Hi! How are you? I hope you’re well and doing everything in your power to stay that way. Our household is fine. The kids are schooling from home; Steve is working from home. Our dining room table is ground zero and a bit of a disaster these days. I’m still working at the hospital pharmacy which has been a roller coaster of a ride the last several weeks, but I’m grateful to just be working when so many others can’t. Nevertheless, my work climate feels extremely heavy and in an effort to balance it out I’ve recently found myself craving “lighter” pursuits during my time off: long walks, bike rides, new dinner ideas, new workouts, photography…heck, even cleaning house has been a worthy distraction.
Which is how this post came to be. I’ve been wanting to mock up our current home’s floor plan for a while now. I’m oddly passionate about floor plans. I used to draw up dream floor plans in middle school. Of course, they included such fantastical things as indoor pools and slides, gymnasiums, art studios, hidden rooms, trap doors and the like. Even now, I’ve been known to sketch out floor plans of interesting Airbnbs I come across online. I love Dwell magazine if not for the sole reason that most features include floor plans. I like to imagine how the house unfolds itself to those in it and how it lives.
I spent some time last week mocking up our current layout (I used Floorplanner) and it was strangely satisfying. I love a bird’s eye view! I thought it might be a cool thing to share here for reference. Maybe it helps you piece together some of my IG photos so you can see how the spaces relate to one another. Or maybe I’ll actually get around to sharing some projects (fingers crossed!) and this can serve as a map so to speak. I’ll warn you. It’s…unique.
Built in 1979, the house is a living example of 70s contemporary architecture. Common features of this style include vaulted ceilings in public spaces, multiple levels, wide staircases, loft areas, floor-to-ceiling stone fireplaces and angled wood siding. Our home has them all! Originally, this type of architecture was designed to work on challenging, often sloped and wooded, plots. (Think Sea Ranch in California.)
Our own home is perched on a small hill nestled in the woods. It sits back off a cul-de-sac and feels really private. Even though the lot is larger than our previous residence (we went from roughly a half-acre to one acre), there’s very little yard. We actually have less grass to mow here; it’s mostly woods. A small stream trickles through the front. It’s quiet and there’s a lot of wildlife. In fact, the day we first toured the house nine deer traipsed through the woods! The lot and the way the house is situated on it is what ultimately sold us on moving.
Now that you have a better grasp of how the house sits on the landscape, let’s talk floor plan. The house is a 4 bed / 2 bath and is technically two stories, but the second story doesn’t span the entirety of the first floor. The total living space is ~2,300 sq ft. Yes, that’s ~600-700 sq ft more than our previous home. Most of the additional square footage comes from a fourth bedroom, a small loft area and separate kitchen / living areas. Before I catch flak for touting smaller living then buying a bigger house, please know that if it were up to me only I’d live in a tiny house tomorrow. But the people I love and live with don’t exactly feel the same way. Also, if a smaller house with similar features were on this lot, we probably would have pulled the trigger on it, too. It’s the lot and location that ambushed us. That being said, I’ll be the first to admit that we use every square inch of this place. So, the main floor…
The sketch above isn’t exactly to scale, but it’s pretty darn close. The whole house is centered around an open, winding staircase featuring a landing that overlooks the living and dining areas. Not shown in the above sketch is a step down into the living / dining area from the entry and kitchen. It’s just one step but, along with vaulted ceilings and skylights, it makes the space feel incredibly open. The kitchen isn’t huge (read more about it here) but does include a small breakfast nook which we use regularly. Inspired by an Airbnb we stayed at in Connecticut, we added a screened room / porch off the kitchen. It’s our favorite spot to hang with neighbor friends when the weather…and non-pandemic conditions…allow. The laundry room is teeny and houses a furnace, water heater, water softener, utility sink and litter box along with the washer and dryer. It’s a tight space that could really work better. However, I do like having a designated laundry area behind a closed door. We use the full bathroom on the main floor as a kid / guest bath. (Two baths is our sweet spot! Couldn’t easily share one; don’t want to clean any more than two.) Three bedrooms round out the main floor.
Please note: the screened porch and garage are not included in the total square footage as these spaces are not temperature regulated.
