Top depicts the front of the house as seen from the road. A mirror image of the original house (wher chimney is). Notice how the scale of the addition is in keeping with the existing structure!
The second drawing is the side of the house looking down the yard. The door will open onto a patio.
While the preliminary plans were being drawn up I was busy looking at pictures from blogs and magazines that I have saved. I wanted to get a collection of pictures that would evoke the right feeling that I wanted to capture. What about something like this for a center island?
There is something about the wall colors in the pictures below.
From a site called Light Locations.
How simple and beautiful is this cabinetry?
The initial design meeting was to see what Peter would come up with at first pass and then react to it. Make sure we were all thinking alike. For days Dave and I threw around "do you thinks...." Will it be a Gambrel like the other additions we have seen or something completely different? I was thrilled that Dave was having ideas and a level of enthusiasm never before seen in reference to this house. This was until he came running in to me with a picture from a magazine of a bathroom that looked- swear to God- like an outhouse. I would find it and attach it here but I conveniently misplaced it so it would not come up again.
We finally got word that the preliminary plans were done and a meeting was set up. Peter and Shane arrived with a roll of drawings. Each one was rolled out and our eyes immediately fell upon the paper. We sat there mesmerized with the plans- looking at them from every angle. I could hardly get my bearings about where these new rooms were or how large they would be. Peter sat and "held court" while we hung on every word and drawing. We asked questions and joked about this or that. Peter was very gracious when we said we didn't particularly like a certain aspect and marked the plans accordingly. He did tell us "no" on a few occasions as if it was meant to be that way. We kept wanting to expand our first floor full bath but more than once we heard "no- does not need to be". But that's OK, I have moved past it (or have I?). Eventually we all went outside and put stakes in the yard that marked where the addition would go. This gave everything a little more reality. Wow, could our new bedroom get any closer to the chicken coop? Perhaps the Roosters would need to move down the yard a bit!
Dave and I spent the next week or so taking about little else than the house. We were only left one diagram of the outside of the house. Of course, 5 minutes after they left we could remember nothing about where things were supposed to go. Torture I thought- but the next draft would arrive soon enough.
A few days later an e-mail with a pdf attachment of the second draft of plans arrived. This new set was smaller than the last version, only focusing on the addition- kitchen, bedroom and master bath. We had really wanted a bank of gallery windows in the kitchen that would wrap around 2 walls. Starved for light- we are trying to maximize sunlight in the new addition. To get this effect, Peter had moved the lovely range to the center island. As I looked at the plans, dread set into my mind. How would I tell him that I could think of nothing worse than cooking in the center of the room? Plenty of people have cook tops in their center island and are quite happy. But I really didn't want that. The center island has to be for prep work. Any gourmet classes that we will have need space for people to work. A prep sink so that Dave and I are not always in each others way. I agonized about the right way to approach this. But after a while I got up enough courage to e-mail my disappointment of the range placement. I sent it off.
A nice response followed saying thanks for the great feedback and that there was no problem returning the range to the back wall. It was all part of the process of getting what we wanted. Dave and I breathed a sigh of relief! They would fix the plans for the next meeting.
The second meeting went similarly to the first. This time the plans for the barn were unveiled (see above). A lot more talking, joking and asking of questions to orient ourselves on the plans. Where the new septic would be, the new heating/ cooling system, the much needed drainage. I cleverly asked about the downstairs bathroom- again I was told "no" (at least he's consistent!). This time I was brave enough to inquire about an estimate of cost. Peter smiled and did a funny little head bob and muttered.... "a lot". I immediately thought "if you have to ask, then you can't afford it". I am going to leave it at that for a while.
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