PJ and I thought about it a bit, then decided (back in 2006 or 2007) that we would stay in our current five-bedroom home for the long haul notwithstanding that all the kids had moved on permanently (or so we thought at the time); but that we would do a bunch of updating as long as we were sticking around in the place for good. The plan was to work on the first floor in 2008, then move immediately to remodeling the upstairs floor in 2009.
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| Dining room qua multi-year storage facility. |
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| Master bedroom, demo phase. |
The 2008 phase went swimmingly; for example,
here,
here,
here, and
here; then we encountered a few diversions (generally in the form of unanticipated roommates). All quite pleasant; but nonetheless a few years seem to have slipped away. Which is fine - I'd happily trade a bit of a remodeling delay for the fun memories of having bonus time with those guys. In the meantime the vanity cabinets for the upstairs bathrooms, along with a bunch of other construction goods (yes, including two toilets in boxes) have occupied our dining room since mid-2008. And the living room (adjoining the dining room) has been used for nothing but storage during those years. But: whatever.
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| Slab selection Saturday. Eagle-eye in action. |
Anyway: long-delayed phase two launched on March 3.
Quite a bit less complicated than the 2008 phase. We are removing 20-year-old (and occasionally marked by Kelly-the-Welshie over the years) carpet; swapping out the 30-year-old builder's cabinets; new tile in the bathrooms; getting rid of both bathtubs (who uses these things anyway?) Various other tinkerings included. And we also came up with a wrinkle we wouldn't have thought up in 2008/9 - enlarging the master suite via the simple expedient of knocking out a wall between the "old" master bedroom and an adjoining smaller bedroom (and relocating the closet) - easy, effective.
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Taken from same spot. Bottom photo shows kid-bedroom as it existed since we moved into the
house. Top photo: door to hallway closed off, closet relocated, space is connected to master suite. |
The other new concept will be that we have permanently given up on the idea of maintaining a furnished living room and dining room. We haven't once missed having access to these rooms in the last near-six years. Meaning that - once the upstairs stuff is done - those areas will be cleared out (
other than pianos) and deployed as an oversized game room. Details to come.
In the meantime, PJ and I have taken up residence in a couple rooms on the first floor - it's like living in a hotel, fun! Much easier
than this, as kitchen access is uninterrupted this time around.
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| Desk, bed, TV, closet = hotel life. Grandpa+Grandma Bormann's chair comes in handy, again. |
Now we just need to keep after things such that guest quarters are ready for incoming hikers for Phantom Ranch 2014.
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| site of future pool table |
