I studied realtor.com so much for so many years that I knew what houses were newly listed, which ones had changed price, which ones had been dropped for a while then listed again so they showed as a 'new listing', etc. I had a bunch of wishes floating around in my head. Some of them we were able to meet or exceed, but some of those wishes fell by the wayside, even in building our dream house. What things did you give up during the process? What are you going to do about it?
Big front porch or wrap around porch: The builder only offered a porch like mine is now (miniscule) with a roof over it or a sort of half a porch. I want something much bigger and deeper. I am also more than a little nuts meticulous and I needed my roof line to be the way it is. Then my husband insisted on stone and the way they lay out the stone on different options left this elevation as the only one I could live with. Maybe later I will petition the HOA to allow me to build a gorgeous front porch. In the meantime, we plan on doing some great landscaping in the back to make it a great sit.
Maximum privacy: We have a small conservation area on one side of the house and pastures in the back. I guess we'll all find out once the leaves are full on the trees how much privacy the green-space allows. We can definitely see everything other people do in their backyard. We'll try to adjust, I guess.
Big mudroom: Nothing to be done about this one but whine constantly get over it. We have a garage, so in some ways I guess we have a giant mudroom.
Architectural character: I wanted interesting doorways, pocket doors, full hardwood floors downstairs and in the upstairs hall, hardwood stairs, crown molding, chair rail, board and batten, built in bookshelves, etc. We got hardwoods everywhere except the bedrooms, full bathrooms, and basement. I insisted on the hardwood stairs during the building process. Everything else will be a series of DIY projects. I will turn this house into something lovely and interesting. Thank God for bloggers who are willing to share their expertise.
Great Big Kitchen Island: The builder refused my reasonable request to have a big kitchen island with cabinets on both sides. They offered me three foot square islands for my great big kitchen. I will be doing this myself and loving it!
No HOA: I always swore I would never live in a neighborhood with cookie cutter houses and an HOA where the space between houses wasn't even as large as the houses themselves. I mis-swore. (Wouldn't be the first time) It was a smart sacrifice to get the house of our dreams. I'll get over it until we can buy land and build our family compound. No, seriously.
Fence for the little dog: Nope. Have to ask the HOA. Insert eye roll. I hate asking permission for every little thing on property I own. Somehow it makes me feel like less of a homeowner. I'll petition the HOA for it and hope for the best.
Giant walk-in pantry: I got one of those tiny pantries which are sort of wasted space. I would have preferred extended cabinets in that spot. I might change it at some point, but it's not as terrible as I thought it would be. I still maintain a large food store room in the basement. I would have had to do this anyway, unless the giant walk-in pantry was a ten by ten foot room. I'm over it.
I know there were other things I wanted, but honestly, I can't remember most of them. It's kind of funny, because at the time they seemed so critical. After living here a few weeks I am so satisfied those little items, whatever they were, are forgotten. So I didn't get architectural charm - I got full hardwoods and beautiful, fantastic bathrooms and a laundry room on the floor with five of the bedrooms. (Goooooooooal!) I got a big kitchen with gorgeous cabinets and a beautiful fireplace and a warm and inviting dining room. My husband has a nice home office and the guys have a very comfortable man cave. We have a guest suite. If we need to one day, the basement can easily be a separate area for someone to have a lot of fairly private space. (Large bedroom, full bath, stove, fridge, already in place.I got my cousin and her wonderful little family across the street.
What about you? What did you give up and what did you get?
I'm already planning our next house. When the kids all leave and have families of their own I plan on having a grandma house - much different than this one. That one will have a door at the bottom of the stairs to block the noise, and a giant room with lots of bunks for grandkids!
