Parrot on a PorchA Journey Toward the Little Mansion Dream

With all the construction and structural terms that I encountered as our Little Mansion is built, I realized that Engineering and Architecture are quite interesting. It never crossed my mind to take up these courses for college simply because Math is my water loo and that I do not possess a pair of artistic hands. Although I fairly did well in my Drafting subjects in High School, I was convinced early on that it’d not gonna be my world.

But now I started to appreciate these two fields every time I see the progress of the house. I’m learning so much, in fact, like the intrinsic looks of a roofing (beyond the ceiling), how the beams and foundation structures are built and so much more. Now that we’re about to prettify the interiors, I know for sure that I’ll get fascinated, too, with the world of Interior Design. I never thought that building your crib can also be educational as this.

Yesterday was our scheduled Little Mansion construction visit at Batasan. Our excitement is really building up now because it’s nearing its completion and perhaps, the finishing will just be done in less than a month. The roof structure and beams have been placed, tiles on the 2F bathroom have been placed as well as the floor tiles on both bedrooms and in the balcony. A portion on the wall of the master’s bedroom has been likewise “holed” for the aircon. Except for some structural revisions on the “roof latching”, everything’s good and passed the expectations of my perfectionist Engineer Dad. Well, it’s his expertise having been working in the Middle East as a structural engineer in one of the biggest firms for about 20 years so I have but the highest respect and regard for his inputs.

God-willing, if the house gets finished before the month ends, we can start working out the loan with PAG-IBIG right away. We didn’t pursue the application before because there was a conflict on the type of loan application (purchase of lot and construction of house) and the construction permits (named after the developer) that time so we just deferred the application..to just wait for the completion then apply the loan as “purchase of house and lot”. This means we have to attend again the PAG-IBIG loan counselling for the second time because the first has only 6 months validity from the attendance date. We’re just fine with it and we’re in no hurry anyway. At least, I get to review the process and the requirements again as well as ask about the insurance inclusion of the loan. I kinda forgot if the husband has to go medical exam like those of no exam life insurance.

We’re also scheduled to start buying home appliances by the 3rd week of this month. We don’t want feel the burden of a “one time” shopping so we’ll buy them one at a time.

We're almost there..woot!

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I was reading about social security disability benefits online (I’m impressed how Allsup has helped more than hundred thousands of people receive their entitled Social Security Disability Insurance and Medicare benefits), when our “shopping box” from Boston arrived last Thursday noon. These are the Black Friday loots we shopped through a friend in the US and she sent the box via sea freight. My friends are excited over their pillows and mattresses, toys and apparels for their kids, digital frame while I was all smiles when I saw the pots and pans, towels and Corelle plates bought from Walmart. Yes, our friend’s the expert when it comes to packing.

But guess who’s the most excited to open the box!

These are my loots…so ready to have Little Mansion, huh?

I have just previously mentioned about the possible plan of converting the proposed balcony area to a computer room or a fitness room as thought by the husband initially. But it seems that he hasn’t made up his mind because the other night he brought up another option..that is, to make the spare room an entertainment nook or a play room for the little one. He has this vision of him and his little boy playing ps3 games or wii. But since the little one’s too young to play that, I think it’s indeed a good idea to make it a playroom where all his toys will be placed. That way, the mess will be contained within that area only.

…of Little Mansion’s progress as of January 9.

We’re yet to pay the construction site a visit again this coming weekend and we’re expecting that it’s about 60%-70% done. In a month or even less, we might be seeing a fully made up Little Mansion. That’s the advantage of having just a meager sized property, it’s a lot easier and faster to get it done. How I wish I could blog and describe more about the construction aspect but sorry, I know nothing about the materials used and all these construction terms. I leave that to the husband and to my Civil Engineer dad who’s homebound here to the country for a vacation this weekend. His wisdom about house construction, layouts and floor plans and even about metal buildings will certainly be sought. Perhaps, we’ll definitely consult and ask him about all these stuffs.

The developer who happens to be our wedding principal sponsor (thus, the complaisance and flexibility) gave us the go signal to canvass in a local construction supplies and tile shop for Little Mansion’s walls and flooring. Together with the husband’s aunt interior designer, they went to Wilcon Depot last month and here’s what they tentatively came up.

This isn’t the final list as we’re yet either to go back to the shop or browse online for the two bedrooms’ flooring which might probably parquet floor types.

