Week 16 – Joe

We have been working hard this month completing demo and making tough decisions on the floor plan.  We have been putting in long hours at the house, but it is still slow going because one of us always has to watch the kids.  I can’t imagine how much easier this would be if Amy and I could both work on the house at the same time.  Anyway, all the windows in the kitchen are glazed and waiting until it’s okay to paint, all the walls that need to be removed are gone, and the floor plan is pretty much finalized (as much as it ever really will be).  Here is a glimpse of the latest plan for the first floor…

 

The small change (which really has a big impact) not reflected in his floor plan is that we are creating another doorway to the kitchen.  Originally we were going to seal the old doorway to the basement (indicated by the dark line behind the refrigerator) and putting it on the other side of the old staircase.  When I was done with the demolition to create the new door opening to the basement (just outside the bathroom) we noticed how GREAT it was to have another opening in the kitchen.   We are essentially creating a hallway that turns our circular floor plan into a figure eight. Having two entrances to the kitchen makes it feel more connected to the rest of the house.  This means we can avoid routing ALL traffic to and from the kitchen through the dining room.  In addition it means more direct routes to the stairs to the 2nd floor, the bathroom, and the front rooms. And it just FEELS good!

We will obviously end up leveling that floor and then putting a door to the basement on the right hand side of that intersection.   The only downside to this new development is that we have to reconfigure our kitchen arrangement.  What you see in the floor plan above will no longer work.  Here is the view from the kitchen looking to the front of the house (the doorway will eventually be completely open because the stairs will be gone.

 

Here is the 2nd floor…

The BIG progress this week was the framing.  On the first floor the only new room we are creating is the bathroom (it was displaced by the kitchen expansion).  The square in the framing on the right is for a medicine cabinet that we salvaged from the original bathroom.  The wooden door you see inside the bathroom is the current door to the stairs, but it will eventually be a linen closet for the bathroom.  The new staircase will eventually be in the space adjacent to the bathroom.

Upstairs, there was a lot of progress and immediate gratification.  I have to say that this was the most enjoyable part of the renovation thus far.  My wife and I both have creative professions and I enjoyed getting to stand there with the framer and our architect to make decisions about exactly where the walls will go.  I reminded me a lot of the creative/logistical conversations that I experience in my job.

Here is the new wall for the master bedroom.  It is exactly the same, but moved in about 16 inches to accommodate the staircase.

The bathroom turned out to be pretty big (7×9) and we were able to get the layout we wanted.  The tub and toilet will be on the left and the pedestal sink and storage will be on the right.  The window will eventually be bigger.

The new staircase will come up between the master bedroom and bathroom.

Aiden’s room is turning out great.  He will have exposed brick, areas with 12′ ceilings (at one spot), and dramatic ceiling angles.

He will also have a great bed nook…

 

Here is the view from the master bedroom looking towards Lucy’s room.  Aiden’s room is on the right and the bathroom is on the left.  To the left of the Lucy’s doorway will be the washer and dryer (yay for not having to hike down to the basement!) and to the right of the doorway will be a little extra play space.  This commons area at the center of the 2nd floor has a 15′ ceiling.  We will eventually add a window to the center of that gable.

We will add flooring and create a loft area above the master bedroom.  There will be a ladder just to the left of the doorway.   This loft will look out over the commons area.

Now comes the big push to have plumbing, electrical, and hvac installed before the end of the summer!

 

Follow our story and read the next post: Window rehab- part 2

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