We sat down with Brian and went over all our structural changes we previously made as well as some new ones. I'll explain those changes a little later in this post. We really like Brian. I know his job is to make you feel uber-comfortable, but he's good at it lol. He has suggested ways we could cut costs that are at no benefit to him or Drees. It definitely helps to have Lieu and Amado (Lam's youngest sister) building a house along with Linh and Karl (his oldest sister) who pioneered this whole thing.
I should clarify one thing for everyone. The Ung's DO NOT build houses... their spouses do. I thought it was Lam's gender traits that kept him from taking the lead or having any major opinions on the design aspect but apparently it's an Ung family trait. I have been working very closely with my brother in laws, specifically Amado as he is building the same model house as us. Luckily their floorplan is flipped, our exteriors are much different and their structural changes were more severe as they plan to have 6 children. Yes... 6 and they are half way there. Several changes we made were suggestions from Amado. Brian would even tell us what they did so we could decide if we wanted to add it. Some of the items were things like additional doors, the master suite closest structure and some basement items. Amado's parents are moving in with them as well but they are creating almost an entirely separate living space to accommodate his parents.
Lam and I spoke for a week about what we like in our current house (very little) and what we wish we had or could anticipate wanting. We also met with his parents to see what their needs are. I have discovered that the 4 of us are very simple people. We are not changing the floorplan much as we liked it as is. We are just adding a few things to make his parent's life easier and to make sure our needs are still met as well as our future family.
I'll go through the structural changes we made with pictures below. These aren't our final blueprints but are Brian's notes for the redraw. I'll put the model floorplan pictures below each updated version so you can see how our changes will look. Feel free to make suggestions but please only till Wednesdsy as that's when our major structural changes need to be set lol. I don't want any "should'ves" and "could'ves" quite yet, I know they will eventually come but I rather postpone that moment. Here are what a few of the drawing markings mean- a circled R is for recessed lighting, dollar sign is a light switch, and FRT is for a fan rough in.
THE BASEMENT- Part 1: his parents room
We made the most changes to the basement. We have a full bath that is only accessible to the den which we are finishing, expanding and adding a walk-in closet to for his parents. We also are adding double doors and 2 windows to the back wall. The room will be about 12x20.
THE BASEMENT- Part 2: the rec room area
We are adding a half bath for the rec room, laundry rough-ins so his parents have a separate laundry area and a wet bar to serve as a mini kitchen. His dad likes to stay in his room and told us he would like to be able to drop off dishes or grab something from a smaller fridge downstairs without having to go up to the kitchen. We also added a window in the back nook and a sliding glass door for access to the backyard. Our plan is to add a patio eventually.
THE MAIN FLOOR
We added a boxed ceiling in the family room, recessed lighting, additional windows in breakfast room and dining room, external door from family foyer, and we are squaring off all archways. You can't see the arches in the pictures but they are between each room transition. Oh and a 3 car garage with external door which is not pictured on our revised draft.
THE TOP FLOOR
The only structural changes we have made is to replace the half wall in the loft with a railing, added a sink in the laundry room and we extended the owners suite. In the owners suite we added the optional linen closet in the bathroom and removed the partial walls that sepertated the sitting area to make it 1 large room. We also removed the walls between the closets to make it 1 open closet with 2 sides. We wanted it to feel less cramped and figured we had a door outside the closet to hide anything we wanted to hide. And again some recessed lighting.
DESIGN FEATURES
We went ahead and added some design features into the house we knew we wanted. We also have some design features included for "free" as a promotional bonus from the builder. Here is what we got so far:
- gourmet kitchen with granite and double oven (promo)
- stainless steal appliances (upgrade)
- hardwood throughout entire main floor with exception of study. (upgrade)
- fireplace in family room- stone (upgrade)
- crown molding in dining room, study and foyer (promo)
- chair rail in dining (promo)
- ceramic tile and upgraded vanities in owners suite (promo)
The next step is our meeting at the design center. We will walk around with our design specialist Kim and all my magazine clippings/internet printouts to pick out our design finishes. This meeting should happen within 20 days of today and will take around 4 hours. Just waiting on Kim to give me a call.
I promised last post I would put up some lot pictures. First one is of course Lam standing on our property and the second is the view from the basement... we hope it's even better from the main floor elevation. You can see Broad River and the farm land behind it.
I will post again next week with an update. Feel free to leave comments or questions. Love you all!
Happy Building!
Amanda and Lam
