Hilltop House Construction Progress April 2021

We purchased our hilltop wooded lot over a year ago and the project was delayed so much that we didn't think it was ever going to happen for us. 

We drove by the lot during our weekly errands in early March and still, nothing. 

On March 20, 2021, out of curiosity we again drove by the lot. To our great surprise, it looked like something was happening! We had ourselves a pit!!!

Five days later on March 25, the foundation was laid. The builder surely didn't waste anytime after they secured the building permit for us. Picture below, this is the side that's going to support our garage. We love that our basement will have high ceiling (9.5 - 10 feet) just like the floors above (ground and second floors 10 feet, third floor 9 feet). 

This is from the other side where we will have a bay window above. 

Looks like we will have a few steps leading up to our front portico, according to our grading. I am guessing at least 6 steps based on the slope. 

April 2, 2021: foundation is still curing. Waterproofing membrane was installed. 

Interior Design Mistakes to Avoid Part II

This is the Kitchen edition, and I do have a lot to write about. 

Picture below: kitchen inspiration I saved to my Pinterest board again and again, the Orléans Townhouses designed by Merrylees Architecture. The alignment between the island and the range is similar to our Hilltop House kitchen layout. 

1. If you are building it from ground up, hide all the wall outlets. 

I don't know about you, but I really dislike how the kitchen wall outlets break up the backsplash. So for the Hilltop House, I will be moving all the wall outlets into the undercabinet valance. The picture below is an example of hiding the outlets in a power strip underneath the valance. Our builder has a different approach by building a "closed valance" for both the undercabinet lighting and outlets. 

Either way, you will have more options when it comes to backsplash without the outlets in the way. Imagine how painful it would make you feel to cut out a perfect piece of marble for the outlets. You get the idea. 

Hiding this wall outlets this way also elevates the look of your kitchen: it's clean and minimalist, and well-thought-out. 

2. Kitchen flooring 

Stone or ceramic tiles are still the best and most resilient choice of kitchen flooring. Spill and leaking accidents happen so you don't want to be on the constant lookout for your hardwood flooring. 

If you really like the look of wood flooring or a continuous look of wood flooring from your living space into the kitchen, the good news is that these days there are unlimited options of ceramic, porcelain or vinyl tiles in various wood colours and textures you can choose from. 

No matter what you choose, just make sure you will love it for a long time because it'd be near impossible to change the kitchen flooring once you move in. We've been living in our current house for almost 12 years and to-date I still haven't worked up the courage to gut this kitchen. It's too disruptive to the daily routine. 

3. If you get to plan your kitchen cabinet layout, opt for straight lines and avoid building any corner cabinets

Below is the sketch of our Hilltop House kitchen. As you could see, all straight lines and no corner cabinets! Not only are the corner cabinets so yesteryear, they are also not functional - who can say they've used their corner cabinets to their full potential? 

Linear layout of a kitchen brings visual calm and balance. You can also divide them into multiple zones such as the separate Servery/Butler's Pantry and the Bar areas we have. 

4. Drawers over cabinets

In the lower section of your kitchen, always choose drawers over cabinet doors to maximize the interior storage and for ease of organization. Visualize all the struggle you've had to pull a pan out of a stack in a cabinet, versus slide them out of their own slots like below. 

Interior Design Mistakes to Avoid Part I

Not to start off the new year with a negative note talking about design mistakes, but as we are building yet another house, aka, our dream house, I felt the need to share and document them so history doesn't repeat itself at our Hilltop House. Also, I wouldn't necessarily call these "mistakes" because, did they and do they still look eye-pleasing? Yes. But were they practical or could they stand the test of time? Not really.

Looking back at the design choices I've made over the years, "redundant" and "trendy" are the two words often popped up. A question I often ask myself today when making design choices is, would I really enjoy it or do I simply like the idea of it? 

Picture below: my home dining room after many iterations

I will probably turn this into a series as ideas come to me over time. This post is the 

Part I: Bathroom Edition

1. Choose larger shower tiles to minimize grout lines

What didn't work for us: small tiles (worse yet mosaic) with too many grout lines, white or lighter-coloured grout. 

Why: over time water sat in grout lines, mold grew and scum accumulated. It was a cleaning nightmare waiting to happen. 

What works: large tiles to minimize grout lines, darker grout to hide scum.

2. Single-handle sink faucet

What didn't work: two-handle faucets. They look more luxurious but so much harder to keep clean. Cost of ownership is also higher because if one of the two mixing valves breaks, you will have to replace the entire faucet. We all know a two-handle set costs a lot more.  

What works: single-handle faucet. I like the minimalist and clean look of this Hansgrohe 32082001 single-hole faucet. Thankfully our Hilltop House builder also uses Hansgrohe as their plumbing standard. 

3. A separate closet for the toilet

What didn't work: when we renovated our master bathroom in the current house, we had every opportunity to carve out a corner as a toilet closet. I didn't know any better so instead, we left toilet where the builder built it which is right in the centre of our bathroom. It's so unsightly. 

What works: if your floor plan would allow it and if you have the space, create a separate room/closet with a door for the toilet. Otherwise a half-wall frosted glass partition would work too. Trust me, your bathroom would look so much more well-thought-out. 

Picture below: our Hilltop House master bathroom plan. Thankfully our builder already created a separate room for the toilet. The floor plan however is nowhere near perfect. For example, you will notice there's little to no wall space near the shower stall for us to install a wall towel warmer unit. We will also change that makeup table into a bank of drawers for more storage. And I still don't understand why we would need a double entrance doors into the ensuite. I would opt for a single door but a longer vanity in a heart beat. Given our vanity is already 12-foot long, I guess I will leave the double doors alone. 

I will be back to write about other design mistakes to avoid.