Designing our House

From the moment we purchased the land, my husband and I spent some of our evenings sketching out our ideas on how this house could work - but it was hard! Ultimately the design came together quickly when Kevin from Garth Chapman took over the drafting! He made it look so and seem very easy, but it I learned does take incredible skill (which I don't have :)

So where to start? 

There was one design we found that we loved: 

However it clearly wasn't going to fit on our block! We ideally wanted a one level house however our other criteria were going to take priority. 

So we went back to the drawing board and just listed out must haves in the new house, and then listed the nice to haves. 

The key elements we wanted in our house were:

• 4 bedrooms, all privately placed - I really didn't want anyone walking past our bedrooms to get to a public space in the house. I really don't like people looking in our bedrooms unless invited - I also believe in the children having their own private spaces, especially as they get older. 
• Big bedrooms that will give the children plenty of space as they grow. 
• A private Master suite with a Walk in Robe and ensuite
• All bedrooms close to each other  - the children still like being close to us and we like being close to them!
• At least 2 living areas - a private space for the children to enjoy and a more functional family room. 
• A big kitchen! It's so corny, but the kitchen is the heart of the home and we spend so much time there, it had to be appropriately big! 
• A butlers pantry. Both DH and I have admired them for years! 
• A good sized & functional laundry - I spend a lot of time in here and I need it to be a nice and very functional space. 
• A double internal access garage
• Indoor / outdoor flow from the kitchen / living to the deck & backyard
• A flat backyard space for the children to play
• Storage, storage and more storage!

The "nice-to-have's" included:

• A house all on one level or low-set home
• A separate study 
• A fifth bedroom (with ensuite)
• A parent's retreat area
• Traditional features including VJ walls and breezeways

Armed with this information, Kevin drafted up some plans for us. Excitedly we returned to look at them a few weeks later, and we loved what had done. So with only a few minor tweaks, we were happy with our plans. We didn't deliberate for too long. The only major compromise for us was that the site meant that we really had to have a two storied home.  We didn't want to compromise or give up the children's flat backyard space. And what we dearly wanted to capture was the indoor / outdoor flow we missed so much from our Auckland homes. 

Our first draft plans looked like this:

First Floor Plan Sketch

Ground Floor Plan Sketch

We were so excited to get this first draft back and see the house start to take shape. I'll soon post our final plans and an image of the house. In the meantime, I hope this gives everyone an idea of where we are heading :)