Update April 23

It's been almost a month since my last update and we have already gone through 2 design changes since the original design. We went to the meeting on the Friday and the design had changed so much I think it was a huge shock for me I wasn't quite ready to accept because I really loved the original design.

Original design outside view from the street. This actually won't change too much I don't think. I think the second floor now sits exactly on top of the first floor giving the second floor nearly the exact same floor space as the first floor, except the living room ceiling is vaulted so the actual floor space isn't exactly the same.

The first floor of the original design. I pretty much loved everything about this. It doesn't include some things I wanted like office space for me, but everything else is pretty much perfect. My favorite part is the roof-covered deck that's accessible from the living room or dining room and feels kind of like a room in itself, but outside.

The second floor of the original design with 2 more toilets. One for the kids and one in an ensuite bathroom. I really, really, really wanted to keep this, but it's just not possible within our budget. The only thing I didn't like about this design was that if we eventually made the girls' room two separate rooms, one of the girls would end up without a window in her room. An issue with the boys' rooms if we ever partitioned them is entrances. There is netting across the vaulted ceiling between the 1st and 2nd floors that will act as a giant hammock. However, if we eventually partition the boys' rooms in this drawing, one of them would only have an entrance via the netting. Not ideal. The other thing is all of the storage space is fantastic, but I'm afraid too much storage space just means a collection of too much stuff. I'm sure we have plenty of stuff to fit in every corner of every closet, but I'd rather cut down on the crap and live simpler.

This view is what made me fall in love with the original design. That roof-covered deck! How amazing is that? The other thing is this design makes it fairly easy for the kids to bypass anyone sitting in the living room to go up to their own rooms when coming home. I know from my own experience teenagers quite like avoiding face time with the folks, especially when coming home super late, so ideally that would be as difficult as possible.

So we received these drawings and initial estimate that was 15 million yen above what we can afford. So, while I LOVED this plan, I knew there were a lot of items I was going to have to compromise on. Namely the number of toilets and showers. The architect came to our house to measure our closets, see what we have in them, see what we don't have storage space for but would prefer to put in some kind of storage space, and that's when we were also able to tell him we needed him to design something that was within our budget. Akinori is adamant as long as we have the basic outer box made as large as possible, we can do what we like on the inside eventually if not now. I can see the logic in that, and he is pretty handy so that's basically the theory we are working with. But the second set of drawings we received was so far removed from the first in my mind it was quite a shock to look at. I nearly started crying at the table when I first saw them. It took me 20 minutes or so of just staring at them and listening before I started speaking to tell the architect what I liked and didn't like.

Second pass at the first floor design. The architect was very clear about this being a very, very simple design that was drawn up fairly last minute to accommodate a meeting with us before I left on my month-long business trip and that we could still move stuff and change stuff and nothing was anywhere near set in stone. And while I knew that in my head it was just such a shock to see my beautiful deck disappear along with the third toilet and ensuite. Akinori has an industrial size sewing machine and I mentioned that I like to sew but currently don't have any real space to do so as Akinori has completely overtaken our back room where our sewing machines sit with all of his crap. So the architect added a sewing room, which is nice, but it kind of took over a huge portion of my pantry space and I didn't want foodstuffs sharing the same hallspace as the kids' school stuff. (Quick explanation of that area: I had asked for each kid to have their own partitioned floor to ceiling cubby with shelves for their book bags, extra school books, hooks for their jackets, space to store hats, gloves, etc. as part of the entryway. Sort of like a mudroom.) I had visions of a pantry with a door I could close and floor to ceiling shelves. I certainly don't need all that space for sewing. I need an office more, and in reality I just want to keep my sewing machine in my office and have some extra space in said office where I can store the sewing machine and all of the stuff that goes with it and pull it out when the mood strikes. That whole space was just not what I wanted at all. 

Second pass at the second floor design. Completely different layout. Goodbye ensuite. Goodbye second shower. Goodbye third toilet. Hello separate girls' rooms with windows in both. That aspect pleased everyone. The girls are no longer happy sharing a room and separating them from the start is fine with me if that's what they want. As you can see the walk-in closet in the master bedroom is about the same size as one of the girls' bedrooms so I asked that it be separated into two separate closets because I don't want to have to even look at Akinori's disorganized shit. I love him and I don't mind sharing a bed with him (...most of the time, as he's pretty disorganized there too and it drives me absolutely nuts that he kicks the sheets all the way to the bottom of the bed and somehow the comforter ends up top down all the time. I am fairly OCD and function best when everything is neat and tidy and in its place, which it never is in our house and it really affects me negatively, but it's a losing battle when it's 5 against 1 and there just isn't enough space to put things away or argue about it.) but I don't want to share a closet with him as he will completely take it over. Give him space and he will fill it with something and it won't be pretty.  That curvey line you see in the master bedroom is where a tree trunk (pillar) will extend from the first floor through to the ceiling. Behind it is another vaulted ceiling for the pipes and heat from the wood burning stove to pass through.

I had a few days break in between work trips when I was able to go home and the timing was right so that we were able to meet with the architect at a new home he just built. It was great to actually see sizes as well to give me an idea in my head of how big things would be in our house. The house we saw was about 30 tsubo (about 100 m2) and ours is going to be just over 60 tsubo. It was a really interesting house as well. There were lots of things I saw that I absolutely do not want for our house and some things that I was like, "yeah, this is a good idea." We received the third pass drawings as well.

