the house that jen built
I am not trying to settle down, but sometimes it is fun to think of the dream house. What would i like in the house that I am too broke to and don't want to buy...
The BATHROOM is going to be awesome. It will have a tropical theme to it. There will be brown tiles on the floor, and the walls will be painted light blue. There will be a hot tub. it won't be a monstrous one, but it will be there. That will be in the back corner. The hot tub will be right against the wall and there will be a ledge (6-9 inches maybe) between the hot tub and the wall. This ledge will be the home to several large hibiscus plants-each with different colored flowers, a large corn plant, small orange trees, and whatever other attractive tropical plants I can find. there will be a small shower stall in the back corner opposite the hot tub. The sink and toilet will be along the same wall as the shower. The other wall, by the hot tub, will have large mirrors. I like the way they make a room look bigger.
The ROOF: will have solar panels.
Depending on city code and location, eric wants to put up a windmill. I don't know about that, but I am not going to stop him. I have no problems with a windmill.
The yard: will be big. that is almost more important than the size of the house. And I am looking forward to landscaping. The yard itself has to have a large open area. At least one corner of the yard will be my own little forest. I have two hammocks right now, and nowhere to hang them. I will change that. The trees that I plant will be fruit bearing-apple, cherry, ??,??. If i have enough space for a mini fish pond, great. Or a fountain..something.
There will be a large compost tumbler. I already miss the worm bin that i had.
I really like bush fencing. I think it is attractive. Our front yard will be surrounded by trimmed bushes. Our back yard should probably have a wooden fence-for the dogs. Eva + one great dane or one border collie. Eric wants 5 kids and no more than 2 dogs at one time. I would rather have 3 dogs and 2-3 kids. We have plenty of time to bicker that one out. We should definitly have a big yard though. Eric wants to build a tree house as well. That sounds good to me. That will go in another corner-not the one by my peaceful fishpond and 'forest.' That corner will also be filled with random trees.
Another corner will be a standard garden-with homegrown groceries. And the last corner, by the house will be a fire pit. I am going to need help building that one; probably from artistic Emily. It is going to be a stone mosaic (stones and garden wood chips will come from the recycling center, of course) in the shape of a square patio. The center will be a sun with rays, only the hole for the firepit will be the center of the sun. It will have a wire top, like any standard charcoal grill. That might take a lot of work, and i am not quite sure of how to make it happen. I have 2 artist friends though...so it should be doable.
I like the idea of having grape vines...i will find a place to put them. One fence or another will be a good home for grape vines. The yard itself does not need to look like a golf course either.
The house itself will be small. Kids can share rooms. I don't want a house that buy's me; one so big that all I do is work to pay for it. Eric, thankfully, agrees. it will be small. The kitchen will have a dishwasher and one of those flat top stoves. The grooves on a stove top always need cleaning, and that is just annoying. The stove will have one of those fancy automatic timers. As for size, I just need enough room to cook.
There will be a dining room, and a living room, also of modest size. The bedrooms will be modest, but they will be decently sized enough to accomdate 2 per room. There will be a small second bathroom with a toilet, shower stall, and sink. Heck if anyone is coming in the other bathroom to poop when i am in the hot tub!!
There will be a computer room, and then the basement. The basement will be full of games and other sporting equipment. Air hockey table, dart board, rock climbing gear, skis, snowboards, soccer ball, baseball gear, hockey gear, camping gear, volleybal net and the myraid of other shit eric and i have accumulated already WITHOUT kids. We had an entire closet full of sports stuff in mpls. Casey can vouch for this. And we were considering buying surfboards. The amount of sports shit that we have is almost sad. Between the two of us, I think we have 11 helmets. i don't know if that is cool or sad.
The garage: Eric built his dad a ball-return putting green for his birthday. The think looked great and worked great. It was actually impressive. And so was the amount of sawdust I was sweeping for WEEKS!! HE NEEDS a garage. Or i will lose it. i hope his dad uses that putting green.
Anyway. On the outside of the garage, there will be a yak-rack; a shelf for our kayaks. And later, we will get a canoe. (you can't put Eva in the center of the kayak.)
Do you think i can find this house, or will we have to build it?? This is the dream house, irrelevant of price tag. The more i write, i think the higher that tag goes. Maybe just buy the house, throw a house warming party, and cross my fingers that I get some good cards to Home depot!
But I like this idea, and i like the idea of making it work. i am sure it will go up slowly, bit by bit. But with the right amount of planning, and the right group of helpful friends, it could be done.
