Adding additions to a home is something of an American pastime it seems, almost a force of nature. In fact if you pay attention you can follow the lifecycle of an addition from conception to completion. Sometime around early fall homeowners will begin to dream of a new project, new additions they can complete. The inspiration for these dreams will come from a variety of places. Some will be inspired by books and magazines, or maybe one of the myriad home improvement shows on cable. Others will opt to be driven be a plain old case of Jones’s jealousy. Their additions will exist only as thoughts and half imagined plans for months, until sometime in mid winter. Then the idea will officially be born as the homeowner begins to tentatively voice his inspiration to the world. Coworkers will be told, possibly to the point of badgering about upcoming plans.
When spring rolls around these additions move on to the next stage of life as their developers begin to put together materials lists and make various changes and updates to the original plans. Finally, summer will appear and with it will come the final stage of the additions planning and the first stage of the additions existence. Homeowners will veritably burst forth from their homes as the excitement and anticipation of this moment has built to unbearable levels over the previous frigid months. The hum of power tools will fill the air and the scent of saw dust will linger heavy in the weekend air. Adding additions is more than a simple investment in the home. It is an investment in the life of the people residing in the home. It is a process, a drawing an idea. One that will ultimately change the nature of the place that family and friends call home.
