Friday Night Photos: House Renovations v. 2.0.4 (and No Turning Back Now!)
In last week’s photos I showed how my sidewalks had been broken up and taken away, and this week, more demolition! Now that I’ve expanded the plans to add a big addition to the back of my house for an office/studio/guestroom area, the current office had to come off. I should have taken a before photo earlier in the process, but the door you see open here led into a small hall where my washer and dryer was, and to the right of the door was my previous tiny office.
The debris you see on the ground in the photo above is the remnants of a shed covering these outside stairs leading to a dirt basement where my furnace and hot water heater is. The steps will be inside the house in the new addition, with stairs lengthened and covered by a trap door in the mud-room passageway to leads out under the deck.
I had to include this debris shot so you could see the actual color of the walls from the former office, because the next shot (taken on a brighter day) makes it look like the walls were bright orange! Actually I loved this part of the house with rusty walls and bright blue accents, and I painted it myself a few years ago.
After one day of demolition, this platform is all that was left of the former office and laundry area, and my kitchen is now directly behind that piece of wood nailed to the back of the house. It’ll be a happy day when that piece of wood comes off, because I’m guessing I’ll be seriously stir-crazy by then.
It was quite an amazing pile of office pieces to find in the back yard when I came home from work! I have no idea how they tore this all off in one day, but I’m guessing that this part of the job might be kind of fun for the workers.
Another shot showing why it’s probably a very good thing that I rented the driveway from the college kids living in the house next door. What a mess to have piled up in front of your garage.
I had to include this shot in memory of the swamp cooler in the background, which cooled my house for over ten years before I had central air, partly thanks to a certain former boyfriend (he-who-shall-not-be-named) who came and fixed it for me more times than I can remember. After I got the central air, I never wanted to replace the window where the swamp cooler had been, so it hung useless on the back of the house for another ten years!
Finally, this photo is out of order chronologically, but another in-memory-of shot, this time for the beautiful oak desk that was built into my former office when my brother-in-law Kelly remodeled the office many years ago. I saved the parts of the desk and plan to use it in the new office, probably with a bit of a redesign to make a desk that wraps around a corner. Stay tuned for next weeks’ edition of house renovations which I’ll probably be calling “The Big Dig!”
(If anyone is interested, you can see my whole set of House Renovations Photos on Flickr.)
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16 Comments on “Friday Night Photos: House Renovations v. 2.0.4 (and No Turning Back Now!)”
What a joy this is working toward! Can’t wait to see how you’re going to wrap that desk! We had a swamp cooling in our first house when we moved to Dallas . . . didn’t last long.
Kalyn, you’re so brave!! I feel a little light-headed just looking at somebody else’s house being so extensively remodelled, let alone mine! We are moving house this year (fingers crossed) and I am feeling slightly queasy just thinking about having the carpets and the bathroom replaced… Good luck with the rest of the project!
Your photos remind me of how we lived through a similar project. We stayed in the first floor of our house while a second story was put on and the first floor rearranged. When the contractors sawed off the roof, my Mom said “Do they know what they’re doing?” I just gulped and said “I sure hope so!” They did and it was worth it. Now we’re living through a kitchen rehab.
Love your blog and am hoping for the best on your big project!
Wanda, can’t wait! There will be plenty of mint too, I transplanted it before the construction started!
Nice work on the renovations, Kalyn. Good to get this done now so you can enjoy it all summer when I’ll be over to sit on the back deck and enjoy your garden. I’ll bring over the fixings for mint julep to celebrate; just need your fresh mint.
Cheers,
Wanda
oh my goodness kalyn! hang in there. looks like it’s coming along nicely.
How exciting and how nice it will be for you. It will all be worth it when it is done. Congrats.
That is a serious demolition! You will have some very cool before, during and after shots!
You are well on your way!! Thanks for the update!
Hi Kalyn!
How exciting to go through all of this change in the new year (and well a little before too I am sure). I hope it brings you lots of new memories, and I wish you luck through the completion.
Thanks for sharing these along with all of your wonderful recipes and blogs.
Thanks for the encouragement everyone. I am very excited (although of course when you start a project like this you’re always worried about running out of money, especially if you decide to do a lot more renovating than you’d planned!) Yes, I am still living there, cooking away behind that piece of wood!
Elenka, every recipe (except maybe a few of the very earliest ones) tells what phase of the South Beach diet it’s for right after the recipe. Also if you look in the recipe archives, after each listing it gives my opinion as to which phase of the diet it would be suitable for. If there is ever something that’s NOT South Beach friendly, I’ll always say that in the post so there is no confusion.
It’s much more fun watching someone else go through remodeling. It will all be worth it in the end. Stay patient.
Hi Kalyn, I found your wonderful blog and I too, love the South Beach diet. I just have a question for you. Are all your recipes ‘south beach’? Or if not, are they all healthy recipes, or do you have a combination of healthy and regular recipes? You can answer on here, if you have time, I will check back.
Thank you very much.
just curious…..are you still living there? Best of luck, I’m sure you will love it!
You must be so excited! I am nearly through a kitchen remodel so I know the feeling.
Enjoy your new space!
it’s definitely coming along! are you excited?