One of my goals with this new house is to have the actual house have personality, not just the stuff in it. Most new homes I see these days (I know because I stalk realtor.com for fun, still) are big, beige, drywall boxes. Even the expensive ones…they’re all the same. I want this home to be truly unique and custom. I want it to be functional and carefully thought out, cozy and open (it can happen!), fun and casual. In other words, I want it to be completely Adam and Ashley.
So this post is full of inspiration pictures, room by room. Some rooms I have a clear plan for, some I only have a few inspiration pics, and others I haven’t the faintest idea what the finished product will look like. I love all three stages :)
As a reminder, here is the overall floor plan of the house…
Alright, let’s just work our way from one side of the house to the other.
Mudroom, Laundry, 3/4 Bath
Here is the picture Adam and I keep coming back to when we think of this space…
Kitchen
When designing the kitchen I had a few key things I wanted to include. I wanted a big island, a low wooden ceiling, and a sink with a view. Besides that I basically had no idea what to do…only that I needed a work triangle that was efficient.
While Adam and I were working on the design I ran across this picture on Houzz…
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Dining Room
When designing the house Adam and I had a few things we just could not agree on. The problem was the way we saw the “open” spaces in the house. For example, this dining room is really long and narrow. In my mind, this is a 7X16 foot dining room with a 3 foot hallway behind it (going from the mudroom, past the dining room and kitchen, and into the living room). In my husbands mind this is a 10X16 foot dining room, because the hallway space doubles as dining room space. We can both see where the other is coming from, but neither was going to give in to the others point of view. We still don’t agree, to be honest. I wanted to make this room deeper, because 7 feet isn’t enough room for a table and chairs to fit comfortably. This is the only eating area in the house, and I don’t want it to feel like a cramped afterthought or be sticking out in the hallway. Problem was, there is really no way to expand it. So we came to a compromise…a built-in banquette.
Living Room
This is the other area in the house Adam and I disagreed on, for the same reason. (Are y’all loving my dirty laundry?).
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So this room is 23 feet from the back wall to the front of the office nook. To Adam, that’s how big the living room was. I see the living room only as big as the wall that the fireplace and built-ins is on, which is 15 feet. The middle of the house is a huge space, no doubt, but you can’t put furniture in the walkways. Anyway, that’s not the part we fought (ahem, debated) over. The distance from the fireplace to the island was the part that was giving us trouble. We originally had it one size, but then I taped the whole thing out on our current living room floor, moving around furniture and trying to see how it would flow…and I couldn’t get the furniture to fit and still have room for the fireplace, the barstools at the island, and walking space between the two. I showed Adam and he reluctantly agreed, and we added four feet to the center of the house. Point Ashley.
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Anyway, I’m getting off topic, we’re supposed to be talking inspiration pictures. So here is a cross-section of the living room…
The biggest design feature in this room, in my opinion, will be the high ceiling with rustic support beams.
Kid’s Bathroom
Master Bedroom
Master Bathroom
So much I love here, sooo much, but first…mom sandals? I actually nearly injured myself laughing! I always swore a croc would never touch my foot but lately they’re all I wear! In the privacy of my own home of course :)
LOVE the look of the metal between the ceiling beams, it really makes the wood stand out in a way that having all wood really doesn’t in my opinion. Oh my word the bathroom mirror/window setup? Why have I never seen that before?! It’s going on my fantasy house wishlist. Currently I have nowhere that has decent light to do makeup. Also, love the built-in banquette idea, it looks so cosy and inviting but I think it will be just as functional for entertaining. One of my favorite restaurants uses that style of seating and it’s really great. Congratulations on breaking ground!!!!!!
Heck yeah mom sandals! Crocs are hideous, right? I have a pair of croc flip flops and they are crazy comfy… but when I accidentally wear them out in public I’m like “dang it Ashley, you’ve gotta remember to change your shoes!” (to different mom sandals, of course).
So hideous, like plastic clown shoes, but they’re comfy and sturdier than slippers so I can go in the garden in them. Between them and my penchant for wearing old, worn out leggings as pajamas I’m sure my husband finds me irresistible! Just reading down the comments…go for the sponsored posts if you can get them! If it was something you were looking to get anyway then what’s the harm? That’s my two cents anyway ;)
Ashley, love all the pictures! so many ideas so much to choose from. Look out hubby!! first, the entryway with the Dutch door? YES! the kitchen with the beams and posts in the island? Of course! and I see no issues doing a bathroom around a sink (laundry room either!) Still questioning the whole slide in the house……
Wow… those inspiration pictures are gorgeous! I have a better feel for the space now. And I agree with you – there have to be walkways! But your boys might be right – a slide would probably make the house. I mean, you’re going to have a loft space, right?!
