Closed on lot yesterday, in planning stage & need help

10 years ago

So I closed on my lot yesterday. It's about .6 of an acre, walkout with trees on the back behind the house. I'm planning to do a one level (here they are called ramblers for some reason) of about 1500 sq ft on the main level.

I'm a possibly soon to be empty nester, as my 21 year old is planning to move out shortly. My older son may need to live with me for some time yet as he is autistic so I'm planning to be able to set up the basement as a mother-in-law style suite.

The floor plans I'm deciding between both have 2 BR with 2 baths, and an open concept kitchen with an island, dining area and living room. I'm ok with the open concept at this stage in my life. For the master bath, I'm struggling a little bit with the layout as I really don't want a 6' tub as I'm only 5' 3" and find them uncomfortable.

I'm coming from an old house, built in 1930 so I'm not trying to replicate that style in the new house but I still want something traditional that isn't going to look too trendy. Covenants require brick or stone accents on the front, so I'm wondering if maybe brick would be the more classic choice? And would you do full brick on the front if the sides and back are siding? For flooring, I want to do solid oak throughout (other than baths and the mudroom/laundry) and I'm thinking 2 1/4" because that's what I like but everything I'm seeing seems to be wide plank and that hand scraped look. For trim, I was planning to do wide simple painted trim. For cabinets, I was thinking white solid wood shaker doors with a dark oak craftsman style island. I have quartz counters in my current kitchen so I would probably go with those again. (Thinking Silestoone Lagoon in the suede finish for the perimeter and a black shade also in the suede finish for the island).

Does anything that I'm planning so far sound like something that will go out of style in a few years?

Comments (4)

ChrisStewart
10 years ago
All sounds reasonable to me. I think that I am not a big fan of only bricking the front but it is fairly common. I think that affordability has to be the first consideration and you usually have to comply with the subdivision requirements.

Chris
katmu
Original Author
10 years ago
A lot of the houses in the subdivision, with a few exceptions, seem to have multiple materials on the front. I don't want it to be too much of a mish-mash. A lot of them have siding, shingles as an accent, and then brick or stone on the lower portion. If I don't go with the brick, I was thinking of shingles with the stone on the front and the siding on the other 3 sides. Is this trendy now though?
annkh_nd
10 years ago
I don't like the look of a brick front with siding on 3 sides. I see a beautiful brick house, turn the corner - and I feel cheated! I wonder if the builder ran out of money (which would be silly, since you usually see it on grand-scale homes), or perhaps thought we wouldn't notice.

Brick accents on the front are completely different, can be a lovely touch. No one would expect brick accents to go all the way around.

Wood floors last (theoretically) forever, so no matter what you choose, it will probably go in and out of style 3 times in its lifetime. Choose what you love.

I you plan to live in the house for a long time, do whatever you want. I hate to see people pass on their favorite color/finish/style for fear of it "going out of style". Let's face it - the chances of new buyers having exactly our style are pretty small, and they will re-do what they don't like anyway.
Beth K
10 years ago
I agree with annkh, i have always liked the look of the stone and brick mix and many of the new construction in our area are a mixture of materials. . Our builder has stated that using multiple materials is the current " trend". My son who is building outside of Chicago is using both stone and brick. It's going to be beautiful.
I would build what appeals to you and not worry about "the trend" , especially if you plan on living there a long time.