BDA: The back of the house

The back of the house before the remodel. We added an 8x10 foot crawl space to the foundation in the right corner for the mud room. The old back porch was on the orginal foundation and became part of the new kitchen. And the roof came off...

During the big demo!

Here's the after! The new back entry is great (the detail on the little roof matches the front and sides). Above the mudroom (behind the door) and kitchen, is our master bedroom (big double windows), closet (the small window in the middle) and bathroom (the small window on the left). And the in the spring, we'll get some grass instead of mud and maybe some tulips if I didn't get them in too late.

BDA: Powder Room

Before: The main floor "powder room" as it was - cramped. The boys would hit their heads on the sink when they were toddlers.

During: Gutted to the studs - which were very full. The wall on the right is the only continuous wall from the basement to upstairs, so it carries electric, plumbing and sewer. We could just squeak in a small concealed cabinet in the wall on the left side. The window remained, but was trimmed out to match the rest of the house.

After: New walls, lights, tile floor, trim. New dual-flush toilet (press down for a small flush, up for a large one). The sink is mounted to the wall with a tile "beadboard" backsplash for those sloppy, messy kid hands. This small bath feels almost spacious now with the smaller sink and pocket door. We also tried to keep things flush instead of protruding out from the wall.

Remaining to do in this room: Lace curtain at the window, mirror above the sink, and a lovely picture in the frame (which actually conceals a cabinet containing our fine selection of kiddie bandaids).

Living with Boxes

Our blog has been silent for a long time. To catch you up, we DID move back in early September, just a few days after school started. Our house is lovely, but it's hard to see because of all the boxes and unpacking yet to be done! So I want to show you wonderful pictures, but have to carefully take them to keep the boxes, bags and piles of junk out of view. The last few things are wrapping up (who knew towel bars had 6 week leadtimes?). I'm trying to get bulbs in the ground before the snow and find our winter wear. In between, I'll try to show you some pictures of our fabulous new spaces.