Future Planning 6.01

Me (and my boyfriend) often like to talk about things we would like to have in our future final house, as well as ways of raising children, things we want to incorporate into our lives, and the like.  I think this deserves a certain spot in this blog.  I'll start with the stuff we have already discussed and add to it as new things come along.

1)  I plan to do most of the artwork in the house, which I envision will include abstract painting, pressed plants, mounted insects (caught by us, or from exotic travels), and maybe some impressive photographs.  We may also include some vary special prints of artwork, or posters and charts.  The one below is already made. 

2)  Minimalist - we don't want fancy artistic tiles, wallpaper, busy fabrics, clutter.  We like an efficient, spacious arrangement.  

3)  Geared for our needs - there are not very many things that we need.  The main things are a well-stocked kitchen, a garden, a small pool/Jacuzzi, maybe an exercise room (I want one), an entertainment center, and a study for each of us - maybe shared ones even, as long as one was for computer gaming and the other for actual work.  See items 4-8.

4) Entertainment center only needs an efficient gaming and video watching console, most of it will probably be streamed from the internet or our computers, and a large screen.  There will need to be a table and couches or chairs.  Simple as that.  A mini-fridge for snacks and drinks would be good.  Maybe even a microwave if the room is really far from the kitchen.  Something smaller-scale for the bedroom - probably just the screen TV and audio system.

5) The kitchen - large, maybe with an island, lots of space, a huge refrigerator and freezer (another one in the garage or elsewhere for meats), a huge spice collection, most of the pots and pans could be hung on the island, no grout or seams between areas, no spaces for things to fall between the oven and the stove or counter tops, electric flat stove top, professional grade knives, extensive durable tupperware that is easy to match the tops to and has all the appropriate sizes.   Nothing is more irritating than not having containers for leftovers, or searching for the right top, or having it all fall out from the cabinets.  Also good knives, and lots of good appliances.  Maybe most important - a big amazing badass dishwasher.  

6) Study - I think the best arrangement would be to have one room for computers and the other for work - with bookshelves, etc.  So the computer room will have two desktop computers and maybe an extra desk for laptops.  There will be adequate cooling in this room (that will be essential) and a well-organized area for the computer cables.  Comfortable chairs, amazing sound systems for each computer, and great headsets for when we are going at the same time doing different things.  For the other study, there will be a lot of bookshelves, each of us has a separate desk, maybe a mini-fridge in there for drinks or snacks.

7) Jacuzzi/Small Pool - something small would be nice, which has a natural tropical look to it.  Something like this, though maybe with an even more integrated look.  It's small, can be heated easily but has room for playing around.  Nothing too big since it will be a waste of space.  We don't exactly entertain a billion people.

8) Food Garden - the garden may include a greenhouse (or two or three) and possibly a hydroponic fish tank of some kind.  A bit elaborate, so we shall see - the fish is the least important.  Most important is figuring out all the different plants we want to grow.  My boyfriend will want herbs, onions, tomatoes, etc.  I am a bit heavier on the fruit plants, so probably some trees - what would be great would be figs, cherries, pomegranates, citrus of some kind (maybe blood oranges?), lemons (for lemonade), apricots or plums, Asian pear, Avocado, Japanese persimmon (the square shaped, not the pointy shaped ones).  It would be great to have the fruit trees staggered so that we have one fruit tree always producing fruit at some point during the year.

9) Recreational Garden - maybe Japanese style - in the corner of the backyard - maybe with bamboo, a Japanese maple, a nice stone bench, something pretty, maybe a small fountain/pond.  Someplace just to sit and relax.  Maybe a hummingbird feeder (a pretty ornate one, not the gawdy ones with the plastic yellow and red).  

One thing I was considering that I thought would be neat would be to have a beehive - keep a couple bee trays, have some flowers for them, but I think that would only work if we had a lot of space.  Plus the neighbors and kids might complain.  

Another thought, which prompted this post, is it would be neat to have a tree house - an old tree in the backyard with a small wooden tree house, enough for a few people - and under the tree some long soft grass - not like a lawn, but just a carpet of grass that is hardy, doesn't take too much water, but is still soft and would be good for resting under.  Kids would love it.

As for the front yard...it may be a good place for a fruit tree or two, some landscaping, haven't really thought about the front yard, since that's for other people and not for us, unless we lived up a private road.  That would be really great - people basically waste having a front yard.  It's wasted because it's main purpose is to make the place look nice for other people - it's too public to have a picnic or play around if random people are walking by, driving by, or neighbors are looking out their windows.  Perhaps a secluded house would be nice...

Pets: Inuit dog or other similar-looking dog, cats (Russian blue, Egyptian mau, rescue breeds), snakes, maybe a tarantula, an octopus (inlaid into a wall), maybe another aquarium, but it has to contain hardy fish - not ones that'll quickly get fin rot and die.  Probably no birds - loud and messy.  

That's the plan as of now.  More to come later.