The second story sits atop the kitchen, breakfast nook and laundry (remember, the living / dining area has vaulted ceilings so no second story there) and consists of a small loft and master suite. Once again, this isn’t exactly to scale but hopefully you get the idea. We weren’t really sure what to do with the loft area, but it’s organically grown into a music nook / library / home office. We’re just letting it be what we need it to be instead of trying to give it a specific look or purpose. The master bedroom is just big enough for a queen bed, nightstands and a small dresser but lives larger thanks to doors that open up to a deck (basically the screened porch’s roof). An awkwardly placed bifold door reveals a Juliet balcony overlooking the living area below. It’s both scary and cool. We haven’t quite decided if it stays or goes, so it stays for now. (That’s always been one of our mottos: When in doubt, live with it a while.) The ensuite bathroom and closet are decently sized but inherently dark. There are no windows. In my opinion, windowless bathrooms are the greatest downfall of the floor plan. A toilet and bathtub occupy the small space not labeled in the master bathroom.
Never in a million years could I have dreamed up this floor plan, but it totally works for us. The circular layout, while somewhat confusing to visitors (“How do I get to the bathroom again?!”), is like a roundabout keeping foot traffic flowing. Kids and cats constantly going round and round, haha! The ratio of open public spaces to smaller private spots feels just right. The nook under the stairs is the coziest! Steve and I like having our bedroom upstairs, separate from life’s daily happenings on the main floor. In our previous home, we never wished for more room but sometimes more rooms, if that makes any sense. To us, it’s obvious that the builder thoughtfully designed the house to fit the lot. There isn’t another house just like it in our neighborhood.
We’ve already made some tweaks to the original brown-on-brown-on-brown color scheme, and we have plans for more changes to lighten darker spaces (goodbye kitchen and bathroom soffits!) and improve function in the utilitarian rooms. (I’m side-eyeing you, kitchen and laundry.) However, there are NO PLANS to knock down any walls or move any doorways. We really don’t want to make this house something it isn’t. It’s a quirky, cool product of the 70s that is well suited to a quiet life in the woods. Basically, it’s my spirit house.
We spent a week in Toronto last month and had a blast. There was so much to see and do! The trip was nine months in the making. When we fantasize about vacations, we typically lean towards nature and a slower pace so this trip was a fun deviation. The words “I’m bored” never passed the kids’ lips. Here are some of the highlights in case you’re interested.
To keep costs down, we made the trip by car. In the past I’ve always considered Toronto “too far.” I was surprised to learn that we’re a doable 7-hour drive away. (I’m embarrassingly terrible at geography.) It’s also worth noting that children <16 years old can cross the U.S.-Canada border by land or sea with their legal guardians and a birth certificate. Steve and I had to present our passports, but the kids only needed their birth certificates.
We drove through New York to hit up Niagara Falls on our way. It’s nearly impossible to capture the grand scale of the falls on camera. In person, the vistas are vast and impressive. It’s beautiful and scary all at once.
Our favorite part was walking to the top of the falls and looking down at the hurricane decks where tiny people in yellow ponchos were getting drenched. The backs of my knees felt melty, and I’m not even afraid of heights. The constant swirling and gushing was meditative. The entire experience was breathtaking.
Nobody fell in! I want to give a little shout out to the purse I’m wearing. I bought the small crossover bag just for traveling, and it’s perfect. Not too big, not too small. Hands-free carrying. Adjustable strap. Plenty of zippers and pockets for organization. The water-resistant nylon stood up to sweat, spills, sprays from the falls and even a random thunderstorm that caught us off guard one evening in Toronto. It’s my version of a fanny pack ;)
After an exciting afternoon at the falls, we crossed the border and made our way to Toronto. We stayed in the most amazing, family-friendly airbnb. It had a cozy rustic, artsy vibe with a slew of insanely fun amenities for the kids including a kitchen swing and the ultimate playroom. You can see more of the kid-friendly features here. It was the perfect home-away-from-home base for exploring the city. (It looks like the price has increased since we booked it, but at the time it was crazy affordable.) If we lived in Toronto, I feel like we would be good friends with the homeowners. They have an amazing art collection and a great selection of reading material for kids and adults. After casually plucking this book from a shelf, I had a hard time putting it down and ended up buying a copy when I returned home because I had to know how it ended!
We realized early on that we were in a part of Toronto known as Little Portugal. Our first night was the final of the Euro 2016 championship, and the neighborhood broke out in celebration when Portugal won. It was really exciting to be in the middle of the festivities.