Congratulations on breaking ground, it’s getting real now! :) I’m living vicariously through your house build… we live in a historic downtown neighborhood where we can see into our neighbors window’s… I have the idea of a crick in my backyard stuck in mind now… and no close neighbors!!
Living in a historic downtown neighborhood sounds pretty great in a totally different way though…like being close to stores, restaurants, and things to do! Not much of that going on around here.
Ah I LOVE the bathroom sink. I have been all over Craigslist looking for a vintage one too! If I find two I’ll keep you mind :) Be on the watch for me also!
Deal!
I think I love everything that you’re doing. Can I move in? That kitchen layout is the same one that we have. I can attest that it works. It’s helpful that you have space between the fridge and the stove for a little bit of counter. The island will also be a main destination as things move between the fridge and the stove. I can’t tell, is the island centred on the fireplace? My one thought is you might want to line up the edge of the island with the edge of the ktichen/fridge. It might help to delineate the dining room hallway a bit more (BTW, totally with you on the hallway is not part of the dining room).
Congratulations on breaking ground. I’m exciting to see it all take shape.
Glad to know the kitchen layout works in real life! The island isn’t centered on the fireplace, it’s actually centered on the back wall of the kitchen. It doesn’t look like it in the cross section because it’s missing cabinets around the fridge, but it is. (I measured like a 1,000 times, because it looks weird to me in that picture too).
And thanks for backing me up on the hallway thing :)
I love all those kitchen inspirations! The beams and bathroom ideas are lovely too.
One bit of advice is not to lower the kitchen ceiling too much. The higher your ceiling the cooler it will be at human level, and wood appears lower than drywall, so you can get away with it being just a bit higher than you might think. Our kitchen has a tall ceiling and is wood. We love it. Although it is the highest in our house (aside from the master bedroom upstairs) it doesn’t look so far off as it actually is. Basically I’d at minimum do 9′ especially since the living area will be much taller. 11′ or 12′ would be ideal imo.
You house is going to be so beautiful. :)
It occurs to me that our kitchen has a lot of similarities with the examples you like. We bought the house with it but largely due to it. Ours isn’t as rustic (sigh) but probably shouldn’t have been given that the house is from 1960. We have wide pine plank floors, glazed and distressed off white cabinet with bin pulls, a huge butcher block island, a pillar wall at the end of the island, wall ovens, headboard pine ceiling, etc… :)
No wonder I keep liking what you post. I love that I find new to me designs and ideas here.
Your kitchen sounds amazing! I see you have a blog, so I’m going to head over and see if I can find a picture of it. Maybe I’ll use YOUR kitchen as inspiration!
And the plans have the kitchen and dining room ceiling at nine feet. So not really that low, I just knew I don’t wanted them flat and not vaulted.
Hi Ashley – I just googled the 2 faucet sink because I too love it and it’s on sale right now for $1,200.00! Is that better? lol What’s another $1,200 in the big scheme of things,right?
I saw that too, it’s on a few sites (efaucets, build.com) for much less. Still crazy expensive for a sink…but better! You’re right, in the scheme of things $1,200 doesn’t seem like all that much. That will be one of the last things we do, so maybe there will be plenty of money left in the budget.
We’re remodeling a house right now, on a much smaller budget than when we built our own home, and I was amazed recently to see that we spent like $400 each on our master bathroom sinks. We’re so frugal, and that seems not at all frugal. But I’m mentioning this to say that $1200 for basically two sinks isn’t too totally much more per sink than $400 per sink, so maybe…? (And btw, the thought of having lots of budget left at the end of the construction — you’re so funny, Ashley!)
That is a great point, I have to think of the one sink as two sinks. You’re so smart. Hopefully Adam will agree with your completely reasonable and sound logic and we can get two (he’s more frugal than am, but only because he thinks everything costs about 1/4 of what it actually does.)
Having money left over afterwards is probably the most ridiculous thought ever…we’ve already spend a crapload and have barely broken ground. Tough we are getting door quotes today (for 22 mahogany doors!) and it’s coming in surprisingly low. Plus, I may just try and get some stuff sponsored. I’m not really big on sponsored posts, but if I can get some things for free that I was going to buy and write about anyway, it seems like a no brainer. I’m not too good for free stuff.
Okay, so I know we don’t actually know each other, but I’m totally going to have to come check this house out when it’s finished. It’s gonna be gorgeous! So, uh, see you in about 8 months?
I would be floored if we were done in 8 months, but I would love to show off the house! It’s a date!
Oh Ashley! (Read that as Scarlett O’Hara if you like) Your house is going to be so beautiful! I’m just loving following along with the process… and congrats on breaking ground yesterday! So exciting!
Thanks Sam! And of course I’ll read that as Scarlett O’Hara…great, great movie.
