Countdown to this weekend!

We're both pretty excited! This weekend, Joern and I are headed to Frankenberg ob der Tauber to the FingerHaus factory. They have an open house day, inclusive of the opening of a new model home (one that we are considering,) and seminars on home building. We're leaving on Friday, so in 4 days, we'll be off! What a cool way to spend our Valentine's Day!
We're still overwhelemed with housing plans, and looking at house magazines for inspiration. It's all so exciting, as I keep saying, I can't wait to see where we'll be one year from now!

Color inspiration

Well, it looks like I've found our colors for our master bedroom/bathroom.
I got these towels from Restoration Hardware at Christmas. I love how plush they are and can't wait to use them!

So, it looks like our fabrics will be the same as everyone robin's egg and chocolate combination. I secretly love this combination, and think it will look wonderful in a beige bathroom. Now, I need to start figuring out bedroom wall color.
Thank goodness there is some time!

Our Fingerhaus meeting

Yesterday, we met with our Fingerhaus man. He is one of the Stuttgart Fingerhaus representatives, and he has been offically designated to guide us in the creation of our home. Of course, this does not mean we are definately building with this company, but Fingerhaus is high on our list.
I guess I should start by saying that if we build, unless we win the lottery, we will be subdividing Jörn's parent's plot, which is quite large. Building a home here will require the removal of their garage, moving the driveway, and taking away a little, but not all of their frot yard.

Our meeting began promptly at 9 am and lasted about 2 hours. We've met Mr. Messner before, so it was nice seeing him again. We began with looking at the property. One day, I will get around to posting pictures of the plot. Jörn showed him where we will be moving the driveway, and where we are planning on building the house.
We then moved our meeting into Jörn's parents house, which was wonderful because it was FREEZING outside!
I really liked that Mr. Messner brought a few house plans along that he felt would be interesting to us based on previous discussions. He explained that our home choice may be influenced by a few factors, including how our home will impact the view from Jörn's parent's house, and what the town will allow in terms of roof shape.
The plan that we like the best is an Italianate style home, which in German is called a "city villa."

image from www.fingerhaus.de
We're really excited about the fact that these homes have 2 full floors. The majority of German homes have one and a half floors, with the top floor actually being the attic space. In these attic spaces, your rooms are made smaller by the pitch of the roof. We also really love the huge two-floor window. We will have a beautiful view, which includes a low mountain range and the ruins of the Neuffen castle, similar to this view from the Nuertinger-Stattzeitung.

image from www.nuertinger-stattzeitung.de
Because we will have such a wonderful view, it will be great to have such large windows to highlight the view. Plus, the windows will lend an airy feeling to the house.
I also love the floor plans for this house. It includes many of the features I'm looking for, with the option of moving the kitchen to give it more cabinets and workspace.


images from www.fingerhaus.de

We were warned though that the town may not approve of the roof style of this house, as 99% of the homes in Neckartailfingen have typical gambrel roofs. So, he also showed us another type of house offered by the company.

image from www.fingerhaus.de
He suggested this alternative if we must build a home with a gambrel roof.

Again, Jörn and I love the two-floor window. We also liked the floorplan of this home.

We discussed visiting existing homes made by the company in these two styles. The second home is being opened as a model home at the company's headquarters in Frankenberg an der Eder on Valentine's Day. We will be going there anyway on Valentine's Day, as the company is offering an open house with educational sessions, the opening of the model house, and a chance to view all of the interior options the company offers for their homes.
A family built a villa with Fingerhaus near Heilbronn, which is about an hour from us. This family has agreed to be a reference, thus, people can come visit the house. We will make an appointment to see their home.

We also spent a lot of time discussing our cellar, which is a major undertaking to suit our needs. Since we will be removing the garage, we will need to use part of the cellar as a garage. This seems odd, but since the house is being built into the side of a mountain, the garage and cellar will not be completely underground. In the end, we hope to have a garage that will house 4 cars and still leave us plenty of room for all our other needs.

We were left with some homework. We have to contact the town hall concerning the type of home we can place on the property. We also have to hire a surveyor for a current survey of the property. Then, we have to go about formally subdividing the property and putting the building plot into our names, since we cannot build until the plot is in our names.

The meeting was really informative, and I feel like we have a lot more guidance now on our dreaming. Plus, it is one more step closer to owning our first home!

My new hobby

Since this blog is a little wordy, with few pictures, I've decided to spice it up a bit. I have found a new, totally fun pasttime: creating inspiration boards.
I was always a bit confused about how to go about creating an inspiration board, yet have seen them in so many places. I even tried polyvore.com, but I didn't feel that it suited me that well either.
So, tonight, I tried just cutting and pasting using pictures from the web, and simply organizing them through a photo editing program.
Please be kind, this is only my first inspiration board, and I still need a little practice. I even tried to find a wall color, but somehow, with Sherwin Williams website, I could only email myself one picture, and couldn't download any pictures to get the paint color. Give me time, I'll be there :)
Items from top left:
Italian Cypress Paisley from Restoration Hardware in Eucalyptus
Morgan Duvet Cover from Pottery Barn in Espresso
Hudson Bed and Wide Bedside Table from Pottery Barn in Mahogany stain
Minna Table Lamp from Pottery Barn

Obviously this is only the beginning of my interior decorating experience. We'll see how it morphs in time!!

