Bits & Pieces of My Future Place

I journeyed to my folks’ house recently to spend some time with my family. The Sunday morning before I left, we got on this huge home-themed topic and wound up talking houses for about two hours (that’s my kind of conversation). We discussed planning and building a home, particularly which features to include and which to avoid.

My parents have built two homes together, and they currently live in the second one. They did their research and wound up with two beautifully built, well-planned homes. They really have a knack for working together to bring great ideas into fruition. Now if only my husband and I could get along so well in matters of decorating taste.

In my initial thinking, daydreaming and wishing, I’ve come up with a few of my own must-haves for a future home. Well, I suppose I should call them “wants,” but whatever. We love our current place to death, but as with any dwelling, there are some things I’d change or add. Here are the biggies:

• Spacious, three-car garage with ample space in front of and behind vehicles
• Large laundry room with built-in ironing board and hanging clothes closet. We’re tall. We hardly throw anything in our dryer for fear our clothes will shrink. I’m avoiding highwaters and exposed midriff at all costs.
• Open floor plan; our current home has an open floor plan that I adore. I can whip up something in the kitchen and connect with company in the living room at the same time. It’s wonderful.
• Farmhouse sink. Country charm and friendliness meet easy elegance – definitely my taste.
• Built-in shelving in the living room
• Mudroom. This is lower on the list, but it would certainly be convenient to have, especially to hide away the coats, boots, wet clothes and other things that I don’t want guests to see. I’d be more apt to build one of these when kids come along.
• A transparent, glass cabinet or two in the kitchen. Not gonna lie – this scares me.
• A neutral color scheme. I know, I know. It will be impossible to keep clean once we have kids, but I can dream, right?
• Hardwood or polished concrete floors. Dark, wide-planked hardwood is just gorgeous, but I recognize it’s a horror to maintain and keep clean. Polished concrete would be easy to maintain but a little more modern and cold on the feet than I’d prefer.

As you can tell, I’m a wishful thinker. The house of my dreams would contain all of the above, but when it all comes down to it, I’d rather be practical and build a standard home than go nuts and wipe out our bank account. A gal can always dream, right?

Open floor plan - 2005 HGTV Dream Home via www.hgtv.com

Farmhouse sink - white only for me. Google Images

Mud room - Google Images

White and neutral everything! Bedspread from Anthropologie.  From Country Living, this is TV's Monk's cottage getaway.

Glass door cabinets via Country Living

Dark hardwood floors via Country Living

Living room shelving - Google Images

I'm dreaming of a white, snow-capped home in Vermont

Ahhhh, the 2011 HGTV Dream Home. This dwelling truly is the stuff dreams are made of. My dreams, at least.

Exterior. Looks fabulous already.

Nestled in the Adirondacks, this home is furnished in a more modern, uptown type style than one would expect, but it’s absolutely gorgeous, inside and out. As usual, the designers pulled out all the stops for this home, thinking through every light fixture, kitchen convenience, storage solution and accessory.

I’ll admit that it’s a little more contemporary than my taste, but if you’re going to do contemporary, this is definitely the way to pull it off. Would that I only had half the creativity of one of these designers. Sheesh.

This year’s house is a contemporary lodge set in the mountain town of Stowe, Vermont. A ski destination, Stowe attracts visitors to because of its towering peaks and smalltown perks. The home is built to entertain, with plenty of room for a master and guest bed and bath, as well as a ski lodge type room that sleeps eight. There are two inside entertaining areas, plus a dining room and plenty of outdoor entertaining space. The dream home also boasts a mudroom, a laundry room with two sets of frontload washers and dryers, a dorm-style bathroom for several guests, and to top it all off, a six-person outdoor hot tub.

Mudroom

Gathering room (or as we say in the South, the den)

Living room 

Ski lodge

Dorm style bathroom

Hot tub/terrace

My favorite room has to be the kitchen/dining space. This kitchen is equipped with everything a hostess could ever need: industrial appliances, two dishwashers, two ovens, a warming drawer, a wine cooler, plenty of counterspace, and a TV/computer workstation (I would use the heck out of the “techie corner” by pulling up The Pioneer Woman’s recipes on that screen).

I have these dishes. Score!

The dining area is very modern, but still really fits the lodge theme well. Did you see the lighting above the table? To die for. Plus, they don’t block a cook’s view of the mountains. Good thinking, designers. The nine-foot long Appalachian cherry table fits up to 10 guests, and each diner has her own office chair. This area opens to a beautiful back deck with a clear view of the snow-capped mountains.

You can register to win this bad boy every day until February 18 here and here. All I ask if you win is that you invite me to your Northeastern hideaway from time to time. Thanks in advance.

Judge this book by its cover

After college, I got really into decorating blogs, websites and magazines. My two favorite magazines of all time were cancelled, however. Oh how I miss Domino and Blueprint – the only two magazines I used to purchase frequently. RIP, favorite shelter mags.

But thank goodness for blogs and for Domino: The Book of Decorating. Typically, the only books I buy are for everyday reading (classics, please). Only recently have I discovered the joy of sitting down with a good decorating book. You know the kind – it’s the type that calls for a cup of coffee and a cozy sitting place.

This book is lovely in every way. Compiled by the former Domino magazine staff, it provides tips and advice on how to decorate, and more importantly (and more helpful to me), why certain decorating elements mesh and why some don’t. This is my problem: I know what looks good and what doesn’t, but it’s hard for me to point out exactly what it is about a room or setting that doesn’t work.

In a nutshell, it’s beautiful, timeless and helpful. I’d really encourage you to check it out or buy a copy of your own.

Image: Google Images

Image: Katy Elliot's blog via Google Images

Image: Apartment Therapy

Images: Design Hole via Google Images

(I found the third image from Apartment Therapy. Check out Apartment Therapy's website - another killer design blog.)


On a related note, do any of you have recommendations on nice decorating books with great photography, advice, tips and how-tos? These days, I’m always on the lookout for a gorgeous book.