We enjoyed the walkability of the neighborhood. It’s only a short walk to Dufferin Grove Park, restaurants, grocers and shops. I absolutely LOVED walking to buy groceries on a whim at the local markets. In the States, I drive to make weekly grocery trips. The planning is my least favorite part. It was nice being close enough to pick up ingredients spur of the moment and wheeling them home in a wagon. Plus, it makes for some great house stalking. (Those little arched windows hinting at an interior staircase slay me every time!)
We spent slow mornings at the house then ventured off to the city in the afternoon, returning home again in the evening.
We bought city passes to visit CN Tower, Ripley’s Aquarium, Casa Loma, Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and Toronto Zoo. (I did the math, and it ended up being $11 admission per person for each attraction with the city pass. Not bad!) We really, really wanted to visit the Ontario Science Centre, but due to poor planning (and an exhausted four-year-old) near the end of the week we ran out of time. We paid extra for the Sky Pod at CN Tower (do it!) and felt like giants looking down on the city, lake and island. People looked like ants; cars looked like toys; buildings looked like architectural models. We made a game of pointing out rooftop pools. We could have done without the zoo, and once you’ve seen one Ripley’s Aquarium (we had), you’ve seen them all. Even so, the jellyfish exhibit features a color-changing black light and is super cool.
Casa Loma was a crowd favorite. We loved being able to tour the more personal and secretive spaces. We snuck through a hidden door in the study and discovered the servants’ back stairs. We walked up a spiral staircase on the third floor and emerged on top of a turret with long range views of the city. We traipsed through an underground tunnel and popped up in a horse stable. I couldn’t get over the concrete coffered ceiling, tiled walls and brick floor in the stable. They were gorgeous!
Mid-week we hit up the lake. It was a welcome break from all the walking, crowds and traffic. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect. It was a painful descent from the sandy beach into the cool water, but we discovered that once you get past the rocks (ouch!) the lake bed gives way to sand once again. We’re quickly becoming lake fans. We’ll take the sun, sand, water and waves. Hold the salt and sharks!
Speaking of perfect weather, it was comical to us that everyone was going on and on about the “heat wave” during our stay. There was even a heat advisory in effect.
It was 83°F.
In Ohio, it’s not unusual for us to experience 90ºF+ days during the summer. Anything cooler feels pleasant. One evening while waiting in line downtown at Sweet Jesus (a local ice cream hotspot), Layne and Everett were approached by a local news reporter and asked if they wanted to be on TV. Uh, okay. When they went live (at 9:00 p.m. in SCORCHING 78ºF heat!), they were asked how they were staying cool. They were like, “Drinking water?” #celebrities
Meanwhile, I had goosebumps. To be fair, I probably couldn’t handle Toronto winters.
We tried a bunch of local restaurants. Sweet Jesus and La Carnita were good but, for us, they just didn’t live up to the hype and were overpriced. I did fall in love with the decor at La Carnita though. How fun is that chicken wire pendant filled with burnt-out light bulbs?!
Our favorite meals came from Boom Breakfast, Laziza, La Bella Managua, The Slip and the beer hall at Mill Street Brewpub in the historic Distillery District. The first three were all within walking distance of the house. We liked Boom Breakfast and Laziza so much that we ate at each of them twice! You really can’t go wrong with anything on the menu at either one. Laziza has daily specials that are amazingly delicious and inexpensive. Two giant falafel wraps for $6 total! At La Bella Managua we loved the calamares and bisteck encebollado. We were impressed with the salmon tacos and fried chicken at The Slip. The ribs at Mill Street Brewpub were fantastic. Funny tangent story: After touring the dinosaur exhibit at the ROM earlier in the day, Mabrey stopped mid-rib bite and asked with big eyes, “Are we eating dinosaurs?!” Haha.
We didn’t do much shopping, but Layne and I made it to Kensington Market the last day. I picked up gifts at Kid Icarus (a must!) and Blue Banana Market. I’m bummed I didn’t make it to Tonic Living. Next time!
As much as we loved visiting Toronto, it made us appreciate many of the things we take for granted at home. Namely, free parking and lots of green space.
Have you made any trips this summer? I’d love to hear about your adventures!
family life, inspiration, interior design, renovation