Jan 222 min read

Establish Our Vision: Building From The Past

After finally receiving the closing date for our new home, we immediately began brainstorming ideas for how we wanted it to look. The day before closing, Dalton and I headed to Home Depot to pick out paint colors. Later that night, over dinner, we discussed and decided where each color should go in the space as we continued to finalize our plans.

Alright, are you ready? You might want to brace yourself as I show you the original floor plan, it is a little rough.

The layout of the house was confusing. For instance, the Living Room was separated from the kitchen. The Second Bedroom had two entries and a connection to the laundry room. The primary bathroom was located near the kitchen and was very spacious but impractical. Furthermore, the back bedroom was only partially enclosed, with an opening that led to the hallway. The house was in a sorry state, and it had an unpleasant smell, but it had a lot of potential that could be unlocked with some effort.

Dalton and I had to put our heads together to determine how we could make the house work for the present and future, while still being mindful of its resale value and our budget.

So here is what we came up with after lots of talks and research...

Here's the rundown of our renovation plan:

Open up the living room and kitchen to create a more spacious and inviting atmosphere. We decided to remove the wall between them to have a better sight line.
In the kitchen, we add an island with a sink and seating for four people. Although I had to remove the window to achieve this design and have space for all the appliances, I believe the island is worth it.
Keep the old bathroom door and convert the surrounding areas into a laundry room and a powder room. The hallway would lead to a door and a back deck overlooking the yard, or a set of stairs that would lead to a patio below.
Close off the access to the hallway from the second bedroom while keeping the connecting door between the second and third bedrooms.
Move the bathroom to the old laundry area and take some space from the hallway and main bedroom to have ample space and meet code.

These are the main ideas, which I am sure will change but we started the demolition process the day we got the keys!

Snapshots from demo dayyyysssss.... we took most of the rooms down to its bones to see what we had to deal with. So much, dust, dirt, mysterious smells, and random wallpaper... More pictures to come when I break down room by room later in this series.