What a girl wants

In considering our new home, here is a list of things that I know I want. Yes, I will print this list when we actually get to the building part.
Kitchen
-stovetop that has touchpad/ no knobs
-an American-style refrigerator with ice maker
-a faucet with a spray attachment
-an undersink instant water-heater
-granite countertops
-completely integrated dishwasher (no messy stainless pannel)

Guest/kids bathroom

Master bedroom (suite)
-soaking tub
-separate shower
-underfloor heating
-non-ugly tiles (if you spent time in many German homes, you know what I mean)
-possibly a built in shelving space

Guest WC
-warm/hot water

Basement
-movie room

Maybes?
-hardwood flooring throughout

I am quite sure this list will grow over time, this is just the beginning. We'll see what happens from here.

It'll make your head spin

In the past week, we have been inundated with mail from home companies. We have so many catalogs and so many home plans, I feel like we're drowning in paper. Of course, to be a good person, I do feel the need to look at most of these catalogs and brochures. Sure enough, each company has at least one set of home plans that we like.
And of course, now that I've seen a few homes that may one day be our own, my mind has started racing with decorating. I'm mentally considering colors that I like, and spending time on the internet looking at kitchens and bathrooms. I'm reading up on flooring choices, and carefully weighing the options.
Last night, I couldn't fall alseep. This is usual for Sunday night. Normally though, my mind is racing about work, the kids, and the fact that I have to wake up in only a few hours. Last night though, the strain of thought was, do I want light blue and white in the master bath or beige? I wonder how expensive a fancy shower stall will be?
Oh my goodness. It is so exciting, but I can easily see that the actual process of building a home is overwhelming. Hopefully, I don't get too caught up in the whole thing, and can keep hold of the fact that this will be our home, and that there will be light at the end of the upcoming tunnnel!

Visiting the model house park yet again

We returned to the model home park yesterday. Compared to our first visit last year, our experience was much better. I guess last year, we looked like clueless kids. We had no idea. This time, we were armed with a few necessary items: a building lot and a good starter question, "How much does this exact model cost?". With the building plot and the question, we got really far.
Our first stop was Finger Haus, the house that Jörn fell in love with. I really loved it, with one minor detail, I believe it is a bit too small. The positives included the extremely open floor plan, the all-season room, the beautiful full bath, and the "command-center" which allows you to control a variety of electrical elements from a panel near the entry-way. We also loved the price, and the fact that the installation of geothermal heating was included.
The only downside to me was that living room and the guest room seemed quite "squishy." I feel like if we are actually building a house, we don't want to be space challenged in a few years. They do offer a larger version of the same house. I would be quite interested in this larger version.
We had a wonderful discussion with the company representative. He looked at the map of our building lot, and the pictures of it. He was able to draw up an rough sketch for how our home would look, and gave us lots of other useful information. I really liked that he wasn't pushy. Plus, he invited us to the company's "Open Door Day," which takes place in 3 weeks. We will be able to see how the houses are made, as well as attend some information sessions on home buidling. We're extemely excited!
After our visit to FingerHaus, we headed into a Weno (pronounced "vano") Haus. Unlike FingerHaus, which is a prefab company, Weno is a traditional stone house built on location.
Of course, there was some heavy marketing that made me giggle a bit, like the fact that these homes had a better "living climate." Some marketing tactics can only be used in Germany.
Despite the giggles, the house was beautiful. This model home was set up as a "two generation house." A two generation home is essentially a two family home, yet is geared towards two generations of one family living under the same roof. This was kind of the set-up Jörn and I had when I first moved here. Usually, each floor is very private, and include a kitchen, living room, full bath, and often at least one bedroom. These homes tend to share entryways and laundry. If each generation is respectful of the other, the set-up isn't bad, and allows a young couple to save a lot of money.
Obviously, we are not going for a "two-generation" home, so we spoke with the company representative about making this size home more tailored to our needs. It was so exciting to actually talk to someone other than Jörn about what I want in a home. We discussed floor heating for the bathrooms, a walk-in closet (which are now all the rage in Germany,) an open plan for the living area, and a few other specifics. It felt like we were actally embarking on something big.
We should be hearing back from an architect working with the company in a few weeks, and I am really excited to hear what she has to say.
After these two homes, we visited a few more, but they weren't that interesting. Some homes are far out of our price range, and some are way below our quality standards.
I'm sure this wasn't our last visit to the model home park, and we may visit others in Germany before all is said and done.
We left the park feeling quite uplifted. Like a couple of teenagers who have the world in front of them, for the first time in a long time, I felt like our lives are on the brink of something exciting and big. We have possiblities and hope.