We’ve received quite a few questions about our house lately, and we thought it was time to break it down again. We know that this process has been a long and involved one. I think that taking a fixer upper and doing it right, is always going to be long and involved. There are no such things as commercial breaks with magical ten dollar results in real life. So if you’re just tuning in to our little money pit series, then you probably know that we’ve been working on this little house for a while.
It’s been a journey. We shared the highs and lows and everything in between of our not so little renovation, while we also continued to grow our business locally for clients.
It was not a simple process, but it’s probably been the most rewarding one. We recently shared a happy homeaversary post, now that we’re three years in. If you are curious as to what we’ve been up to, I guess you could say we unintentionally divided it into phases… {prepare yourself for some fun before and afters, if you’d like to catch up!}
Phase 1: Main level + Upstairs
• main level {great room + kitchen}
• upstairs {bathroom, younger kids + teen room + master + master bath}
The eventual plan, is to live in the existing side of the house and one day {aka the next year or so} add a master suite addition off of the back side of the kitchen. {And now, see more below, this addition also.} This has been tricky, because of the situation with local septic and codes and figuring it all out. The plan is to get that approved this year. The kids will spread out on the upstairs level when we make “the move”.
Phase 2: the outside
• window world + a spring porch makeover + side entrance curb appeal
Phase 3: the basement
{Some of this was happening simultaneously with the outside makeovers}
• Main area + studio + laundry corner
And.. {drum roll please}
Phase 4: the new addition
We had a small recap a few weeks ago, and we’re thrilled to report on some major progress last week! Our next addition has evolved from a screened in porch to an all out addition. For a plethora of reasons, it took us a while to get started, and we’re so glad it did!
We’ve even figured out a way to reconfigure this into our next big project phase, the master addition. So stay tuned there. But this puppy went up in two days. The above cesspool photo is what the back of the house looked like when we moved in.
Phases 5, 6, + 7 {and probably 8 if I’m being perfectly honest}… coming after this one is complete. A sweet reader said that she was selfishly sad that we were done with our house, and I was all, EXCUSE MEH?! Cue blinking guy. ;}
Much more to come.
And here we are, getting started!
We had it framed and wrapped and ready to go before the rain came back again. The roofers were able to come and get the roof templated, since we’re going with a metal roof.
The kids, ironically, are mad about said metal roof. We couldn’t be more thrilled. They said metal roofs are too loud. We say it’s because they’ve never had a metal roof and have no idea as to what they’re talking about. As much as it rains here, we can’t wait for rain-filled afternoons on the hanging bed, reading a good book. Paradise.
It feels massive right now, and even though we measured and planned and scratched all of that, and then started again, we’re still adjusting. You can basically ignore the other posts I’ve written about this project because while the basic premise is true, it’s really changed since the original ideas we had. That’s how we roll sometimes.
Since knocking out all the walls on the main level of the house, we’re thrilled to have another area that will serve as a dining and lounging area for guests.
This side will hold a banquette with shelves and dining table – it will also serve as my makeshift painting studio and hold ALL THE THINGS in the way of supplies.
And this side will host a sofa, chairs and hanging bed with a fireplace in the center. The master will eventually come off of this side, as well.
We loved going with another A-frame to mimic the feel of our great room, and can’t wait to share all the design elements we have coming in here.
Meanwhile, we have this as our biggest challenge. It looks like we’ve got an old set from The Great Movie Ride and a creepy animatronic is about to greet us from the door. Or Brentwood High Presents “To Kill a Mocking Bird”- Per a good friend of ours while we all stood around and laughed at how ridiculous it looks.
We debated losing the bay window, but I plan to do a window seat on the inside, we really appreciate the layout in that room. And we enjoy being able to shut this room off, with all the entertaining we do in the warmer months. Not to mention all the natural light it still brings to our great room.
Thus the great conundrum of how to set it up seamlessly and intentionally with the rest of the space.
Here’s a rough sketch I mocked up to integrate it all. The plan is to forego brick on the inside to save a little, since we think we can integrate it smoothly with skinny boards like you see on our upstairs ceilings. And of course, our fabulous tile from the basement a-la Jeffrey Court.
We plan to use brick on the outside, but we keep moving our plans so we’ll see. The screen door, of course, will come down, and once the furniture is inside and the space is finito, it will help with the way this side of the room feels.
This side of the space will have plenty of light with the double doors and generous windows. We debated windows at the top, but the way that the sun hits the house on this side all day long would have driven us crazy. We also like the idea of being able to close it off with blinds, completely, once it’s all said and done.
We’re thrilled about all the square footage and progress. Next it’s roofing, windows + doors, framing for fireplace, electricians and plumbers {for the fireplace}. Then insulation + drywall.
Stay tuned and we hope to share more as we go. This beautiful light-filled room is oh so exciting!
Have an inspired day!
Kari says
I’ve loved watching you guys transform your home. Are you using an architect to help with the additions and/or the reconfiguration you did in the original house? If so, it would be great to read a post about finding and working with one. And, if not, how you have figured it all out? We have a weekend home that we plan to make our fulltime home in a couple years when the kids have flown the coop and it needs some reconfiguration and a small addition. We are pretty big DIYers but overwhelmed with this challenge of figuring out the best way to do it.
ashley @ the handmade home says
Kari! Shame on me for just seeing this comment. We’re actually dedicating an entire post to answering this very question, coming very soon. It was complicated to write about, so it will be in our next coffee talk. Please stay tuned and thank you so very much for dropping by!
ashley @ the handmade home says
Hey! Just checking back in to say we addressed your questions here in one big post because it was such a great one. – if we can be more direct in helping with something specific just let us know but we hope this helps give you a great start! https://www.thehandmadehome.net/coffee-talk-the-process-of-remodeling/
Kari says
That’s awesome, looking forward to checking it out! Thank you so much 😊