached to the garage, a short hallway with access to the guest bath and a laundry room.

The two car garage and an inspiration shot of my grand plan for the outside of it:

Moving back to the other side of the house...when you come in the front door into the foyer, I'm hoping we can find or build some kind of bench and coat rack. A few examples:

Off the foyer is the study with built in bookshelves, maybe another bench and room for two desks. This room will likely also have a double personality as a nursery if we decide to have a family because the extra bedrooms are on the lower level.

Our master bedroom shares a wall with the living room. The best part about this is the ability to install a double sided fireplace in order to maximize enjoyment. The master also has a masterful view thanks to its location in the house and two walls of glass. A triple sliding door leads out to the covered porch. If you're wondering where the bed goes, the answer is in front of the windows! Apparently this decision was quite scandalous ("nobody puts a bed in front of a window!") but it was our plan all along. I think it will turn out just perfect. Check out the bed inspiration below. I think we can even make it ourselves!

Between the master bedroom and the master bath is a short hallway with double sinks on one side and access to the closet on the other. James likes to joke about how the walk in closet may not be big enough to support my shoes, bags and jackets. I should have shown him my inspiration picture, haha!

The last stop on our tour of the main level is the master bathroom. Pretty standard here - jacuzzi tub, toilet, shower, linen closet.

Phew! That took longer than expected. Part II: The Lower Level is coming next week. Stay tuned!

Day 86

The roof is covered and ready for shingles which should hopefully be added this week. Much of the inside framing is complete as well and later this week I'll take you through it room by room. We have a ton of things on our "to-do" list for the week. At this point, we've resigned ourselves to taking things week by week or at times, even day by day. I think it's going to get worse before it gets better because as soon as the roof and windows are done, we'll be set to start on the electrical and plumbing inside the house at which point we'll be taking our vacation days and working all out.

Here's a list of this week's happenings, mainly for my benefit, not yours (thank goodness for list making!):

1. purchase sinks for kitchen and master bath so they are ready for custom built ins
2. decide on size of kitchen appliances so dimensions can be used in finalized kitchen design
3. contact custom countertop maker to design woodgrain island countertop
4. finalize kitchen design and set up meeting with kitchen guy to visit site
5. meet on site with insulation contractors to finalize plan for spray foam insulation
6. decide what color/style shingles will go on roof
7. decide what color/style shakes and/or clapboard for siding
8. contact stairmakers to discuss plans for staircase
9. place order for front door
10. install septic system, trench and leeching field
11. research DIY installation of gas fireplaces
12. visit flooring depot finalize decision on wood floors
13. purchase and install window above garage
14. make a final decision about decking and railings

See, making progress already!

Summer Favorites

Last week was a scorcher here in the Northeast (and almost everywhere else). This called for as little kitchen cooking as possible. Below are three of my favorite recipes that I found this summer. Great for grilling days and ones where you want to limit the amount of time cooking over a stove or oven. Enjoy!

Grilled Pizza

Ingredients:

• Pizza dough (I used fresh dough bought at our local grocery store)
• Olive oil
• Your favorite toppings (for us that's tomato/basil/mozzarella over pesto pizza - yum!)
• flour or corn meal for dusting pizza peel

Method:
Prepare the grill for high direct heat. Lightly grease clean grill grates with olive oil. Shape the pizza dough on lightly floured pizza peel (or rimless cookie sheet). Slide dough off peel directly onto hot grill grates. Close lid and let it cook for about 2-3 minutes. Once the pizza has browned lightly, use your pizza peel or cookie sheet to remove it and then flip it so that the uncooked side is now against the grill. Add your toppings, cover and cook until pizza is done. Slice and serve!


15 Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta

Ingredients:

• 1 or 2 ripe avocados, pitted (depends on how "creamy" you want your pasta)
• 1 lemon, juiced also save peel for zest to garnish
• 2-3 garlic cloves (add more or less depending on how much you like garlic)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt or to taste
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
• 2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
• 6-8 ounces of your favorite pasta
• fresh ground pepper, to taste
• a sprinkle of fresh Parmesan cheese
  

Method:
Bring water to boil, add pasta and cook until Al Dente. Meanwhile, place garlic cloves, lemon juice and olive oil in food processor and process until smooth. Add pitted avocados, basil and salt. Process until smooth. When pasta is done cooking, drain and rinse. Combine pasta with avocado sauce. Garnish with lemon zest, black pepper and fresh Parmesan. Serve immediately and finish your plate, this recipe does not reheat well due to the nature of avocados!


Best of Everything Veggie Burgers

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
• 1 cup water
• 2 (16 ounce) cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 green bell pepper, halved and seeded
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled
• 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 TBSP chili powder
• 1 TBSP ground cumin
• 1TBSP garlic salt
• 1 TSP hot sauce
• 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs - or as needed

Method:
Cook brown rice over medium-low heat until rice is tender and all the liquid is absorbed. Preheat outdoor grill for high heat. Lightly oil sheet of aluminum foil. Mash beans in a large bowl with fork until think and pasty and set aside. Place the bell pepper, onion, mushrooms and garlic in food processor and chop finely. Stir the bell pepper mixture into the mashed black beans. Place the brown rice and mozzarella cheese in the food processor and process until combined. Stir mixture into the black beans. Whisk together eggs, chili powder, cumin, garlic salt and hot sauce. Stir mixture into black beans. Finally, add in the bread crumbs until mixture is sticky and holds together. Divide into large patties. Place on prepared foil and grill until browned and heated through, about 8 minutes on each side.

Day 81

This week the roof is going up. The first two pictures were from Tuesday and the last three from today (Wednesday). It's coming along!