We talked about a rock climbing wall, but i am not sure of where that would go.
The BATHROOM is going to be awesome. It will have a tropical theme to it. There will be brown tiles on the floor, and the walls will be painted light blue. There will be a hot tub. it won't be a monstrous one, but it will be there. That will be in the back corner. The hot tub will be right against the wall and there will be a ledge (6-9 inches maybe) between the hot tub and the wall. This ledge will be the home to several large hibiscus plants-each with different colored flowers, a large corn plant, small orange trees, and whatever other attractive tropical plants I can find. there will be a small shower stall in the back corner opposite the hot tub. The sink and toilet will be along the same wall as the shower. The other wall, by the hot tub, will have large mirrors. I like the way they make a room look bigger.
The ROOF: will have solar panels.
Depending on city code and location, eric wants to put up a windmill. I don't know about that, but I am not going to stop him. I have no problems with a windmill.
The yard: will be big. that is almost more important than the size of the house. And I am looking forward to landscaping. The yard itself has to have a large open area. At least one corner of the yard will be my own little forest. I have two hammocks right now, and nowhere to hang them. I will change that. The trees that I plant will be fruit bearing-apple, cherry, ??,??. If i have enough space for a mini fish pond, great. Or a fountain..something.
There will be a large compost tumbler. I already miss the worm bin that i had.
I really like bush fencing. I think it is attractive. Our front yard will be surrounded by trimmed bushes. Our back yard should probably have a wooden fence-for the dogs. Eva + one great dane or one border collie. Eric wants 5 kids and no more than 2 dogs at one time. I would rather have 3 dogs and 2-3 kids. We have plenty of time to bicker that one out. We should definitly have a big yard though. Eric wants to build a tree house as well. That sounds good to me. That will go in another corner-not the one by my peaceful fishpond and 'forest.' That corner will also be filled with random trees.
Another corner will be a standard garden-with homegrown groceries. And the last corner, by the house will be a fire pit. I am going to need help building that one; probably from artistic Emily. It is going to be a stone mosaic (stones and garden wood chips will come from the recycling center, of course) in the shape of a square patio. The center will be a sun with rays, only the hole for the firepit will be the center of the sun. It will have a wire top, like any standard charcoal grill. That might take a lot of work, and i am not quite sure of how to make it happen. I have 2 artist friends though...so it should be doable.
I like the idea of having grape vines...i will find a place to put them. One fence or another will be a good home for grape vines. The yard itself does not need to look like a golf course either.
The house itself will be small. Kids can share rooms. I don't want a house that buy's me; one so big that all I do is work to pay for it. Eric, thankfully, agrees. it will be small. The kitchen will have a dishwasher and one of those flat top stoves. The grooves on a stove top always need cleaning, and that is just annoying. The stove will have one of those fancy automatic timers. As for size, I just need enough room to cook.
There will be a dining room, and a living room, also of modest size. The bedrooms will be modest, but they will be decently sized enough to accomdate 2 per room. There will be a small second bathroom with a toilet, shower stall, and sink. Heck if anyone is coming in the other bathroom to poop when i am in the hot tub!!
There will be a computer room, and then the basement. The basement will be full of games and other sporting equipment. Air hockey table, dart board, rock climbing gear, skis, snowboards, soccer ball, baseball gear, hockey gear, camping gear, volleybal net and the myraid of other shit eric and i have accumulated already WITHOUT kids. We had an entire closet full of sports stuff in mpls. Casey can vouch for this. And we were considering buying surfboards. The amount of sports shit that we have is almost sad. Between the two of us, I think we have 11 helmets. i don't know if that is cool or sad.
The garage: Eric built his dad a ball-return putting green for his birthday. The think looked great and worked great. It was actually impressive. And so was the amount of sawdust I was sweeping for WEEKS!! HE NEEDS a garage. Or i will lose it. i hope his dad uses that putting green.
Anyway. On the outside of the garage, there will be a yak-rack; a shelf for our kayaks. And later, we will get a canoe. (you can't put Eva in the center of the kayak.)
Do you think i can find this house, or will we have to build it?? This is the dream house, irrelevant of price tag. The more i write, i think the higher that tag goes. Maybe just buy the house, throw a house warming party, and cross my fingers that I get some good cards to Home depot!
But I like this idea, and i like the idea of making it work. i am sure it will go up slowly, bit by bit. But with the right amount of planning, and the right group of helpful friends, it could be done.
We talked about a rock climbing wall, but i am not sure of where that would go.