This isn't a small house and as you saw in the kitchen post we're making big changes. Remember the original house had been broken up as an upstairs/downstairs duplex. Downstairs has three "bedrooms" and one bathroom, and upstairs has two "bedrooms" and one bathroom; each floor has a kitchen and living room. I was so excited about the new kitchen I just couldn't wait to write about it and share the pictures with you, but I think the best way to move forward is with an overview of each floor and the overall changes being made to the floor plan (so you won't get lost, and I won't have to keep posting long posts with dark, dirty, before pictures). So without further ado: a totally not-to-scale and not-entirely-accurate comparison of floor plans (I don't want to give away too much).
Living Room
- Up the front steps, over the porch and into the living room. It's not a big room but it has a neat little fireplace and I think could make a cozy, intimate, living room. We've gone back and forth about switching it with the bigger dining room and putting a dining table in here. I think it could be weird to walk right in on a dining table - maybe not - what do you think? Either way not too many changes are going to happen in here - I say that and yet I know "not many changes" still means opening walls, upgrading the electrical, adding lighting, refinishing floors... maybe some built ins, the fireplace needs to be cleaned up, get a new fancy pants mantle, fresh paint, you know, easy-peasy. The (42 inch!!) front door needs some work, and it's got the cutest horse-shoe shaped, hand-turn doorbell on the planet, I can't wait for you to see it!
Bedroom Three
Some very cool things have happened in here and will continue to happen in here. This is the room where the upstairs will connect with the downstairs. As you can see in the floor plans we will open up the north wall and turn the existing stair into this room. The light in here is beautiful; perfect for a reading nook and a small library's-worth of books. Under the stairs there is currently a small pass-through and closet which will get closed off and become a powder bath (aka: adding a 1/2 bath! yay!).
Dining Room
Other than clearing out (and mostly donating!) the immense piles of things from a stranger's past life, not much will be happening to this room other than the obvious facelifts: new drywall, paint, refinishing the floors, etc. As mentioned previously it could be the living room, but probably not. The kitchen post illustrated the opening up of the north wall that is shared with the kitchen made a huge difference in the flow of the downstairs and the amount of light allowed into the dining room.
Kitchen
Probably doesn't need another explanation :)
Bedroom One
A good sized space, with an awkward layout of windows and a bunch of built-ins that were gross and just taking up room. In the plans above you can see that we demolished the only real closet in this room and gave the square footage to the kitchen. If you're really good at reading plans you've already noticed our genius solution and we're well on our way to punching through the south wall to create the ensuite master bathroom.
Bathroom
GROSS. Cramped and dark and dirty and outdated and linoleum. Oh, and those are cedar shingles lining one wall. FANCY. I think this is the one room that resounded with the loudest, most strangled screams for help. The pre-fab shower blocked most of the light from the window and allowed for barely two feet of space in front of the single, sea-shell sink. I'll address this bathroom in more detail soon enough but if you look at the plans you can see a toilet room and closet will be carved out of Bedroom #2 and added to the bathroom. Get excited about those spaces because I SO AM.
Bedroom Two
- This room is great and weird. It has an entrance from the drive way, and is connected under the stairs to the front bedroom. At one point we considered moving the kitchen to this space (groceries in from under the carport, more central location in the house). In the end I think the solution we came up with is pretty great : we've split this room up into a large walk-in closet, a separate toilet stall for the master bathroom, and what I know is going to become just the most amazing laundry room! The framing is shaping up in these spaces and it's so exciting!
That's everything downstairs.
What do you think? Are we crazy for taking this on or can you see the potential? The demolition ahead is a daunting task and we're working to salvage and reuse as much as we can, either as-is or in new, inventive ways. Keep checking back and I'll take ya'll on a tour of the upstairs early next week!
