Our lake house plan is finally at the finish line!
The process of building a modular home is very different than
building a custom home with an onsite construction crew.
With modular builds, you select almost every single thing in the house, from
the kitchen and bathroom cabinet style and color, the countertops, door styles,
trim for the baseboard and ceilings, the staircase elements, lighting and windows.
This home has been completely customized and will arrive on flat bed trailers,
then put together like giant building blocks with all of the cabinets
and sinks and lights already installed!
The kitchen cabinet style and color is shown above in an image
taken from Merrilat Cabinet's website. Because we are having taller ceilings
than the "standard" ceiling height of 8', we will have most of the cabinets stacked
to ceiling height. Below you can see my notes with the kitchen I designed
for the lake where I added the top row of cabinets on one side of the kitchen.
Merrilat has a great kitchen cabinet design feature where you can put together your
dream kitchen. A Swedish style plate display rack was on my list among other things.
On the opposite side of the kitchen there is a bank of cabinets that will function as a secondary
station for microwave, food storage, coffee making, trash cabinet, pots and pans cabinet
and a bookcase for cookbooks. All the cabinets are maple in a painted white finish.
A kitchen by East Hill Cabinetry shows some double stacked cabinets with some glass front cabinets.
Our kitchen will be open to the main room overlooking the lake similar to this, but we will have a peninsula with the sink and bar stools creating a separation while still affording the view of the lake.
A kitchen by Julie Williams Design shows white painted cabinets to the ceiling but the ceilings
are lower so no room for stacking. My cabinets will be 42" with another 12" cabinet stacked
to take advantage of extra storage space. I am only having one large glass front cabinet for putting
some of my transferware on display. The others will all be solid front cabinets so I can stuff them
with my various random collections for holiday dinners etc. I know some people have lots of
glass fronts, but I know mine need to be more for utilitarian storage than for beauty storage.
And while I have been designing the house I also have been imagining the details of the various spaces.
I saw a mirror at a local auction house and thought it would be perfect for the powder room bathroom.
It has an elegant cottage look to it as if it once lived in a grand lake house.
faux bois finish with gilded morning glories was just the ticket to give our new house some soul.
Flanked with modern golden bronze sconces, its the mix of old and new that I find super appealing.
That is why I love antiques and decorating with them. You won't see this mirror anywhere else...
Our lake house will be a blend of new and old and I can't wait to see it all
come together and share it with you on my blog.
So exciting! We had friends that built a modular home and it is gorgeous! The most fun was watching them put on the roof. It was "folded" in half, then hoisted with a crane onto the structure, then "unfolded" and secured. The entire process only took a couple of hours. Best of luck!
ReplyDeleteOur current home is a modular, and everyone is surprised when you tell them that....it is an instant house!
DeleteIt's going to be great! I am looking forward to seeing it!
ReplyDeleteThanks Penny!
DeleteSo exciting seeing and reading about some of the details. The mirror is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to more. How soon until you make the move?
Cindy
It is taking longer than I thought....so it looks to be next spring.
DeleteDear Amy.....It is going to be fabulous!!! The whole concept of the modular build is so interesting. I can tell you are having fun. Hugs, Janet
ReplyDeleteIt is fun but I am ready to move in already!!!
DeleteThis is so exciting! Please, please share step by step details of this process. We are considering doing the same with some land we have in West Virginia. I would love to know what company you used, how is the site work done, does the manufacturer build the house, or do you hire a local contractor, what kind of foundation, is it electric or will you have gas. Oh so many questions. Let’s see the floor plan too!
ReplyDeleteThis is so exciting! Please share all of the details of this process. You have inspired us to consider this for some land we own in West Virginia. How did you choose a manufacturer, who does the site work, foundation? Does the manufacture assemble it or do you need a local contractor? Who does the plumbing? Will you have gas, or just electric. So many questions. I can’t wait to follow this!
ReplyDeleteOh and you also will have a real foundation, which has to be done in advance. You would hire someone or ask the builder if they can recommend someone. My husband is an excavator so we are doing our own as well as our own septic installation. Read the reviews on the various building companies that specialize in modular and you should find one that sounds good.
DeleteThanks Beth! You can find modular builders with a google search and look for one near you. A lot of big modular homes factory is in Pennsylvania. Our shipping costs with them would have been 35,000! Instead we found a factory in Maine and that cost is $8000. So that helped us decide upon the factory. We are our own general contractor because of my husbands builder, but there are lots of modular builders to choose from. They will guide you through the process and provide almost everything you would need to do the house finishing. Our house will have oil heat, or you can choose gas. When our house arrives on flatbed trailers a crane will set them on top of each other and then a set crew will attach it all and put the roof on and do any siding or shingling that needs to be finished that day and into the next day. Then a plumber will need to be hired to do all the connections as well as an electrician to hook up all of that. The wiring and pipes are already in place and they just need to be hooked up. All the vanities and cabinets are inplace. The building costs are under $100 a square foot, so it cannot be beat!
ReplyDeleteI am sure it will be a cool project and look great in the end. For your modular home, what kind of material is used? Regards Naomi Dreams
ReplyDelete