I don’t like the fireplace surround in the first two examples, it’s very heavy.
How often do people in SD even have a fire?
You wouldn’t pull it far enough down to totally block the view. As long as the heat from the fire is not too hot, I don’t think it would be a problem.
Or for the occasional times you want both, leave the tv up.
Where else are you going to put it? Unless you are willing to block a window.
notrichenough - I’m in another coastal area of San Diego and we have a fire several times per week in the winter. We love to have fires on a cold evening so that our heat doesn’t need to run!
those kind of TV mounts are tacky imho.
First of all, they stick out from the wall, and in a big room having the TV above the fireplace[ as long as its does not start above 6ft from the floor] the viewing angle does not make it hard to see either the fire or what’s on TV.
In our FR , which is 17" ft deep, we have a 50" flat screen tv mounted 5’ above the fireplace. Our chairs are about 1/2 way back, leaving plenty of room for a big low ottoman in front of the fireplace.
I’ve seen this kind of arrangement in lots of FR’s.
Today we moved two steps forward and one step back
Good News - Finally, the Soil Engineer showed up for the slope analysis. I had to pay $750 for a soil analysis just so the guy could bless the Shotcrete as a solution for the Soil Erosion. We all knew it was the right solution, but my agent insisted we needed an official report from a Soil Engineer that said it on paper. He said we had really good soil, it is sandstone and the slope is holding up really well. Since there is evidence that an original 1937 retaining wall (that strange big red brick stuff along edge of slope) is still in place, there has been minimal soil erosion over the last 80 years.
He said that if we solve the drainage issue to the corner, we don’t even need to Shotcrete/gunnite the severe slope in that corner. But, I am going to do it anyway for peace of mind. He says that his report will recommend only two things:
Landscape drainage to remove runoff from the SW corner of property
Slope stabilization plantings to ensure that the natural slope does not erode in future
That’s it!!! no major retaining walls, no horrifying scary things in the report, everything is good 
Bad News - We thought our foundation was in really good shape because there are no cracks or shifting anywhere in last 80 yrs… Since he is qualified to do foundation inspections, I asked him to also inspect the property foundation. The bad news is that the older 1937 foundation is poured with concrete that does not meet today’s standards. He has a fancy hand held thing that measured the psi strength of the concrete stem walls. We are going to have to tear out and pour new foundation stem walls where we are going to build up for 2nd story. That is a huge cost - probably higher cost than all those retaining walls were going to be! Oh well, lots more days and lots more dollars.
Spent the afternoon laying out cabinets in the kitchen. In looking at the kitchen it just seems that there are not enough cabinets but I keep forgetting all the storage that will be in the pantry area. So, we really only need pots/pans/cooking sheets, cooking utensils, eating utensils and plates/glassware. I think it will all fit. Everything else can go into the pantry.
I have loaded photos of the kitchen design. This does not show the cabinet style I have chosen and/or the appliance styles I have chosen. Merely gives an idea of layout
Why do you have to do this? Is it because you’re going to add the second story?
ETA: I love the stove wall with the two windows on either side. I notice you switched the fridge and the ovens – I think that’s a good call.
I also like the refrigerator in the new location because it’s handy to have a surface right there (the island) where you can just turn around to load and unload. Thinking of pulling out salad ingredients and such.
Yes, for new construction the foundation concrete has to be 2500 psi and we don’t have that strength in the old concrete. Also we dug some holes around exterior base and I don’t think foundation stem wall goes deep enough for current building codes. We will have to jack up back of house and pour new stem walls or pour new stem walls and ‘pin’ to existing walls. We might be able to build concrete columns in old garage area. The structural engineer will have to tell us what we need to do.
oh dear…that’s’ too bad about the foundation. I’d advise pouring new foundations- no use having an weak old foundation crumble under the stress of an additional story, whcih might happen even if it is anchored to a new stem wall.
But its good news re the quality of the soil
. I hope all the rain that seems to be heading your way tonite doesn’t cause problems.
will dish storage be in drawers in the Island?
be sure you install an outlet in the island for appliances, charging of iphones, etc, etc.
I also like the new fridge and oven locations. As someone said earlier, consider a smaller island to make traffic flow to the bedrooms less congested.
Hall Bath Vanity
Never a dull moment. We are running all the new plumbing into the bathroom… so of course my carpenter said that I needed to tell him exactly where the bathroom sink is going to be. This is always a gamble, because I usually don’t have the vanity purchased, and inevitably, I purchase something that causes the sink drain to be moved again in the future. Trying to avoid that… so searching for hall vanity. I can get a nice large 48" vanity into the newly configured bathroom. Here’s my choice so far… taking a risk on a Sea Glass coloring
http://www.homedecorators.com/p/hamilton-49w-shutter-bath-vanity/00/310/
Yes, I am hoping that dishes can go in the big drawers in the island. Glassware can go in upper next to refrigerator or in the island
I like the vanity!
I have a cabinet in my kitchen with an outlet inside of it to charge cell phones.
Our kitchen island has 2 outlets. I find them very handy to plug small appliances etc.
I like the vanity and the color except those ugly legs! Could they be replaced with something more in the vanity’s style?
I actually don’t mind the legs…but I wish these floating vanities would go out of style…too many dust bunnies under them!
I agree, the legs aren’t exactly lovely. I’m not ready to pull the trigger yet, just love the coloring of the vanity and the fact that it has lots of drawers (instead of just shelves under sink). I’m just going to have to tell him to plumb everything in the center of 48" and hope that I don’t find something I like better that has a different configuration!
I agree with thumper on the difficulty of keeping a floating vanity clean underneath, but I love the vanity. If it has to have legs, I like the ones shown. The color is soothing, but I don’t know how potential buyers will respond to a colored vanity. You know your market. As long as the color doesn’t clash with something else in the house(colors in kitchen or other baths) I think it’s a win.
Here’s an interesting story about plugs on the sides of an island. Of course, anyone with any sense would want as many plugs as possible, and especially for an island where you would be using small appliances. So, about 3 yrs ago I put some in on the side of the island. In comes Mr Home Inspector and writes them up as ‘safety hazards’ and you are not allowed to have plugs on side of island. Evidently, you can plug in your mixer and a kid can run by and knock the cord going into the plug. Luckily… the buyers ignored him. I have no idea where you are supposed to put the plugs. I just cannot win!!