House Update 1: Demo and Plans

We decided that we’re only going to do the renovation and updates to the upstairs before we move in, which is still a huge task. The main level is over 1600 square feet, and nothing had been updated in a while. And since we are motivated to get things done, we celebrated our new house by getting right to work. The kids joined in too.

In the entry, we made the closet smaller, will be adding a bench and hooks for visitors, and took out the divider that separated the entry from the living room.

While we love a lot of things about the house, we wanted to make it a little more open than it currently was. So we decided to mimic the arched window as an opening from the living room to the dining room to let more light through and create more openness. We will add cable railing in the arch (and take out the studs, obviously) and on the other side of the stairwell for a neat feature. It’s already so fun to see the light coming through.

In the kitchen, we reconfigured a little and used part of the old pantry to recess the fridge completely, which will make this beautifully open space even bigger. The cabinets and soffit came out, as did the tile floor (which was an incredibly laborious task).

Our long-time friend and agent came to check out the house and sent me this video which perfectly captures Chad’s enthusiasm.

And here it is after all the demo.

Moving to the first bathroom, we’ll replace the tub, vanity, and all finishes but the only real change is to cut back the wall between the vanity and toilet to a half wall. This will allow the light from the window to better light the space and make it seem bigger.

The master suite was going to be a small update originally, but Chad came home with the idea to drastically change the layout to include a nice full bath and a more functional walk-in closet. However, the only way to accomplish that was to take one of the bedrooms and add it to the master. I was opposed at first because of the work it entails and I didn’t want to lose an upstairs bedroom, but it’s going to really complement the big open spaces and living areas of the house better than our original plan. And this house has seven bedrooms, so losing one isn’t the end of the world. Ha!

So this new plan includes combining the existing master bath and closet, flipping the laundry room and garage access, and reframing/wiring/finishing a new closet. This will also give us a little sitting area in our master, which is something I’ve dreamed about for years but was never feasible.

That’s a ton of work, and I’m so glad the demo work is finally done upstairs. Now onto the fixing!