For the Living Room:

Romangres Byzanthine Pentelic Porcelain Rustic Semi-Glazed Tile

For the Hallway (Kitchen) – I think this is for the service area (dirty kitchen)

Mariwasa Loft Tokyo Floor Tiles 30x30cm

Flooring, Wall and Boarder for the T & B on the ground floor:

Flooring: Romangres Noble Marrone 25×25cm
Wall: Romangres Enigma Beige 25×33cm
Boarder: Romangres Listelo Ditany Arvada Bisquit 7.5×25cm

T & B on the second floor:

Flooring: Romangres Noble Blue 25×25cm
Wall: Romangres Grey Ceramic 25×33cm
Boarder: Romangres Torelo Oasis Azzuro 3.5×25cm

For the Kitchen:

Flooring: Romangre Inserto Dittany Beige
Wall: Ramongres Marmara Dark Beige
Boarder: Listello Marigold Marmara Beige

When we visited the adjacent twin unit of our dear Little Mansion last time, I got a glimpsed of how ours will look like. The construction of the said unit was prioritized since the US-based owner will be needing it as a vacation house for this month. The house is fully furnished already and is just waiting for the occupants for the big move. We took note of the details of everything and since we can somehow customize to our liking some stuffs like the sinks, cabinets, etc, that following are what we have as options particularly for the kitchen and bathroom sinks.

We don’t want anything fancy like those luxurious sinks in hotels. We want it uncommon yet just simple such as this Overmount Porcelain Vanity Bowl from MR Direct Sinks and Faucets. It’s interesting to note that it’s just $23..so affordable yet dainty especially if partnered with a brushed nickel two handle faucet such as below.

As for the kitchen sinks, we’re amenable to what the developer plans to install. Their choice of undermount kitchen sink satisfactorily matches ours. I can’t find the exact model but it has great resemblance to this:

But seeing these undermount kitchen sinks convinces me to have another type installed in the main kitchen (the one near the dining table as we also have a dirty kitchen in the service area). I find them really unique and I bet my son will definitely enjoy washing his hands in his “own territory” in the middle. Then we can say…”a family that washes together, stays together”.

I love browsing MR Direct’s huge array of bathroom and kitchen sink selection. But what I love more is their economical costings because they manufacture their own sinks and direct sell them to clients. Their offerings are at par with those branded ones but way low-priced than Kohler, Blanco, Elkay, and Franke sinks.

Last weekend, we dropped by at the Developer’s office to get a blue print of THE house’s floor plan. An aunt who has an interior design background is helping us out in conceptualizing and planning the furniture (its location, size, color, etc). This is definitely one of the things I look forward to the most as we think of how to make Little Mansion even more homey, cozy and just lovely place to live in. When we visited the site last week, the foreman thinks, with the way things are going, it will be finished just as scheduled, hopefully before February ends. What a great timing because little A and I are celebrating our birthdays on March. While I originally wished for a pair of faux sapphire earrings, this will make the best and perfect birthday gift. But on a second thought, it won’t be bad too if I get them both. LOL. Well, there’s Holsted Jewelers anyway who offers high quality jewelries at a bargain.

As we are in the midst of having our own house (which I fondly call LM for Little Mansion) built, I’m sharing this important point I’ve noted down in considering when buying a house:

Location – It is a must that the location must fit one’s lifestyle. The questions usually asked are: is it close to your workplace or to public transportation routes? Accessibility is a prime concern and that is one of the major factors why we liked LM. It’s just near the major thoroughfare, Commonwealth Avenue and just a few minutes away from the Memorial Circle. It’s way nearer than Fairview and other far north key places and has a close proximity to prime QC districts and establishments. Two grocery stores, a wet and dry market, a school, a chapel and a general med clinic are nearby. It’s interesting also that I saw a couple of specialized clinics a few blocks away from the village gate. I saw a dental clinic and a STD testing center signs. The area is well secured as it has a centralized and guarded entry and exit gate. There’s also a sari-sari (convenience) store just near our gate. We’re yet to fully explore the vicinity but I think the important considerations are all covered so far.

One of these days, the husband and I will sit down for a brainstorming session as we will draft our 2010 financial goals and plans. With our “little mansion” project as our top most priority goal, it is already given that saving up measures and frugal spending will be strictly observed in the months to come. In fact, I am already preparing myself as my budgeting skills will be tremendously put to test. No luxuries, no whims, no unnecessary expenses. Simply put..no travel plans and most especially, no extravagant shopping. Looking back at my budgeting and shopping attitude last year, I could say that I fared well and I’m already pretty geared up for this year. The “little mansion” project has been indeed a big motivation. I just hope and pray that we’ll be continually blessed with lots of work opportunities so it will translate to bountiful earnings and more savings as well. If everything goes well as planned and hoped for, we could probably take on our other goals like venture on a business franchise. I got motivated while browsing FranNet.com where I chanced upon great franchising opportunities that are surely a big hit in the business industry today. If this might be a little shadowy, then we can pave way for a more exciting and fulfilling “project” instead. How does baby number 2 sounds? Hmmm, let’s see.