Five Year Plan Revisited

So then I made the three-and-a-half hour drive back home. On the way, I built my dream house.

In my head, or course. I'd tried to put some ideas on paper before this. But on the drive back, perhaps inspired in part by Bus Driver and Da Coach's amazing place, I started thinking it through. Room by room, aspect by aspect.

Concrete, steel, glass, glossy unadorned pale maple cabinetry, rich textiles. Austere, clean, open, minimalist, comfortable.

When I got home, after greeting my father, I sketched it out. After a few iterations, it came together. Trapezoidal, with the longest side inset with an irregularly shaped deck, made of the same smooth concrete as the interior floors. A workshop (welding and wood!) and dungeon are separated from the main structure by a car-port of sorts, the upper portions of the exterior walls covered by corrugated aluminum. The back wall, giving out onto the deck, is a wall of glass. Kitchen, big dining area, and livingroom are all one large room, somewhat set off into discrete areas. The fireplace in the livingroom is shared by my bedroom. I've given myself a steam room in my bathroom. There's a hot tub out on the deck (sunken so as not to obstruct the view). And then, four bedrooms for guests. I've even sited the vegetable garden.

I'm telling myself that by using industrial materials, I'd be able cut costs. But I know from experience that windows are expensive, and there are a lot of them.

Damn, it would be beautiful.

From Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, I got the idea of an Inspiration Board. I'm gonna get me an inspiration board and hang it somewhere. On it will go my sketch of my house, a mock-up of the cover of the book I'm writing, maybe some printouts of property for sale from www.realtor.com, a welding machine, a router and table saw, a plasma cutter, a print-out of the web page (exceptionally designed and flawlessly manufactured steel and aluminum dungeon furniture).

What a great house.

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