Coming in 2022!

I commented on a Facebook posting of my Mom yesterday that adulting is hard so I’d rather get it all done very quickly. Yesterday I took what is probably the most “adult” thing you can do aside from getting married and having a sprog and that is putting in a contract with a builder to build a home.

I went Wednesday to my condo, and Mom finally realized how untenable it is for me to live there long term. It was a task to get me in, and then I had a few people helping us to sort through my clothes. She had a good cry about it, but I knew fairly quickly back in January that a change in living situation would be necessary, and I begun research in earnest that first week. As I have said and raged about before on this blog, existing stock was finding a needle in a haystack AND I would have to sell my place to even have a chance. I knew building would be the way to go.

The new house, which has an estimated closing/move in date of the middle of November 2022 will be all one level, 3BR 2BA with future expansion to a 4BR 3BA if/when I decide to finish off the basement in a few years. The picture at right is an artist rendering of what the outside of my house will look like, but I have chosen a different color scheme where the front door is aptly named “Quixotic Plum” The rest is similar, my siding will be a “griege” which is a green/grey color, and black like my soul shutters. There is a stone wrap, which is a Middletown thing, all houses need to have some stone or brick on them per code. My garage will be on the left, with the floorplan looking like the one below.

After the exterior choices, then came the interior choices. I know better, and Mom helped me to not choose the cheapest cabinets, so I did pay for some upgrades here, but I feel it is money well spent to get what I want. I chose a grey based color palate that is similar but not the same to what I have in my current home. My new home will have more windows than my current place so that is nice. Don’t get me wrong, I do love my current redone kitchen, but keeping white cabinets clean is a bit of a chore, I knew going forward I did not want white cabinets so I choose a dark espresso brown.

Everything all together will look similar to the kitchen at right. This is a different model house (I’m 95% sure its the Grand Cayman rather than the Grand Bahama) but all the appliances will be included and the layout is similar, the only thing different between the two models is the island/pantry layout. Yes, I do have a pantry included which is awesome! In general there is an AWESOME amount of closet space, both a coat closet and a what I am dubbing “cleaning closet” in the main hall. Overall I am very pleased with what is offered.

As I go forward in my recovery, I know my left side will continue to be weaker and not recover as much, that is the reality of my situation. So I debated and debated whether to go for a lot where I could build a “right garage” and build a “right kitchen” where the dishwasher is on the right or the “left garage” and “left kitchen” where the dishwasher is on the left. I thought long and hard. Part of it is me being used to what I currently have which is a dishwasher on the right, either with my parents, my old apartment in Springdale, or in my current condo. Choosing the left came down to a few considerations, namely price of lots, and having to get an upgraded/ more expensive exterior for the lot I wanted it to be on, but ultimately, it came down to master bathroom layout, enabling me to enter the shower with my strong side, and put the grab bar on my strong side. Considerations I never had to make or think about before suddenly factored greatly in the decision making process.

Here are some actual pictures of the model that I saw, which is my color scheme, but a right garage layout. You can see there is a wide open space, and I did opt for all vinyl plank flooring through the main area there, which makes using my wheelchair much easier. I love all the light! This is the same south window exposure at the back of the house that I will have, although my lot has a few mature trees in the yard of the house behind me.

My dining room area will have a covered porch off the sliding door, so for roughly the April-October timeframe it will be like an extra living area, with an almost-zero clearance entrance out there. This is a picture of the main living area, I am still deciding where I am going to put the large cat tree, probably in the corner with the one window so that the cats can watch the back tree area. I hope there is a sizable squirrel mafia to entertain them, though I probably won’t go as far as feeding them like my parents do. I am considering getting a larger TV than the 42 I have currently, but we will see how the budget shakes.

