So the huge project I alluded to in the sweatshirt post is....
BUILDING A HOUSE.
We haven't started digging and I already have a headache.
So. About a year ago, a week after I gave birth to Izzie to be precise, my husband and I started designing the floor plans. We went through every nook and cranny as a team and had an architect render it digitally and make it official.
We thought we'd start last summer, but life and finances destroyed that idea.
We moved to our small town, hoping to also maybe find a house we liked.
But unfortunately not many people come and go in tiny towns and other than some trailer homes and an 11 bed rotting nursing home for sale, we didn't have many options.
So building a house.
Something my husband has always wanted to do! A dream and lifelong goal.
I was 12 when my parents built the house I grew up in and it seemed like a nightmare.
I love the idea of living in a house you built and designed, but the idea of actually going through the process seemed overwhelming.
So we bought a half acre corner lot (land is really cheap if you live in the middle of nowhere) across the street from my mother-in-law. Yay for Grandma a bike ride away!!
We've been waiting to build the house we plan to live in the rest of our lives this summer.
We've been waiting to build the house we plan to live in the rest of our lives this summer.
In our town, you can be your own general contractor.
All your sub-contractors have to have licenses, but being the coordinator and secretary of the project you can do it yourself.
My husband wanted to go this route, saying we'll save money, we're so invested in the house down to every detail and penny (because we're cheap), we'll be over involved anyway whether we pay someone to be in charge or if we just do it ourselves.
But then I pointed out.
My husband works two full time jobs, 112 hours per week. Some shifts overlap so he's working two jobs at the same time, running between the two all day....but the reality is for our family:
"WE" being the general contractor really means "I" (the mother of 3 tiny kids, who's going back to college, with 3 different church assignments) would be the general contractor.
The idea made me want to throw up.
I am a girl who likes DIY, I use the power tools more than my husband, I even got a table saw for Christmas, but the idea of rough plumbing, footings, etc was overwhelming.
So my husband bought me this book:
Then I met a friend in town who was her general contractor for a house she built last summer and she pumped me full of confidence telling me I can totally do it, it's being organized and management. hiring and trusting your sub-contractors.
She also gave me her whole list of who she hired for her house.
SO I AM BUILDING MY HOUSE.
We hope to start digging next month, so I'm in the paper work process right now getting bids, finalizing details, redesigned the roof for attic trusses, etc.
I'm expecting this to be a horrible experience and hope next fall when we move FOR THE LAST TIME IN OUR LIVES, I'll look back and think, "that sucked but it wasn't as bad as I expected".
I'm walking into it planning for a summer of nightmare and stress. But if building a house is a nightmare, I've decided I'd rather be in charge of and responsible for the nightmare than ticked at a general contractor who doesn't care about the house as much as I will.
But on the fun side:
We will have things we've never enjoyed before, like a laundry room!
And a mud room!
Both with windows and natural light!
Our laundry machines are currently in the kitchen of our rental, were in a hall closet of our Idaho house, and other weird places in all the dumpy rentals before that.
We also realized our plans required engineered trusses, and the price to make them with attic space wasn't that different, so we added an attic area for a toy room and sewing space!!
But to make the budget, I will be finishing it myself most likely, laying the flooring and wall treatment, (no I am not hanging my own sheet-rock, but my idea will be a big project)
Pretty sure we will live up there when it gets finished!
I'm excited about getting to make all the decisions.
We already designed the floor plans with our aesthetic in mind, now it's down to all the fun details.
The house will be a mix of
which sounds like a horrible mix for decor vomit, but I think in the end will represent us.
Our style just may be decor vomit I guess, but at least it will be different and what we like.
One thing I'm excited about are stained glass windows.
I worked for a stained glass artist the summer after I graduated high school and have never had a reason to make my own.
My mom made her own art glass for the house I grew up in and she's going to mentor me.
So that will be fun!
So look forward to updates in the good and horrible as I build my own house!
If you want a peek at ideas floating in my head for our house, you can check out my pinterest boards for:
AHH! This is crazy!
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