2nd Floor Reno - Week 2

After the first week, all of the drywall has been removed.  The crew also opened up the wall to the adjoining bathroom so that they can have better access since the plumbing will be going in there.

Remember, the laundry was located in the master bath. Here's a photo of it before it goes away!

Our fixtures are here!

Toilet, sinks, faucets, showerhead, rainhead, etc.

Laundry room cabinets

2nd Floor Reno: Day 1

Demo has officially begun! In the master bath, the tile and old shower were removed, and the space already looks so much bigger!  In the laundry room, the wood flooring was pulled up.  Can't wait to see more progress.

Moving Out!

We moved out of our house and into my parents place this weekend, and we're hoping it's not for too long!  Our architect projects that the renovation will take 6 weeks and the contractor estimates 4 weeks, so I'm planning for 8 weeks just in case.  We packed lightly and just took the bare essentials since my parents only live about 15 min away.  We also plan on stopping by the house at least once a week throughout the renovation to check on the progress and to pick up mail (no, we're not forwarding or holding our mail).  Keeping our fingers crossed that we are back in the house by the beginning of November.

Let's Go Shopping!

After many houzz.com searches and hundreds of Pinterest pins later,  we've finally decided on the style and fixtures for the bathroom.  As much as I would love a nice contemporary bath (left), I think we have to go with a more traditional style (right) because of the home.

 

Once we decided to go traditional, we had to select fixtures to fit the style. It was important for us to get everything ordered asap so that we'd have everything shortly after the renovation started.  We want to make sure that the contractor has everything they need to keep moving along.  Last thing we'd want is for the project to get held up because of US!  Here are photos of what we picked out...

In addition to these fixtures we selected, we also decided to install in-floor heating. Initially, we envisioned just the bathroom floor having it, but the lovely saleswoman conveniently sold us on heating the shower bench and shower floor as well :)  Can't wait!

Second Floor Renovation

We are moving ahead with the second floor renovation! This renovation will include the master bath, master closest and the laundry room.  

Master Bath

Here are some photos of the existing bath and closet:

Here are the plans and 3D renderings for the master bath:

Laundry Room

Currently the laundry hookup is in the master bath....odd, so we are moving it down the hall. We're converting one of the bedrooms (the smallest) into the laundry room.  One cool tidbit of information is that this bedroom that we're converting used to be the maid's quarters back in the day.  Remember, this house was built in 1895, so this is one of the interesting historical facts about it.  This bedroom is completely separate from the other bedrooms and is directly above the kitchen.  It also has its own staircase that leads right into the kitchen.  We call this staircase the back stairs.  The front, main staircase is made of oak, while this back staircase is made of pine.  This is again an indication of who was using this staircase. The homeowners used the bigger, more expensive staircase, while the house staff used the narrow, less expensive staircase in the back.  

Some historical info for you...

Wikipedia: "Servants' quarters are those parts of a building, traditionally in a private house, which contain the domestic offices and staff accommodation. From the late 17th century until the early 20th century they were a common feature in many large houses. Sometimes they are an integral part of a smaller house - in the basements and attics, especially in a town house, while in larger houses they are often a purpose-built adjacent wing or block. In architectural descriptions and guide books of stately homes the servants' quarters are frequently overlooked, yet they form an important piece of social history, often as interesting as the principal part of the house itself."

According to glessnarhouse.org, "Servants were essential to the successful operation of large nineteenth-century households. About half of the house was dedicated to service, including the kitchen, back corridors and servants’ quarters. The extent of the importance of servants in everyday life is not fully understood, in part because there are very few first-hand accounts from servants themselves. Those employed in domestic service tended to be young, unmarried and foreign-born, with the majority having immigrated from Scandinavia, Ireland, and Germany. A small number of African Americans were also employed, almost always as coachmen. Servants’ sparse quarters were separated from the rest of the house, normally near the kitchen or stable, with a separate entrance, stairway and dining room."

Here are some photos of the existing maid's room:

Here are the drawings for the laundry room:

Change of plans - Phase 3 is now Phase 2

So since having Aiden, Adrian and I have been discussing our renovation plans...a lot. We're starting to think that we should put off doing the major 1st floor renovation, and instead, do the 2nd floor master bathroom and laundry room.

We knew going through a major renovation would be pretty difficult right now, not to mention majorly expensive, but I think we were trying to convince ourselves that we could do it.  We starting to realize that it might not be the best idea.

