From the moment we decided we were going to build our dream home, Mike and I knew we wanted to be as involved and hands on as possible throughout the entire building process. We started by determining what was really important to us - our family/our future. We are less concerned with square footage and are more concerned about the function and purpose of the home. To have our home be completely sustainable (i.e. grow all of our own food, wind/solar power), would be my ideal. I know it will take us a while to get there, but any step that we can take to make our carbon footprint a bit smaller, will make me that much happier!
Our fist home was a 1800 sq/ft home which worked out nicely for Mike, myself and our dog. When our little lady arrived, it continued to serve us well, since her bedroom was directly next to ours. We realized though that if we wanted any more children, a place with all the bedrooms on the same level would be ideal. The second home we purchased was closer to 2300 sq/ft. This time we were lucky enough to have three bedrooms upstairs which was wonderful since we added a little boy to our family. We enjoyed the home and had fun renovating it, but ultimately knew we were destine somewhere else.
We agreed that the 2300 sq/ft of our previous home was more than we needed, so we searched for house plans online that were a bit smaller. I'm pretty sure Mike would live in a tiny house if he could, but I didn't think that was very realistic for us at this time. We found a very simple plan from Concept Home which suit our taste perfectly (less is more). We fell in love with the open concept, ranch style home. We then met with an architect to modify some areas and really make it our own. We were very fortunate to have the help of my brother-in-law who has built several homes in the past, guide us and give us great recommendations for sub-contractors that could help us along the way. Mike has been acting as our very own general contractor from the beginning and has had is hand in every aspect of the building process.
In the beginning stages, we would visit the land weekly, making sure things were going according to plan. As walls began going up, we visiting much more frequently. It was so exciting to see it transform more and more each day. During the winter months, before our roof had been constructed, Mike spent many days shoveling the inside of our house. I'm sure he's glad that part is over! Once it warmed up a bit and the walls were complete, Mike, along with the help of his buddies and my dad, put up the board and batten siding. We decided on white siding with cedar shutter accents and a large cedar deck for the front and back porch. More to come on the interior finishes and all the hard work Mike has decided to tackle all his own!
