The Floorplan

Now that we're mostly moved in, I thought I'd give you an idea of what we're working with. I created this floor plan for free at floorplanner.com - the measurements are approximate, but here it is:

We've been living in a two bedroom apartment for the past year and a half, so our new home's small size (just over 1,200 sq. ft.) is perfect for where we're at right now: it gives us some room to grow, but not so much that we're overwhelmed by the adjustment from apartment living.

I especially like the open layout of the kitchen/dining room/living room - in our apartment, the living room was separated from the kitchen and dining room by a long hallway, which meant that when we had guests over we "entertained" while cramped into our tiny kitchen with nowhere to sit.

I also like that the bedrooms are separated from the main living area by a short flight of stairs. Since Adam and I have nearly opposite schedules - a musician, he works in the evening and I'm a 9 to 5'er - it means I can go to bed at a reasonable hour and he doesn't have to worry about tiptoeing around.

Of course there are a few things I don't like about our new digs, and we're thinking about:

• Converting the garage into a half bath and an office/den.
• Completely gutting the kitchen and bringing in new flooring, appliances, cabinets and countertops. We also want to close off that exterior door, tear down the wall between the kitchen and the dining room, and replace the dining room window with a patio door.
• Installing a fireplace insert in the living room.
• Moving the washer and dryer from their current location in the furnace room to the unfinished "den", which we'll convert into a laundry and storage room.
• Finishing the basement rec room.

We won't take on any of these projects until we've lived in our house for awhile and have figured out how we really want to use the space. In the meantime, we've got plenty of work to do - like painting, putting down new flooring, installing energy-efficient windows, replacing the trim and interior doors, upgrading light fixtures, and landscaping our large yard. Whew, I get tired just thinking about it!