Life's Little Pleasures

Who would have thought that sleeping in your own bedroom could be such a luxury?

Since mid-July we have been sleeping in the dining room, the girls in the library, and the boys in the den. Every morning the kids had to stack the mattresses, every dinner party was crammed into our makeshift dining area in the kitchen.

Here are some photos as we neared the end. The rush at Christmas was to finish enough of the rooms for the carpet layers to come in. Some were ready, some were finished after the carpet was installed. Such is life.

Girl's room as we sorted out the trim

Girl's room getting painted after the carpet was installed. Oh well.

Girl's room ready to move in - if not quite done yet...

Master bedroom getting the ceiling treatment

Take off your shoes in the master bedroom 

Nearing the End

After what seemed like an eternity, this renovation finally is coming to a completion. 
Well, sort of a completion. There is never an end to all the trim, touch-ups, etc. 
But is sure feels better to be on this end of the project than the beginning.
The attic bedroom is complete now with beds, books, and the obligatory Legos strewn all over the floor.

Welcome home.

Room With a View

We are getting close to turning the page on our home improvement manual. Sheetrock will soon cover the walls that have been treated with new wiring, plumbing, and closed cell insulation.

The attic space, once a source of dread, is fast becoming the coolest room in the house. With the new window and lofted ceiling (thanks to the spray insulation) it is a room that past residents would barely recognize.

If you follow our blog, you may remember when we dismantled the chimney in the attic and 'planted' our brick garden by launching them out this window.

All we want for Christmas are our bedrooms back...

Sugar and Spice

Spice (in front, black w/ red collar)

Sugar

Before and After

I think taking out walls is the most fun thing about remodeling...

More Light (and Heat)

Along with the new wiring we are swapping out all the old windows, door, and heat ducts - not an easy task to thread duct work to an attic of an existing home. Lots of plans and thinking.

I think T.J. our heating guy finally settled on Plan P, or maybe it was Plan Q or R...

Up, Up, and Away

The attic stairway had a very low head clearance in order to close it off during the winter to keep out the cold, during the summer months to keep in the bats, and during the rental years to hide all the garbage they tossed up there over the decades.

Once the electrician, George, got the wires out of the floor boards moved I swooped in with the saw and opened the space up a bit.

And then there was Light

After quite a wait things are really starting to zip along here. The electrician (Mara's uncle George) arrived here a few days back and took to the wiring like bees to honey.

It's amazing to watch a master electrician at work. I admit I pulled the hovering homeowner and no doubt frustrated George to no end, but I was just so happy to see the old wiring go that I couldn't resist.

Goodbye knobs! Goodbye tubes!

Interior Designers

We couldn't pass up the opportunity to make our marks on the soon to be demolished walls. So out came the Sharpees and the permission to draw anywhere the kids wanted to (except the floors, which were in surprisingly good condition.)

Leave it to Beaver

These lath piles outside the bedroom windows are starting to look like a flock (a den, a batch, a quaggle) of beavers have set up camp around our house.

Got lath? We can help.

By the way, the brick path you see next to the lath pile was paved from these bricks.