Third pass at the first floor design. The kids' "locker space" is now once again a dedicated space. This area extends from the entrance so it's a shoe wearing area. Trying to decide whether to leave it as such or start the flooring there. I kind of like that the kids can keep the shoes they were daily in their own space and prevent clutter right in front of the main shoe shelving area because I doubt they will pick up their shoes and put them on the shelves when they walk in the house. I guess they can be trained. Something to think about. I have some of my pantry space back, but it's still not exactly what I want. That whole space for Akinori's industrial sewing machine is really pissing me off. He never uses it. It can be stored elsewhere I think, as in, not in our house but in the storehouse or the other buildings we are planning on renovating later. I can't imagine he will end up using it often no matter it is. And if it's in the house it will just end up with stuff piled on top of it. It could be a showpiece in the cafe space or something. I would really like to expand the pantry space. We have a stand up freezer that I don't really want to place next to the fridge. I would prefer it inside the pantry I think. The deck will still be covered, but it won't be alcove-y anymore. This is something else that can wait until later, but the way the land is laid out, there is a wall kind of right in front of our front door and along the living room side that separates my FIL's land from the bank next door. But all of the land on the opposite side of the house is my FIL's land so I feel like that is the better side for a deck, and if we have the deck out that way, it would be nice to have direct access through sliding doors or something, but where would we put them? I guess, ideally the deck would stretch all the way around the house, but we'll have to discuss that further. Right now the changing area in front of the bath has access in two directions, but I'm wondering if we need direct access from the kitchen? The only time it's more convenient to have that door is if you are standing in the kitchen and someone in the bath needs your help. The guest room also has two access doors. One from the living room and one from the sink area in front of the bathroom. Convenient for guests for sure. They won't have to pass through the living room to get to the toilet or bath, but I also want storage space under the stairs, so I'm a little torn about what to do there. I guess I have to see how much space is in the linen closet on the opposite wall from the sinks. Maybe that stuff will all fit in there? Another question, do I want the cooking range and sink on the wall or on the island? I feel like if it's on the wall that frees up the island for prep space or eating space if we have a party, project space, whatever (hopefully not clutter space), but I also want to see what's going on while I'm cooking and feel more like I'm involved in the conversation. I should be able to see the TV from the range or sink as well, so there's that. And that whole wall can be prep space and storage. Something else to think about. 

Third pass at the second floor design. So the 2nd floor shower is back. I'm at a loss as to whether we really need it or not, but I'm leaning toward yes. There are 6 of us, and potentially 8 of us, especially considering Akinori's parents don't have a shower or bath inside their home, which is right next door, and currently go to the public bath a few times a week. My MIL is having some cognitive issues and apparently hasn't properly bathed since New Year's so I hope that she will feel more comfortable using our bath than a public bath knowing someone will always be around to help her should she need it. So, yeah, that's 8 people using one bath. I think the second shower is probably a good idea, even if it is smaller than most closets. It's only for getting clean. Not for relaxing in. I'm also thinking now that when all of the kids are out of the house, we might be able to renovate and turn the girls' bedrooms into the master bedroom and expand the shower area and maybe someday I can have the ensuite I've always wanted. I asked for linen closet space though, possibly behind where the sink is currently located. We need to have somewhere to put towels for the shower and I would prefer to have somewhere in a common space for extra sheets and pillowcases, etc. The girls' beds will be situated on the opposite wall from where they are in this drawing and will be lofted with either closet space below the loft or desk space. They can have a greater sense of privacy and it will create more play/study/whatever space on the floor for them. The boys' room currently has no real walls dividing it and their beds are in an alcove-type space. We are going to loft their beds as well and probably create closet space below the beds. Right now their rooms are set up to be a general play space but eventually we can add walls and partition them off giving them their own rooms if they want or one big room. I chose the space in between the master bedroom and our closet for my office space. It's about 1.5 m2. So not enormous, but enough for me to have a desk, store my sewing machine, have some shelves for books and papers and things. There will be a window and I'm trying to figure out what do with the other side. I want to kind of have storage space up until seat height and then have a kind of nook, sofa type seat behind my chair so a kid can sit with me and talk to me if they want or I can chill and read a book or relax and watch Netflix. But do I want the wall behind that to go all the way up to the ceiling or to only go up halfway so you can look down onto the first floor? I don't want to give up too much shelf space or privacy, but the architect is now preparing more realistic drawings for us to give us an idea. Also, not pictured here, there is a 2m wide loft that runs across the ceiling in the center of the second floor. It's hard explain but you kind of get the idea from the pictures below. It's more to give the kids a place to play, but if I want it can run all the way into my office. I don't think I want to do that though.

View standing in the kitchen looking into the living room.

View when you walk into the entrance. Guests can sit down on the living room floor to take off and put on their shoes and then be right in the living/dining room area. That pole is going to be a tree trunk that extends up into the master bedroom.

View from the landing on the first floor. You can see the netting above and sort of in the top middle of the picture is the loft I wrote about earlier that runs across the ceiling.

View from one of the boys' alcove beds. There's a ladder/wall that allows access to the loft. The ceilings in all of the bedrooms are slanted down from the center. 

View from outside. This gives you a better idea of the loft. Akinori wants a climbing wall.  I don't know how I feel about that. Depends on how it will look after those grips are removed from the wall I think.

So the next step is signing the contract with the architect apparently. He's working on a more exact estimate and should have the contract finished after Golden Week. Akinori is building the foundation for the house but the area isn't even cleared yet and since I haven't been home this month he hasn't had any time to work on that. I think that's definitely the priority once I get home. Without that bit, there's no house! If you have any opinions about anything in the designs or anything I'm waffling over, I'd be happy to hear them!