High 5 for Friday!

One. I stayed overnight in Des Moines for work this week. One of the perks of waking up in the city is a quick trip to Starbucks! :)

Two. Our renovation project is moving along pretty quickly.  Before the drywall was sealed up I wrote a quick note to the future owners of our home and put it in the wall.

Three. Since our kitchen has moved to the garage, Axe spends a lot of time with us.  She is an excellent helper when it comes to cooking supper. 

Four. The sheet rock went up in our house in one day (it's not a big house). Our vision is starting to take shape.  Stick around to see what our vision is. 

Five. We had our first baby this week - an 80+ lb heifer calf! 

P.S - Today is the last day to book an E-design for a discounted price of $80/room (usually $100)! Find out more information here. 

The stories of our old house

We are a week are 10 days into our main floor renovation and we are wasting no time at all!  Here is what has happened so far:

• Removed plaster and lath walls
• Took out the kitchen floor
• Replaced the kitchen floor
• Created a doorway into what will be our 3/4 bathroom
• Adjusted electrical, re-organized light switches, added lighting
• Moved and updated plumbing
• Spray foam insulated our entire main floor
• Roughed in the shower for our 3/4 bathroom
• Met with the cabinet maker
• Took out the rest of the chimney in our basement
• Dry wall will be up by the end of today

What's been more interesting is the story this old home is telling us.  (We were hoping to find an envelope full of money but that didn't happen.)  

Our home was built around 1920 and from what we understand raised a few, rather large,  families (8-12 people).  Some of the wood used to frame the interior walls was used even before this house was built. Check out the picture below...  The white lines and nail holes indicate that these board were used prior to framing up this wall.

There also used to be a door that faced the east.  Do you see how it is still framed in between the patio door and window?

A few other discoveries we've made...

• This bathroom used to be a bedroom.  We found out that because there was another window framed into one of the walls.  Thus the reason we have a humongous bathroom.
• Our master bedroom used to be two rooms.
• The only bathroom that existed in the original house was on the landing of the stairs.
• The kitchen was added on in the 60's or 70's. They were terrible carpenters - only a couple of nails held the floor boards up and the raters above that held on the ceiling  were not even screwed down.  (Seriously??!!)

Next week I'l continue to show you are game plans and a few design boards to give you a perspective of what our space will (hopefully) look like when it's all done!

High 5 For Friday!

One. It's had been awhile, but we still know how to clean up well.  And, even though we are married, I still think I landed a pretty good-looking guy!

Two. Renovation has begun.  Open floor plan here we come!

Three. Adam built and organized a new laundry room in our basement.  He even picked out a new washer and dryer.

Four. Since renovation was happening downstairs, I (temporarily) moved my office to the bedroom.  It's a comfy and sunny place to work.

Five. I finally finished a custom greeting card order for a friend in Indiana. I love doing this stuff!

I hope you all have had a great week!!

Renovation Game Plan - office turned guest bedroom

Holy smokes... renovation is 100% underway at our house and I tell you what - our contractors don't waste time.  Our whole main floor is gutted down to the studs.  Exciting but very dusty.  I'm sure I'll be vacuuming our upstairs daily for the next 6 weeks.

I'm sure you are all curious about our official renovation game plan so over the next couple of weeks, I'll take you through our main floor one space at a time.  The over all goal is to add a guest bedroom, 3/4 bathroom and create an open concept floor place without putting an addition on the house. Do-able? Yes.

To start - here is a look at what used to be Adam's office. This will become a guest bedroom.  (He now shares the basement office with me. Lucky Guy!!)

Here is (sort of) a before picture.

Here is a look at our "structural" game plan.

My husband, being the ambitious guy that he is, got excited and started breaking through walls. 

Structural plan

Remove Trim - replace with new

Tear out plaster and lath walls - replace with sheet rock

Tear out ceiling - replace with sheet rock

Tear out the flooring - replace with carpet

Center heat vent under the window

Move the heat duct to the inside of the wall

Close the doorway that used to lead to laundry room - this will become a full wall.

(laundry room will become a bathroom)

Cosmetic Plan

Repaint with a medium-dark gray

Accent with white, coral, and light gray

Add a light fixture

Standard bedroom furniture

My cosmetic plan will come to life through a design board so stick around to see it. Did you notice I was testing out a paint color already? It was just a little bit dark for this room.