Some more background

Our ideal remodel includes adding a second story and reworking the existing first floor. Later, we added basement to our idea of the ideal remodel.

In late 2007, we tried our hand at putting together two different layouts - stairway on the side of the house and stairway in the middle of the house. We had gone to the city Planning office to ask questions about what we were allowed to add to the existing home. Since our neighbor has a second story that's set back (as opposed to starting flush with the first floor), our second story would have to be set back as well. Also, because of our lot size, the max square footage is 2550 sq ft including garage. While designing a layout, we really had to be aware of our size restriction. To save on upstairs hallway space, we definitely preferred the design with the stairway in the middle.

So before our first meeting, we handed our preliminary design to Margaret to see how she would be able to improve upon it or possibly completely redesign the layout.

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One of the books suggested to us by one of Steven's contractors (whose husband is a general contractor) which we found to be very informational in terms of house design: " The Not So Big House" by Sarah Susanka

Another book we found that had good technical information: "Build it Right!" by Myron Ferguson