The covered porch, which was the special this month (included) and part of the reason why I wanted to move so fast is clearly a wonderful add on. It will have stairs leading down the back yard, not that I ever will have to go down there, but I can if I gain back that mobility. It has recessed lighting, and I am getting a ceiling fan rough in. It will have low maintenance Timbertech decking, so I won’t run into the problems I currently have on my current deck. It will have actual space for an outdoor dining space as well, though Marty and Lorraine won’t be too happy about that. Patio furniture is actually one of the few things I don’t currently own, but I can work on that for summer 2023.

First floor laundry will be a gamechanger for my independent living potential. In my current condo it is literally in the most crazy little corner possible and in the basement when my bedroom and closets are on the 2nd floor. Let’s just say as a fully able-bodied person I wouldn’t like hauling my laundry up two full floors, and it often languished in the doom-laundry corner. I am leaving my current washer/dryer in my current place, as top loaders are not the easiest for me anymore, and I plan on investing in a pair of good front loaders. Still investigating, but you know if I can get it coordinated with Google Home I will…

Now to my retreat. The room can easily accommodate a king bed which is in all the pictures and this picture from the virtual tour. All pictures are from the virtual tour from here on out, and it is a “Left Garage” house meaning the same as mine will be. The tour can be found here. It is easily the biggest bedroom I have ever had , and I am sure I will enjoy it. I’ve only ever had one nightstand, though sometime in the future I might buy a pair of nightstands. That is a long way down the road though. My purple flower based comforter should look pretty good on it though. My parents have already stated they are keeping the baby dresser though, so I might be forced into nightstands sooner than I like so I can have my pacemaker monitor within 10 feet of my sleeping space.

The bathroom is majestic! It is not a zero clearance shower, and I shouldn’t need a zero clearance shower, but I did opt for the tile upgrade, though mine won’t have an inlay, and that is okay. It will have a built in seat, but I am planning on using my transfer shower bench. I also will have to have a grab bar installed right away, and the blocks for that are automatically included in the framing which is nice. The space between the wall and the vanity is extra generous, and will accommodate my wheelchair. The master closet is insanely large, and while the stock closet items they put in there are of course absolute crap, I am budgeting getting elfa closet systems in there so I will have everything I need in one place.

Guest space is important. I have received help and well-wishes from lots of people during this time, and well, if anyone wants to come to Cincinnati and have a close place to stay when WVU plays UC here again in a couple of years my place will have some space for that! Also lots of other fun things to do roughly halfway between Dayton and Cincinnati, including coffee shops, antiquing, yarn shops, quilt shops, and lively breweries, wineries and distilleries. My Aunt Dor in addition to Melissa and Dan and of course my parents are making sure I am well set up for the future. I love ALL of you and cannot thank you enough for the help in making ALL of this possible. Right now I only have a double bed, but eventually I hope to upgrade to a queen, but it is lower on my list of priorities.

Last but not least is my music studio. I had the option of a “Flex Room” the problem with the flex room is it does not include a door or the framing for a door. Every now and then I need to kick the cats out, and do some recording, so I opted for the “Bedroom” which will have a small closet, which I plan on filling with mostly shelving. Sadly, I will not be able to keep the piano that has been in my family for 35 years. There is just no space. However, it is fingers crossed going to a former student of mine, since I do so much of my stuff digitally these days, it really makes no sense for me to keep the piano any longer. I hope to have a “studio couch”. though my mom seems to think It won’t fit and well, I am going to maybe prove her wrong here.

The basement is unfinished, but will have plumbing rough in for a third full bath, and an egress window for a fourth full bedroom. It would be my plan to get that finished off within 10 years. To start it will be a large bit of storage. Depending on my long term mobility I may have to put in a chair lift, but it is a straight run so it should be a moderate expense. I’m okay with not having a walk-out, as I don’t plan on having doggos. Anyway this post has been long enough. I hope you enjoyed my web tour and my thinking on the new place. I’m excited. Lots to do in the next week or so to get my place ready to sell, and fingers crossed it sells and closes quickly.