We figured that we could probably go awhile longer without a kitchen since Aiden won't be eating real food for some time, however, we will need to wash all of his clothes and give him baths, therefore, the second floor is probably passing the first floor by on the list of priorities.

Also, renovating the master bath would mean we could move finally into our master bedroom, and Aiden could move into his nursery (we currently all sleep on the third floor).

Somehow, at a weak moment, Adrian convinced me that changing our renovation plans was a good idea.  I'm hoping he didn't take advantage of my newfound sleep deprived mom mind, and that this really is a better idea.

It's a Boy!

As much as we try to plan, there are just some things you can't plan for.  On May 1, 2013 at 4:00 a.m., we welcomed Aiden Xavier into the world.  Aiden was 7 weeks early, so it caught us all off guard, but we couldn't be happier. 

Needless to say, our renovation plans are on pause for now.

Plans for 2013 - Phase 2

Happy New Year! Although, there hasn't been much progress on the house for a few months, I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about our house plans for 2013.

I believe I've mentioned this previously, but the work Adrian and I have done thus far has been minor, slightly cosmetic and mostly things that people won't see behind the walls (although our bank account is thinking, "Minor, yeah right!").  The plan when we bought the house was to wait until the following spring before doing any major renovations so that we'd have time to get the 203-k loan work done. 

Back in February of 2012, when we bought the house, we brought in an architect to talk about what changes we'd like to make and what stages we'd like to do the work in.  Since then, we've gone over drawings, made revisions and set up a loose timeframe for this renovation.  It's definitely crazy how time flies because our architect recently checked in with us and mentioned that if we wanted to stay on track for March 2013, we'd need to get a move on it since it could take some time to pull permits and get the contractors lined up. It's pretty safe to say that we won't be doing any work on the house before then since we'll have to save every penny for this renovation.  So I figured I'd take this moment to share with you our plans for the 2013 renovation...

2013 Renovation-Scope of work
First floor
Move current powder room
Tear down and expand current kitchen
Build addition and move current mudroom
Knock out most of the walls in the back of the house to create open concept
Open up exisiting staircase
Tear down exterior wall and build half-wall leading to sunroom
Replace and level all of wood floor on 1st floor
Second floor
Run plumbing from 1st floor kitchen up to exisiting bedroom and create laundry room
I think that's it....

Existing 1st Floor Plan

New 1st Floor Plan

Some 3D Renderings of What Could Be!!!!

You may be asking yourself, "what's left?" So I'll give you a preview of our "loose" plan for the upcoming years...

2014 Renovation-Scope of work
Gut and redo 2nd floor bath
Gut and redo Master bath
Build deck
Install fence for backyard (remember when I posted that this was 10k alone?!?! Insane!)
Landscaping

2015 Renovation-Scope of work
Renovate basement

Of course 2014 & 2015 are far from concrete, but in a perfect world, this is what we'd like to have happen.  Of course though with a baby coming this summer who knows what will happen to 2014 & 2015...let alone 2013 :/ 

Happy New Year!!! :)

Yes, we've been on a hiatus....but for a GOOD reason!

I realize we haven't had many posts the past 2-3 months, but I can explain. There are a few reasons as to why we've (I've) neglected this blog...well, one BIG reason. We're having a baby!

We're totally excited, however, the past few months you wouldn't be able to tell because my "enthusiam" had me pretty much glued to the couch or in bed sleeping :/  Therefore, as dumb as it sounds, I just haven't had any energy to update the blog :(  And to be honest, we actually haven't done any additional home projects since October.  I hate to say we're submitting to winter hibernation, but I think we totally are.  There's only so much we can do on the inside before the big renovation in the spring, so we're sitting tight for a little while.  One thing we did manage to start was the nursery!  Below are a few pics of the paint and trim going up.

A Little Stain and Paint Go a Long Way

Since we were a little late to the game with getting out door installed, we werew a little pressing for time to stain (and seal it) before the winter.  Luckily, on a random Wednesday, at the end of October, temperatures hit 70 degrees, so Adrian and I ran home after work to get'er done (the next day was of course in the 40s so it was a good thing we acted when we did!).  We were able to get a coat of paint on the porch and I stained the both the inside and outside of the front door.  Now, it REALLY looks like someone lives here :)