Before Tour

Dotted line is signed, bathroom fixtures are already chosen, and a few months is all that separates us from major upheaval.  Tom Builder projects that he and his crew will begin work sometime in June.  They are backed up with work at the moment, so we have a little breathing room before things get torn apart.  I thought I would share with you a few interior photos of the space we are having renovated.  Let’s head upstairs, shall we?  Follow me. Please watch your step and hold the railing…Mister took a nasty head over heels fall down these stairs a few weeks ago, and I would hate to see the same thing happen to you!

Let me direct your attention to these doors.

The door straight ahead is the bathroom door, the one to the left is a closet. (Notice that the bathroom door and moldings are cheapo replacements.)  The closet will be opened up and made into a hallway that will lead to the new bedroom space, which right now is a low-ceilinged attic over the kitchen.  The plan is to salvage the closet door and moldings and use them on the soon-to-be-renovated bathroom.

Let’s open the door to the bathroom:

I have hated this bathroom since the day we bought the house.  Several years ago we painted it and stuck down new floor tiles, changed the hardware, but it was a temporary fix.  The floor is changing colors and popping up all over the place…it has all got to go.  I will do a happy dance the day they gut this space…maybe they’ll let me use the sledgehammer like they do on HGTV?

We will be stealing about a foot of space from this room to make the new hallway to the extension, so this bathroom will wind up with a corner shower, toilet, and two pedestal sinks.

Now back to the hall.

Let’s take a look in the closet…

This poor old shabby thing will become the new hallway.  I will be sad to see this hardwood torn up, but we will be replacing it with new.  Enter my room:

See that window on the far right?  That window will be gone, since the roof outside of it is going to be raised.  We will salvage the trim on that window to use in the renovated bathroom. If you turn around:

See that door?  That is our closet.  Right now three of us share that closet because it is the only bedroom closet in the house. If you go through the closet you will find a secret little room. 🙂

Cool, huh?  This room was unlit when we moved in, rafters exposed, and storing old furniture.  We made it into a makeshift playroom. Up until two weeks ago it was loaded with toys, and even though it wasn’t a pretty space, it was still a usable space. This is the room that will become our new bedroom, new bathroom, and new laundry room.  Whoo hoo!  Here it is now:

Buckets catching leaks, redirected with plastic.


And turning around looking back toward the door:

We will have a new air tub in the new bathroom, along with a shower.  But I think I am MOST excited about having my washer and dryer on the second floor, up and out of the basement!  Whoohoo!!!

So there you have it….the grand “Before Tour.”  Next time I’ll show you some of the things we have picked out for the new space.     Hold on, cause It’s gonna be a bumpy ride!

Snow Day!

March 1, 2012 was the first morning of the season that we woke up to the sounds of snowblowers and snowplows.

It was a beautiful snowfall, and we enjoyed the view out the window in our jammies, lazing around the house all day long.  After dinner, we piled on our snow clothes over our PJ’s and went out to enjoy the first, and possibly last, snow of the season.  Great fun, playing in the dark with the snow still falling.  Quite beautiful, and with 43 degree temps melting it away today, and rains coming tomorrow, I doubt it will be white here for long, so we enjoyed it while we could.

Little Girl, covered with the white stuff.
For a five year old, life doesn't get much better than this.
Snowstands!!!
Icicles
In a land called Narnia...

The Brown Before the Storm

Here it is, the last day of February, and our first significant snowfall of the winter is predicted for today into tomorrow.  Little Girl said, “Just think, if it wasn’t a Leap Year, we would have made it all the way to March without snow.”  That about sums it up.  As much as I would have loved to say we had skipped winter altogether come spring, I think that would be a bit selfish of me, as we have been spared thus far and feel blessed by the snow hiatus.  My roof is very thankful too.  So I look forward to this storm, and will enjoy the beauty while it lasts.  Here’s a photo of my Big Girl (in the middle) as she left for school with her friends this morning.  The view up the street should look quite different tomorrow.

Order from Chaos

So, I’m sure you’ve all been clamoring over here to see my organization progress!!! *crickets* (OK…so maybe not…just humor me.)

Take a look at yesterday’s post for my fridge “before” photo. And look at it NOW!

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WHOO-to-the-HOO!!! Ain’t it grand?!?! I took EVERYTHING out, including shelves and drawers. Typically I take out one shelf at a time, wash it, put it back, and put everything back on that shelf only tidier. Not this time! I decided to go outside the box, and repurposed all my drawers! You know that drawer that says “deli?” Well, I’m being a real rebel, and I am no longer keeping my deli items in there!! I know!!! Extreme, isn’t it?! But wait, there’s more! I’m no longer using my crisper drawer for fruits and veggies. I’m using it for leftover containers…imagine that!! All leftovers in the same place! No more fuzzy green containers forgotten and lost in the back! Why did I never think of this before??? And those new white plastic containers will help keep it all organized…easy in and out, easy to get to the things seldom used and tucked in the back! I am in love! I keep opening the door just to peek inside! Wanna see some more?! I know you do….

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So then, I was on a real roll. I decided to tackle my cupboards too. Here’s the “before”:

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And the “after”:

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Again, I moved EVERYTHING. Nothing is in it’s usual spot, but it makes much more sense…well to me anyway. And I’m loving the containers! I can’t tell you how much packaging I got rid of…it was all taking up so much space and everything was precariously perched on top of everything else. I want to have a party just so I can show off my cupboards! 😉

Next stop, the scary Tupperware cupboard. Stay tuned!