Monday, December 6, 2010

Remodel Update

Looking toward the front of the house.  Everything will be
going except the orange closet, which I have to keep as it
houses the furnace and hot water heater!

I figured it was time to update my readers on the remodel progress.  For those who may not know what I'm about, I'm currently removing most of the interior walls in my home so that I will soon have a two room home, my main room (is this what a Great Room is?  It will be great for sure) which will house everything except my bedroom and then, my bedroom.  There will also be eventually a guest 1/2 bath.  


My kitchen will now be "L" shaped.
Anyway, yesterday was major destruction in a very good way.  The walls came tumbling down and now I just have studs.  The studs will come out once the steel beams are in place (would be very silly to do it before then!), and I'm thrilled to see how much more functional space I will have.  My home is plenty big enough, but when everything was sliced up into tiny rooms, I didn't use it well.  I am definitely not a wall sort of person.  I don't like walls between people, and I don't like walls separating my home either.  As I've mentioned before, this remodel is really a wonderful healing metaphor for the work I'm doing on a personal level and lately I've been attempting to rebuild some relationships just as I will shortly be rebuilding my home's center section.  


The messiest part was taking out the ceiling in the old
laundry room closet area, as all the blown-in insulation
came falling out, but the ceiling here will match the
cathedral ceiling in the kitchen and mail living room.
I think is is especially appropriate that I'm now "attacking" the core of my home as that is where I am in my personal growth also.  I'm working at "excavating" me to find my true center just as I'm doing with my home.  It is hard work on both fronts and at times it is also very scary work, but it is rewarding and uplifting as well.  


In any case I hope you enjoy the photos and I'll keep updating them as the work progresses.  I have a remodel album on my Picasa site and also there is a link at the top of this page to my remodel page on my website.  Yeah, I'm connected in way too many places, but I'm trying to make it easy for anyone who wants to follow me to find all the connections.
This will all be opened up--all the studs will go, but not
until the steel beams are installed!

5 comments:

  1. I love the open-plan idea. Large, roomy spaces are certainly more comfortable and inviting than little rooms all separated. And is that a pink kitchen? I'm gobsmacked, that's awesome!

    I often find that the state of my home reflects my inner state, e.g. my house is a mess=I'm a mess, house is clean and organized=I'm doing good!

    Good job, I'll be interested to see how it all comes along.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey, Daphne!

    Wow, I'm so behind! I feel like one of those circus acts who tries to keep multiple plates spinning in the air. Only unlike me, they're usually pretty good at it! :-)

    It's fun to see your remodeling progress thus far, it's going to be a fantastic and dramatic metamorphosis! And I love an open floor plan too (as long as I have at least one little nook-like cranny to hole up in when I want to!) :-) Can't wait to see the end results!

    I'm like Rose - house is a mess, I'm a mess. House is organized and tidy -- well, it's almost never completely that way; upstairs and downstairs, in closets and cupboards as well as in every visible space, all at the same time ~ except just after I've spring cleaned. And once that's over with, I'm not "doing good," I'm exhausted! (I can't wait to have a lot less stuff and a smaller place!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rose: Yep, pink kitchen/living room. My home is a rainbow! And yes, I too prefer openness--at all levels, and it makes it so much easier to arrange furniture. Thanks, also, Rose, for becoming a follower!

    Laloofah: Cool photo! And you are not so behind! Wherever you are is where you are meant to be. And I suspect that living alone is what allows me to do this without a nook-like cranny to hole up in as I can just shut the front door and hole up in the entire home which is what I'm more than ready to do now! I've never really done a spring cleaning and honestly never wanted to, but then I've moved so often in the past that the inevitable packing and sorting has ended up doing much the same thing, I think, but now there will be no more moving so I might have to think about spring cleaning--Nah!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I take it you mean my photo of Tess, looking all stunning in her Santa hat? :-) She loves to wear that thing! It suits her, too, I think!

    Ha, maybe I'm where I'm meant to be, but the calendar and clock are definitely a lot further ahead than they should be (says I!)! :-) The first week and a half of December has sure flown by!

    My mother always did spring AND fall cleaning every year. I've only got the one season in me for all that time and effort spent scrubbing and organizing. It feels great when it's done, but I sure wish it would last, like, forever! :-) And you're right, moving is like spring cleaning on steroids! Nothing like a move to get a person's stuff sorted and culled!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Laloofah: Yes, by your photo I didn't mean that I thought it was actually you, but rather the photo that goes with your posts, and it is stunning and certainly does suit Tess. And yes, I know fall and spring cleaning were standard procedures, but I suspect fewer and fewer folks do it. I just try to clean and then do something "special," on a regular basis so that there isn't a time when everything is super clean at one time, but hopefully there is also not a time when everything is really dirty. This remodel is almost as good as a move for getting me to sort through everything again!

    ReplyDelete