After we chose the land for the new "Maison de Harada" (doesn't quite work does it?) it was time to get to work choosing all the fixtures, designing the house and totaling up the extras...
I had a few requirements going in....
1. Island kitchen, preferably bigger than a western sized bathroom, with real wooden cabinets.
2. Folding windows in the living/ dining so we can have open air space in the LDK...I think this is kind of a new concept here, and I had never heard of it myself, but I think a bit of a new take on the Japanese veranda.
3. Irori/ wood stove. I am not too fussed on actually USING the Irori (more for looks kind of thing) but the wood stove is a must. I will kick and scream until I get my way, or we will back out of the deal. My husband is pretty adamant about it as well...so just waiting to hear the bullshit the builders will try to pull to get us to give up....
4. a raised tatami room
5. 2 bedrooms and an office upstairs.
6. an open stair case (chose that today)
7. lots of windows
8. a yard big enough to do a kart wheel in.
Those are some pretty big demands for a house in tokyo, but I think we have them almost all met, aside from the wood stove/ irori bit, which we will work out eventually....
The house maker included a basic kitchen set up from Panasonic (they sell all kind of shite with their name on it here), flooring, and a vanity as well. I pretty much knew I would scoff at the "basic setup"...but god, it was so much worse than I had imagined. The kitchen wasn't that horrible actually, aside from having absolutely no free counter space, the drawers were pretty big, and they had lots of cool gadgets... I gave the salesman the look of death when he gleefully spouted about how the "spoon and fork separators were included!"....ahem....10,000 dollars for a rubbish kitchen and some 72 yen spoon and fork separating plates which I can easily (and have easily in the past) bought from Ikea. I asked him if they had anything that wasn't made of rubbish fiber board (you should have seen the look on his face when I used the word rubbish!) and he swiftly showed me over to the "luxury class"....which was in fact "real wood veneer on top of fiberboard". morons....
They had ONE....ONE option for a solid wood cabinet front, and he said they were about 30,000 (about 300 american dollars) a piece.... If I had the option to, I would have definitely walked out. I think we will be getting an ikea kitchen....
Then they showed me the "basic" bathroom vanity....once again, I wanted to throw up in my mouth. It seriously looked like something you would get at wal-mart, and was tantamount to a cardboard box with a plastic sink on top... but the salesman told me with a radiating grin, that it comes with a tooth brush holder!!! RIGHTIO!!! On to the flooring!
We had two options for real wood floor....which would raise the price of course...the rest of the options were crap laminate flooring that the moment you drop something heavy on, leaves a dent the size of the grand canyon, and immediately looks like it is about 30 years old the moment it is installed. I have to admit, this is the first time in a long while I feel like they do something better in America. We definitely have the upper-hand in knowing how to build shite at a reasonable cost.
Happy Saturday...sort of.
キム・ヨナ選手の目と眉の間にキュン
1 year ago
8 comments:
I wonder if you could fly back home and go to Home Depot or some such place and mail yourself a kitchen for cheaper than they would sell it to you.
Ie get one of those freight carriers (cargo hold?) that cost maybe $3000 but then you could buy nicer stuff for perhaps about the same price.
Our floor, while it is supposedly real wood, is still thin planks and gets dents very easily!! If I could do it over I would at least cover the nice floor with cheap anything carpet or flooring until the kids are old enough to stop dropping shit on it!! Stick to your guns on the stuff you really want, it will be worth it in the end.
Remember house taxes go up depending on what materials you use. The bricks and concrete wall you need behind a wood burner cost more as do real wood floors!! Absolute shite, is this house building in Japan.
Good luck. I do remember having vague moments of excitement and now after four years, I am ready to build another. Could do it so much better next time I think!! Definitely wouldn't be a room for the mother in law either :)
Ganbare.
Gaijin wife, I totally need to pick your brain! Panasonic literally sent me home with 10 cm worth of catalogues to "flip through" and literally it all looks like fiberboard shite to me....seriously, I think panasonic should stick to dvd players and fancy tvs....
we have real wood floors (put in by real man K ;P) and they still aren't kid-proof. I guess that's what you get for going with pine.... oh well... when they've moved out I will redo the place all tasteful and all but until then just get back to trying to take off the crayon marks without taking off the polish at the same time....
and stick to your guns with the salesmen- the first answer is *always* impossible. Only after you stick out your lip,, cross your arms and pout like a 2yo do options appear....
That does sound shit. I can imagine how disappointing that is.
Hopefully you will find something you like in the catalogs!
Sounds like quite the adventure you've set off on. Ditto what everyone else said about not giving in. I'm sure it'll be time consuming and you might lose at least half a head of hair over it but in the end, you will have your perfect little maison de harada and it'll have all been worth it ;) (and I will be over for a BB -or pasta fest- the minute it's done hehe)
Where is the land, btw??? I'd love to meet up sometime if you're free since it seems like you aren't coming on the 19th? Anyways, msg me!
Wood cabinets are nice to look at. They give an additional zest to the room. Plus, it creates a natural-feel making you feel closer to nature. They can be remodeled as well depending on your preference.
Hey there.
email me at gaijinwife @ gmail dot com if you have any housey questions. It is hard - not nearly as exciting as you tell yourself it will be which is a shame cause it is the biggest investment you'll probably make.
Ganbare :)
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