We’ve been working on our house plans for several weeks now. I think that we’re slowly getting closer to the final plan, but it’s interesting seeing how it changes. Every time I talk to someone involved in the design/construction industry or read more about building materials and techniques, I get more information and it influences how things are planned. The longer I look at the plans, I see little things that won’t work or have “aha!” moments where I figure out how to actually do it. Sometimes, everything looks good, then I go a level deeper and work on drawing the next detail (like a joist plan) and I realize that there’s a minor issue that needs working out (like how posts, beams and joists will all come together).

I’m feeling very good about this process. I think that we’re definitely going in the right direction. It reminds me of a quote:

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Not that I think we’re really going to achieve perfection, but we’re definitely getting better. We’re definitely working on simplifying our structural implementation:

• the original plan called for 20 posts on the first floor alone – the current one calls for 3 total (using interior walls as load bearing and longer beams in places)
• instead of putting in a finished floor downstairs, we’re just going to stain the slab
• by dropping a post in the kitchen and using a longer beam, we don’t have the same constraints on table and island position

We’re still keeping the same design goals (open floor plan, space for a family, simplified construction) but I think we’re making it better through an iterative process.