Home Remodel Progress

This summer has been extra full as we have taken on another home remodeling project. I mentioned that my Tender Warrior likes the challenge of taking our space and shaping it into something that "fits" our family better. He really is a genius. He amazes me with his ability to "see" a project in his mind's eye and bring it to fruition. As for me, I cannot picture such things until they are actually in progress. Fortunately, Warrior is also gifted at knowing how to use computer programs that help create a visual for his poor wife to at least try to envision what it is he has in mind. I guess it must be a little like how he feels when I create something within the home, be it planning a party, or meal, or sewing something and he is puzzled at just how I do that too.

It's been an adventure. First it was our unfinished attic when we bought this house. Then it was landscaping the slopes of our yard over about 3 to 5 years. Then it was a more functional kitchen design, for our kitchen was rather small considering the size of the house (we figured the former owners who built it did not care much for cooking). Now it is an expansion of our living and dining rooms. Our dining room was pretty tight and cozy. And by expanding the living room, we can make some space to put in an alternative heat source (like a pellet stove) which is something we have missed in this home. We like the idea of snuggling around a cozy fire while reading stories together.

So we started with this:

My, that was a deep hole! We didn't know they'd have to dig down so far to find native soil! It provided fun adventures for children though!





We weren't without some construction mishaps though--like Young Warrior and his first stitches. So we were thankful for the urgent care clinic close by and healthy healing of the wound.

The hole was filled in (and how much fun it was to watch concrete be poured--in between the rain).


A little framing before the insulation:



Now I'll skip ahead a lot to the framing of the exterior



When the framing was done, it was time to demolish the interior wall. While we went on our anniversary trip, we gave Grandma and the children permission to decorate and adorn the wall however they wished. When we came home, this is what we found.

A mix of Civil War generals and horses (we're a little partial to the Confederacy), along with random art of little ones. We thought it was great! The funny thing is, the wall is still here. We decided to separate the rooms, with an open entry way in between, so that we could create more wall space (an important thing for bibliophiles!). Thrifty people we are, we just turned the wall and rotated it to where we wanted it to see if we wanted to keep a wall in between. We did lose some of the art work and the rest will shortly be painted over, but it always brought about conversations with contractors. We will miss it!

Yesterday it was a trip to Home Depot for paint as we get close to wrapping up the drywall and texturing process. It's always fun to pick colors. So here we are at present.

I'm having fun dreaming up how to utilize the space the best. I'm so proud of my hard-working husband and how he takes care of us by providing us a beautiful home to make our little haven. Stay tuned for pictures when we finish!

"The home evenings present another field rich with possibilities of lasting influence and holy impression. It is one of the misfortunes of our times that the home is being so robbed of its evenings by business, by pleasure and by society. Some men never spend an evening at home in all the year. Some women do little better. Is it any wonder that in such cases heaven's benediction does not seem to fall upon the household? The days are so full of occupation for most of us, from early morning till nightfall, that whatever real home life we make we must make in the evenings. 'To the evening, and especially the winter's evening, belong mainly the influences of domestic life. Its few short hours are all the uninterrupted time we have at our disposal to know our own or be known of them. The impression that home leaves upon the child comes largely from its evenings. The visions which memory delights in conjuring up are the old scenes about the evening fire or the evening lamp.'"

--J.R. Miller, "The Home Beautiful"