Living In A Forest...

During the time I was designing our new house, I had borrowed a book from the library...it was "The Not So Big House: A Blueprint For The Way We Really Live" . The book was great...it really reinforced the feelings my husband and I were having about building a house for the way we really live and for the things we value. We did not need any formal spaces or lots of small rooms...we just wanted the basics...but good sized and open. Here's some pictures of the main floor, this was another thing the book suggested, defining space with beams and posts instead of walls. (my tip: leave the walls around the bathroom ;))

The above picture is looking through to the dining space.

A view from the Great Room toward the foyer.

A view toward the kitchen through the dining space.

Our thoughts that went into the design of the house (first floor):

• An inviting front porch and front door...I want people to be drawn in and feel at ease.


• A defined "foyer space" but not a space wasting "foyer room".


• A space we did decide to put doors on was the den/office. We wanted a place for my husband to have a desk to himself for the studying that he likes to do, a place for quiet reading in a cozy chair and a place for bookshelves filled with books!


• A warm hearth to gather around.


• A space for a piano (lessons to be started in the near future)


• Great, built-in storage.


• A dining space casual enough for everyday dining, but special enough to use for guests...and a way that we could easily pour into adjacent rooms if needed.


• A good sized kitchen to make big meals! (open to other rooms, but messes hidden behind a half wall)


• A good sized pantry...for stocking up and preserving the harvest!


• A little desk space for me to do my planning.


• A buffer space from the rest of the house when we enter-translation-MUDROOM! Where the kids can easily be responsible for their own shoes and coats. There's also a side door here for running in and out to the yard and garden.

***The reason for the title "Living In A Forest" was because my husband kept asking me if it felt like I was surrounded by trees with all those posts. We were joking last night that since the posts are Maple we should tap them and see if we can get some Maple Syrup out of them :)****