The First Official Before and After

 

While this is not the BIG REVEAL it is a sample of how far we have come on our renovation.  Fingers and toes crossed we will be living here by the end of this month!  This journey has been an experience that I hope to never repeat, but the effort we have put in is finally paying off.  I haven't posted in a while and may not over the course of the next few weeks as we hang cabinets, install bamboo flooring, prep my preschool studio, and landscape the backyard.  If I have any sanity left after that then I will be posting a complete before and after that will go room by room.  I hope to make these detailed posts that include where we purchased the materials and an approximate breakdown of cost to show how dollar savvy can still translate into designer classy!  Remember we are going for the craft beer of homes: tasteful and affordable.

Here is an original sketch of the layout when we purchased the home.  I apologize for all the markings as this was the one we used to mark our measurements for our architect.

Back of House Front of House



 

The layout had the front door enter into the dining room with the kitchen beyond.  The bathroom was right off the kitchen with a utility room and a hallway leading to the basement behind it.  To the left of the dining room was the living room and behind that was a small bedroom.  A narrow and very steep stairway off the kitchen led to two upstairs bedrooms.  The small corner pictured on the left hand side was a one car detached garage.

 

Back of HouseFront of House

 

 

The new layout kept the living room in the original position, but moved the front door so that the entry is now into the living area.  The windows on the left side of the house were eliminated to make room for a gas fireplace and a two stall attached garage.  The side of the house was squared off to create a new hallway to the basement steps and a utility area in the back of the house.  This picture does not reflect changes we made during the building process which include extending the back of the house another 6 feet to create a mudroom and a hallway pantry.  The bedroom that was behind the living room has been converted into an eat in kitchen giving the first floor an open concept.  The old dining room and kitchen are now being used as two bedrooms and a bathroom.  The original bathroom was also extended by 6 feet to create an en suite bathroom and walk in closet in the master bedroom.  By keeping the stairs in their original position and just switching the direction it opened up the second story allowing enough space for a 350 square foot studio space for my business and a powder bathroom.  The area under the stairs was also utilized for an additional closet in the master bedroom and a built in dog crate. 

 

 

Here is a side-by-side of then and now:

 

                                 Then                                                        Now

                           3 bedrooms                                               3 bedrooms

                           1 bathroom                                               2 1/2 bathrooms

                          U-shaped kitchen                                      L-shaped kitchen

                          Dining Room                                            Eat-in kitchen             

                          Utility Room                                             Utility Room

                          1 stall detached garage                              Extra Large 2 stall attached garage

                          Living room with 8 ft ceiling                    Living room with 9 1/2 ft ceiling



                          3 closets                                                    5 closets

After we had to ditch the architects plans because we couldn't build up as planned J and I talked tirelessly about the options for a new layout.  We went through 10 or more drafts before I came up with the idea of flipping the bedrooms to the other side of the house.  The sketch above is J's handy work that he put to scale from one of my renderings and even here you can make out eraser marks where it evolved as we spent time doing the demolition and I poured over Pinterest and design magazines. Overall we sacrificed about 30 square feet from the original space but gained a more functional layout.  After reconfiguring the heating and plumbing we also gained about 350 square feet of usable living space in the basement which we will be tackling after we move in.  Here is a sneak peek at the front elevation: