Week 3 of the Renovations

The foundation base went up last week and the foundation walls went up earlier this week.  They have completely removed the front porch and steps.  I watched the garage come down Monday morning - it took about 30 minutes to completely come down - walls and roof. 

We've approved the electrical layout and plan. I want to cry every time I see what used to be gardens.

Now that it is getting wet and cold, they are starting to do things inside like change the direction of the stairs to the basement. And the site lead advised us that because there will be a new hallway in the basement, we need to rethink where the laundry room will go. Right now, it is in the unfinished part of the basement.  He's suggesting that it be moved to the room that I'd intended to use as a gym, because then the water pipes will all be on the same side as the basement bathroom.  But that then means two things:

1. We have to remove all the books that are currently stored in that room into the unfinished part of the basement - and will have no where to store them once the work is all done.

2. Since the unfinished part of the basement is remaining unfinished, the home gym won't be a very inviting place to work out.

Sigh.  At this point, selling the old dear and moving to a bigger place sounds like it was the way to go.

The Renovations Begin!

Colin spent two weekends clearing out the asbestos by removing the stucco and the drywall in the old addition.

To do this, he also had to take down the kitchen cabinets, lighting fixtures, etc. I spent two weekends digging up & moving the plants that I could, but some I couldn't dig up, like the iris', and so have to leave it to fate.

On Tuesday, the crew came and tore down the old addition.  It was....stunning.  It really hit for me that now it is official, now we really doing this, now we will have a beautiful new home.

On Wednesday, I got a call that they had found an old septic tank encased in concrete.  It was empty, fortunately, but it had to be removed - at extra cost, of course! Still, it had to be done, and I have decided to throw it to the universe that this is the last of the nasty surprises - only good surprises from now on! Old IBM stock from the 1940's....bags of gold...a lost masterpiece...you know, that sort of thing.



On Thursday, they had dug out the basement and had removed the last of the septic tank.  And today, they smoothed the dirt walls in readiness to pour the concrete foundation and cut the new entryways that will link the old and new basement.

Next week, they will rip out the old concrete front porch & stairs and pour the new foundation.  They might start something with the garage.

What was I unprepared for in all this?  The absolute MESS of our front and backyard.  But the lawn and gardens had become so weed infested, I've decided to try to stay positive about this, too, and will spend the winter drawing up new, simple plans.

I've been having fun with paint colors, too.  I've decided to neutralize the space, so that my love of changing colors can continue with easier items to change up, like soft accessories. I've also found that after years of living with alot of tone-on-tone, I crave some contrast, too. The main floor paint color will be a Benjamin Moore color called "Smoke Embers" (1486, I believe).  It is a soft grey with some taupe in it - it looks great with the entryway porcelin tiles that look like slate, the old honey colored hardwood in the front room (to become the new dining room) and the natural finished hardwood in the new kitchen/great room. 

For the master ensuite, we have porcelin tiles in a similar slate effect, but softer tones with taupe, blues and greys.  I've selected a Ben. Moore paint called Mt. Rainier Gray - the softest blue grey color that really changes in the light.

Colin selected the laminate for the basement - based on Koa wood, it looks almost like a tiger pelt, very cool. For the basement bathroom, I've selected a greeny/grey floor tile and will add a light wall with a tinge of green to it.

We will be painting some rooms ourselves: the new dining room, our bedroom, the basement bedroom, which Kristian wants a deep, kahki green, and the billards room. Our bedroom will be a neutral color, some shade of white, because I've decided I like the peaceful atmosphere and the flexibility it gives me to change the colors of the bedding and curtains.  We are installing a new window in the bedroom, so it will be a light filld room. Colin wants a deep color on the billards room/family room downstairs.  I've no clue what to paint the dining room - it is currently a soft buttery-gold yellow, with a large fireplace mantal in white and silver.  The new dining room set is darker toned wood.