Day Sixteen - My Dream Home

I have been waiting very (im)patiently for this day to come. I have been thinking a lot lately what I would want my forever home to look like. I hope you have a lot of time to read this post as I'm sure it will be long.

Let's start out with location. We have decided that we would like to build a new house somewhere in Mattawan, Michigan. It is where Josh grew up, went to school and where his mom lives. It is a tiny little city with a smaller population than the city we live in now. Now that we got the location out of the way, how about the road we would live off of?

I love the colors of fall, so a road that looked like this, with few houses on it would be perfect. This picture is actually a photo from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, but Michigan looks like this in the fall too. =) We would have a decent sized driveway. Long enough to be away from the road, but not long enough that I would need to drive to get the mail everyday.

The style of the house would be a craftsman.

Craftsman Ranch

I can't believe I actually found a picture that shows exactly what I want. I love the look of a craftsman style home. I am a fan of the garage not being visible from the road, although it wouldn't be necessary. I would rather have a ranch style rather than a 2-story. It would be worlds easier to clean, first of all, and if my kids are up to no good when they are teenagers, I would be able to keep an eye (& ears) on them. The porch in my dreams is a tiny bit bigger, but something like in the picture would probably suffice.

Now let's talk about a floor plan. (Hey, this is a dream, right?)

Floor Plan

This looks awesome. We probably wouldn't necessarily need a 3-car garage or the coffee corner, whatever that is, but everything else looks awesome. Especially the huge walk in closet and garden tub. I like how big the bedrooms are and where everything is laid out. I love my kids, but I don't want their rooms right next to mine. I especially love the main level laundry room. Right now, the washer and dryer are in the (unfinished, cold, nasty) basement. One day.

The best thing about this dream house is going to be the bathroom. I have never had the luxury of a garden tub, and while we were on our honeymoon, we had one, and I had to refrain from using it. I knew it would be awful to enjoy time in it and have to use the tiny tub we have at home afterward. Does this bathroom look dreamy or what?

Master Bathroom

Josh and I have already decided that we will each have our own sink/vanity area in our next house. Getting ready in the tiny bathroom we have now is a challenge when we both have somewhere to be. I can't imagine being able to lay all my stuff out on a good amount of counter space and not have to fight over elbow room in front of the mirror. That reminds me. Speaking of getting ready, my dream house will have somewhere for me to sit and do my makeup. I will have a huge lighted mirror, with drawers for my makeup (instead of the tiny overflowing bag I have now), so nothing will get lost or broken.

Everything else in the house would be much less thought over. Of course, we would have huge flat screen TVs, mounted on the walls in an effort to save floor space. We would have a nice sized office with 2 separate computers so we didn't have to take turns. I would have a room to store all my craft stuff. We would have a fireplace with a gorgeous mantle for hanging stockings at Christmas time. Our kitchen would have a dishwasher (we don't have one now) and a separate area for dining (our tiny kitchen is home to our teeny dining table and chairs).

Last but not least, the backyard. We would have a playset for the kids to play on, a pool and a hot tub. We would also have a nice patio set for eating dinner outside on nice summer evenings. There would be a gazebo for lounging and reading books under.

Ugh, I should have never gone into so much detail.