Hey Heather! I am with you on the faith and chocolate! Cheers and hugs to you, friend!

I actually have a trust fund – my grandfather was an oil tycoon. JK. Don’t I wish?! We weighed a ton of options on what we wanted to do. Do we move in and live with it as is, as we go? Do we change only some of it? At the end of the day with our house and our needs, {and the fact that we just wanted our family settled, wanted to expand our own business locally, considering the extent of our changes- ceiling was coming down, etc.} we decided to rip off the bandaid and go with a construction loan. This was tacked on to our mortgage, and we were able to go ahead and move forward. At least that was the idea, until codes reared its ugly head. Thus one year later, and we’re finally starting on the garage. {Codes here are asinine – We’re all for safety but these guys go above and beyond and are famous for it- I digress.} Everyone’s process will be different, but there were a lot of reasons we decided to go this direction. We added on to the square footage of our house, {the basement addition} and this is how we were approved. It’s been HUGE for our home value where we live. I hope this helps! And I hope everything goes amazingly well for you guys! ;}

Great question and I agree! We plan to build a “carriage house” which means glorified garage to the left of the house when all is said and done. One step at a time and slowly but surely, we will get there. This entire rehab has been a bit of a process, so we are taking it step by step for sure! ;}

Yes! We will eventually build a carriage house to the left of the front of the house. We also have a small shed {a small barn-like area} where we store our riding lawn mower and all our tools. Slowly but surely and one step at a time, it just won’t happen for a while. But it is definitely in the plans. ;}

Hey! That’s a good question! We already have a small shed on property that is holding a few of the yard stuff and tools right now. We need a bigger one, and we will eventually build what I’m calling a “carriage house” to the side of the house so that it sits nicely and adds balance to the property/fits in with the architecture, etc. One step at a time we will get there! ;}

I forget, are you doing anything about the storage of your car(s)? Like building another garage or car port? I can’t image leaving my car out in the winter now that I can a garage to store it in. I know Nashville is warmer then me (Chicago) but it’s colder from where you came from.