A visit from my Brother, a little history and his simple question that saved us 99k!

I love it when my brother comes to town...he is a busy guy, entrepreneur, business owner, real estate professional and on the go with the ladies constantly....so it is not often when he makes it over and I treasure each visit he makes.  He is funny, strong, deep, kind, generous and a precious piece of my past.....

 

We hung out at Harbor Island (116 degrees in Phx, 66 degrees @ Bay), Seaport Village, Top of the Hyatt, hit the Food Trucks, Tin Fish, Poker Games, Croquet Matches, Breakfast outings, family time and got him hooked on watching 'News Room' to 2:30 a.m....the only thing missing was The Addie and Ms. Shannie were not here....luckily for us he is planning to come back in August when The Addie is in town... 

My brother has built many homes, historically restored homes, we have flipped homes with him, he owns several beautiful homes and an incredible eye for structure, functionality and  design.  He can recall layouts from homes we were in when we were kids...and when we were young and at home during the summers it was not surprising to anyone when we would move all our furniture one day trading rooms and then back the next day.

Some of his greatest traits are that he has a calm approach, is very methodical and not afraid to try things! 

So, one afternoon while Steve was resting his back upstairs, downstairs we talked about our current flip and ideas I wanted to bounce off him about our house.  When we originally did our addition we were limited due to 'load bearing walls' so as I walked him around questioning him on his thoughts of bumping out this wall, moving this over, tearing that down.  He listened patiently as I walked and rattled on.....adding up my ideas to a construction budget.  When he got to 100k he calmly and patiently asked me the simple, yet brilliant, question:

'What are you hoping to achieve?'

That made me think......

Bottom line is that this house really does not fit our life style any more but we love it.  At some point we need to just move on but it does not feel right at this point in time and with Steve's surgery and unknown future so we are in a holding pattern.....

So for the short term the answer was:  I am not happy with my family room/dining room (16' x 30').

Then he said - 'how often do you use your fireplace?'.....then I said, Nov - Feb....and with a stroke of brilliance he said - 'why not flip your room for summer and then back in winter?' - again so simple - (I am now convinced I overthink and overlook many things).....and better yet - without a hesitation or sign - he said 'want to try it out now?"

I swear I heard the halleluiah chorus singing!

So like back in the day we started moving things around....this way....

 

....and that way.....

trying it out this way......

 Poor Steve got up half way through and it took him a bit, however, he got into our mode as well....and helped us try out options.....

 
 So we changed out light fixtures and bought new matching fans and a few other things for about 1k 

and came up with this fab alternative that will be a fun change for us while Steve is recovering....

 
 I really really like the new footprint.....we have a better view of the fountain and back yard, have a better breeze between the two French doors, the lighting is better....

 ....and it is Rocky approved!  He loves to sit on the perch and monitor the events around the manor...it's a big job but he is up for it!

Thanks Baby Brother - I can't wait until you come back in August....I have a few ideas to share with you ;)