Here are some thing we are excited about:
1. No neighbors above us and no pets to contaminate the living space! Dan has wicked allergies and the dander from our neighbors going up and down the stairs collects around our door. >:(
2. Space to start a family. The best part about the Venice in our opinion is the upstairs bedrooms. They are good sized rooms and it will be great to have a guest room and 2 kids rooms without anyone being stuck with the "little room" that a lot of 4 bedroom houses have.
3. The ability to change things to our liking which you can't do in an apartment. It will be nice to be able to upgrade things to look and function a certain way. Cannot wait for my deep kitchen sinks and loopy faucet.
4. Color! I can't wait to paint rooms!
5. Being able to have a guest bedroom. No more hotel rooms for my parents when they visit or other out of town guests.
6. My future standalone kitchen island. See below.
7. A garage! We live in a pretty pricey apartment complex but it's close to a high school and some low rent areas and there has been lots of problems with "newer" looking cars. My car has been keyed and my husbands has be run into from the side. Also - reprieve from the frosts! Score!
8. New appliances! Although our apartment is pricey - the appliances are ancient! It didn't really make me super annoyed until we started pricing out houses - I feel totally taken now.
9. Basement aka Fun Room! We are going to use the finished basement as Dan's office space and a TV area/future playroom for the kiddos. We will still need to finish the bathroom down there though.
10. Grilling - we don't have one now and I can't wait to be able to walk onto a future deck and flip the steaks.
MOST IMPORTANT - Coming home everyday to something that we can be proud of and knowing that all that hard work has paid off.
Since I was not in love with the naked look of the back of the standard island we decided to forgo Ryan's option and find a stand alone one that would serve its purpose and look kind of a like a piece of furniture. Finding one I like for less than 1K has been a bit tricky until I stumbled across Ana White's blog. I am totally going to build this during the summer and it will be awesome. I am still trying to decide on paint and stain colors. I also plan to build nightstands, a coffee table, and some farmhouse headboards. That site is amazing... it looks finished and professional and way cheaper than buying some Sauder imitations and in some cases unstained Amish built stuff.
with credit to ana white and the poster with the modified version - http://ana-white.com/2012/02/modified-michaelas-kitchen-island
Wow - that is a long time to wait, but it will all be worth it in the end. Love your list and your future island, too.
ReplyDeleteI understand about the wait. We signed our contract in August and are having our pre-construction meeting today with a delivery date in May. But, like Gina said, it will be worth it in the end. You will have lots of time to plan and to pack.
ReplyDeleteLove the idea for the island. We will have a peninsula and opted to not have the island, figuring that we could do something ourselves down the road.
Anna White is a great site. I have picked a few benches I am deciding which to build from her site for my front porch. FYI, she builds a lot of her furniture with a Kreg Pocket Jig. You may want to put that on your wish list.
ReplyDeleteI love your choices - they are going to look great!
ReplyDeleteI've been a fan of Ana White for years. She does great work and she explains it in a way that makes anyone feel like they can do it. That's half the battle, isn't it?
I'm with you on the island. I couldn't get them to sell me what I wanted so I told them to keep their island. I will build my own, which will no doubt cost less and be nicer than what they offered me. It will be exactly what I want. Is this the 'sweat equity'
they speak of?
I have a whole board of kitchen islands on pinterest. Just this week I saw a gal take a sad old dresser and a sad old dining table and put them together to come up with a really nice island! I just love it when people can see something different and bring it to life. It also helps to know I am not alone in my weird DIY ideas.
Love the DIY islands! I wish I would have been thinking a little more outside the box when we chose our options...
ReplyDeleteWe signed back in September and broke ground last week. These next few months will fly by. I recommend shopping around home improvement and furniture stores for ideas while you wait. Also, examine your electrical blueprints and consider how you will use each space. As we thought more about our future home we changed our mind about a few of our choices and made a few special electrical requests. It will go by fast and before you know it you'll be admiring your big hole and dirt piles :)
we are excited about pretty much the same things that you guys are. I really thought we were the only ones that signed so early though. We signed about a week before Christmas and they are supposed to break ground in late July/early August. It winds up being a good thing though bc I am oober indecisive and reading all of these blogs make me want to change something every other week =-).
ReplyDeleteP.S- you are right about great minds thinking alike =-)
I love how we can all inspire each other, this is an exciting time for all! Even post-move in, there's always something to do -- Ericka
ReplyDelete