While you are constrained by certain dimensions and codes, you still have a lot of flexibility when you are doing a gut renovation to decide where you want everything. It's very exciting and empowering to design your home! However, you also have to decide where you want everything, so there is element of stress involved as well. Making decisions isn't always easy!
One thing I'm thankful for is the good taste of my husband. I think the fact that I'm not very picky and generally like his style has made this process a lot easier than it might be for other couples. I generally let him lead the design and offer suggestions where I have a strong opinion.
The first thing we both agreed on was that we wanted an open floor plan. We want everything to have clean lines. We want Modern yet Classic at the same time.
I think the biggest challenges were deciding sizes of bathrooms, bedrooms, and closets.
We were asked by a lot of people why we didn't design a separate apartment downstairs. Remember, this was a two-family property already, but we wanted to convert it into a one-family. "Why not rent out the space?" a lot of people asked.
While there is definitely income potential to at least offset the mortgage payments, this is also our dream home and where we want to raise our family. We do not want to share our backyard or be landlords in our own home. Others probably would have an opposite stance and think about the money involved, and while we are counting every dollar as well, we are happy with our decision to keep this place a one family.
Without further ado, please find our current plans of the house below. Guess which closet is mine? :)
