Ideally, for (hot) climates, homes should have more exterior wall facing north (where there is infrequent direct sunlight, except early in the morning or late afternoons in midsummer), or south (where the high summer sun is easy to control with a roof overhang). Too much eastern and western exposure and the house will quickly heat up in summer, costing more to cool, or being uncomfortable, or both.

We found this picture on Pinterest and (like many others) loved the look. So we decided to use it to explore the ideal size for a kid's bedroom.

The pool was inspired by seeing Donald Judd’s pool in his house in Marfa Texas. A raised pool changes from a flat object at your feet to a 3 dimensional form that also invites sitting on it. Why not go further and add fountains. So we did.

My recent theme is not sure when a house project ends if ever…but that said we are trying hard to stop. The landscaping is complete and now its just welcoming the plants to their new home.

The master bedroom at the end of the house has tons of natural light. All bedrooms have access to the covered outdoor living space.

I wonder if a house is ever finished. My own answer is no. But the rooms are livable and we have just passed our final building department inspection. The furnishings are a collection resulting from years of saving things, along with just a few new purchases. If you start looking way ahead you can find deals and save lots of money.

The kitchen is ample in size. Actually we are having a debate about whether we have made the kitchen too large. There is more than enough storage even for trays.

The gas fireplace and cantilevered bench are key design elements – the main room needed anchoring and this combination of the gas fireplace and the cantilevered Douglas fir hearth-bench more than achieves the vision we had. Planning ahead is crucial for this- you need to tie the steel support into the 2×6 wall and build strength into the structure – inexpensive if you do it up front, expensive if you add it later.

Kitchen Cabinets- we looked closely at Ikea but ended up getting our cabinets made in Northern California- we chose a plastic laminate with no detailing.