Just because I haven't updated in awhile...a quick check-in.

We are continuing to work with Kai and David on the floorplans, and we think those are done.  Next came specifications and pricing and contracts.  We finalize the contract with the bank tomorrow, and in about 25 days all of that paperwork is hopefully done and we can finally break ground!

It was becoming painfully obvious already the extent of decision-making that will need to get done in the future months as we reviewed and made some changes to the specs.  Luckily for us Kai is very patient and is quite willing to work with us for what works best for our family.

We are continuing to work on elevation options as well (exterior design).  We are working within a Craftsman style home.  Although quite a few of the other houses in the area are already this style, I'm still a fan, as I think it brings a simple and cozy feel to the overall home.  Brian and I went and toured some houses in the Village of West Clay area for some ideas.  I'm sure we looked incredibly suspicious cruising slowly through this neighbourhood and periodically rolling down windows so I could snap a few photos!  There were many amazing homes in this area, but of course, we were only looking for a few with some specific design elements.

A house in progress

We also went to our first Home Show Expo today, and managed to get a few ideas about what we do and don't like.  I think the more we research ahead, the "easier" it will be when it comes time to make the final call.

And in the meantime, we are continuing to get our current house prepped for the market!

Today we met with Kai Yu and his associate, David, again to go over the basic floorplans again.  What is especially great (and relieving) about working with both Kai and David is that they think of options and concerns that we would never think of - and are not afraid of challenging us or working with us to tweak the plans.  Brian are both glad that, as builders, they are not just going to do whatever we ask them to if it doesn't make sense design-wise or living-wise.  Heck, we aren't the experts and have never done this before, so having them walk us through these changes is very nice.  Probably the biggest stress-point of this process will be committing to design details and then second-guessing ourselves.  I think Kai and David will be able to help us make sure that we don't wind up doing something ridiculous that we won't appreciate later.

I think we are just about there on the basics after today.  I've gone ahead and posted the pre-meeting floorplans on The Plans page, with a couple of the edits we discussed today plus these:

Changes in addition to those in red below:

• Mudroom will be 1 ft wider
• Second floor hallway will be 8 inches narrower, giving more room to Laundry Room, but taking away the french doors to Master

Next week's meeting:  more interior design details, potential elevations (exterior designs), and detailed cost analysis.