Going up

Over the last few weeks we've made some important decisions about the house:

(1) We'll be adding a second floor instead of expanding out horizontally. Adding a "real" basement is still under discussion.

(2) We're putting the kids' bedrooms upstairs along with a "loft" space that can start as a playroom and grow into a "hangout" room as the kids get older.

(3) We will be adding an open "music" room near the front door to showcase Stu's guitars and some beautiful paintings from one of our favorite artists.

(4) Our main living space will include an open plan family/living room, dining room and a BIG kitchen that will finally allow Stu to socialize while he's cooking. We're looking forward to 30 linear feet of counter space -- yippee!

Today we met with the first of four contractors we are considering for the project, Michlitsch Builders, Inc. Leon and Marvin Michlitsch have been in business for over 30 years...which is pretty amazing considering that in addition to being business partners they are also brothers. They seem to be very down-to-earth, experienced, practical and trustworthy. Conveniently, they also recently finished a comparable remodel on a house just three doors down the road from us. Guess we'll be knocking on our new neighbor's door soon.

While we didn't walk away from the meeting thinking, "Wow, these guys are the most amazing contractors ever," we're not sure that we would ever really have that kind of reaction to any contractor. But, only time will tell. I'm sure we'll have more to say once we talk to the other three contractors and have something to compare.

Next steps for us include:

* doing more homework on appliances so we can make selections soon,
* trying to get a better sense of what "finishes" we want to see in the house (e.g., tile, floors, counter tops, etc.),
* meet with more contractors, and
* continue to refine the design - both interior floor plan and outside elevations.

We'll continue to keep you posted on our progress...