Maybe as you like the industrial galvanized metal ceiling look you could think about a cheaper 3 holer sink such as a stainless steel restaurant version like this one for $375.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-Ft-3-Compartment-Sink-with-Add-On-Drainboard-with-2-Faucets-/301707293979
You are so creative and Adam is so handy I know you could repurpose something like these to look sensational – check it out here for other options. http://www.ebay.com/bhp/sink-with-drainboard
I can’t look anymore as I found this Farmhouse sink on a mint green cabinet with double drainboards for $850 and I really, really want it and it doesn’t ship to Canada – thank goodness as that would cost a fortune! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Farmhouse-Sink-With-Double-Drainboard-/271945999485
I can’t wait to see your build start and the décor choices you make! Kari
Oh girl…you started something. Those are some great options. I really like that last one, I would love to put something unique like that in the kitchen. If it was a single basin I would really consider it. I want to find lots of one of a kind pieces like for the house….hoping I can make it to the huge salvage/antique fair in Texas next month and score some stuff!
http://www.antiqueweekend.com/indexmain.html
Ohmygosh, look at this one, its so huge and awesome (and expensive) – http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Original-Porcelain-Cast-Iron-Farm-Sink-DEEP-BOWLS-RARE-Made-in-USA-1927-/191653960902?hash=item2c9f775cc6
Lookie the legs on her – sweet indeed! ;) Did you check out that Sellers Other Items – quite a treasure trove! Single Farm sink with single drain board, claw leg bathtub and you have to see this – a double basin sink one side is a square bowl, the other side round bowl – it does not do a lot for me but is so unusual especially for the 1930’s! They are in Iowa so you are just about in the same boat as me – the shipping could break the budget. That Texas antique/salvage sale looks huge so you will likely find a ton of stuff there – better book a trailer and the grandparents to babysit that wknd so you can go on a shopping spree! :)
I want to pin literally every picture! And I agree with Devon, I want to see this house when it’s done. Love all your ideas!
Beautiful! We have the basic tan house & daily I think how to change it. I do have a suggestion. Put doors on your mudroom cubbies. Our open cubbies are always a mess. The kids throw all their crap in them & it looks horrible. They don’t look cute like all the pictures on the internet.
Thanks for the suggestion! I like the look better without doors, but in real life you’re right…doors would probably be better.
We are looking to build in La Vernia and love the old cast iron sinks for our house, too. I have hit up a couple ReStores and they said that they typically wouldn’t even take them in because of the lead paint used in the old enamel process, too heavy for them offload, etc. They definitely were not much help. Love the high ceilings. We have an elk head that will be mounted over the fireplace, so I really need the room. We are currently NB and making our way to La Vernia. Would love to go towards Boerne/Pipe Creek, but the commute would be over an hour an a half. Yuck! Who is your builder and whereabouts in the SA area are y’all building?
Oh man, Adam and I were going to visit a few ReStores tomorrow and see what we could find. That’s a bummer about the lead paint! I’m going to have to look into it and see what you can do to make them safe (cause it doesn’t make me not want one!). I don’t put my exact location on the blog, but if you shoot me an e-mail at [email protected] I’d love to talk details :)
Love the plans! Are you worried about noise being bounced around with the mental ceiling though? I saw a ceiling fan like that on an episode of Junk Gypsy. You may be able to get some ideas if you watch the episode (season 2 episode 8).
I hadn’t even thought about noise, to be honest. Now I am though!
I’m going to search out that episode of Junk Gypsy, thanks for the tip! I’ve never even heard of that show (we don’t have cable) but it sounds right up my alley.
I love your ideas and your inspirations pictures. It’s going to be awesome to follow along and live vicariously through you during this build!
What about making a concrete sink? I bet you could make a trough sink with as many places for faucets as you wanted for quite cheap. Have you thought about that?
I think you’re definitely right about needing hallway space. We live in a hallway (well not quite, but it feels like it) and it’s such a pain to have to thread around all the furniture a million times a day. Glad you won that one!
I had a 44″ x 44″ space at the end of my bathtub that I turned into a bathroom walk in closet with 5-1/2″ shelves on the side walls, 12″ wire shelves on the back wall and a 24″ mirrored bifold door. I love it. What would I do without the storage that I created. As you get older the mirrored doors are great for putting on makeup.
Ashley can you show me picture of fireplace with placement of tv….having same issue…..fireplace won’t be centre to wall ….help
Do you have a pic of the exterior of the house?
Of my house? I actually haven’t posted any in a long time, but you can get a feel for it from this post -https://wildfireinteriors.com/2016/03/exterior-limestone/
I love the layout!! Can you tell me the House designer?
That would be me and my husband :)
I found you by accident and when I saw your home it was obvious to me you are in the Hill Country or pretty dern close! I don’t follow any of these blogs or whatever they are called but since I am building in Comfort Texas I just might have to drop in on your page often. Very charming. Thanks
Dutchy