About the floor plan:
- I know I'd have a larger living room if I slept in a loft, or used a Murphy bed, or used a smaller-than-queen-sized bed, or had a smaller kitchen...
- I don't want to set up my bed every night. While I could get into a loft right now, I know better than to count on that always being the case. When I dislocated my hip last January, I would not have been able to come home from the hospital and climb up into a loft to sleep. I don't like the thought of navigating a ladder to use the bathroom at night, either.
- Sleep does not always come easily to me. I need a full queen-sized bed for the tossing and turning I do. A nice side benefit to the queen-sized bed is all the underbed storage space I will have.
- The kitchen: While I think bar sinks and dorm-sized refrigerators, etc., are cute, I'd be happy using them on a daily basis for about three days. I do not eat out all the time; I eat at home. And I have people over for dinner on a regular basis. I need a good-sized refrigerator, sink, stove, and oven. My stove/oven also has a 40,000 btu heater on one side--the source of heat for my JayBee. There is no substitute for a large sink; when you need one, you need one. I have a nice, large cutting board that will cover half the sink--and add counter space--until I move it to make use of the whole sink.
- Loft space: The JayBee will have two lofts. The one over the bed will have a lot of head room because the loft joists will be only 5'10" above the floor. The living room area will have a cathedral ceiling. There will be a second loft--with much less head room--over the kitchen and bathroom.
Update:
I posted a new drawing of the floor plan on 25 July 2011. It corporates the changes I've made to the design since the first posting.
How exciting... I was just gazing at the Southern Elevation again, when this appeared! *Two chairs* in the living room!! Now there's a new concept ;-)
ReplyDeleteNow I can really experience just how tight the space is... but you've done a great job with the trade-offs, I think. It's going to be great hanging out in bed, eh? (Did you say that there's a shelf in the bump-out space?)
The windowsill/shelf in the east end bump-out will be just above the height of the mattress. I'm thinking of it as a bedside table of sorts.
ReplyDeleteI've been worrying today about the bump-out on the west end--in the bathroom. That sink is a VERY heavy cast-iron sink. What I've been reading about framing in cantilevered space has me concerned about the weight. Another problem to be solved...
Don't suppose you could just use a normal sink instead and save the heavy one for the new house?
ReplyDeleteI've looked at sinks...I don't like most of them, and there are very few that will fit in the weird, small space. I did find one I sort of like, but it is even smaller than it needs to be. Thankfully, there's no rush on this decision...
ReplyDelete