Measurements
Being the excited little munchkins that we are, we utilized our first, of two visits to the new place prior to closing, yesterday.
We've established that:
- we can comfortably fit the gazebo I'd like [if I go ahead with it], and still have space for a small veggie garden and a shed. Kev's a bit wary of the length of the deck combined with the veggie garden. If it becomes an issue and if I had to make a choice, I'd prefer to make the garden smaller rather than mess with the length of the deck. I'd like to add a rail to and keep the deck big enough to comfortably seat visiting friends, or to maybe have a hot tub one day [not likely, but at least the option is there] and I'd like to have breakfast out there on the weekends weather permitting.
- our desks are not going to fit as nicely as they do now in any room other than the basement or the living room. The basement's living space is pretty much Kev's domain for his entertainment centre so living room it is by default. I'm actually okay with this, when I'm home I spend a lot of time either online, watching TV or in bed so I want those spaces to be comfortable and cozy and this set up should achieve that.
- the couches are probably NOT going to fit down the basement stairs, which could potentially be a problem. We'll have seating downstairs, that's not the issue, as there will be a sectional in the basement, the problem is we're not sure where on the main floor there will be room for BOTH of them. I figure one will definitely go into the family room, but where we'll put the other one is going to be a question mark for the time being.
- we're going to have to get a gold lock to go with the gold trim embedded in the glass of the front door and also the trim of the closet door. Gold is not my preference but it's going to be cheaper than replacing the door and the closet trim. ;)
I'm also toying with a few ideas in my head including the addition of standing cabinetry to the "breakfast area" in the kitchen [against the wall only] as the breakfast banquet style seating area I'd dreamed about is not going to happen based on the location of the sliding doors. Something else I've been toying with is how to get the best use of our dining room window that opens up to our neighbour's brick wall, then it occurred to me yesterday that I could potentially lean a small trellis [with a climbing plant attached] against that specific window and instead of looking out at brick, we could be looking out at greenery.
That's about it for random thoughts on the house, things are coming together with the packing and we're still pretty excited. Oh and there are tiny baby apples on the tree overhanging our yard, I'm guessing we'll be there in time for the ripening. :)
posted by Michelle Hopp at 3:59 PM
8 Comments:
If you do opt to go the trellis route, make sure it doesn't end up leaning against the neighbour's brick wall -- the moisture that the plants will retain will end up rotting away the brick and your neighbours probably won't be happy about it. This little tidbit of mostly useless information brought to you by a former Canada Brick brochure designer.
10:09 AM
You can, however, get (or design) a free-standing trellis or frame for a climbing plant of some description.
Actually, we have a very pretty creeper at the new place that we're eradicating because it's taking over the house (honestly... it's climbed all the way up the highest part of the building and is starting to move across the roof... not good), you're welcome to take some cuttings (once we have possession, obviously) and see if they'll work for planting next spring...
Let me know
12:16 PM
Note that the section I'd like to remove from the deck (that you want to keep) is exactly where a hot tub would go if ever we were to put one in. :)
3:08 PM
Leah, I was thinking of using a piece of wood like this:
http://www.demo.net.nz/images/products/Trellis.jpg to lean against our house like this:
http://www.malvernhillsaonb.org.uk/Photos/DAphotos/Trellis.jpg where only the top of the wood would touch the brick, I don't really want the plant climbing on to the brick itself. This shouldn't be a problem if I were to ensure that the the climbing plant doesn't touch the brick right?
Ruth, good idea with the free standing bit, the only problem is that the walkway at the side of the house is where our garbage will be housed, meter readings done and access to the backyard, I wonder if having a free standing trellis might wind up being a hindrance to flow of traffic to that side of the house?
I might take you up on the creeper, waiting to hear what my favourite Canada Brick brochure designer has to say about my plan, if it passes then I wouldn't mind taking a look at your creeper before you eradicate. :)
1:42 PM
And Kev, we'd need some kind of foundation for the hot tub, it wouldn't just go flat on the ground right? Wouldn't you want it installed within and possibly surrounded by portions of the deck.
1:45 PM
It would sit on the ground and be surrounded by deck... but not the deck that is there now. A custom deck would be built around it, joining with or completely replacing the existing deck.
1:58 PM
Why would we need a new deck?
Couldn't we just cut a hole in the existing deck to accomodate it?
2:13 PM
Depends on how 'full' the plant life is... if it's a dense covering, then you'd have to get a pretty shallow angle on it to get enough air flow between the foliage and the brick. You'd probably be better off building half an arbour on the opposite side of your pass-through, if that makes sense (I could draw it better... the words just aren't working today)
2:21 PM
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