As I have mentioned many, many times, we are in the midst of renovations. We bought our house in March 2001, and have been making it our style room-by-room since then.
Last spring, we had a fantastic idea. Get the renovations all done by fall 2005 and have more time as the kids grew to do FUN things. Well, Matthew finds a lot of fun in working with wood, but more along the lines of furniture building as opposed to wainscoting and laying floors.
We have a great room (open kitchen/living room) that we completed in 2002. We also have a family room down half a flight of stairs (we have a split-level house). Once it was full of my work-station, the entertainment unit, my treadmill, a couch, and TOYS, there wasn’t much floor space left. We decided to add on to that room. The added bonus: a big deck off of our master bedroom that one day I can sit on and read/surf while watching my children play.
It was also time to do the inside of our master bedroom. It was completeIy gutted last summer down to the studs.
Then we had the fire. Getting the house back to where it was before the fire was obviously first priority. That took all of last fall. Matthew then completed our room & ensuite. I have pictures of our loo on Flickr and you’ve seen the craft room (it’s off of our bedroom), but I still need to post the bedroom shots.
The push has been on to get the house done (mostly) before Baby D gets here. We could have let the renos drag on for years, but we thought it best to do them while the kids are so small. Once they are bigger (and naps/diapers/etc. fade out), we want to have the time to do cool family stuff. Go to the cabin, the Coast, the PNE, skiing, etc. Thus, we decided to hire my brothers to help us get ‘er done.
She almost is. There are some finishing touches needed on the exterior as well as the clean-up. The family room has been mudded/sanded/primed. Once my brother leaves tomorrow, Matthew will be back inside to paint, lay the floors, put the tongue and groove wood on the ceiling, and put the fixtures in the bathroom down there. The end really is in sight. All of the before and after photos are on Flickr, but here’s a sampling:
Before:
After:
There. Now you know what has kept us so busy…apart from our monkeys. Isn’t Matthew a talented, talented man?
15 Comments
Looks awesome! Looks like that’s your honey off to the right…nice butt (haha)
Comment by holli on August 29th, 2006 @ 6:35 pmI would like to see some pictures of the view from the house. Do you have any creeks or a river passing near you? Your house looks just great!
Comment by tina on August 29th, 2006 @ 8:18 pmYou guys have done an awesome job. I’ll have to take a drive by next time I’m there:) You guys must just love it!!
Comment by Vicki on August 30th, 2006 @ 4:42 amNo creeks or a river. We back onto Crown land (pine trees & brush). I’m standing on a rock wall taking these pictures, and behind me is just a big hill - the best pics of our yard are what’s showing around the house 
That looks GREAT!!! Matthew ROCKS!! What are the chance I can borrow him. Just kidding. Good job guys, looks beautiful.
Comment by Mel on August 30th, 2006 @ 7:38 amWell, it’s a gorgeous yard with a gorgeous house. What a great find! You’ve done wonders to it.
Comment by tina on August 30th, 2006 @ 10:40 amThat is SO BEAUTIFUL! I love all the wood! I’m sure like you’ve said before that it’s all worth it in the end…what a LONG, CRAZY process though, and our renos are a fraction of what you guys have done!
I’m going to have a peek at the rest of the before/after shots now=)
Comment by Tanneal on August 31st, 2006 @ 2:17 pmI have only seen your name on my sister’s (Robyn) blog and jumped over here via Tanneal’s blog.
I just had to let you know, that your home is gorgeous. My dream place! Just perfect!
Sweet deal! It looks AMAZING!
Comment by dayna on August 29th, 2006 @ 2:34 pm