Loft

Besides getting to draw on the walls ....



We also get to knock down some walls.  We're opening up our house if you can't tell and that includes the loft! I've basically have swung my elbows into all the walls I want to get rid of.

The walls just a come tumbling down around here. Jericho ain't seen nothin'.The kids thought that was pretty spectacular.  It's not everyday your parents give you a hammer and tell you to destroy! They had so much aggression, they did the whole wall.

Here's the loft the next day---our own little upstairs terrace. A dangerous terrace perhaps, so I tell the kids their feet can't leave the carpet.  I suppose we as parents should mind that too.  Gretchen scolded us to get on the carpet. Then she started crying and told us "I don't want you to die!"Good point my dear daughter.








We have also had our new energy efficient windows installed! No more scratching ice off the glass from the inside anymore.  No chill to send you on your way into a warmer room either.  Oh! How I shudder at the thought!

House Progress

Wow! Everyday I come home to new surprises.
Here is a picture of the sightline from our entry way.  There will be a half wall there where the paper is.  I needed to get an idea of what you would see in my kitchen from my front door. I just didn't want you to see my full kitchen.




I was surprised to learn that my house was being held up by two 2X4s.  It is sturdier now with the new beam and supports. And it is cuter now with that guy back there.


It's nice to know that it is done right this time.  Glad my kids jumping off of the bed and crashing to the floor hasn't caused our house to fall down.

They had to go down to the basement to cement and bolt the beams down to the foundation. Guest room closet:



They had to cut some holes in the walls downstairs to get to the footings.  They were at least smart about it and put a more accessible door in for me to my food storage. This is the lab.



Here's the new 6inch post just off of the dining room.  It's now attached to a sturdier beam up above.





Meet our cabinet guy and plumber. They're talking about our plans thoroughly.  They were over to get a few things finalized. I am so glad he brought that little skinny piece of cardboard to map out our island.  I needed to shift it over to the dining room a half of foot. It was right in our walkway when you come in through the garage.  It worked better for the plumber too! Otherwise we would have had to tear up our guest room to work with the plumbing.  I believe them (contractors and such) when they say house remodels are so much harder than a new construction.  You have to be clever to figure out the previous man's work.



Did you notice the fancy linoleum pictured above that was in the house a time or two before us?

Future island, except you have to add 16' of over hang to the east/right in this picture.

We Have Lift Off

The demo has started


Pantries

Entry way from front door.


With a little help from my man, the tile is disappearing too. Notice the boards are completely nonexistent now when you veer into the dining room.





Entry way by the end of the day



I love how we get to turn on the lights now--swinging light boxes



I swear this was the happiest day of my week.  I love seeing some progress.

Old Kitchen Removed-Semi New Kitchen

I was subbing on Tuesday and I came home in between classes to check on the progress.  Our old kitchen was currently being removed!





Oh it makes me happy! It's currently being stored in our front living room.  It worked out great too--the buyer wasn't quite ready for it and I needed to use my fridge until we got our new one.  It's a win, win! I don't know what I would do without a fridge.



Here's our charming little kitchen in the basement for the time being. Micah is currently trying to finish her lentils.  It's quite the task whether eating it in an old or new kitchen--it will take hours.  I added some fake flowers to make it happy.  It feels like we're in an apartment again. Toys crowding the living space, stuff lining the perimeters of all the rooms and the 5 of us bumping into each other more often.  It feels happy. Like we felt in Minnesota when Mat was doing a rotation in Minneapolis.  We made the most of our stay there and I suppose we'll make the most of our stay in our bottom floor apartment as well.



Pantry for now! And, my panini grill is coming in handy.



Mat had it set up all cute and cozy for us and surprised me when I came downstairs.  What a guy!