Sadly, our beautiful maple tree that is surrounded by our deck, the one we have watched grow from a wee sprite to a towering shade tree, the one we have protected and loved, had to sacrifice one of it’s large limbs this past weekend. Zan did the surgery himself. The tree still looks beautiful, and now it won’t impede the roof to the new addition, but we were still sad to take such a drastic cut.
Mister enjoyed playing with the sawdust:
And he comforted our dear tree after the surgery was over.
Hard to believe this is the same boy who antagonizes his sisters at every opportunity. When Teen Girl saw these photos she said, “Aw!! He looks like a sweet boy in those pictures. Too bad he’s not like that all the time!”
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!
A Half Hour a Day 