Poring over Architectural Plans

I can't believe it was over a year ago that we first began discussing our house plans with our architects and we're still going! I have sometimes wondered whether it is all just fun and games on paper and if it will really happen. But now, I think I can say that we are getting closer to it really happening. Once we got council approval just before Christmas, the process has been full speed ahead and hopefully, yes, hopefully in two months time we will be ready to start. Yipee!

Because our current house, while cute and quaint and all that, is beginning to drive me nuts. The only decent work space in the kitchen - the island bench -is only 125 x 90 cm and acts not only as a meal preparation area but a desk on which to do leave homework, do homework, leave stuff, do 'stuff''. The cupboards are crammed with ....well, stuff. The study/my office is piled with more stuff, including five boxes of wine hubby decided to purchase en masse. The bedroom the girls share is crammed with other stuff and toys and junk that no matter how many times we tidy and clean out, never seems to diminish.

If you think I'm starting to sound a little ruffled, you'd be right.

Rock on the new house.

Which brings me back to where we're now at - scrutinising endless pages of detailed architectural drawings and plans. For while the overall design and layout of the house hasn't changed much, we are now at the nuts and bolts stage where every little detail - from power switches to speaker zones, window openings and dimensions, uplights, downlights, pendant lights, ceiling fans, drawer and door openings and closings etc etc - is to be itemised and specified.

Take a look at the electrical 'legend' for the laundry for instance ...

And that's just a laundry!

Here's what some of the symbols for an electrical legend look like ...

Bored yet? Well, here's more ...

Then there are pages and pages on every window and door for which you have to look back at the drawings of the whole house to figure out which window or door each picture is referring to.

Wow, it's complicated and oh so detailed and requires a lot of pretending to walk in the rooms, use them, live in them to realise what's missing or what's wrong, if anything at all.

I have to take mini bites at it, otherwise my eyes glaze over and I loose interest - and this is coming from someone who thought she liked a bit of detail! Needless to say, hubby, while deeply interested of course, is demonstrating all the traits of a typical male preferring to look at the overall picture and leaving the detail to me. Sigh.

So, for the umpteenth time I'm going to peruse, study, scrutinise and ruminate over every itsy bitsy, teensy weensy thing in this house in the hope of getting it right. Wish me luck!