design finch

Major progress on the home front. We finalized our design plans and submitted them for a building permit this week! That means once we get the town's stamp of approval and hire a contractor, we can finally begin construction on the addition. We're adding 836 sf to the house, as well as reconfiguring some of the existing spaces to make the floor plan more functional. When it's all said and done, the house will be slightly more than 2,000 sf. Here are a few of our architect's 3D renderings to give you a sense of the proposed changes:

We plan to make some updates to the front facade to increase the curb appeal. The front entrance will be moved a few feet over to where the gabled windows are now. The new front porch will be wrapped in Ipe for added texture and interest. The pitch of the garage roofline will be lowered slightly for aesthetic purposes. Our garage door will have translucent panels that will add to the contemporary look that we envision for our home.

The addition will be on the back of the house. Part of the existing exterior wall will be removed completely in order to connect the old and new spaces. This will allow us to increase the size of the living area downstairs, open up the kitchen, and add a gas fireplace. The upstairs will be our new master suite and a small study.

The rendering gives you a better sense of what the space will feel like inside, although the finishes and furniture are just placeholders for now. This view is standing at the new front door, looking back towards the addition. We're removing the half wall on the left (currently the coat closet) to create a dining area. The new coat closet (not seen here) will be on the right as you enter the front door. The sliding barn door shown in the rendering will open to our mud room (accessible from the garage and backyard) which will contain built-in storage for coats and mittens. The mud room is currently the laundry room, but we're relocating the washer and dryer (there will be a stackable set upstairs in the master closet and also downstairs in the guest bathroom). The stairs will lead to a lofted study and then our master suite will be behind that.

Here's another view of the kitchen, although we're still working on choosing cabinetry and finishes. We want something very sleek and modern. We're taking out the half wall (which contains the old pantry) to open up the space. The new pantry (not seen here) will be to the right of the hallway, on the wall adjacent to the kitchen. The hallway leads to the guest bathroom and bedrooms, which will all be updated as well. We still have a long way to go considering we haven't even broken ground yet, but it feels awesome to be making progress on this love shack!