Designing a Home | Exteriors

Architectural changes are in! Now we just wait for our plans to be drafted and approved - eeeek!

We still have a couple months to work on the interior finishings, and to say it's overwhelming is an understatement. I thought I had a very clear picture of what I wanted - and then I realized I didn't. I would say I definitely lean towards a transitional take on the traditional/Cape Cod/Colonial side of aesthetics. Do my current surroundings reflect that? Not quite - but were I to build THE dream home (not that building this home isn't a dream, but let's be honest, we aren't going balls to the wall crazy with this house), it would be full of mouldings, wainscoting, coffered ceilings, and arch ways. Not to get too stuffy, I would balance all of these things off with transitional pieces and a variety of eclectic yet perfectly selected furnishings and accessories. And, because everything would be mostly white, it would blend together in harmony. Or at least that's what I think would happen in my head.

In reality, the home we are building won't be like this one. I wish it were, but it isn't. The style of homes here are definitely very different than what I'm used to. It's funny how regional differences dictate housing styles. My family in Ontario live in a subdivision where every. single. house. is red brick. It's crazy! Here, the predominant exterior finish is stucco. And not the stucco I'm used to back home; not the stucco that adorns my parents 20 year old home. The stucco here is very chunky (larger chunks of concrete). It's also very light, and absorbent. One day I will do some research as to why it is so different. My parents is painted and has finer pieces of concrete in it. Come to think of it - all the houses on their street have painted fine stucco in different colours. But in Winnipeg, the regular stucco can only be tinted, and to a very very light colour, so light grey, light beige, light salmon (yuck!) etc. It also shows "wet" marks when it rains, which again confuses me. At least it rarely rains here!

Okay, back to our house. In selecting our exterior elevation, we not only were limited to the styles the builder offered, but also to our budget, as well as to concern for the neighbourhood. We were set on the first option below, the more traditional of these two elevations (except not in yellow) until the DAY before we had to lock in which one we wanted. We originally didn't consider option #2 because of the stucco - but I guess we have been here long enough and seen enough of it that the distaste has worn off a bit.

It was a difficult choice, but Winnipeggers are gaga for modern. We felt the more modern home would fit in better on our street (which has some supersized, custom, modern homes to be built on it), would likely be better for resale, and despite my love of traditional looks, I just ended up preferring the second option more. Which is crazy. Also, the bedroom windows are over a foot larger (no cost) and the house is also a wee bit larger (no cost), so that kind of nudged the pendulum over further.

So here it is! I thought it would get easier now that the BIG things like floor plans and and structural things were sorted, but I'm almost more confused than ever. Do I have to do an uber modern interior to go with this exterior? Or can I still get away with some of the traditional elements I love (like wainscoting) etc? HELP!