Our remodel project begins!

I alternate between excitement and terror, but one way or the other, our remodel has begun. We hired the architect firm Zak Johnson Architects. Kelly will be our main architect, and we really hit it off with her in the interview. She is a mom with young kids, so she really understands how a busy kid-friendly house needs to work.

The first step was a detailed measuring of our house, inside and out, down to the last closet. She'll turn that into a computerized drawing. Next she'll head to the city to investigate any zoning and lot restrictions. She'll bring the drawing and information to our big meeting November 2nd where we'll go over our long wish list, room by room. From there she'll work on several alternate layouts. Once we pick a general direction we move into refinement and detailed construction-ready docs. Then comes the part where we open up the piggy bank, hold it upside down and shake it, and shake it, and shake it.......

In preparation for our big meeting on November 2nd she asked us to put together a scrapbook of pictures from magazines of homes and rooms we like. I've got a big binder filled with pictures but mostly of interiors. I want to have pictures of exteriors of homes too, so that she gets a sense for the style we like. So my Mom gave me a tour of her neighborhood yesterday (after our cooking class) and I took some pictures of some of the houses that most appealed to me. She took me to two in particular that I just loved. They look like little jewels. Here is the first:


Unfortunately it turns out Jeff isn't a fan, so our house probably won't turn out like this. But even if we end up opting for a completely different style, I think the following characteristics are universal and can apply to our house too: attention to detail, a mix of materials, a certain neatness, and a gorgeous front door.

And here is the second, which I suspect is attractive largely because of the landscaping which is georgous (the owner is a landscape architect.) I'll post more pictures of the yard in a future post.


Again, Jeff wasn't a fan of the half-timbered look, nor the storm shutters (which I loved, darn it). But he did like the front door. And you can't really see it here, but on the left those windows are actually a pair of French doors which open to a tiny patio with room for a table and chairs. It is hard to see it unless you're really looking, because of the well planned landscaping which screens it nicely. That idea may be applicable to our house, again regardless of the style we end up choosing.