Givens and Druthers

All projects need a wish list – that magical set of priorities that help shape the decision making process, temper our resolve, and remind us as to why we started this process in the first place…

The Givens and Druthers is the list of things that contrast what we would like, with what we are willing to live with.

The Givens

• We would like to design / build a cottage
• We would like it to have a waterfront view
• We would like to the cottage to be within three hours of our home
• We don’t want to drive through the city to reach our cottage
• We want enough bedrooms for each of the kids
  

The Druthers

• We have (very) limited finances
• We would buy an existing cottage if it proved to be the only option
• We would be willing to travel 15 min to reach water or consider a remote cabin-in-the-woods setting
• Would settle for shared sleeping quarters
  

The essence of each of the lists illustrate that our biggest hurdle is finances. The hope is that through careful research and planning we will be able to significantly reduce the overall cost of the project, which in turn will give us a greater ability to accomplish the goals set-out in the ‘givens’ list.