Saturday, April 9, 2011

Home Renovation -- Complete

Long-term readers of my blog know that my family went through a home addition and renovation for six months, ending in January. I know you've been waiting for some "after" photos, and I'll tell you why it's taken me until now to take them. Because once the professionals are done, you still have a lot more to do. Like buy curtains and rods, since your new rooms have new windows. Paint the art room, because you stupidly said, well I'll just do that myself. Move all the massive amounts of art supplies that you have in your art room -- wondering how all this used to fit in the corner of your bedroom, but now will barely fit in an entire room. (Reality: your art stuff was in your bedroom, in the hall closet, in the family room, in the computer desk; you get the idea.) You need to find just the right shower door, and discover that they don't exist anymore. You need to make a curtain for the new bathroom door, since you were shocked to discover it was installed with unfrosted glass. You need to buy new towels, sheets, garbage cans, and all kinds of things to fill your new rooms. You need to install shelving in the new closets, because you stupidly said, we'll do that ourselves. All that took time, but my house is at a clean stage right now (because I invited friends over last week; if you need to clean your house, invite your friends over, and that will motivate you to do it) so I've finally taken pictures. Here they are. And I love it.

The start of the addition being put on the back of the house. The little window you see got covered up, and they broke through the end of a small closet to make the doorway connecting the two.




Here's down the hallway to the addition.



The outer wall to my son's old bedroom. I let him draw a creature on it, then I painted it. It was fun for the month it was up, then they tore down that wall to expand the family room.


Here's the room after the wall was removed.


This is the finished room. Well maybe not finished -- I'm going to paint another picture to put in here, and I need something in the corner, maybe a plant. Yeah, it's never-ending.


My beautiful new kitchen.


With really cool vein in the granite.


Looking the other way to the dining room.


And one more view.


And finally, the art room.




We've only lived here for 18 years, and it took about 3 to find the right builder. Yeah, baby, it was worth it.

8 comments:

K.C. Woolf said...

Wow, what a lot of work. It looks fab, and so good you have your own art studio now!

David Macaulay said...

yep - it certainly looks worthit Suzanne

Anonymous said...

This is so beautiful! Totally worth it and I hope your family really enjoys it. Congrats on it being done!!!

Dee

Jess said...

Your granite is stunning!!

Deborah said...

That new space looks fantastic! Is that tile on the floor?

You are so right about how much work there is after the construction phase. LOTS!

What a difference all of this made. Very nice.

Michelle in a shell said...

What a beautiful home! And your son is quite the artist himself! Thanks for sharing this peek into your revamped home :)

Joyce's Journey said...

Suzanne!!!! I LOVE IT!!! Absolutely gorgeous! OMG! The kitchen! You did such a great job of selecting everything. Your studio looks great! Can't wait to see everything in person!!

Annabelle Vandorn said...

You really went through a lot before and after the renovation. But yeah, David's right. It is definitely worth seeing your house in a new state. Not to mention, your kitchen looks lovely.