Waiting and planning

I guess it's been sort of a "blessing in disguise" that our house is taking a long time to sell, because we are still tweaking our building plans and coming up with new ideas for our land. My husband has been using a cad drawing program for the floorplan ideas. It helps a lot to be able to really see the plans on the computer screen. Then we can put things like furniture and appliances in the drawing to see how everything will actually fit and how good the "flow" of the plan is.

During this waiting period, we have also taken advantage of many deals on used building materials. For instance, we picked up two van loads full of used lumber from a wood chicken house that was dismantled. We have bought four doors and four windows for 1/10th the price of what we would have paid for new ones, and they are in great shape overall.

So we'll continue plugging away, waiting until our current house sells, but coming up with more ideas and finding more deals in the meantime.

Keep it simple

I have found that for the most part, simple equals less expensive, which is great because our tastes are simple. Simple designs are more efficient and easier to clean, and easier to build yourself. We are planning our future house to be very simple at the beginning, and we will embellish it as we go, as we see fit. This way, the house will be an ongoing project, which appeals to our need for change, and it will keep us busy finding ways to improve things.

In the beginning, don't expect to find Grohe faucets or other fancy fixtures. We are hoping to find deals on used house parts, or if we must purchase something new, it must be on sale. We have already been keeping an eye on the classified ads and have picked up a couple of exterior doors for dirt cheap. When people remodel, they just want the old stuff gone, so there are great bargains to be found locally. We prefer to reuse things if they are still in good shape or can be repaired. It just feels like the right thing to do.

Plans and life changes

We have been revising our future building plans again, since we are convinced that we won't be able to make all our money back on our current house. Since the incidence of the damage from Hurricane Ike, we have also decided that a basement is necessary, even if just used for storage, so we can have a safe place to go when the next emergency strikes. I'll have to start getting quotes on how much it costs to excavate around here. We were hoping to do some of the digging ourselves, but our trials with digging even small holes around here turns out to be a painful and rocky experience.

Once we get the hole dug, I believe we can do almost all the work ourselves. We have been reading a lot and feel we have a better understanding of the inner workings of houses since we repaired an entire wall in our kitchen, including reinstalling cabinets. Our new house will be much more simple in nature, and as small as possible, so the work should take less time and will definitely take less materials to complete.

We are looking forward to some major lifestyle changes with this move. The obvious is the smaller house, which we hope will force the kids to spend more time playing outside. Don't get me wrong, my kids love playing outside to matter where we are, but the new lot slopes down and is set below street level, so I feel they are safer playing outside over there. Our current house has a circle driveway and we live on a dead-end street, so many cars will use our driveway to turn around and I worry about the safety of the kids and dog if they are playing out front. Since we are also planning to start a garden at the new place, the kids will love helping with that too. They have recently taken an interest in where our food comes from and what things are made with, so gardening will be a great learning experience for all of us. Plus, the fresh organic vegetables, herbs, and fruits may eliminate our need for vitamins, medicines, or diet pills.

The other major change will be increased exercise. We will be closer to town, and within walking distance to the park, the library, the post office, and all the events that happen downtown. We are planning to walk or ride our bikes for any downtown errands, including my commute to work.

I know these are many changes to make at once, but I figure "why not"? These are changes we have been thinking about for years and are only just now beginning to make them real. Also, implementing these changes while the kids are young will make for a better transition and will help to cement better living choices in their minds. In this way, things like reusing materials, composting, gardening, and conserving energy will be second nature to them and they will continue practicing these things for the rest of their lives.

Garage alternative

We are looking forward to building our very own small house, just as soon as we sell our current one (I know, I know, easier said than done right?). Anyway, we have been researching ways to save money building, without cutting corners or lacking in quality. Luckily, we live in a pretty moderate climate, where it doesn't get super cold in the winter. We enjoy the benefits of a garage right now, but we are not planning to build one at our next house.

Many people in this area have carports, but those can detract from the look of the house, depending on the style. I remember a really neat carport at a house in a small mountain town in Colorado that was built out of wood, and it looked kind of like a cross between a barn and an arbor. If we decide we need a carport, I think we would build something along those lines to fit in with the natural surroundings.

One small kitchen addition

My husband built a spice rack out of some of the kitchen cabinets that we removed when we moved into our house. He cut off the back to make it shallow and added small shelves inside. We hung it on the wall last night I love it! All the spices fit inside (alphabetized, of course) and there is even room for some of our vitamins and medications on the top shelf. It looks great and I am happy to see my husband taking a positive interest in the house again after encountering many problems with previous home improvement projects due to unorthodox building techniques used by previous owners.

We even involved our kids in the project. My three year old son helped me change the cabinet pulls, and our daughter helped us find the studs in the wall and make sure the cabinet was straight and level. We are very pleased with the outcome and it makes the kitchen feel more complete.

Pride of ownership

I will never understand the lack of pride in ownership of some people. Just because they don't have a lot of money doesn't mean they have to turn their front yard into a veritable junk yard. The value of the neighborhood can totally be brought down by the indifference of a few people living there.

You can't win sometimes. If you live in a neighborhood with covenants and restrictions you are limited in the type of home you build and what kind of fence you can put up, but without any restrictions, you contend with the trashy-ness factor.