A true one

Joe Hisaishi in Budokan Studio Ghibli 25 Years Concert - Laputa: Castle in the Sky

Dream, wish, research, draw, visualize

First of all you need to find the perfect land. When you are looking at the properties on sale try to pay attention on how you feel on the land. Try to visit it in different seasons, different hours. Look at the sun path over it. Do you like it? Do you feel at home? Try to meet the neighbours. Are there all the municipal infrastructure? Take a lot of time to "feel" the place because when you’ll find the right one you’ll know it…. You know, I'm talking about that good old butterflies in the stomac feeling.... ;)

When you have the land, you can start working on the house.

If you want a house that really fits your needs and it’s not only a house but a home, you need to start working on it looong before contacting an architect.

We all dream of a perfect place, of all the features we want in our home, how many baths, bedrooms and floors need to be in it and so on. The easiest way is to write down our wishes. Start with the most simple thing: do you want a one floor home or with 2  or more floors? Do you want a in-house-garadge? A garden? How big? Do you need a celler? What style do you like? Modern? Country? Traditional? Minimal?

Than try to find out if there are any specific requirements for the buildings in your area or the area where you want to build. There are always specific requirements. And knowing them can help you plan everything in advance.

The web is a great tool that helps you a lot. When you know the basic wishes start to look at the floorplanes that you find online and then try the many free programms that allow you to draw your home in 3d.

Here is a list of my fav:  

• Google Sketchup
• Floorplanner
• Ikea
• Sweethome 3d

When you have a clear idea of what you want, what you don't want, what you need and what you don't need it's time to do a basic financial plan.

How much money do you already have?
Can you get a mortgage?
Will your parents help?
Will you do anything by yourself? (painting, cleaning, building....)

Building a house is neither easy nor cheap. Online you can find some basic guidelines on the costs for every phase. Look around and don't get scared.

Next thing to do - find a great architect and a great construction supervisor.

The wedding :)

A little update

So, first of all, I owe you a little update and a time frame of what we’ve done til now:

-       Summer 2009 – we started looking for the perfect spot to build our nest
-       End of September 2009 – we found our land
-       December 2009 – we signed all the papers and became the proud owners of 550m2 in Zgornje Škofije
-       From January till December 2010 we worked with our architect on the house plans and the documentation for the building permission
-       24^th December 2010 we brought all the papers (cca 20kg) to the city hall for approval
-       Friday 13^th May we got the permission to build
-       June 2012 we received the last plans that we needed to start with the building
-       November 2012 we got the loan we needed
-       3^rd December 2012 the builders started to dig the cave for the foundations of the house
-       April 2013 the roof was on
-       May – June they put in the windows
-       1^st June we got married
-       Right now we are working inside the house

That’s just a quick timeframe… I’ll introduce you to each phase till now and from now on…