We lived in the house through the remodel, confined to the bedrooms and one living room which served as our family room, kitchen (just a fridge, microwave, and toaster), eating area, pantry (bankers boxes on the floor), no washer/dryer, and with a single portable AC unit sitting in a corner (it was near 90 degrees in there at all times even with it on high, so I often commented that we went without AC in a Dallas summer which wasn't technically true, but felt true). In summary: It was terrible. (The living through it part. The construction process hit no significant snags which was surprising given the age of our home.) But what doesn't kill you as a family makes you stronger as a family. Right!?
Though we lived in the house, almost everything we owned was in a storage unit for the duration of the project. All of our furniture. Everything from the kitchen. All our books. Everything from the attic. All of the garage things. Almost all of the boys' toys and all of our games. Seth went to the laundromat weekly with a car full of laundry and little boys (and their electronic devices). Several friends gave us meals several times (including inviting us over for a freshly cooked meal), we cooked what we could in the microwave or toaster and got take out for everything else. The best thing was friends inviting us over for food, AC, washer/dryer, and some wifi.
I think the worst part was the wifi coming and going as they unplugged it to move it or turned off the power to work on something or the breaker would trip. I'd be working and poof! no internet. The boys would be watching a show and poof! no tv service. Oh, and not having AC. Not having a kitchen faucet or sink was pretty bad too. And not being able to wash clothes wasn't great either. Pretty much the whole thing sucked and I'm so glad it's over. I love all of our choices and feel so blessed and grateful to be living in a home that's exactly what we've wanted for so many years. It's like the saying "dreams really do come true!" I feel that strongly about it.
(Inserting a side note to say that the early part of 2019 was terrible healthwise for me. I've had blood work done and tests galore and the current diagnosis is ulcers. We were waiting until the house was finished for the endoscopy which is the next step, but with holiday season upon us, now I'm waiting until 2020 to have that done. It's the final step in figuring out what's wrong with me. I felt so ill so often that I would just sit in my chair unable to get up or lay in bed unable to parent. Those closest to us saw me at my worst and stepped in in huge ways to help our family followed by helping us during the construction project and I just couldn't be more thankful to our village. Natasha, Anne-Marie, and Jennifer--I could not have survived 2019 without you.)
We had a couple of hotel stays and once we stayed at Kim and David's for a few days since they happened to be on vacation during the construction. One because a freak storm blew through Dallas which knocked half of our neighbor's tree into the power lines which then started a fire and Oncor had power to restore all over, including for our house. So we went to The Colony for a few days that time. Packed up all our food and laundry and dog and hit the road. Another time, they were moving the meter so we were without power for a few days. We used Seth's hotel points that time. And the other time, we went to the Hilton Anatole for a quick staycation.
Essentially the construction consisted of this:
-Converted the garage to living space (it's a room with built-in bathroom and closet that serves as a playroom for us, but is a fourth bedroom)
-Added on a new (3-car) garage (part of the addition is a new office--with doors! and eat in kitchen area)
-Gutted and rebuilt the kitchen
-Made part of the old garage into a laundry room/mudroom
-Installed built-in bookshelves in the front room and wainscoting in the dining room
-Installed hardwoods throughout the living area and new carpet in the bedrooms (and playroom)
-We also poured a new, foot-wider driveway
Here are some BEFORE and AFTER pictures: (Enjoy!)
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| Sadly, this tree had to come down before we could get started. I saved a hunk of the trunk to make an end table. |
This is the outside space. The new garage sits where this big space of driveway was. We make an "L" into the garage now instead of making a "J" into it.
This is that area now:
We lost only a little bit of side yard and a few photinia bushes (and an old fountain that hasn't worked since long before we bought the house). The backyard is the same size (patio went in where the old patio was) and there's the same length of driveway.
This is the new laundry room/mudroom:
The sink is original to the house. I just had them paint it a mint color because the white had gotten gross and rusted. Everyone, including GA, has their own locker with a bin for shoes, a bin for hats/gloves, and lots of hooks for All The Things.
Here's the new office. Our office used to share a room with the laundry equipment and I'm thrilled that each son has their own space to do homework and crafts. The chairs are vintage school chairs my friend Sarah hooked me up with and my dad drove down from WI for me. (The empty space is for Seth's desk which he has yet to purchase. My old iMac was sitting on Austin's desk, but is currently not working so please don't think my 9 year old has a computer!)
Here's the new bathroom that's in the space that used to be our laundry room. That tub is one I found in a bathroom store. I climbed inside it to see if it was the size I wanted and we arranged the entire bathroom around that bathtub. Seriously.
Here's the fourth bedroom which we will use as a playroom. I considered getting it cleaned up before I took pictures, but this is about how it will look all the time, so I figured I'd give you an accurate representation of it.
New bookshelves in the front room and wainscoting in the dining room. It also shows the new hardwoods well. (There used to be a brick planter behind where the layzboy is that had shutters sitting on top of it. Original to the house and we'd hated it for the entire time we moved in in April 2009!)
The bulk of the work was done here, tearing down the wall between the kitchen and the family room and making one open great room. As a part of the addition, the kitchen table now sits what would have been outside, so that allowed us to make a big island in the center of the space. New sink/faucet, cabinets, countertop, backsplash, lighting and appliances as well as big sliding doors have transformed the space both in function and in style.
BEFORE:
New front door. The old one was original to the house and needed replacing. (We haven't gotten around to putting up the mailbox again.)
